The Adjustment Bureau, 2011

Director: George Nolfi

Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

David (Damon) and Elise (Blunt) randomly meet-- and fall for each other in about 5 minutes. But he doesn't get her last name or her number. A few months later, they see each other again on a bus, and this time he excitedly gets her number. But that second meeting wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to get her number, and he wasn't supposed to get to work on time. When he arrives on time, he discovers a bunch of men in suits have stopped time, and are "brainwashing" his coworkers! Terrified, he runs. The men catch him, and that's when he discovers the Bureau, a group of men who work for a mysterious "Chairman", making sure everybody follows "the plan" for their lives.

They tell David that Elise wasn't in his plan, and he must never contact her; they take her number from him to make sure this doesn't happen. They swear him to secrecy, telling him if he ever reveals them, they will wipe his brain clean. (Yikes!) But David knows Elise is special, and rides that same bus every day for 3 years until he finds her again.

But the Bureau is still out to stop them from being together, so they have to fight for their future.

SPOILER: I don't like how the guys are compared to angels, and the "Chairman" to God, kind of making God seem very controlling and erasing free will completely. But I think it ends well, and I really enjoyed watching it.

Limitless, 2011

Director:Neil Burger

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Abbie Cornish

Eddie (Cooper), a writer suffering from writer's block, meets up with an old friend, who offers him a pill, which gives one the ability to use 100% of your brain. Eddie tries it, and his life turns upside down- he finishes his book, he understands business, picks up languages just by half-listening to them, etc, etc. He is superman.

When it wears off, Eddie is back to his normal loser self, so he goes to his friend for more, and finds that he has been murdered. Luckily, Eddie finds his friend's stash of pills, which sets him up for a while, but then the side-effects start to take hold. He literally loses track of time, and hits rock bottom when he becomes the suspect in a murder investigation-- and he has no idea if he even has an alibi.

It wasn't great, but not bad either. It had a happy ending, so I was happy enough, really.

My Blue Heaven, 1990

Director: Herbert Ross

Stars: Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Joan Cusack

Vinnie (Martin), a mobster, enters Witness Protection to testify against other mobsters. His case officer Barney (Moranis) works hard keeping him in line, and away from the other mobsters Vinnie discovers live in his new town. He had assumed they were dead, but is delighted to find that they had all entered the Program, and have different names and lives.

The newly-reunited group of mobsters start a new scam, as they have never been trained for any kind of work except breaking the law. The D.A. Hannah (Cusack) is after Vinnie, and Barney has his hands full keeping the attractive D.A. away from Vinnie so he can testify.

This is cute- Steve Martin is just hysterical!

Pillow Talk, 1959

Director: Michael Gordon (Move Over, Darling)

Stars: Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall, Thelma Ritter

Interior decorator Jan (Day) is having trouble getting any of her calls because of her womanizing party-line partner Brad (Hudson). When she complains to the phone company, they send a woman inspector to Brad to investigate. (Jan's reaction: "They sent a woman! Can you believe that? That's like sending a marshmallow to put out a bonfire.") Brad calls up Jan and they try to settle it by dividing the hours when each will get the phone, but it's not really working.

One of Jan's clients, Jonathon (Randall), also a friend of Brad's, is trying to convince Jan to marry him and tells Brad about her. He also tells about her party-line problems, and Brad catches on to who his friend's love interest really is. Unexpectedly, he meets her at a restaurant, and, awed by her beauty, he comes up with a plan so he can date her and play with her mind. He is "Rex Stetson" from Texas. And, similar to You've Got Mail, Brad pretends to gives her advice about this "Rex". It's quite funny, actually. I didn't think this comedy of mistaken identity was too ridiculous, as we know some are!

Note: This was 1959, and they were doing as much as they could to hint at sex and sexual things, without actually going for it, which, from this century, is almost cute! There are a lot of split screens in this one, where they show both Brad and Jan on the phone chatting. In bed, or the tub!

Sex and the Single Girl, 1964

Director: Richard Quine (Paris When It Sizzles, How to Murder Your Wife)

Stars: Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall

Okay, here's what I was expecting: something like That Touch of Mink: the good girl wants to prove herself to the playboy/bad boy, but just can't do it. Literally. Well, Sex and the Single Girl is NOT That Touch of Mink.

