Sleepless In Seattle (1993)

Photo Credit: Sleepless in Seattle/ TriStar Pictures

Having relocated from Chicago to Seattle following the loss of his wife, Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) is encouraged by his adolescent son to pour his feelings of grief to a sensationalist shrink over the radio. Across the country, in Baltimore, that very same evening, a newly engaged Annie (Meg Ryan) hears Sam's story and becomes increasingly infatuated that she could be the one for him.

Nora Ephron's Sleepless in Seattle poses us with the question: is someone you never met the one for you? Her main character Annie treks across the country to challenge the safe path she is on and to take a risk on a different kind of partner who may be able to satisfy her expectations (most of it being driven by classic romance movies). It's a brave and sorta hopeless romantic quest because she could end up looking crazy, or it could not work out all. There's a cutesy-allergy sensitive obstacle that stands in Annie's way: her fiance Walter. Currently involved in a relationship she never really questions, until her mother mentions that meeting Annie's father was magic.

As much as I admire Ephron's filmography, Annie's escapade comes off more as stalkerish, and weird, than insatiably naive and quirky (as Meg Ryan wonderfully plays her). Maybe it's worth it to some characters, or real persons, to go out of their way to see if there is another love out there for them...  I couldn't quite fall for her attempt at looking for other romantic possibilities, someone she never met before, when Walter is endearing, considerate, and thankfully, isn't imbued with condescending faults that make his imperfect personality a love or leave him an ultimatum.

Annie all but throws her engagement to Walter aside as if it's not living up to its potential, and Sam's voice over the radio becomes a preemptively created fantasy in her mind of what great love can be. It's sorta the fangirl's ultimate fantasy - to know a guy, find him, and everything works out. Ryan is truly enthusiastic and lively, but her efforts seem to cross the line of being attracted to a guy she never met and overstepping her bounds.

On the opposite end of the line, Sam is guarded and isn't ready to take chances for a new relationship. All he's known is Maggie, and once she's gone, he believes moving across the country will aid his grief. His friends are not hopeful nor entirely enthusiastic he'll find another Maggie but he gives a few dates and the possibility of getting laid a chance - just because everyone suggests he does it. Though Hanks delivers a rightfully sensitive performance, there's never really a deep exploration (as far as romantic movies go) for Sam to identify his loss - which keeps him literally sleepless in Seattle. For the magnitude of love that each character was aspiring to capture for themselves, neither one fully seems emotionally ready. Annie has a hard enough time hiding her one-sided infatuation with Sam from her fiance, it's hard to imagine how her first date w/ Sam will go: Oh yeah, I heard you on the radio and hired a private investigator to trail you out on dates and days off with your son.... Instead, their prospective romance comes off more like my favorite line from the film: Sam: Didn't you see Fatal Attraction?....it scared the shit out of me! It scared the shit out of every man in America!

Taking on the common theme that This Relationship Is Destiny, I didn't feel this iconic story translated very well. Director and writer Ephron tries to emulate this same kind of "magic" found in other films like An Affair to Remember (cited numerously by her characters) by invoking the same type of characteristics both Sam and Annie share: favorite Baseball players, separate friends talking about Cary Grant, believing that touching someone's hand you may know they are the one. There are plenty of cute moments that show how compatible they are with each other, but more of the storyline is Annie forcing her hand, Sam's son making all the arrangements, and Sam balancing his first fling since his wife passed away.

Relationships can be many things; a respectfully familiar yet full of love, lightning in a bottle, a lucky meeting of the minds or hearts labeled as fate, or an adventure in which you move mountains to find ( the latter of which is Annie's heartfelt, if not weird, quest). The possible romance for Sam and Annie never quite live up how Ephron injects the idea of that their meeting is destiny. Every woman wants to fall in love just like in the movies, and there's probably no one more than me that feels heartless for not going gaga over Sleepless In Seattle. Even the classic ending didn't inspire as much magic as it is known for.
Rating: ★☆☆ Have you seen Sleepless In Seattle? What are your thoughts?

Whiplash (2014)

Photo Credit: Whiplash / Sony Pictures Classics 

At the end of 2014 as I was making my Best and Worst of list, a void lingered that I was missing something great; memorable; different; an experience I thought would come with seeing Interstellar  or Gone Girl . Often, no matter how many great or good movies we see over the course of the year, sometimes what we truly count on are the experiences; a movie that makes you remember who you were with, what you were doing, how you felt when something shocked or excited or made your pulse race.

