contemplation over hot chocolate

It’s like: any other Nicholas Sparks movie…the BAD kind.

Stars you’d know: Channing Tatum (Public Enemies, Step Up), Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia), Richard Jenkins

Their tagline: What would you do with a letter that changed everything?

My tagline: Letters only tell half the story.

Verdict: Eh, not so much.

I love romantic stories, I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for them. Watch me ball my eyes out at The Notebook or A Walk To Remember. These are the Nicholas Sparks movies that I love. And Dear John had so much potential for my tears: Channing Tatum (cutie) as a soldier on leave and Amanda Seyfried (cutie) as the girl that falls in love with him. Anything that has to do with falling in love and soldiers usually tugs at the heartstrings. And they write letters to one another? Sign me up.  This one, however, left a lot to be desired. First things first…I did enjoy the first hour. The first hour, the cuteness factor and the falling in love, even the “I have to do my duty so send me letters” thing was cute. The secondary storyline played by Richard Jenkins made it all the more enjoyable.  But then, get to 1:15 in and…well, I don’t want to give it away. But let me put it this way: Never before has a movie made me WANT to read the book. And this is what this movie did for me. They spent so much time investing my interest that by the time they got it, they tried to force too much on the viewer to digest. I felt like huge chunks, that were probably well-written in the book, were just left out of the script to make the movie shorter and Hollywood-ized. Only problem with that was, by the end, I was so disgusted with the fact that huge plotlines were just thrown at me without any warning, that I left the theatre with a bad taste in my mouth. This movie had a lot of potential because I think these types of movies hinge on the chemistry of the actors, and while the chemistry was there, the extra chapters weren’t.

Just throw it into the BAD Nicholas Sparks movies, i.e. Nights of Rodanthe.

It’s like: Pocahontas meets Surrogates meets Ferngully

Stars you’d know: More known for its director, James Cameron. Sigourney Weaver. Giovanni Ribisi. Michelle Rodriguez.

Their tagline: Enter the world.

My tagline: Enter the matrix of Ferngully.

Verdict: It was alright.

I know, I know, I should’ve been blown away, right? Well, I did see it in 3-D, which was cool, and the action scenes were pretty awesome, but the whole motion/animation fantastical world was overshadowed by a very watered-down script. Even with all that money invested, if you don’t have a decent storyline, I’m not going to like it. But, ok, the special effects were pretty cool. The way the animation captured facial movement was unreal. Neytiri should have won a prize for the amount of expression that came across her blue face…I guess I was just wanting to be blown away by the visual effects, blown away by the characters, blown away by the storyline. And I just wasn’t. I was, however, thoroughly entertained. One thing this movie definitely was was a spectacle. And I miss spectacle movies. Ironically, the last spectacle movie I think I saw was Star Trek, which Zoe Saldana (Neytiri) was in. I miss the “popcorn” movies where all you do is escape into another world for a couple hours (in this case, close to three!), and find release. If anything, I was entertained and forgot about my worries. I just wasn’t blown away.

(seems funnier in German)

It’s like: An animated Back to the Future meets the “On Top of Spaghetti” camp song

Stars you’d know: That guy from Saturday Night Live…that girl from House Bunny…Mr. T

Their tagline: Prepare to get served.

My tagline: Raining food can make a big mess.

Verdict: Eh, not so much.

What started off as a good premise (outcast inventor suddenly invents a food machine that causes a once-deprived island to have a plentiful bounty of food) quickly turned into “is there a point yet”? The animation itself was fun and unique, with bug eyes and a cross between anime and Disney, but the plot just wasn’t there to carry the movie. 30 minutes in, I was ready to turn it off. I think I’ve been spoiled by Pixar and their actual attempts at entertaining the adults as well as the kids, but I guess I’m just too “mature” for jello mold romps and raining hot dogs.

I am like the most normal person I know. Sure, I have all the baggage that comes with a 28-year old single gal, but I’m pretty normal. So it comes to no surprise that I worry and over-analyze. I worry that I won’t have enough money to pay for my sick car, if indeed it is sick (tomorrow is the dr. appt). I worry that, even though I love my job, it’s not the highest paying job in the world, and I might have to leave it so I can get more money so I can pay for my car. I worry I’ll never be able to sell my condo at a profit. I worry that I’ll be single forever (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…but I feel like i should probably get married once…just to try it out!). So I worry and over-analyze and get myself into a funk that makes driving home in the windy snowstorm all the more depressing. And I check my mail, only to find nothing. Depressing. And I walk through the door, and Ollie doesn’t greet me at the door, waits in his bed for me to rub his belly. And as I’m changing out of my depressing boots that need new heels, into my dog walking pants, and Ollie is stretching out on the rug like he’s just woken up from a deep restful sleep. And I’m sitting there thinking, man, it must be tough to be a dog…and then he starts running back and forth through the hallway, excited to go out. He’s running into walls and my recycling bag and can’t seem to sit still. And suddenly, I find myself smiling. I find myself laughing at my freaking adorable dog who is just so excited to go outside. And then I realize…my dog might be the best antidepressant ever.

I know, I have no life. But I really like writing, and I really like TV, so friends of mine and I decided to write a TV only blog and share our mutual fascination and disgust with all things television. I just finished watching Caprica, and here’s my take:

http://tvod.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/caprica/

So there will probably be less TV talk on this blog, more film reviews and life rants and raves to come! But be sure to check out TV Overdose. Between the lot of us, we watch a lot! (I will justify by saying…well, i work in TV…it’s research!)

Enjoy!