There are so many movies where a big moment, a monumental scene is all about delivering that speech. May it be motivational, may it be devastating, may it be empowering or simply put, emotional as fuck. So yes, there are many variations to the big monologues, that in retrospect are tiny moments that make a huge difference. Here are three of my favourites that give me all the feels.
While there might be some things that never change, we as people still constantly evolve just like the world around us. Our thoughts, our tastes, our opinions – with every new grain of information something in us could change completely. We might idolise someone one minute and cringe our noses at their stupidity the next, we might find a movie absolutely brilliant, only to fall out of love with it two years later. And it’s fascinating to see and compare our present to the past, which is why I had this crazy idea to compile My Movie Alphabet Vol 2, almost five years after I posted the first one. To see how I’ve changed… and how much I’ve stayed the same.
Now, with this week’s topic I was a bit conflicted with myself, because comfort can be a very wide term. I could go with the cliché route and pick all romantic comedies because those comfort me when I’m blue. But then there are movies I feel so comfortable with that they also comfort me, and those range from crime to documentaries. So I thought, mix it up, and here are four different genre-based recommendations that comfort me.
Being the fifth attempt to write this review (I think I have lost my mojo somewhere in the middle of my school work), I’m just going to go ahead and say that About Time surprised me! Yes, that’s my opening statement about the movie, surprise, the whole movie was a grand surprise due to the fact that I had no idea that Richard Curtis was behind it. It also helped that the trailer was completely misleading and made it all about love whilst the movie’s IMDb page doesn’t even list romance as one of its genres (it should but I agree, it’s not the main idea of About Time). Therefore, About Time was a total surprise out of nowhere into the list of my favorite comedies this year.
The title says it all, these are my favorite winter movies and before you start listing movies that are left out and far better than these; this is just a list of 10 movies that came to my mind first. Most likely they have some weird memory attached to them, some family thing or something cheesy like that. I do think that every person has a different list, a different kind of memory with snow but these are mine. They are all a bit childish and funny, because I like to cuddle up with tea and laugh with these movies and I really couldn’t recall movies that had snow and were made these past few years…
The main motivation of this post is to provide a short list of movies that are all about the romance and love and all that mushy stuff the month of February represents to everybody. Although the day of Valentine is over (because I didn’t manage to finish this on time) I wanted to go ahead with the plan of writing a list of romantic comedies (rom-com’s). Movies are not in a particular order what so ever.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Second Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie where they end up together but some how I like this one a bit more. Maybe it is the fact that this one has a lot more Meg and Tom together than Sleepless in Seattle (1993) has. You’ve Got Mail is about a small children’s bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) and a big chain bookstore owner Joe Fox (Hanks). They at first connect, then find out they are competitors and then end up being enemies. Enemies who actually e-mail each other of which only one is aware of. This pretty much sums it up – I am a big fan of the 90’s romantic comedies and this one was the first I thought of.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
This is one of those Sandra Bullock movies I always remember. Her wearing a man’s over-sized goat and falling on the ice with his “fiance’s” brother. Basically it is a story of a big mistake which is caused by series of events after what the family in the movie thinks she is now one of them. Bill Pullman and Peter Gallagher play the brothers and although it has a IMDb score under 7, Bullock got nominated for a Golden Globe for her role.
Amélie (2001)
This French movie is probably a must to everybody who has at least some idea of the movie world. Audrey Tautou who portrays Amélie, the interesting and mysterious character, looks for romance. Aren’t we all – but this movie has been stuck in my head although I watched it years ago. I can remember scenes almost with complete detail which is a rather interesting situation. I thought since I have done some foreign posts I should add a romantic comedy from Europe to the list – Amélie was my first and only choice!
Love Actually (2003)
Movie that has various story-lines connected while known actors and actresses are giving great performances! Style which USA took over with He’s Just Not That Interested, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve and probably many yet to come. But Love Actually is the British version which is still my number one from all the romantic comedies where love comes in many forms. It has Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and many others! Just a wonderful combination of romance. And this is a must-see during every Christmas!
The Holiday (2006)
This Nancy Meyers romantic comedy is actually another favorite of mine. I don’t mind Cameron Diaz nor Jack Black in this one and Kate Winslet and Jude Law make it even better. I don’t know why it is so good in my mind, Nancy Meyers actually makes a lot of good ones (latest was with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin – priceless). The Holiday is still one of her best for me, I have the DVD so I can go back to it every time I want to and usually around the holidays.
Friends With Benefits (2011)
I added this Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake movie into the list cause I wanted to make it a bit more even. Since a lot of rom’com’s actually look like this one, it is just fair to put here one that surprised me the most. Kunis is gorgeous and Timberlake can act although I prefer him singing. The story looks at the situation where friends start to share benefits – which of course leads to the big final moment which for me totally ruined the movie but maybe some like the big spectacular moment of “I love you”. I thought it was cheesy but still, I wanted something like this in the list.
Knocked Up (2007)
This is probably the only Katherine Heigl movie I like and it is mostly because of Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd who were all brought together by Judd Apatow. This is like a really grown-up romantic comedy which is not afraid to go that extra notch to make us flinch. I think it represents nowadays rom-com’s, I mean, they have been very sexual and they use a lot of bad words – a lot. I guess it is just evolution but I would still prefer the 90’s.
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
This is a lot nicer romantic comedy than the previous two and it has Joseph Gordon-Levitt together with Zooey Deschanel! I like the fact that this movie is from the point of view of a male character and the female becomes the villain in this. It makes things fair and balances out the large amount of romantic comedies where men are the bad guys! Because lets be honest, sometimes women are the cruel ones and this movie is a great example of that.
Here are some of the movies mentioned, some more I have seen:
Valentine’s Day (2010)
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009)
Crazy. Stupid. Love. (2011)
Easy A (2010)
Kate & Leopold (2001)
Clueless (1995)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Along Came Polly (2004)
The Family Stone (2005)
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Going the Distance (2010)