Of course not every movie is going to be a visceral experience, which is cool because they all can't make you feel emotionally cathartic walking out of a theatre on cloud nine or give you something heavy to ponder about for the rest of the day...but when a year doesn't have a marker; a movie that really stands out from the crowd, watching movies for pleasure and for blogging can feel a little bit empty and glib.

Part of me truly wishes I had seen Whiplash last year, even if it only officially ended two weeks ago. Because I don't know what will compare for the rest of 2015.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Climb to Leading Man Material

photograph by Dove Shore

Every six months or so it seems a title of Best Leading Man Ever is passed around. Cleverly, the media tries to distract us into thinking there is only one actor who has ever earned the blue ribbon of being leading man material. But really stardom is a cycle: One month it's George Clooney, the next it's Brad Pitt, or Ben Affleck or Matthew McConaughey, and onwards.

Though the media tries to convince us, there's hardly ever just one man in the limelight, behind the curtain, or capable of having it all. One actor comes to mind who has recently popped up on everyone's radar, and has utilized his nearly lifelong recognition in film with attentive creativity and ambition. That guy, which comes to mind, is Jake Gyllenhaal.

For such a mildly young talent (34 years old), it's difficult to remember that he has been tagged with fame since he was eleven years old. And yet his career has garnered just about the right amount of everything it takes to be successful in Hollywood without becoming a warning label of toxic fame for young Hollywood. His climb to leading man material earnestly means that for as far as his career has taken him so far, he always seems on the cusp of re-inventing himself as a starring actor.

Best and Worst of 2014

It's hard to believe that 2014 is coming to an end and that this year did not afford a lot of viewings of new films. My watch count was an abysmal twenty-something. Of course with the Oscar season coming up there are some contenders that I've missed because they haven't been released yet, and maybe included in a separate list. The overall tally this year surprised me since I hit nearly all of the movies on my to-see list, and plenty just didn't leave a very lasting impression.

I'm gonna ask for forgiveness about the layout of this post. Maybe it's end-of-the-year laziness but this post just would not come together. Feel free to ask in the comments why I chose what I chose. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my personal picks of best and worst of 2014!

Favorite New Fandoms: 
50 Shades of Grey / The Fall
Gracepoint / The Strain

The Holiday (2004)

Home is where you want to be during the holidays spending time with family and loved ones. For Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet), that's certainly not the case. Desiring to separate themselves from their previous, heartbreaking relationship, Amanda discovers Iris' home on an home exchange website. Temporarily switching residences for the holidays, Amanda settles down in Iris' cottage in London, and Iris jettisons to a Hollywood mansion.

A California-girl to the inth degree, Amanda is a movie trailer editor who "chases" away her selfish boyfriend to cheat by her work ambitions and seemingly inability to cry. In her middle-of-nowhere cottage, attraction knocks in the middle of the night in the handsome, bookish form of Graham (Jude Law). Her manless vacation quickly turns into an exciting and emotional romp without all the drama she's used to in Hollywood. Hopeless romantic Iris takes advantage of her sweet Beverly Hills digs by befriending a legendary Hollywood writer living next door, and a music composer friend of Amanda's. She's not looking for love, and this home-away-home allows gives her time to become the leading lady of her own life.

With the movie split into two different stories linked by one common scenario, The Holiday does sadly feel a little like two different movies; an endearing, consistent tale of a woman discovering to be the leading lady in her own life (Iris), and two awkward people sorta talking themselves into constant sex, and perhaps, love (Amanda). Director and writer Nancy Meyer's delivers a pairing that by films' end is quite adorable overall, but the story division between for her leading lady doesn't split equally.

Though cute and comedic in her own way, Diaz's story doesn't necessarily flow. Her potential relationship with Iris's brother Graham feels more like the entire production is convincing themselves and us that their romp will work rather than letting it breathe naturally. The dialogue itself, her relationship with Graham beings as an awkward, drunk-feuled romp, and as fine-looking individuals as they are, we can never really shake out the image of Law and Diaz not really exuding chemistry.

