Spreadin' The Love Around: 16 Writers W/ Reviews Loved~
Dec 14 '04
The Bottom Line This was a challenge to choose only these!
I have decided to spread the love around. Join me? The first twelve are movies (one a miniseries in 8 parts) about the many facets of love between quite different kinds of people. I have loved them all as the 5-star movies they are and will always enjoy watching them again. Though I have reviewed many such movies and made lists, this list promotes the 5-star reviews of some exceptional writers on Epinions because I have not reviewed these movies and want to genuinely spread the love around.
Following the twelve are a few movies whose reviews fascinate me, but I have not yet watched the movies. I hope you enjoy this compilation!
A Beautiful Mind by captaind
For once, the plot benefits by being based on a true story ...that of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash. While mathematics may not be the most interesting of subjects to most people, Nashs battle with paranoid schizophrenia is one of the most completely compelling stories ever portrayed on the big screen. IT has everything ... excitement, suspense, romance (genuine romance, not of the lets have a love interest for the sake of it variety), intrigue, heartbreak, well... everything. (Unless... if your idea of a great film is lots of violence, swearing, jokes about body parts, and naked bodies, you might as well stop reading now... but then you probably realised that...)
http://www.epinions.com/content_150098185860
Annie Get Your Gun by susangranger
"Annie Get Your Gun" tells the story of Annie Oakley, one of the world's most famous sharpshooters, and her legendary rivalry and romance with vaudeville marksman Frank Butler as they tour the country in "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show." The score contains some of Irving Berlin's most memorable songs: "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," "Anything You Can Do," "The Girl That I Marry," "They Say It's Wonderful," "I Got the Sun in the Morning," and the rousing "There's No Business Like Show Business."
http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-5810-29AE7EC2-3A04C252-prod3
Arthur by bruguru
In almost every way, Arthur just has never grown up. His every need is attended to by his faithful butler Hobson (Sir John Gielgud). But thats about to change. One day while shopping, Arthur and Hobson observe Linda Marrolla (Liza Minnelli) stealing a tie in a department store. Its love at first sight, and its time for Arthur to finally grow up. He must decide between Linda, whom he loves and wants to marry, and Susan, whose betrothal to him has been arranged as shrewdly as a Wall Street stock deal by his father and grandmother. If he chooses Linda, he will lose his $750 Million dollar inheritance.
http://www.epinions.com/content_59909443204
Breakfast at Tiffanys by kld718
I have to say over and over again that I really enjoyed this movie. It was perfect for lightening my spirits after a long hard workweek. The story itself was a bit inconsequential and really had no point except to show how love can change a person. Breakfast At Tiffanys was enjoyable because it was mindless. I didnt have to sit there and deliberate over the plot and characters. The plot was pretty straightforward and never strayed; while the characters were basically the same throughout, except for some minor ones thrown in here and there.
http://www.epinions.com/content_82939711108
Dangerous Liaisons by telynor
Today, we have those light on plot, heavy with well, heavy breathing, bodice ripper romances. Lurid covers, lots of purple prose and thick with bosoms and thighs. We feel a touch guilty reading them, but oh, how they make a hot summer afternoon just a bit more, well, summer...
Such was the case with this eighteenth century potboiler. Terrifically adapted from the french novel by Choderlos de Laclos by Christopher Hampton, this movie brings us the best parts of the novel, along with some snappy dialogue, incredible costuming and sets, an outstanding score, and some of the best acting around by Glenn Close, Michelle Pfieffer and in a role that was made for him, John Malkovich. Two young actors also made their early appearances, Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves.
http://www.epinions.com/content_40691273348#ow
Ella Enchanted by flamepillar
First off -- holy Guacamole, Anne Hathaway is good lookin'! Have I seen this girl before? Nope, nope, doesn't look like it. Aside from being good looking, Anne gets to sing, dance, fall in love, endure the taunts of two evil stepsisters, oh yeah and do everything she is told. It kinda turns you on after a while.
This is Ella, born in The Land where fairy tales are made. Just one look at the opening CGI-drenched sweeper shot of the kingdom, and suddenly, the wait for those LOTR DVD's didn't seem so long after all. A pretty typical old voice (Eric Idle) offers some narration, settling us right into the story. Ella is born and she is visited by the magical fairy Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox).
http://www.epinions.com/content_137439972996
Ever After: A Cinderella Story by susidee34
Almost a tomboy in effect, she encounters the Prince one day while he is trying to procure one of the farm horses. Seems the Prince isnt exactly happy with his life either. Promised to the daughter of the Spanish king in order to draw their countries together, the Prince has dreams as well. He believes you have to love the person you are going to marry, something practically unheard of at that time and certainly not to royalty.
http://www.epinions.com/content_79635779204
Love Actually by quidrock
But, fun and movie stars aside, this is intrinsically a movie about love, and (director) Curtis uniquely captures it in all of its disguises, on film. The sparks are visible between Grant and Natalie (McCutcheon), his assistant, as improper as they might be construed. The anguish of betrayal is real and compelling when Karen (Thompson) blunders into the secret relationship between her husband and his secretary...
