Marley & Me (2008)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822832/
Director: David Frankel / Script: Scott Frank & Don Roos & John Grogan
Runtime: 115min
Cast: Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Dane, Alan Arkin
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance / Family
Tagline: Heel the love.

This is not just a film about a cute dog. It is so much more than that. Encompasses themes such as family, marriage, parenthood, work, loss and realistically presents life. The story is basically the life of two journalists, John and Jenny who not long after their marriage, happen to adopt Marley, a Labrador pup. He is incorrigible, testing everyone’s patience; he seems like the world’s worst dog. But also happens to become a very important member of the Grogan family, being there with them through most of their experiences and all of life’s ups and downs. It is based on the best-selling autobiographical book by columnist John Grogan.

The movie proved to be highly entertaining, heartwarming and funny. The amusing part is made up mostly by Marley’s mischief. The art direction and photography is exceptional; beautiful sceneries right from the beginning. The soundtrack also is pleasurable, appropriate tunes for the dynamic, frisky moments just as for the dramatic, touching ones. I also found the editing interesting; liked how there is a three-minute sequence, where so many things get summed up about the life with Marley, all shown in quick little flashes. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson make a sparkling couple on screen, with likable performances. But still, Marley seems to be the main character of the movie, which was embodied by twenty-two different dogs during the movie. Jenny and John face hardships, but what makes the movie lovely, is that they manage to be happy. “No one tells you how hard this is all going to be” – giving up on things, work, parenting, marriage; in one word: life. Marley is there, in every phase of their lives, and the way the bond is presented would touch the heart of anyone, not just a pet-lover. It is interesting how time passes in the movie; basically the movie covers at least fifteen years of Jenny and John’s life. I only wished the last half an hour was a bit shorter. It became too emotionally overwhelming; I couldn’t hold my tears back. “A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about?” Anyhow, this movie attempts quite powerfully to make you shed a few tears.

I expected it to be good, but it was even better. The story of the world’s worst dog and his irreplaceable space in one family managed to state its positive message. It’s a movie for anyone looking for a poignant comedy, and anyone who is looking for something else too.

Shrek 1-2 (2001,2004)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126029/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298148/
Directors: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
Script: Will Steig, T. Elliott, T. Rossio, Joe Stillman, R. Schulman, D. Weiss, J.D. Stem.
Runtime: 90 / 93min
Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
Genre: Animation / Adventure / Comedy / Romance
Tagline: Fairy tales will never be the same again.

Shrek is a quality, non-traditional fairytale which brought us lots of fun and entertaining adventures. In the first movie, we meet with Shrek, a green ogre living in isolation in his swamp, which becomes populated by banished fairy tale creatures. In order to get his swamp back he goes to Lord Farquaad, who sets him on a quest: rescue Princess Fiona from the dragon-guarded castle and bring her to be his wife. The sequel is about meeting the in-laws, who have no idea that they are meeting ogres, moreover Fiona and Shrek’s marriage ruins a few plans of the king with Fairy Godmother, who set out to clear Shrek out of the way. All these adventures happen in the omnipresence of the annoyingly adorable Donkey.

It’s very inventive, with interesting characters and funny lines. It’s a nonconformist fairy tale, where princes are not charming, princesses are not perfect and fairies are villains. However, many fairy tale clichés appear in the movie, these are mostly all reinvented. The graphics are beautiful with detailed, colourful, and picturesque animations. I can say that Dreamworks is a worthy rival for Pixar. The soundtrack is made up of dynamic, popular songs. Action, adventure, romance and fun are balanced. The sequel is surprisingly good. (but not the third, which lost much of its charm and good lines; seemed totally forced) While working on Shrek, Shrek 2 was already being made. The sequel provides with new and interesting characters like Puss In Boots, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother. Shrek and Fiona’s love is pictured heartwarmingly. In a way these Shreks present more modern, “realistic” fairy tales. The unconventional approach manages to be entertaining without being too silly. Of course, there are flaws (some of the characters, some musical and fight scenes), but all in all it’s fun with its particular humour, quality animations and its original characters. The setting is great with a varied set of places, the faces are expressive and the voices are matching. Cameron Diaz’s voice is very pleasant, Myers as Shrek is agreeable with his accent. And I haven’t even mentioned Donkey yet. Well, he’s my favourite. Eddie Murphy’s voice and comedic skills are perfect. His personality together with the graphics makes Donkey hilarious and adorable, even when he is supposed to be annoying a.k.a. all the time. It’s also interesting to think the characters haven’t even met; they read their lines separately.

This is a light-hearted animation with lots of adventures and good laughs. Some of its jokes are unforgettable (like “are we there yet?”). And the characters are successful for good reasons. Who would have ever thought of a green ogre?

Just Like Heaven (2005)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425123/
Director: Mark Waters / Script: Peter Tolan, Leslie Dixon, Marc Levy
Runtime: 95min
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Waters
Genre: Comedy / Romace / Fantasy
Tagline: It's a wonderful afterlife.

You don’t have to believe in spirits to enjoy this movie. You just have to believe in the power of love and to be prepared for an entertaining romantic comedy which makes you in a moment laugh yourself silly and in another moment water your eyes. Elizabeth is a workaholic doctor, who is left in a coma following an automobile accident. David, moves into her apartment and meets Elizabeth’s ghost, who has no idea that she is between life and death.

It is heartwarming, sweet and also funny. When Elizabeth and David argue over the ownership of the apartment and the way they tease each other is hilarious. Only David can see Elizabeth’s ghost, so many times he appears as he were talking to himself. Reese Witherspoon is lovely; her presence only makes the movie worthwhile. You got to love her satirical side. David and “Lizzie” set out to find out who she was and ultimately try to convince the world around them that even if she was against artificially prolonged life, she must be kept alive. Little by little they move from animosity to love. Of course, the storyline is not very realistic, but that doesn’t prevent it from being highly enjoyable. Besides, anything can happen in the movies, you just have to have an open mind. It is somehow similar to “Ghost”, but I found this one much better. And as I had mentioned before, this movie not only makes you laugh, but it is also touching. Definitely leaves you with a pleasant movie experience.