Dr. Helen Brown (Wood) writes a book called Sex and the Single Girl, and it tells women how to land their man. (From watching the film, I suspect that it also discourages marriage and just encourages single girls to be like single guys and go after sex and be free. Pretty sure that's the message in the book!) Well, a no-good playboy writer of a magazine, Bob Weston (Curtis), has an idea of exposing Brown as a virgin, and therefore, a fraud. Using his friend Frank's (Fonda) marriage troubles with his wife Sylvia (Bacall), Weston poses as Frank and goes to see the good doctor to see if she can help him, but also to make her fall for him. They begin to fall for each other, which is stupid, since he's supposedly married. (I didn't like that part. He was also an idiot, so it's a good thing this wasn't a serious movie, but a comedy.)

So, clearly, the above situation makes for some mistaken identities and other such things that are necessary in comedies. Lauren Bacall and Henry Fonda are VERY funny though!

The worst part of the whole film was the car chase at the end of the film. It would not end!!! The best part of THAT was when the cop started crying, and then went crazy. I felt like joining him.

Oh, a cute part was that they kept saying Weston (Tony Curtis) looked like Jack Lemmon. They starred together in Some Like It Hot, along with Marilyn Monroe.

Arranged, 2007

Directors: Diane Crespo, Stefan C. Schaefer

Stars: Zoe Lister Jones, Francis Benhamou

When Nasira (Benhamou), a Muslim, and Rochel (Jones), an Orthodox Jew, start teaching in the same New York school, no one expects them to get along. But they soon find how much they have in common, especially their arranged marriages.

You feel like you are part of their lives for a while. I like those kinds of films. This is a sweet story. It is very like Sabah: A Love Story, which I reviewed in the past couple months. Very enjoyable!

Change of Habit, 1969

Director: William A. Graham

Stars: Elvis Presley, Mary Tyler Moore

Thank God for Family Video. Well, I mean, Netflix has more movies, I guess, and Redbox is pretty much awesome with its $1 new releases. But Family Video is where I found this one- so it will always be special to my heart.

Dr. John Carpenter (Elvis) runs a free clinic in the city, and is in over his head with work, so the local church sends 3 nuns to helps him out. Sister Michelle (Moore) catches his eye, and as they work together at the clinic, they start to fall in love. But she's a nun, so she has some decisions to make.

I love this movie, because it's sweet, and also because it deals with religion and faith in Catholicism, and I guess I like the way it's done.

NOTE: This was Elvis Presley's last film. I also like it because it has the least amount of cheesy music in it. In the beginning Elvis is jamming with some people, and then there's a song in the middle, but not a musical sequence, and then there's one at the end. Really! Elvis wanted to be a more serious actor, and this was a step in the right direction.

It Happened at the World's Fair, 1963

Director: Norman Taurog

Stars: Elvis Presley, Joan O'Brien, Vicky Tiu

Mike (Elvis) goes to the World's Fair in Seattle! He hitches a ride there with a man and his niece, Sue-Lin (Vicky Tiu). When Sue-Lin's uncle has to go meet someone, Mike volunteers taking care of Sue-Lin, whose upset tummy eventually leads Mike to meet one of the nurses working in the First Aid building at the Fair- Diane (Joan O'Brien).

He begins to fall in love, but life isn't all that great, when Mike's friend Danny is hiding something from him, and it could get dicey!

NOTE: At one point, Mike wants to see Diane and needs an excuse because she doesn't want to see him. So he pays a kid to kick him in the shins. The kid- you can't miss it- is a very young Kurt Russell! Awesome!

Jailhouse Rock, 1957

Director: Richard Thorpe

Stars: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler

Not his first film (that was Love Me Tender), but his first film in which he really was the star!

Elvis plays a guy who goes to jail on a manslaughter charge (he got in a fight protecting someone) and in the joint, he learns to play the guitar and sing. He becomes a sensation, and when he gets out, he's famous and has girls going crazy about him and everything! He starts a career with the help of Peggy (Tyler), and they fall in love eventually. Nothing too grand, just a nice, dramatic Elvis movie.

I love the Jailhouse Rock scene! His dancing is ridiculous!

Live A Little, Love A Little, 1968

Director: Norman Taurog

Stars: Elvis Presley, Michele Carey, Dick Sargent

This is a weird one. This strange woman, Bernice (Carey), meets Greg (Elvis), decides she wants him, and proceeds to be crazy and make his life hell. She tricks him into spending the night, causes him to lose his job, moves him out of his apartment and into a new house, and, in general, IS CRAZY! It's a little like Breakfast At Tiffany's, but without the lovable Audrey Hepburn.

No, really, I watch it because it is rather amusing, the way Greg actually likes Bernice.

No, that's not true. It's completely unbelievable to me that Bernice and her behavior would be attractive to anyone.

I watch it because it's ELVIS!!!!

Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Director: George Sidney

Stars: Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret

"The lady loves me, but she doesn't know it yet."

