Looking Forward to Fall Television Season

It's time to begin anticipation of the new television season! The networks are beginning to rerun some of the shows we haven't seen all summer, to get us ready. This was quite evident last night when an episode of Boston Legal was shown just after Grey's Anatomy. Grey's was rerun all summer, and I sort of watched most of them, so as to keep up with the story lines. With shows like Boston Legal, CSI, etc., you can easily pick up where you left off, but on something like Grey's where each epsiode's story is important to the next, I need to watch in order as well as be reminded what was happening. Not that the storylines on a show like Grey's are in any way important, but hey, it's entertainment, right?



And then there are shows like LOST, where I probably should rewatch the entire last season before the new one begins. That show is hard to keep up with from week to week! Especially when a story line is put on the back burner for a while and then brought back later. It seriously takes me a while to get back up to speed, lol! Last season was especially difficult with the split seasons of LOST and Heroes. I think I read they aren't going to do that again. Thank Goodness! But I guess I have plenty of time until LOST is back on.

Edit: Just sort of watched this week's episode of Grey's, for reasons stated above, only to realize that they are shown very much out of order! What's the point then?

Just Friends

The few movies that I've seen Ryan Reynolds in have been goofy sort of movies, and this one was no exception. Don't get me wrong, I loved Van Wilder, watched it many times, but this one just kept crossing the line into too much goofiness for me! I'm always amazed at how great the fat makeup can work, like in Shallow Hal, so that was one reason I watched this. And after watching the depressing Jude, a comedy seemed like a welcome change. I watched the movie all the way through, it wasn't terrible, by any means. If it weren't for Ryan Reynolds good looks, I probably would have turned it off.

Overall, I thought it was ok. If you like this sort of movie, then you would probably enjoy it.

Jude

Another movie I didn't see all the way through, but had seen before. I watched it mainly for the cast. I'm a Doctor Who fan, and wanted to see Christopher Eccleston. Imagine my surprise to find a scene that not only featured him but David Tennant as well! Anyway, back to the movie - the story was almost shocking by today's standards. It is no longer acceptable to fall in love with a cousin, let alone have children with one! Jude and Sue had such a connection though, that it was hard to believe they weren't soulmates. More likely though, they were just two intelligent people who were living before their time. It was more of a problem that they weren't husband and wife, than the fact that they were cousins.

What happens when Jude's young son takes it upon himself to alleviate the problem of the family being too large, is unforgettable! There were some shocking scenes in this movie, no doubt about that! It was even more shocking the way they were placed in what at first appeared to be merely a period love story. Christopher Eccleston & Kate Winslet were enough to make this film special, but the twists in the story took it one step further.

What Women Want

I only saw part of this movie this weekend, but I've seen it at least twice before this and I found it very entertaining. It's a movie, that if I come across it changing channels, I can't turn it off. Nothing specific to say about it, just and enjoyable movie.

Becoming Jane

I actually saw this in the theater! I guess that's obvious, given that it's just been released & limited at that. It was pretty much what I expected, so I wasn't disappointed. I've seen a lot of discussion on movie sites where people are complaining that it wasn't really biographical, but I had researched it beforehand & realized that while it was based on truth, the actual facts were embellished to make the story, much like Shakespeare in Love. If I wanted to see a biography, I'd check the listings for the Biography channel. I went to see this film with the notion that it was more of a story by Jane Austen than about her. The difference I expected was that there would be more Jane in the main character than in say Lizzie Bennet. It was like a lost Jane Austen Novel, the main difference being that there was no happy ending.

Since it was all i expected, I was not disappointed. I love the period costumes & sets, and most of all I am fascinated by the social decorum that was expected. I also was quite shocked to see make out scenes, as you don't find that in Jane Austen novels! I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, and I now doubt that they actually occurred. I'm not sure if any of Jane's primary characters would have done such a thing. Of course you always had the rebellious ones, like Lydia Bennett, and she probably would've made out with Wickham, but I don't believe even Marianne Dashwood would have done that.

There is also controversy over whether and American should've been cast as a famous British author, but this doesn't bother me. Gwyneth Paltrow does it, Renee Zellweger can pull it off, so why not? We have Hugh Laurie on House. I would imagine that even a British actress would have had to study to get the dialect of the period to sound accurate. I thought that Anne Hathaway was fine in the role. More than fine actually, i found her quite convincing. James McAvoy was outstanding, in my opinion. From the moment he came onscreen I knew that she would have a hard time resisting him!

I would recommend this movie to anyone who can't get enough Jane Austen, and is not expecting a purely factual story, as I'm sure that wouldn't be very interesting. I will buy the DVD as soon as it is released and probably watch it again and again!

The Last Kiss

I thought this was a pretty good movie. I would've preferred someone other than Zach Braff as the leading man though. It was hard to believe that he would've attracted the attention of a beautiful young college student. I don't think you could've had a drop dead gorgeous guy in that part either. I just didn't get the attraction on her part. And he certainly stood out like a sort thumb at the party she took him to, and in the halls of the dorms. I suppose that was intentional, to emphasize the fact that he was older.

It was a good study of relationships, and I was happy to see it wasn't always the men in the relationships that were the jerks! Although few relationships are perfect, I also wouldn't want to think that so many are as flawed as those examined in the movie. However just because I don't want to think it, doesn't mean that's not the way it is.

Sense & Sensibility

Another Jane Austen story. And one I had seen a few times before, as well as having read the book. Like Pride & Prejudice, many of the characters from the book were not in the movie. But there were too many extraneous characters in the book, making it hard to keep track of them all. I liked this story very much. The costumes & scenery were great, but I wasn't thrilled with the casting. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay & it was wonderful, but I just couldn't buy her as playing a girl who was supposed to be 19 years old. She looked great for someone in her mid-30's, but let's fact it, was not believable as a teenager! Kate Winslet was much closer to the age of the character she played, but still seemed too old to be playing a 16 year old. If you can look past that, they played the parts well.

I liked Hugh Grant's portrayal of Edward Ferrars, but the movie version of his character was made to seem much less involved with Lucy Steele, whereby allowing him to be more likable than he probably should have been. All in all, a classic Jane Austen happy ending romance, and I can never get enough of them!

Valmont

I watched this when there was absolutely nothing else to watch on a Saturday afternoon, when it was too hot to be outside. I saw Colin Firth was in it and that was enough for me. Annette Bening is very good, but I don't usually put on a movie just to see her. Since I've been on a Jane Austen kick, I thought this would be a similar type movie & it was, but set in France. The main difference being that the characters in this movie were having sex, whereas in the Jane Austen stories, the proper characters aren't unless married. That was pretty much the theme of the movie, sex & fidelity, or the lack thereof!

This was a pretty good story. The actress who played the 15 year old girl, Fairuza Balk, was amazing! Colin Firth can be believable as the Lothario as in this movie, and also as the nice guy as in the Bridget Jones movies. There was something so familiar about Henry Thomas, who played Danceny. I checked him out & saw that he played Elliot in ET, but I know I've seen him in something much more recently. But I didn't see anything else listed for him on imdb that I had seen. Of course, after the movie ended, I realized that this is another one that I know I'd seen before, but years ago. I never seem to realize this when I start watching. Although I used to watch whatever movie looked good, even though it had already started. With online guides & dvrs, that's not a problem anymore, so I'm getting to see the whole movie, start to finish!