Starring: Kathy Baker, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Amy Brenneman, Hugh Dancy, Maggie Grace
Released in 2007
When a fellow Jane Austen fan heard that I was looking for DVDs to watch for this blog, she immediately recommended this movie to me.
The basic plot of the movie is that a group of friends decides to start a book club in which they will read only Jane Austen novels. They start the club in hopes of cheering up two of the members of the club: one has recently gone through the death of her favorite dog, and the other is in the middle of a messy divorce.
There are six members of the book club: Sylvia, a woman who just found out her husband of more than 20 years has been cheating on her, and is now going through a rough divorce; Sylvia’s daughter Allegra, a lesbian with a love of extreme activities such as skydiving; Jocelyn, who refuses to be in a relationship with anyone other than her dogs; Prudie, a high school French teacher in a struggling marriage who is in love with one of her ... more »
Posted: September 21, 2009 11:39 pm | 3 comments
Tags: DVD reviews, DVDs, movie reviews
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard
Released in 2008
Mamma Mia is based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which was written using ABBA songs. I’ve never seen the musical myself, but the film adaptation keeps the same plot and most of the same music.
The movie is about a girl named Sophie, who is about to get married. She doesn’t know who her father is, but her mother’s old diary has given her some clues. She has found three different men—Sam Carmichael, Harry Bright, and Bill Anderson—who could all potentially be her father. She decides to invite all three of them to her wedding, which is taking place on a small island in Greece. She is hoping that she will immediately know which one is her father, or that she will at least be able to figure it out with some help from the men or her mother.
The unexpected arrival on the island of three of her old boyfriends obviously causes extreme dismay for Sophie’s mother, Donna ... more »
Posted: October 5, 2009 7:08 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVD reviews, DVDs, movie reviews
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long
Released in 2009
This movie features nine main characters, all of whom are struggling in their romantic lives and all of whom are somehow connected to each other.
The movie starts with Gigi going on a blind date with Conor and getting upset when he doesn’t call her afterwards. She obsesses over it and finally decides to try to find him at a bar, where she meets his friend Alex. Alex tells her the brutal truth that Conor isn’t remotely interested in her. Gigi and Alex become friends, and he counsels her about the men in her life, most of whom he insists aren’t interested in her. However, soon Gigi starts to feel more than friendship for Alex, and she is very upset when she realizes that he doesn’t feel the same way.
Meanwhile, Gigi’s friend Janine and her husband Ben are setting up their new home together. However, what J ... more »
Posted: October 14, 2009 10:54 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVDs, movie reviews, reviews
Starring: Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Allison Janney, Elijah Kelley, Queen Latifah, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brittany Snow, John Travolta, Christopher Walken
Released in 2007
Hairspray is a fun movie with an amazing soundtrack. Although for the most part the movie is bright and bubbly, it does also deal with some serious issues, in particular racism. This movie is based on the Broadway musical, which is based on another film version that was released in 1988.
The movie takes place in Baltimore in the 1960s. The main character is “pleasantly plump” Tracy Turnblad. Tracy wants nothing more than to sing and dance on the Corny Collins Show, a popular TV show that features Link Larkin, who nearly every teenage girl in Baltimore is in love with. However, Tracy’s mother Edna (interestingly played by John Travolta; the role is traditionally always played by men in the musical) disapproves of the show and doesn’t want Tracy to go on it. Despite her mother’s wishes ... more »
Posted: October 20, 2009 10:55 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVDs, movie reviews, movies
Starring: Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, Shirley MacLaine
Released in 2005
“In Her Shoes” is about Rose and Maggie Feller, two sisters who seem to have nothing in common. Rose is a successful lawyer, while Maggie never graduated from college, is unemployed, spends most of her time partying, and has nowhere to live. After their stepmother kicks her out, Rose lets Maggie move in with her. However, she soon starts to get annoyed with the fact that Maggie is lazy, sloppy, and prone to stealing. After Rose catches Maggie sleeping with her boyfriend, she finally kicks her out.
Meanwhile, Maggie has discovered that after their mother died, their father decided to ask their grandmother not to stay in contact with the girls. Now, with nowhere else to go, Maggie turns to this grandmother, Ella, that she never knew she had. With Maggie living in Florida with Ella, the two sisters have this time apart to learn some important lessons about themselves—the most important being, of course, that th ... more »
Posted: October 26, 2009 4:04 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVD reviews, DVDs, movie reviews, movies
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter
Released in 2009
This movie is based on the book of the same name by Sophie Kinsella. However, while the book takes place in London, the movie takes place in New York.
The main character is Rebecca Bloomwood, who gets a job at the financial magazine Successful Savings. Her job is to write articles giving people financial advice, under the name “The Girl with the Green Scarf.” However, there’s one huge problem with this—Rebecca isn’t in control of her own finances, not even close. She’s a shopaholic who finds it completely impossible to control her urge to spend money. She is constantly hiding from her credit collector, making excuses not to meet with him and even telling people that he’s her stalker so they’ll keep him away from her.
A lot of the scenarios that happened in the movie were pretty ridiculous and hard to believe. However, I did think that Isla Fisher did a good job with her character. And it was interesting ... more »
Posted: November 3, 2009 8:11 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVDs, movie reviews, movies
Starring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters
Released in 2007
This movie takes place at the end of the 18th century and is based on the true story of Jane Austen’s life. Fans of Austen will be able to see the many similarities between her six novels and the author’s own life.
Jane lives with her parents and three siblings in the English countryside. Her family is poor, and her mother wants Jane to marry a rich man so she won’t be economically dependent on her family, and also so she can help them out. She scorns Jane’s idea of living by her pen, insisting the only way to get money is by marriage. Mrs. Austen’s dreams come true when a wealthy neighbor, Mr. Wisley, shows an interest in Jane. However, Jane can’t bring herself to marry without love, and she definitely doesn’t love Wisley. Meanwhile, the Austens’ neighbors’ cousin, Tom Lefroy, comes to stay from London. He and Jane start off mutually hating each other and arguing constantly. However, ... more »
Posted: November 16, 2009 2:46 pm | 0 comments
Tags: DVD reviews, movie reviews
