film.

the help - wow. so good.

singin’ in the rain – oh so cute. they don’t make them like this anymore kids. and they should.

when harry met sally.jane eyre AGAIN. mansfield park.crazystupidlove.Footloose – 2011 version.The Emperor’s New Groove.The Little Mermaid.

Harry Potter 7 – Pt 2.Finding Nemo.Lion King in 3d – Thoughts here. Tangled. Anastacia.

The Notebook – Click here for thoughts

Anne of Green Gables - I LOVED these books as a little girl…Soph and I rented the 248 minute film adaptation. Its brilliantly done…Anne’s hair gets a little out of control but other than that, a beautiful film. I love the slowly building romance, and rooting for the underdog, the routing of the horrid Pringle family. I could read this book series again sometime soon. Such nice, clean fun. I remember watching them over and over when I was young, and how I would cry over Matthew’s death, and how I hoped Marilla would be happy and marry Mr. Blythe. Loving their subtle Canadian accents, having a huge

crush on Gilbert, and thinking I could totally live on a farm on Prince Edward Island. Sigh. In this recent viewing, I was more disturbed by the idea of all these women who had to teach in one-room school houses, twenty different students of all ages at once. My life has changed. :)

Harry Potter 7 Part one -  I’ve already seen this movie, but Sophia and I watched it this week…pretty fantastic film. Very much like how I pictured it in my mind. Fav moments – every time Ron stares at Hermione, when Harry dances with sad Hermione in the tent. I really like the weird animation part about the three brothers story, that was a clever way to tell that tale quickly. I want more Luna. She is hilarious. Can’t wait for Part 2!!

never say never -  I did not want to like the Bieber. He sounded and looked like a girl. But after falling in love with one of his songs on accident (“Somebody to Love,” after a gaggle of 8th grade girls in my Study Hall on Fridays convinced me to look it up) I agreed to watch his movie. I ended up watching it with two of said girls, with pizza, curled up on the couch, being Best Teacher Ever. Despite having fallen in love with a few of his songs, I was still pretty skeptical about enjoying the film. But it turned out to be really cute, and definitely inspiring. Biebs seems like a bit of an old soul, which might stem from being raised by a young mom with her parents, and an especially close relationship with his grandfather. He had a dream and he went after it. His manager seems a bit self-congratulatory…but the rest of the team seems cool. I loved when they got to make people so happy, giving away tickets. The only sad/scary part of the film is how obsessed some of the girls are with him…

jane eyre – review coming soon

despicable me - review coming soon

diary of a wimpy kid review coming soon

burlesque  oh Christina and Cher…two “stars” I’ve never really been very into, united in one campy, predictable, sexy romp of a music video extended to an hour and a half. There are some laughs, some cute moments, and plenty of eye candy. Good for an afternoon in your sweats when you and your roomies have decided to stay inside and watch mindless pleasures. Hottie – bad vampire from Twilight!

robin hood review coming soon

pride and prejudice – review coming soon

the girl who kicked the hornet’s nest -   review coming soon

the girl who played with fire – this series is fantastic in both book and film. I love this character of lisbeth…what a study in psychology. The film did all the scenes exactly how I pictured it…although it brought to life a little too eerily and realistic what it might be life to unbury yourself. Sufficiently creepy, the scenes with Zalachenko and Lisbeth I thought were really well done and realistically portrayed how  those two characters meeting would interact. I love the slowly building to the relationship of Micke and Lisbeth, who only share the screen for like one minute in the film. I’m reading the third book right now and can’t wait to see the film! Hoping the American versions of the film don’t totally mess up the books…

Strictly Ballroom – i LOVE this movie. Baz Luhrman directs a mockumentary-type film about the ballroom dancing scene in his native Australia. A reversal of the usual “wrong side of the tracks just wants to dance and fall in love story,” SB features a ugly duckling lady from a poor, adorable Spanish-speaking family living quite literally on the tracks, who wants to dance with a champion, hottie mcNaughty Aussie dancer who is challenging the rigidness and politics of the ballroom dance scene. His mother plays the best role in the film. “Did I fail him as a mother?!” The ending scene and song give me goosebumps every time.

when harry met sally – “you’re right, you’re right, I know you’re right.” On Valentines Day/Singles Awareness Day, J and I sat down and made L watch this iconic film for the very first time in her life. Of course, she loved it. Because its amazing. Incredibly quoteable, very relatable, I think very true picture of how relationships form. The evolution of the fashion and hairstyles on Meg Ryan alone is worth the watch, as well as the supporting roles of Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby (RIP). Also love the adorable vignettes of older couples describing their “how we met”s. Imdb had some great trivia about the film, too.

