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curlyscloset
Reviews
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Hands-down best romantic comedy i've ever seen.
i'm a hopeless romantic at heart, much like our hero Tom. He's convinced true love is out there, and when he meets Summer, he knows she is THE one. The non-linear way the story of this couple unfolds is brilliant, it is quirky and sweet and smart without trying SO hard (i.e. Juno) or being obnoxious about it. This is one of the most heartbreakingly realistic portrayals of a relationship in any film. Two people can care about each other, but want different things and just fall apart. I came to despise the character of Summer by the end, she was hypocritical for telling tom time and tome again she wants to be on her own and doesn't want to get bogged down in a serious relationship, and then ends up getting MARRIED. Not cool. But everything ties together in the end, with Tom meeting his true soul mate only because Summer pushed him to follow his dream. I was sobbing like a baby by the end. Great performances all around, I can't believe it took me almost two years to see this movie!
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Cannot believe THIS won the Oscar
This movie came out before I was born, but I finally caught it on TV last night and couldn't believe THIS won the Oscar!! I'm usually the biggest sap there is, I love sentimental movies but this movie made me HATE every character. Where is the development of the relationships between mother and daughter? We meet Aurora as a very overprotective, neurotic mother, and before we know it, the daughter is getting married to...someone. And the mother doesn't like him....why? Apparently, he's an unmotivated louse but the movie never lets us get to KNOW Flap. We see the couple become parents and struggle and fight, for some reason. i still don't know why i'm supposed to care about these people, but then we learn the husband is a cheater...maybe. So what does Emma do? Why, have her own affair, of course! Except, um, that relationship comes out of the blue as well. this guy pops out of nowhere and offers to pay for her groceries, and in the next scene she's going off to have sex with him? I couldn't believe what I was watching. Then, when Emma SEES Flip with another woman, she becomes enraged!! Because, HE shouldn't be potentially cheating on her!! Poor Emma...she then goes off with her supposed best friend (who we only saw in one scene in the beginning of the movie) but, decides to go home and uproot her kids and stay with her husband....because that makes sense. then, the tears come...Emma has cancer!! but it is the shortest, most unemotional illness i've ever seen in a movie. Her "best friend" is there for her, but only offers to take care of the daughter, not the two older sons. So the natural decision Emma makes is to take her children away from their FATHER and give them to her mother. Because that makes sense. I barely noticed when she died, until Aurora starts crying. I couldn't believe I spent two hours watching this people, and didn't care about them at all. How could I, when the movie never lets the audience gets to know these people? Classic case of "telling", not "showing" us these people. Absolutely ridiculous movie that is truly one of the worst I have ever seen.
Avatar (2009)
Eye Candy does NOT a Best Picture make...
I came out of this film very frustrated at what COULD have been. As a Theatre student, I was sorely disappointed by the acting, especially Sam Worthington's performance. Now, sci-fi has never been my thing, and only went to see Avatar because my parents wanted to. I have to say, while I was obviously impressed with how lush and amazing the visuals were, that's all this movie was. Even though Zoe Saldana's performance as Neytiri was surprisingly gripping, as was CCH Pounder as her mother, every male performance in this film was sorely lacking. Stephen Lang as the "bad guy" was alternately painful and laughable, and delivered some of the worst movie dialogue since X-Men. I'm not sure what was so off about these performances, but it really let down the whole film. The plot was, of course, nothing new and the story played out predictably. This wouldn't have bothered me so much if the actors has delivered, or they had better lines - i'm not sure which is to blame at this point. Even though directors like Cameron are never known for dialogue, at least with Titanic you had two magnetic leads who pulled off EVERY line. Not so with Worthington and the rest of the cast. This movie was the equivalent of Cameron flashing a shiny new toy at us so we will all Ooooh and Ahhh over it.
Don't get me wrong, Avatar is worth seeing in 3D, but this is nowhere near Best Picture material.