Aside from Emma Thompson's vignette, which deals with the down side of love and relationships, the Laura Linney tale is also heartbreaking. Linney plays a young woman so devoted to her disabled brother that she cannot have a romance of her own, even when the one she craves opens up for her. The love triangle with Knightley as the centerpiece of a wedding video made by Mark (Andrew Lincoln), her husband's best man, is a true testament to unrequited love, another sad side. Their juxtaposition with the more positive tales prove that Curtis knows whereof he speaks when he writes about the up and down of relationships. http://www.epinions.com/content_124774944388
Philadelphia by artbyjude ... extremely long
I thought it was an astonishing film, but I wonder how many people avoided it, as they avoided anything to do with being Gay, and God forbid, AIDS. This movie packs a multiple whammy. It shows gay people as they most often are, regular folks with jobs, concerns, and values not so dissimilar from everyone else. It shows a gay couple loving each other, not physically, but through tenderness, the way human being are supposed to care for each other. It shows a loving , supporting, and non judgmental family, as role models for parents who discover that a child may be gay. It shows someone dying with dignity, as gently as possible surrounded by love and laughter. And, incidentally, almost as an afterthought, it shows the triumph of the little guy over the powers that be.
http://www.epinions.com/content_103835864708
The Thornbirds by AliventiAsylum
Its nice to see an adaptation of a novel that stays true to the story, as this production has done quite well. At more than eight hours already, some of the plots in the novel needed to be written out, but the overall tone of the production stayed quite the same. The story is not just about the love between Father Ralph and Meggie, but also about a lonely old woman who uses her money to manipulate those around her for fun and revenge; a story about the hardships of one family; a story of the dynamics within that family and what happens when one child is favored above all others; a story of politics and ambition in the
church. http://www.epinions.com/content_132263480964
While You Were Sleeping by nedipooh
I think so many of us have "been Lucy" at some point in our lives. Times when you feel so terribly alone. Times when you just need to hear a human voice. Even when that voice is your own. "Sitting here in a hospital in the middle of the night, talking to a man in a coma". If you've never been there, consider yourself very blessed indeed.
http://www.epinions.com/content_153640406660
Witness by Simply Crispy
Witness is at its best when playing on simple human emotions, (Director) Weir orchestrating the underlying sexual energy that slowly begins to draw Book and Rachel together with the softest of hands, allowing his leads to actually act. The perfect delight coming from such beautiful, spine-tingling moments such as when the two dance to a tune on an old car radio with nothing more than the glow of a simple lantern illuminating their lovelorn faces. Theirs is a love that dare not speak its name, as both realise that their differing lifestyles will ultimately prove stronger than matters of the heart.
http://www.epinions.com/content_75200695940
Movies That Sound Fascinating
Before Sunrise by voxpoptart
And in one more virtue I havent yet mentioned, Richard Linklater invokes Steinbergs Law: If at all possible, involve a cow. A brown cow? I wont tell you how, now. It ought to be entirely surplus to the pleasures of staring at Julie Delphy as she attempts to imitate a telephone answering machine, or of waiting for a great work of poetry to be scribbled out using the word milkshake, or of watching Ethan Hawke pick pointless fights about other people and be laughed off and wishing I wish _I_ was cute enough to get away with that, then realizing he doesnt get away with it, entirely. But if the cow is what you need, there is one. Sort of. Youll see what I mean. Ok?
http://www.epinions.com/content_103129386628
Everyone Says I Love You by lemonlime
However, saying that Everyone Says I Love You was a vast departure for Allen doesn't necessarily hold true. Many of the elements had been seen before in classic Allen comedies like Annie Hall or Manhattan. And though he never produced a musical before, music had played a large role in many of his films (especially Radio Days). Perhaps, then, that is what makes Everyone Says I Love You so enjoyable: the new spin on old material. Or perhaps it's the brilliant synthesis of old musical standards ("Makin' Whopee", "Just You, Just Me", etc.) with modern characters and plotlines. Or maybe it's just something we'll never fully understand (the same "something we'll never understand" that has caused many people to not enjoy this brilliant film, I might add!). But, in my humble opinion, this is as good as it gets. Characters breaking into song and dance in the middle of a hospital, at a funeral, even in a taxi cab...it's something you just have to see for yourself to fully understand.
http://www.epinions.com/content_91012894340
The Quiet American by pmills1210
The film version of "The Quiet American" comes at a time where Americans have been anything but quiet regarding their feelings about the now-deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. Still, they are eager to turn on their charm for the world - as long as the world embraces the concept of the American idea of fair play. Thomas Fowler is a man who looks every gift horse in the mouth, and he doesn't like what he sees when American aid comes to Vietnam. Their arrival becomes personal in more ways than one to Fowler. The quiet Americans are much like the quiet neighbors. One day, they're pleasant, and minding their own business. The next, they feel it's their business to lay down the law, and are willing to go to war over it. In a microcosm of the battle, Thomas Fowler and Alden Pyle are in a war to buy the affection of Phoung. Her future could go to the higher bidder, or it could go elsewhere. "The Quiet American" shows that, perhaps, Americans still have not learned their lesson about involving themselves in matters that don't directly concern them. "The Quiet American" starts as a film of quiet power, but becomes less quiet with every passing minute. It's a film that says money and power aren't everything. Real concern for others begins with a heart and a soul, and those qualities come with a price that cannot be measured.
http://www.epinions.com/content_100525510276
Vivid by jacksommersby
Vivid amazes in a lot of areas. One of them is in having Cole and Billie stay loyal to one another. Instead of going the easy-to-please route by having them temporarily separate and taking on different sex partners to lend physical variety to the proceedings, Evan Georgiades displays courage and confidence in centering on his two main characters and keeping the focus on them throughout. These two do get into their fair share of arguments, though, which is perfectly understandable on Billie's behalf because, as it plays out, she can't get la*id without being covered in goop ("Are we ever gonna make love without making a painting out of it?" and "We used to go out; we used to do things. Now all we do is sit around and paint."). It also doesn't help that Cole's agent is oblivious to the personal toll it's taking on her client's relationship ("I don't know what's going wrong with your personal life, but absolutely nothing is going wrong with your paintings.").
http://www.epinions.com/content_77503041156
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Epinions.com ID:
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Member: Jan Peregrine
Location: Lincoln, NE
Reviews written: 1577
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