Categories
Drama Movie Reviews Romance

The Vow – What if One is to Lose Years of Memory?

Woah.  Just imagine.  If one is to lose years of memory, how would that change his or her life and those around?  While facts of life like who the parents are do not change over time, our recent hobbies, our career, love life, recently acquired skills, friends, things that we shouldn’t have done but did, and things that we should have done but didn’t  do.

That’s why my friends, blogging is good.  While one may forget where he or she stores the diary (if you have one), a website is [more or less] always there.  I see blogging as an extension of my memory, as well as the memory of some of those who are around me.

I guess reading recent events that one has forgotten is not the same as restoring one’s memory.  It is not the same as living it, is it?  And here we are, a movie inspired by true events.  The Vow tells a story of a married couple.  After a road accident, the wife has lost her recent memory.  To the new her, the husband is a stranger and her ex-fiance still gives her butterflies in the stomach.  The recent life changing decisions, all wiped off from her memory.  Given this unfortunately event, can the husband win his wife’s love the second time?

All along, I thought The Vow was a romance comedy.  OK, comedy or not, it is a technical definition.  At the end of the movie, inside the theater, TK on my left said, “This is not a comedy”.  Cynthia on the right said, “This is not a comedy”.  Fine.  Cynthia did cry.  It is an emotional drama.  There are tons of on-screen chemistry between the main characters, in a moving plot.  We felt the pain and joy, and everything else in between.

I am a fan of Rachel McAdams.  To me, she could well be one of the most charming actresses in Hollywood.  Cynthia seems quite pleased with the rather handsome looking Tatum, whom I wish he would supplement his acting with some danceing (he is good at it I remember).  The Vow is about seeing a glass half empty or half full.  It is a story of a second chance not to be used to wipe off the past, but to relive the good and the bad once again.

Categories
Comedy Drama Movie Reviews

Morning Glory – She Really Loves Her Job!

Cynthia knows me well.  I think Rachel McAdams is the most beautiful actress on earth.  So when she suggested watching “Morning Glory”, she just needed to say: It has your favorite actress in it, the one you think most beautiful.  Cynthia also likes Rachel McAdams in this movie.  She thinks Rachel is perky.  I like Rachel’s cheerfulness and her being so natural in front of a camera.  I don’t feel like watching a movie.  I feel like watching a part of her life.

In “Morning Glory”, Rachel is an aspiring news producer who gets laid off, finds another job that requires her to save the show.  It is an early morning show and she wakes up at 1.30 am everyday to go to work.  For Cynthia and I who are finding it difficult to even get up at 7 am in the morning, that is an heroic act.  Looking at how happy Rachel goes to work, we can’t help but to wish that we could be that enthusiastic.  Perhaps happiness at work is made of this: fully immersed with what you do, view every obstacle as a new challenge, and reach out to make friends.  In this story, Rachel is a doer and not a talker – a quality I admire in real life.  The downside of Rachel’s enthusiasm to work is that she is a workaholic.  That I do not endorse.

“Morning Glory” is a funny and lively show.  While I have my doubt on how well this movie depicts the media industry, it is more about how people go about doing their jobs and living their lives.  That I can relate.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Right … So This Is Sherlock Holmes?

Pardon my lateness in writing this.  Given the recent turn of exciting events, I hope it is forgivable.  One may ask: Why write this type of entries for every movie you watch?  I am a Cancer and I am fond of collecting movie stubs.  Until one day I realize that the printing on the movie stubs faints over time.  Besides, I don’t get to collect every movie stub since not every ticket is purchased by me.  Now, I have a record of all the movies I have watched on big screens.  And if you read my so-called ‘reviews’, more often than not, I mix it with my diary making it more personal, more fun for me to read in the future.  Interestingly, some do find some of my views beneficial, which I am humbled.  Some find a common voice within, which I am even more humbled.

I have high hope on Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes”.  It is a classic, correct?  I must confess that I didn’t know who wrote “Sherlock Holmes” and I am amongst the group of readers who thought that Sherlock Holmes exists.  Between you and me, I even thought that “Sherlock Holmes” was written by Agatha Christie.  Now you know that I am not quite into the genre of detective stories.

Or more correctly, reading detective stories make me feel stupid.  Clues are supposed to be everywhere.  And you are supposed to solve the crime as you read the story.  Somehow, I am finding it hard to crack the cases.  As the detective takes the final stage explaining the case, like a magician who leads you to the third stage, the answer is right in your face.  And I always feel stupid, frustratingly inferior.  To whom?

Back to the movie.  Given any normal day release, “Sherlock Holmes” could well be an entertaining film to watch.  But you know during Christmas, there were tons of great movies to choose from (blue aliens anyone?).  We watched “Sherlock Holmes” on a large theater and the sound and image quality didn’t quite match the series of movies we have watched over the holiday season.

A couple of observations on “Sherlock Holmes”.  The filmmakers appear to have borrowed Doyle’s characters with the story written by someone else.  My questions are: Why not name these characters something else?  Why not adapt one of the original stories written by Doyle?  I suppose if the story is well known – though I have yet to read any of his books – many people would have known the ending.  And that is not a great detective story because … ?

Our friend TK seems to enjoy watching “Sherlock Holmes”.  Well, dude, if you want us to join you for “Sherlock Holmes 2”, you better join us for “Twilight 3”!