That's a line from the song Lucky (Elvis) sings to Rusty (Ann-Margaret) by the pool at a Las Vegas hotel, where Rusty works (above). It's my favorite of all the songs in the movie, it's so sweet as he chases her around the pool, and she pretends to resist him. But, as he himself tells her, he's hard to resist.

They meet and fall in love when he comes to Las Vegas for a car race. As he fixes up his car, and works at the hotel to pay for his room, their romance deepens. The movie ends with a race and a wedding, but I won't spoil it for you! ;) And there's plenty of music and dancing throughout.

This movie is SO much fun!

A Tribute to the King

In honor of the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, I am having an Elvis movie marathon! These ones are my favorites. (They are the best ones, trust me!)

Viva Las Vegas, 1964

Change of Habit, 1969

Live A Little, Love A Little, 1968

Jailhouse Rock, 1957

It Happened At the World's Fair, 1963

The Goonies, 1985

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Jeff Cohen, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton

The classic treasure-hunting adventure story!

A group of kids (known as "the Goonies") find a treasure map in an attic, and decide to follow it and see if the local legend is true- that pirate One-Eyed Willy really did leave behind a ship and treasure in a cave. Unfortunately, as they follow the map, it leads them to an abandoned restaurant where a family of criminals, the Fratellis, are hiding a dead body. As witnesses to this crime, the kids flee the Fratellis underground, following the map, as it leads them to a spectacular surprise!

It's absolutely wonderful! This isn't a kid's movie; it's definitely scarier than a kid's movie, and there's swearing too- not too much at all, I just thought I'd mention it. I love the kids' acting and the way they work together. It's very different, and refreshing. Their acting seems to make it more real. I just love it!

Since I have seen this movie at least 20 times, I decided this time I would watch it with commentary, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually filmed the actors talking, and frequently showed them talking and interacting, rather than just showing the movie and their voices. And it was the WHOLE cast!! All the kids (except it was 20 years later)

and the director! How often does that happen? That was cool.

(I don't know why this photo says "Bagou" over Mouth, and "Choco" over Chunk. What the heck?

Lethal Weapon 2, 1989

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci

Riggs and Murtaugh return! Hurray! And with them is a new character, Leo (a very hysterical Pesci), a man they must protect from South African crazies who have diplomatic immunity, which, at least in television and movies, is absolutely disgusting. Do people really use diplomatic immunity the way they do in Hollywood? Because if so, why do we have it? It seems wrong to me!

Anyway, it was really good for an action movie. Once again, I've just got to warn anyone who wants to watch it that there is nudity and language, and naturally, violence.

Basically, the good guys fight the bad guys. Riggs is a part of the Murtaugh's family now.

If you liked Lethal Weapon 1, I'm sure you'll like 2!

Lethal Weapon, 1987

Director: Richard Donner

Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover

Um, wow! My parents let me watch this!?!

Okay, it isn't the dirtiest movie out there, and the only nudity is in the first ten minutes: you see a woman's chest and then a little later, Mel's butt. This isn't for kids! I would say it's great for action, because I like Mel Gibson, and he and Danny Glover work so well together as the new partners who hate each other, and then become friends. Language is kind of awful too, but I think this movie might be the best of the series (there are 4) in the language department. The F-word is sprinkled throughout.

Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) has recently lost his wife, and lives for the thrill of near-death situations, even contemplating suicide quite often in his sadness. Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Glover) gets stuck with Riggs as his new partner, and doesn't trust this crazy man with a death wish. But soon, Riggs saves Murtaugh's life, and Murtaugh lets Riggs meet his big family full of wonderful kids, who love Riggs at once. And the two become friends as they fight the bad guys.

It's not as heart-warming as that, but that's basically it. And actually, it was a Christmas movie, so it's supposed to be heartwarming, I guess. And it's nice to watch the other movies in the series, and see how the relationship grows between Riggs and the Murtaughs, and how he becomes part of the family. That's the part I like. They're so sweet!

And in between are lots of fighting, explosions, shooting, and death. Yay!

Note: The director, Richard Donner, sounded very familiar to me, so I looked him up. I found that he also directed Maverick, The Goonies, and the Superman movies! I must have recognized his name from The Goonies, one of the my favorites!

a review pre-view!

Comedies and Action ----from the 80's! Totally Rad!!!

These movies are the ones my dad used to watch in the 90's. I have vague memories of some of these, so it should be interesting to watch them again!

The Dream Team, 1989 (Not anymore!! There's no sound on Netflix, so I am not paying to rent it. Sorry!)

Dragnet, 1987 (This one doesn't work either!)

Lethal Weapon, 1987

Lethal Weapon 2, 1989