Last Christmas

 

 

          Last Christmas isn't just your typical holiday movie. it's also a delightful rom/com that has 

   heart (literally). It stars Emilia Clarke ( Game of Thrones) as Kate, an aspiring young woman 

   whose down on her luck, stuck at her dead end job until one day she meets a handsome strange

   man (Henry Goulding, Crazy Rich Asians). He gives her advice to become a better person and

   ends up changing her life for the better. 

          While I liked this movie, there was part near the end that teared me up a bit (spoiler: He 

   was a ghost who died in a biking accident and he donated his heart so she could live on.) 

   This movie was taken from a Wham song and predominately features George Michael songs. 

     

      3/4 Stars

 

Cheap Date Ideas for Valentines

Cheap Date Ideas 

        

         With Valentines coming up pretty fast, here is a list of the things you can do with 

    your SO on a budget.

    1). Attend a free concert/ play in the area

    2). Visit your local farmers market and try out some of the food 

    3). Go to your local bowling alley and bowl 

    4). Go to the library and check out books you're interested in

    5). Visit your animal shelter and play with some of the pets that are up for adoption.

    6). Browse a local secondhand store and look for fancy things to buy.

    7). Go to the mall and go window shop. 

    8). Cheer on your local high school sports team 

    9). Collect seashells at the beach 

    10). Throw a Frisbee around at your local park 

The Legend of Tarzan

The Legend of Tarzan

Dir: David Yates

Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz, Samuel Jackson,
Dijmon Hounsou

       In the hundreds years since Tarzan was written, there have been many portrayals of

    the iconic character. From Johnny Weissmuller to Christopher Lambert and even to 

    a Disney animated film, the character of Tarzan has enjoyed enormous popularity.

    Adapted from the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Legend of Tarzan stars
    Swedish actor Alex Skarsgard in the title role. 

      The movie opens with a bunch of jungle natives getting slaughtered by Leon 

   Rom's (Waltz) soldiers. He acts an emissary for Belgium's King Leopold whose
   country is on the brink of bankruptcy. Leon is sent to Congo where the tribal 
   chief (Hounsou) wants Tarzan in exchange for the valuable diamonds of Opar.
   Since being raised in the jungle, Tarzan left his homeland and settled down in
   England now known as John Clayton.

      Tarzan and his bestie G.W. Williams (Jackson) along with his animal friends 
   help protect his jungle from the evil Leon. Oh yeah, Tarzan is married to Jane too.
   Playing her is the beautiful Robbie who sets out to prove she's no damsel in distress.

    Good: The cinematography was impressive along with Waltz's portrayal of the 
  villain only like he can. Margot Robbie was easy on the eyes. The action scenes
  were epic on such a grand scale.

   Bad: The dependency on CGI and slow motion fight scenes tried covering up the

  lack of a good, coherent story. Robbie and Skarsgard shared absolutely zero 

  chemistry whatsoever. 

   Overall: The trailers for this film made it look exciting but it turned out to be 

  just average. If you want to shut off your brain for a couple hours, this one should
  be right up your alley.

Final Grade: C (7/10)

Beauty & the Beast (2017)

     

Beauty & the Beast
Dir: Bill Condon
Cast: Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Dan Stevens,
Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson

      It has become a yearly tradition for Disney to release a live action adaptation of their

animated classics that started with Cinderella. This is one is based on the 1991 Oscar 

winning film of the same name.

    Emma Watson portrays Belle, a bookish young woman who encounters a lonely beast

(Dan Stevens) while looking for her father (Kline). The cursed beast must find true love

before the last rose petal falls or he remains a beast forever. Living in the dark castle,

he hides from the townspeople never to show his face. Keeping him company are

sentient objects that sing and dance.

   The narcissist villain Gaston (Luke Evans) comes to town looking to marry Belle.

Frozen's Josh Gad plays his sidekick LeFou who constantly praises him. The 

controversy surrounding his character has been blown out of proportion and 

shouldn't have been an issue to begin with.

    The movie was quite enjoyable with its memorable songs. The costumes and

settings were top notch as well as the CGI. There are a few scenes that may be

intense for the little ones but older ones should be able to handle it.

    The Beauty and the Beast is a proper remake and should be regarded as one.

It's a perfect date movie and a tale as old as time. 

    Grade: A (9.5/10)

10 Valentine's Day Movies

Well it's Valentine's Day. A day where couples celebrate love between one another. 

It's also a day for lonely people wishing that they had someone in their lives.

Here are some romantic movies for people who are in love and those that are not.

1. Sleepless in Seattle (1993); Nora Ephron's classic about long distance relationships

starring Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan.

2. Her (2013); Joaquin Phoenix stars as a lonely man who falls for an AI voiced

by Scarlett Johansson.

3. When Harry Met Sally (1988); Rob Reiner's classic about platonic friendships

starring Billy Crystal & Meg Ryan.

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004); Michel Gondry's classic about

trying to forget about someone; stars Jim Carrey & Kate Winslet

5. The Silver Linings Playbook (2012); a bipolar man befriends & hooks
up with depressed young woman (Jennifer Lawrence).

6. While You Were Sleeping (1992); a train booth attendant saves a man and

pretends to be his girlfriend while he's comatose; stars Sandra Bullock.

7. 500 Days of Summer; an indie comedy about a young man (Joseph G. Levitt) 
trying to win over a beautiful young woman (Zooey Deschannel).

8. Scott Pilgrim vs the World; a teenage boy tries to win the heart of a teenage girl
by fighting her seven evil ex boyfriends,  complete with video game sounds;
stars Michael Cera & Mary Elizabeth Winstead

9. La La Land (2016); a musical about a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) falls
for an aspiring actress (Emma Stone).

10. Warm Bodies (2013); horror/action/rom-com: zombie boy begins to turn human
while falling for human girl whose father wants him dead.

13 Going 30

                                      13 Going on 30
             Cast: Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Andy Serkis, Judy Greer

   Today in Melissa's film forum class, we watch the ending to a comedy called 13 Going
 on 30. It's a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. It is about a 
 13 year old girl in the 80's who wishes she was older until the next day, she wakes up 
 17 years later as a 30 year old
     She tries dealing with the responsibilities while being 30 and tries to reconnect with
her platonic friend Matt (Mark Ruffalo). Things become to get complicated while as a
photo editor for a fashion magazine. Once Matt tells her his feelings for her, she begins
falling for him. It has a good ending. Perfect for a date night in or girls slumber party.