It’s somewhat surprising for me to see that I’ve been doing this long enough now that movies I saw in theaters and subsequently reviewed are now hitting DVD. That’s probably nothing new for veteran bloggers, but being a young up-start myself that kind of puts things in perspective. Anyway, personal tangents aside, here are some excerpts, grades, and review links for films that have hit DVD in the last few weeks.
DEFINITELY, MAYBE
From the original review: “DEFINITELY MAYBE is a solid entry into the romantic comedy genre, and one of the more memorable ones of the last little while, mostly because it succeeds in elevating itself from just a straight up romance. It doesn’t break the boundaries of the genre, but at least it gives them a gentle little push.
Overall rating: B+
CARAMEL
From the original review: “CARAMEL remains the rarest breed of romantic comedy, the kind that will tickle your heart and your brain.”
Overall rating: B+
Read the rest of this entry »
By: Alexander B. Huls
The fundamental obstacle every romantic comedy must overcome is the inherent predictability of its genre, while simultaneously being entirely dependent upon it. People go see a rom-com because they want to watch boy and girl meet, fall in love, fall out and back in love, and live happily ever after. What they don’t want to see, however, is a film just going through the motions, adhering to the formula without a somewhat original concept, approach, or tone. Even rom-coms that have those latter things don’t always succeed because it takes some talent to pull it off. This is partly why I find that many modern romantic comedies fail, and why I can’t name you very many that I (a genuine lover of the genre) think have been really good.
DEFINITELY, MAYBE, thankfully, is one of the good ones, largely because writer-director Adam Brooks and the actors of the film succeed in capitalizing on the clever idea of turning a romantic comedy simultaneously into a mystery and a coming of age story.
Shortly before Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) divorce is to be finalized, he relents to his daughter Maya’s (Abigail Breslin) insistent inquiries as to how he met her mother. Instead of telling her directly though, he turns it into a bed-time mystery, telling her about the three major loves of his life (changing their names), and then letting Maya try and guess which one is her mother. From there he recounts the tale of Emily (Elizabeth Banks), his small-town Mid-Western college sweetheart who fears she will lose her boyfriend to the seduction of New York City; April, the charming, quirky, fun super-left Daily Show/Colbert Report type, who (in Maya’s words) is “the best friend who wants to be the girlfriend”; and Summer Hartley, the sophisticated, uninhibited, aspiring journalist.
Read the rest of this entry »
Loading ...