finding neverland - Oh how I love this film. Two of the greatest actors of our time – Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp – in a great romance that isn’t romantic at all, but based on children and stories and deep, deep love. And adorable little boys with British accents. Based on the true story of how author James Barrie came up with the script for “Peter Pan,” with beautiful cinematography and a sincere look at little boys and the power of their imagination, and how dramatic things can happen that make them want to, or force them to, grow up too fast and leave the loveliness of childhood behind too soon. This movie makes me laugh and cry, and resolve to never let my children watch tv, but to spend all their time playing outside constructing wonderful worlds of fantasy and mischief, and to never tell them not to believe in fairies.

south pacific – That Mizti girl is so precious! Oh she was too cute in this role. Interesting to note that the “Frenchman” is actually Italian, with his songs dubbed over by another Italian using a French accent. I didn’t much like the “Tonganese mother sets up officer with young, beautiful, underage non-English speaking daughter in a sweat lodge and they fall in love on the spot and begin a highly sexualized relationship” story line. But I suppose its rooted in some reality. Altogether too long of a film, too liberal use of color filters, and not enough memorable songs. One of Rog and Hamm’s weaker musicals. Sorry, boys.

caberet – hmm. Considered one of the top 100 films of all time according to AFI. I liked it, to be sure. First film I’ve seen Liza Minnelli in. I think Anne Hathaway is getting acting tips from her. They bear a marked similiar physical appearance and lots of the quirky, upclose facial twitches I see in Anne’s stuff (Becoming Jane, Rachel getting Married, Devil Wears Prada is what I’m thinking of) now I trace back to Caberet.        I love LOVE the song “Maybe this Time,” sad to say I was first introduced to it via “gLee,” but lovely in its original form. I liked the Master of Ceremonies better than Liza’s character. And recognized Basil from “Austin Powers” in his interesting role here. I think I’d like the stage version better, but good overall.

country strong – my first movie in a theater of 2011! We went and saw this as a girls’ night movie, after a fabulous dinner/wine tasting at va di vi in downtown Walnut Creek. I will admit that after reading several reviews, I was prepared for something super cliche, fluffy, and disappointing.There were plenty of cliches, but there were enough sweet moments, cuuuute country clothes, and an awesome soundtrack, with plenty of screen time on the eye candy that is up and comer garrett headlund, that I am somehow able to forgive the baby bird in a box rehab metaphor, the gross tour guy, and the ending that allie and I predicted with half an hour left in the movie, AND the fact that the only real country singer in the whole movie, Tim McGraw (who looked HOT but with more hair than usual…hmmm…) doesn’t ever sing?! Not even on the soundtrack? Filing that one under “things that don’t make sense. Gwyneth actually can sing, which I had forgotten, and they did a pretty good job of making it look and sound like she was. They also did a good job of researching how a country pop star should come up from under the stage, backlighted, and start her concerts. And Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester was surprisingly believable and has some talent. But Garrett definitely stole the show (and the hearts and breath of all females in the audience) with every deep, drawling song he sang, every step in those jeans and denim shirt, every bat of those long, long eyelashes…mmm mmm good. Can’t wait to see more from him. I don’t regret my 11 something dollars for a late Saturnight showing of the film, but its definitely more renter material.

clash of the titans – a lot of my students have seen this…it is somewhat related to my cirriculum… :) actually not a bad movie. I love the cheesiness, the warriors (God bless Sam Worthington), the damsels in distress, the accents, and all the ancient Greece and Rome stuff that I read about and teach all day long coming to life on screen. Pretty awesome effects. Love the guilty pleasure eye candy with minimal thinking involved.

step up 3 – easily the most predictable and plotless stepup movie…still irresistible. Glad I didn’t pay 11 dollars to see the hour and a half long music video in the theater, although it was in 3d and that must have been cool. Considering a study of how many movies there are about wealthy white girls who find their “soul” and meaning by plagiarizing the styles and interests of the lower classes, fall in love with the bad boy, are separated by family, and come through at the end of the film, just in time to save the day, drive off into the sunset, live happily ever after, the end. Where is the story about just how not far her love goes when she realizes how difficult it is to live without her trust fund?

the girl with the dragon tattoo – fantastic. exactly how i pictured it. interesting how someone who is not conventionally pretty, the character of salander, becomes so sexy and irresistible based on her cleverness and quirky intelligence. I can’t wait to see how they show the next film…am currently reading the third installment in the series.

into the blue - guilty pleasure night with the roomie. can i look like jessica alba and date paul walker? that would be nice. thanks.

10 - finally saw the classic film. i wanted to braid my hair afterward. i laughed out loud several times. thank you, old films.

clueless – girls night in! a classic. I could write a dissertation on the magnitude of this film. : )

anchorman - i could perform this movie for you. i have it memorized. will ferrell at his hairy-chested, pleated pants, milk-chugging best.

baby mama – best scene: when tina fey is washing the hair dye out of amy poehler

the young queen - EXCELLENT film. Lovedlovedloved it. cemented  my love for all things british and royally fun.