jillytuile Reviews

A Cinderella Story (2004)

one of the more charming adaptations of a fairy tale

[15 August 2004]

Cinderella has been done so many times--either as an animated movie, a Broadawy play, or countless screen-adaptations--that sometimes, enough is enough. I mean there are other fairy tales...adapt those.

Plus, the fact that Hilary Duff can really be annoying to watch (I always picture Lizzie Maguire and that character is annoying) doesn't help.

But "A Cinderella Story" is actually very sweet and charming. When I watched this I must have smiled involuntarily several times...it has that many cute parts. Cheesy, sure, but cute. And even though several plot lines are semi-rip-offs from other movies ("She's All That" comes to mind) it's good. I recommend this for cheesy romantics.

The only real complaint I have about this movie is that Murray's and Duff's lovey-dovey scenes are a little too weird to watch. When they're next to each other, it's obvious that the guy is years older than her and that she's not even legal yet. I couldn't even watch the kissing scene.

Still, I like the movie...even though fairy tales rarely, if not ever, happen in reality, it's still nice to get all dreamy once in a while. "A Cinderella Story" accomplishes that perfectly.

Camp (2003)

i could watch it again and again and i'll always be entertained

[10/10 · 13 May 2004]

anything musical does it for me and CAMP did. it's not so much the acting, etc. that popped out in this film as the songs they sang. it's as if the the songs WERE the film. each song was significant at some point in the character's life and it was incredible the way that they were all just belting it out, letting everyone know who they are and the same time they're not technically telling it. like fritzi's performance, and when michael sings several lines in "Century Plant"...the words that came out reflected the core of their beings and that was great.

plus i like the fact that CAMP was not all that teenybopperish (like i thought at first). it's more artsy than teeny and thank goodness for that.

people should make more films like this.

Just Married (2003)

short-term fun

[8 August 2003]

this was basically an okay film. nothing amazing like i've heard people say. ashton kutcher and brittany murphy do have great chemistry, that's for sure. you could almost see that they're this young, newly wed couple who are driving each other to insanity--and on their honeymoon nonetheless!

still, this isn't movie i'd watch over and over again...after an hour you'd get tired of murphy's nasal-ish voice and kutcher's too big and goofy winces.

however, there is a part in the movie which is surprisingly moving. it's the one in the end with the gate and the car and the speaker booth. i'm not going to say anything else just in case some people haven't seen it yet. all i can say is that what tom said was amazing. i wish someone would say that to me in the future. ;)

My Girl (1991)

incredibly touching

[10/10 · 8 August 2003]

i've seen a lot of movies and only a handful has been able to make me laugh and cry at the same time. My Girl does that and more. when you watch it you always end up reminiscing about that one special summer when you were growing up and going for bike rides with your friends. in its subtle way this film touches you in a way that only memories can...suddenly you remember everything that happened when you were young. this is definitely one of the better coming-of-age films ever made.

Jologs (2002)

pretty good

[10/10 · 4 August 2003]

i was completely surprised about my reaction to this film. i thought it would really be "jologs" but it wasn't at all. it's cool the way it makes you realize that hey, it really IS a small world and in one way or another, there are connections between you and that guy peeing by the wall, you know what i'm saying? plus, the actors here whom i usually don't like (assunta de rossi to name one) were really good here. i also thought it was funny the way there were dozens of cameos in this movie. this is one movie you'd watch over and over and never get bored.

A Walk to Remember (2002)

heart-warming

[10/10 · 4 August 2003]

i love this film. i thought it wouldn't be as good as the book was but it is and thank God for good movie people. i love how the character of shane west is like the ULTIMATE boyfriend...so sweet it makes you want to smack yourself in the head because your boyfriend isn't as great. mandy moore also was surprisingly good in this film. she's not great but she definitely made the part come alive. oh and i love movies that make me cry (cry in a good way) and this one definitely made me cry.

Crossroads (I) (2002)

not my cup of tea

[1/10 · 4 August 2003]

the whole movie is kind of, i don't know, undeveloped. britney spears' acting is so...dry and unnatural that it just annoyed me when i watched this. and really, a class valedictorian wanting to dabble in the music world? i'm not saying it's totally unlikely but really, the world knows what britney spears is like and she's not exactly valedictorian material, especially since i don't think she even finished high school. maybe the script should've called for a more stereotypical character, seeing as this is spears' first movie. the plot isn't bad but if it had different actors, it would probably work better.

Fools Rush In (1997)

not so great but i wasn't surprised.

[10/10 · 4 August 2003]

okay first of, matthew perry's acting here was so FRIENDS. half the time you expect ross, joey, rachel, monica, and phoebe to just show up. second, there was no chemistry between perry and salma hayek so that worked against them. i thing hayek is too earthy to be paired with someone so preppy-looking like perry. i'm not being prejudiced here, okay it's just that they don't really work. the plot itself was all right but it's not something i'd want to watch over and over again. p.s.it's weird to see perry doing sexy scenes like that and seeing him wearing shades. i'm just so used to the whole chandler bing thing.