Having been more known for dramatic roles, Winslet truly shines as Iris; a woman trying to find the gumption to be her own person, develop friendships out of the love spotlight, and tell off the guy who doesn't appreciate her at all. Like her co-stars Jack Black and Eli Wallach, she is funny, endearing, and steals the show. All aspects of her story transition smoothly and doesn't feel forced, and it's so refreshing to see her as a lovable, contemporary character (not that she doesn't earn empathy in more dramatic roles) who lets love flow naturally into life rather than dragging herself into another unwanted relationship.

The heart of the movie, and Iris' story, is what's most attractive about The Holiday. When you change your scenery, you may increase the odds of transforming yourself, widening your circle of friends, and your chance of falling in love with someone you probably would've have never met. Without the miserly scrooges, or tempting fate to see what life would be like without you, Meyers takes two leading ladies and opens their characters up to the possibility of what life can be like elsewhere during the most joyous time of year. It's filled with a lot of Christmas charm, and Winslet's performance is enough to cause merriment for days afterwards. Though entirely not up-to-par with the scripts' cohesiveness, it instills enough entertainment to make me want to revisit it again....next year.

Stars I Love: Jenna Coleman

From television shows like The Vampire Diaries to mega-blockbusters like Divergent and The Hunger Games, a collection of eccentric, beautiful, and talented leading ladies has been born out of Hollywood. While a lot of attention focuses on U.S. stars like Shailene Woodley, Nina Dobrev, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence - and the list goes on, one of my favorite stars happens to be from across the pond: Jenna Coleman.

Born Blackpool, London, Coleman participated in dance during her childhood. Eventually her love of performing transitioned into acting at a local school theater during her early teens. At only nineteen years old, she won her first major role for a British soap opera Emmerdale. During her three-hundred episode arc, she had planned to finish university but performing would lead her elsewhere. Her career may have just been starting out but already she was garnering awards for the heartfelt performance she was producing. Following some three hundred episodes later playing one-half of a normal lesbian couple (a breakthrough portrayal for daytime television), the eager starlet soon moved on to other television series like Waterloo Road and Room at the Top. There was always room to go back to school, but Coleman was destined to go down a different road; one that spanned across time and space.

A Fitting Bon Voyage to A Late Late Night King

Last night was the final episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I really couldn't believe his announcement earlier this year to leave his late night talk show came so quickly. Luckily, thankfully, and surprisingly, it was not a departure that I thought I would struggle hard over - so far.

Watching his interviews on YouTube all the time really helped - it sorta feels like he hasn't really left.
Of all the late night talk show hosts, Ferguson is top of the shelf. For so long, he did his best hosting a show in the basement of CBS Studios. He didn't have a voice-over announcer, sidekick, or band.

Even in his last days, he didn't have a real band or any of the fancy things other sketches or games that other hosts have the ability to implement. He did it all on his own: interviewing celebrities on the fly, without the weight of a publicists list of demands of questions to avoid or promote. His monologues were always cold opens. And, for the past six years, he made a comedy duo with a gay, talking robot and two interns in a fake horse costume.

What I respect most about Ferguson was despite how wacky and non-sensical his humor was, and he took it to the extremes of what the censors would let him get away with, Ferguson is a class act. He didn't speak out of line of where his voice didn't need to be lended on politics or late-night wars. He always approached sensitive subjects with charm and self-awareness. His wisdom and the challenges he faced in his life like drug addiction and his triumph of becoming an American citizen were great avenues of seeing a serious, considerate man behind the zany, off-beat talent he has a comedian.

His last show this past Friday was truly wonderful - a considerate, easy transition of a man stepping away from the desk without it having to be dramatic or morose. Opening with all of his friends banging on some drums, thanking the fans in his opening monologue, and then continuing the show with his regular schtick of tweets and emails, and an interview with his final guest Jay Leno. It didn't make us feel like this was the last time we were ever going to see him, Ferguson was conscientious of letting his final show be exactly as he ever was: funny and hopeful. It took us out of what's going on into the world and let us sit back and enjoy the ride; which is pretty much the last ten years was. Just sitting back, chilling out, not feeling like we were being promoted movies/tv shows/albums and letting the chips of insanity fall where they may.

Thanks for the ride, CraigyFerg. Can't wait to see what you do next, as always. Keep on banging your drums, man. Tomorrow's just your future yesterday