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LAMB #393

Large Association of Movie Blogs

1001 Movies Club

Grade Scale

  • A+: Never say never
  • A: A masterpiece
  • A-: A near-masterpiece
  • B+: Very good movie
  • B: Good movie but some minor flaws
  • B-: Pretty good but some flaws
  • C+: Slightly above average
  • C: Average
  • C-: Mediocre
  • D: Bad movie!!!
  • F: Atrocious, avoid at all cost!

Movie Soundtrack of the Day: Let it Be

From the musical Across the Universe (2007), a fantastic gospel version of the Beatles’ Let it Be. Just to clarify, this is actually part of the movie, not a music video:

Movie Soundtrack of the Day

“Falling Slowly” from the movie Once. No need for introductions :)

Movie Review: Once (2007)

You know what? This is exactly why I love to watch non-mainstream movies: small independent production and foreign movies that don’t really get much exposure on the US market. All of this so I can find little GEMS like the Irish modern day musical Once, directed and written by John Carney. The movie was shot for only about $160K which makes the overall effort even more remarkable!

The film stars Glen Hansard (as unnamed hero), and Marketa Irglova (unnamed girl). Both are professional musicians in real life and composed and sang all the songs in the movie. Although they aren’t professional actors, they did a solid job acting and their chemistry felt real and was convincing. The movie was shot with hand-held cameras in the streets of Dublin and it gives the movie a very particular documentary-raw feel to it.


Once is at heart a simple romantic movie inside a musical: a man meets a woman in the street and they make music together to heal the pain inside them. The refreshing thing about Once is that it is completely Hollywood cheese-free! The music and rendition of the songs are amazingly moving and did I tell you they made the movie on a nearly inexistant budget??!! The ending of the movie was perfect, completely the opposite of what you would find in a Hollywood movie. Thank you Cinema Gods for Once!

A: I loved it! A truly magical movie. You know what? If you can truly listen to a song and make it yours, then you will love Once.

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Don't forget to vote! What did YOU think about the movie?
Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)

Movie Review: Across the Universe (2007)

A quick review of Across the Universe, a musical I rented a few days ago just because Across the Universe is one of my favorite songs of all-time. Pretty solid movie overall, definitely flawed, but entertaining. A simple good old boy meets girl story in a relatively ambitious musical to the tunes of 33 Beatles’ song. The plot plays out in the 1960’s amid the Vietnam war protests and civil rights movement. The cast is outstanding with a group of relatively unknowns, I must admit, and cameos by the likes of Bono and Joe Cocker. Evan Rachel Wood must be commended for her excellent work in what may be a breakout performance as Lucy. She is already one of very few actresses that is actually able to act, sing, and dance equally well. One of the main concern when watching a musical is that the singing won’t do justice to the original tracks and artist. However this was not an issue at all in Across the Universe, indeed some of the scenes looked more like parts of a music video than from a motion picture . On the negative side, a few really odd scenes tend to sag down the movie about halfway through and the film never recovers its lost momentum. I definitely lost attention to what was happening on the screen for a while at some point. Anyways, to conclude, not a waste of time or money to rent it for a night. Don’t let its imperfections get to you, and just take the ride across the universe.

B

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Rating: 6.5/10 (2 votes cast)

Movie Review: Enchanted (2007)

enchanted-8

Quick review of Enchanted which I happened to see while waiting for new tires to be mounted on my car (It’s true lol!). Directed by Kevin Lima, Enchanted starts like any old school Disney animation with the lonely 2D Princess Gisele (Amy Adams) serenading a crowd of animals and waiting for her charming prince in the fairy tale land of Andalusia. Soon after comes the aforementioned charming Prince Edward (James Marsden) and the two immediately decide to marry so they can, you know… live happily thereafter like fairy tales characters are supposed to… There would however be no movie if not for Edward’s mother, Queen Narissa, who wants to hold on to the throne and thus exiles Princess Gisele down a sewer hole to that far off place called … New York City where she is not in 2D anymore, but flesh and blood! Who will save our poor fairy tale princess? Will she ever get to live happily thereafter??? Intriguing uh?

I obviously did not go blindly into this movie and knew it had received widely positive critical acclaim (92% on RT) and I can see why. This movie is nowhere near perfect but there is something magical about it that will transport you back to the times when you were watching 2D Disney animations. It is funny in a goof-ball kind of way, pokes fun at Disney while keeping its tradition going. Best of all, it does not resort to cheap jokes, or overly cheesy and sentimental moments to make the audience laugh or cry.

The Academy will never acknowledge that fact because it’s a goddamn Disney movie and she makes it look easy but the lovely Amy Adams gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Giselle. She portrays a fairy tale princess in real life New York City unbelievably well. She is light on her feet, gay and innocent as one can ever be, and best of all, she makes it look effortless. Needless to say she was perfect for the job. James Marsden also gives a very good performance as flesh and blood prince Edward, displaying solid physical comedy and timing. Patrick Dempsey, on the other hand is average but I think it was a screenplay choice to have him be understated. Finally, Susan Sarandon does a solid job as the evil mother queen in her small appearance.

Cinematography-wise, this movie is drop dead gorgeous with colorful sets, stunning shots of New York City and some truly magical musical scenes. The CGI is top notch and the musical score is brilliant.

Enchanted is not a perfect movie, far from it, but it is a delightful Disney movie with laughs for kids and adult alike.

B+

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Don't forget to vote! What did YOU think about the movie?
Rating: 8.4/10 (5 votes cast)