This is a nice date movie; it’s rather poignant and funny. A supernatural flick which has some real charms to reveal. Because of its lighthearted romance and dreaminess, I categorize it as definitely worth seeing.

Meet Joe Black (1998)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119643/
Director: Martin Brest / Script: Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno, Kevin Wade, Bo Goldman
Runtime: 178min
Cast: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber, Marcia Harden, Jeffrey Tambor
Genre: Drama / Romance / Fantasy / Mystery
Tagline: Meet Joe Black: Sooner or Later Everyone Does

This is a truly moving picture, a quality production with deep messages conveyed almost artistically. William Parish on his 65-year-old birthday gets visited by Death in the disguise of a handsome stranger, Joe Black. He proposes a deal: Parish should be his guide in giving him a glimpse of the human life and he will delay his passing away. Nobody knows who this stranger is but they can all deduct that he is a very important person for Parish. Joe Black develops certain interests in life and love, particularly in Parish’ beautiful daughter, Susan.

In the three hours – which fly by in an instant, the film transmits essential and deep thoughts about life, death, happiness and most importantly - I cannot appreciate enough - its portrayal of love. Just consider these few lines to see what I mean “Love is passion, obsession, someone you can’t live without. If you don’t start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who’ll love you the same way back.” Absolutely my conception about what love is or should be. The actors are excellent. Anthony Hopkins is convincing as always, and Brad Pitt as Death, conveys perfectly the innocent wonder and the joy of discovering elements of the human life. The process of learning is interesting; he seems so clumsy and naïve and still powerful. I also liked the way Death is humanized, being able to feel love and experience all kinds of emotions. He doesn’t seem like a malevolent force at all. Brad Pitt is perfect for the role and together with Claire Forlani there surely is some powerful chemistry on the screen; two perfectly beautiful people. I have never seen in any movie such intense, passionate and sensual scenes of a sexual nature. The soundtrack absolutely contributes to the flesh creeping sensation; Paul Newman’s music is perfectly appropriate and that recurrent melody is beyond beautiful. Also, the art and photography direction is great just as the editing. The movie is pretty slow-paced,there is a lot of silence in it, which might be a problem for some people; I found it even deeper owing to its pace. It left the viewer time to reflect and to fully absorb and savour what the film had to give. The plot seemed to have no flaws. The whole movie seemed flawless!

This is an emotional, captivating and deep masterpiece. For some reason, it gave me the sense of my first love. It left me full of emotions, mesmerized me and kept me thinking about it for days. The movie about life and death: “If we’re lucky, maybe, we’ve got some nice pictures to take with us.”

Evening (2007)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765447/
Director: Lajos Koltai / Script: Susan Minot & Michael Cunningham
Runtime: 117min.
Cast: Claire Danes, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Mamie Gummer, Toni Colette, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep
Genre: Drama / Romance
Tagline: Her greatest secret was her greatest gift.

The movie puts on screen the romantic past and the present state of Ann Lord. The drama in the present focuses on the mother-daughter relationship of Ann and her children; the past, consisting of flashbacks, presents the young Ann, and her story of lost love, which results in two narratives in the movie. There are constant shifts from present to the past: the present depicts the aged Ann’s slow death and her struggle with her memories of the past, and also presents the life and conflicts of her two daughters, Connie and Nina. The past gives us insight into Ann’s memories of her youth, of the only man she ever loved.

Though the two narratives seem almost equally developed in the script, the mystery of the past gains more interest. The past unfolds mostly around one major event, namely Lila’s wedding. The cast is well-chosen. The resemblance of the young and old Lila is remarkable, no wonder, they are embodied by a real-life mother and daughter. Harris, whom everyone is in love with, is charming indeed, the way he looks at Ann melts hearts, and the young Ann is strikingly beautiful. I’ve read that for the role of Ann, Keira Knightley was considered, and though I like her too, I’m glad Claire Danes got to play Ann. For some reason it suits her better considering the movies she and Keira played in; and she makes a stunning couple with Patrick Wilson. Lila gets married with a man she doesn’t love; her character is admirable; Mamie Gummer is lovely. Ann sings at Lila’s wedding and in some more scenes. The movie was filmed in Rhode Island; the mansion on Newport Beach is a beautiful sight, quite a place to remember on one’s deathbed, especially if such a love affair was related to it. What I most liked about the soundtrack is that there is a recurrent melody, though it’s quite a sad tune. I also liked the costume design; at times Ann was wearing the most enchanting dresses. Even from the start we have a feeling that Buddy, Ann’s friend is in fact in love with her. His disappearance prefigures the tragedy that awaits him. Ann has a brief affair with the mysterious Harris, who she is unable to forget. Besides Harris’ memory, she is troubled by thinking of herself as a terrible mother. There are also some strange scenes from the present which must be Ann’s delusions. The old Ann gets visited by the old Lila, and finally makes peace with herself.

The story is touching and a bit sad, but ends optimistically. It is a powerful movie, nicely told, with strong themes. It’s quite sad how beauty fades with time, and we can hardly imagine how someone looked like when young. At times, the script could have used some more explanation, but I guess it would have meant the loss of that nostalgic aura which the movie is surrounded with. For example, I can’t imagine why Ann and Harris’ affair end; there is no explanation for it. However, the movie provides with subtle teachings about life, love and human relationships, respectively motherhood. It’s a quite an emotional and mature piece.