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Valentine's Day (2010)
Valentine's Day (2010)
2010 | Comedy, Romance
9
6.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Ashton Kutcher has put down his pranks and camera to return to the big screen leading in this star packed Los Angeles romantic comedy. This feature ties together stories of love, truth, and romance, all taking place within the span of a single Valentine’s Day. The film considers relationships from multiple angles and does a fantastic job intertwining individual stories into a single plotline. Yet before preparing for another “Love Actually” let it be know that the tone of “Valentine’s Day” is entirely its own.

As previously mentioned the cast is comprised of film and television stars including but not limited to Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo, Queen Latifah and not one but two Jessicas (Biel and Alba). As if that were not enough to drawn in big numbers at the box office, “Valentine’s Day” also stars Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, as well as the Mc-actors from Grey’s Anatomy (Patrick Dempsey and Eric Dane). Still not convinced? Then add in Shirley MacLaine, George Lopez and both Taylors (Swift and Lautner) and you’ve got yourself a guaranteed hit, but does the film actually utilize this outstandingly one of a kind cast? Actually it does.

The film is unexpectedly scattered with all the ups and downs of Valentine’s Day from pink and red color schemes to an anti-Valentine’s piñata beat down. All of the scenes are either engaging and honest or delightful and light covering romantic scenarios that truly run the gauntlet. Seriously where else are you going to see Julia Roberts in fatigues and Anne Hathaway as an adult phone entertainer?

I honestly wish there was more to gripe about considering that this film is just a fun romantic comedy, but “Valentine’s Day” is fresh and enjoyable for every minute of the film. Much funnier than I ‘d expected and not insultingly mushy, Valentine’s Day is a perfect date movie which will be a surprise hit even for those romance cynics.
  
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JT (287 KP) rated A Good Year (2006) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
A Good Year (2006)
A Good Year (2006)
2006 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
6
4.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This is certainly not your conventional Ridley Scott film, but it’s one that was well shot but not very well written. Investment broker Max Skinner (Russell Crowe) knows only one thing, how to make money. But when he inherits his Uncle’s chateau in Provence where he spent much of his childhood he must decide between the life he has in London or the life in France.

After arriving in Provence the only thing on his mind is to sell, but with childhood memories floating all around him as well as women it’s not long before the predictable is happening.It provides enough and features some telling performances but it’s simply not funny enough to register as the comedy it so desperately strives to be. The film most notably reunited Scott with Crowe and their first foray into a romantic comedy, with not a great deal of success.

A Good Year has scenery could not be more fitting for a romantic comedy, and the picturesque winery is paramount to the beautiful shots it creates. However, at times it looks more like a car advert than a film.

On the comedy aspect there are a few small laughs but they fall flat as Crowe is not able to deliver on them, you wonder if Hugh Grant might have done a better job. Crowe’s upper class English accent is out of place against the free flowing French that is predominant throughout and he’d probably feel more at home with large sword in his hand as opposed to a wine bottle.

The introduction of Uncle Henry’s supposedly long lost daughter throws a complicated spanner in the works which does more harm than good. It’s a heartwarming tale and it will tug on the heart strings of all the old romantics out there, but Scott and Crowe have never made a romantic comedy before and it certainly shows. It’s not got the characteristics of a fine wine, but may get past some peoples tastes.
  
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Richard Curtis recommended Knocked Up (2007) in Movies (curated)

 
Knocked Up (2007)
Knocked Up (2007)
2007 | Comedy, Romance
8.4 (7 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I don’t know why because I’m almost never in Los Angeles, but I went to the premiere of Knocked Up. Some cousin of Judd Apatow‘s was going to propose to his girlfriend, but was shy, so what Judd did was brought up the cousin and his girlfriend onto stage and Jack Black hid behind, knelt on the floor behind the cousin, and very noisily proposed to her. So the first time I saw the film I was in a very good mood having had such a brilliant start. But Knocked Up, like The Hangover which is also wonderful, is full of really really funny things; particularly the friends. When that group of friends is together, everyone has a sort of weird idiosyncratic joke which is perfectly expressed every time they appear, from the guy with the beard downwards. There are so many other funny things — when Kristen Wiig is rude to Katherine Heigl when she gets her job, and she’s going on about how lucky she is to get the job, it’s completely hilarious. Both Seth Rogen and Katherine are so charming and funny, and it’s so modern, on the edge and hard; a real romantic film. I think that if romantic comedies are meant to be romantic and funny, then that’s a perfect example. It’s very relaxed and at ease with itself, and doesn’t try too hard, or doesn’t seem to be trying very hard, and I think that’s very much to do with how Judd makes his movies. I’m sure he knows exactly what he wants, but it does have a slightly improvisational edge to it, because he does work with people that he knows very well, so there’s a naturalness to it, and I think it’s a great modern film. I haven’t seen Funny People yet, but I have very high hopes for it, I’m looking forward to it a great deal."

Source
  
Billy and Me
Billy and Me
Giovanna Fletcher | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a very, very different genre than I usually read. It was romantic and contemporary and kind of cliche and gross. But I will admit that it was written well.

Despite the gooey topics, this book was easy to sit and read through. The writing was good, though some of the speech didn't feel particularly authentic. My main problem was how cliche this was. A young woman who loves classic literature andworks in a tea shop meets a movie star without realising who he is and falls in love... Yeah, it's kind of a stereotypical romance. I hate this sort of thing. It's tacky and just ugh. But there was more to it than just the romance, which was very good. Sophie had her own issues to deal with, stemming from childhood grief and caring for her mother. It even had a really tragic moment toward the end, that didn't involve the actor - Billy - much at all.

As I mentioned above, the language wasn't always particularly fluid. It sometimes felt like Fletcher was trying too hard to make it more romantic and emotional. Billy was pretty much 'perfect' and extremely romantic, probably extremely unrealistically so. He was likeable, still, just not very realistic.

Sophie herself was a bit... not annoying, but she's not my favourite protagonist ever. She was trying too hard to be unique and strong and independent and it just irritated me. I get what Fletcher was going for (I think) but I just didn't love Sophie that much at all.

Like most other contemporary novels (not that I've actually read many of them), Sophie's life comes together perfectly at the end. Well, not quite perfectly, but the ending was sickly sweet. But I'm a bit of a cynic. You might like this more than me.

Despite the genre and gross cutesy lovey stuff, I think this deserves 3.5 stars. The writing was good and I did actually enjoy reading it.