The Fall

2006

Director: Tarsem Singh

Distributor: Roadside Attractions

Key Elements: Lines – Message – Concept - Symbolism – Visual

Review:

This movie is visually spellbinding. I rank it with The Fountain and Sunshine in that respect. Salvador Dali could have provided the surreal art design. Seriously, it’s so good, the rest of the movie is almost irrelevant.

But there is a cute story here too.

A little girl and a young man who are both hospitalized develop an unlikely friendship when the man starts to tell the little girl stories. As the movie develops, we realize more of the man’s back-story and begin to understand the motive behind these stories – and how these stories might save him.

I love that the man tells a western, and the girl imagines it all with middle-eastern inspired imagery. Brilliant.

Also, the man and the girl have a really cute chemistry.

[Spoiler:]

I’m going to be honest - I’m still not really sure what the resolution to this story was. But I want to believe that the love of the girl made the storyteller want realize how selfish he was being and want to live.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• Is not gibberish.
• Are you trying to save my soul?
• You always stop at the same part, when it's very beautiful. Interesting.
• I don't want you to see me like this.
• Not the time to sleep, now. Not the time to sleep. Wake up. Wake up, its not the time to sleep now. Wake up. Don't pretend to sleep. Wake up. Laugh-laugh. Not the time to sleep.
• Make them kiss. -No, I don't want to make them kiss.
• That story was just a trick to get you to do something for me.
• I don't like this story!
• Because... everything dies
• You should ask someone else. There's no happy ending with me.
• I still want to hear it.
• It's my story. -Mine, too.
• She loves him.
• I don't want you to die. Roy.
• We're a strange pair, aren't we?

Stills:

Easy A

2010

Director: Will Gluck

Distributor: Screen Gems

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Characters – Concept - Symbolism – Music

Review:

Based on Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlett Letter, Easy A tells the story of a girl with a reputation for promiscuity. The twist? Her reputation is a farce.

Seeking popularity, Olive sells the use of her name to boys desiring fodder for locker room bragging. But the gimmick comes back to bite her. And this movie is cleverly told from the perspective of Olive’s setting-the-record-straight vlog post.

I love how Olive idealizes John Hughs movies. I also love that she helped me realize that one of the most attractive things on a woman is a good vocabulary.

I’ll admit it rubbed me the wrong way that the antagonist in the movie is a caricaturized “Christian.” I’m no stranger to pointing out how often Christians present the worst representations of what it means to be a Christian. But Easy A’s depiction is unfair to say the least. *sigh*

But if I rationalize, the story IS based on The Scarlett Letter – a story in which the antagonists are ALSO judgemental religious types.

Anyway, there’s still a lot I like about this movie. Plus, it introduced me to the music of One Republic.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• The rumors of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated.
• A is for Awesome.
• I think I'll lose my virginity to him. Maybe in five minutes, maybe tonight, maybe sixth months from now, or maybe on the night of our wedding. Either way, it's really none of your business.

Stills:

The Sandlot

1993

Director: David Mickey Evans

Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Characters – Message

Review:

When I was a kid, my mom suggested we rent this movie form blockbuster, and I turned it down. I remembered seeing girls in swimsuits in the trailer, and I thought it would be awkward to watch with my folks. Eventually, however, I saw it and loved it.

It's another cult classic and tells the story of the wild summer had by a group of baseball loving boys. Like other movies of this genre, its charm comes from its iconic characters, memorable lines and winsome story telling.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• But I'm not good at anything, mom. Face it, I'm just an egghead.
• Man, this is baseball. You gotta stop thinking. Just have fun. I mean, if you were having fun you would've caught that ball.
• L, 7, Weenie!
• I've been coming here every summer of my adult life, and every summer there she is oiling and lotioning, lotioning and oiling... smiling. I can't take this no more!
• You play ball like a girl!
• I don't know. Some lady gave it to him. She even signed her name on it... Ruth. Baby Ruth.
• For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver! For-ev-ver!
• You’re killing me, Smalls.
• And we did the dumbest thing anyone of us could ever have imagined.
• Let me tell you something kid; Everybody gets one chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either because they're too scared, or they don't recognize it when it spits on their shoes.
• Remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong.
• Baseball was life! And I was good at it... real good.
• Bertram?... Bertram got really into the 60s, and no one ever saw him again.

Stills:

The Goonies

1985

Director: Richard Donner

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Characters – Message – Music

Review:

The Goonies are a group of underdogs who live on the wrong side of the tracks, but they’ve recently learned that they’re all going to have to move unless they can find the money to buy their neighborhood back from developers. Then, they find a treasure map that may lead to the answer.

This movie is a cult classic - and deserves to be. Its a fun adventure story. Its charactersare relatable – no matter the decade. And it’s message is timeless – You can get through anything by sticking with your friends.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• Hey, you guys!

• Yeah, but you know what? This one, this one right here. This was my dream, my wish. And it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back.

• It's OK, you're a Goonie and Goonies always make mistakes... just don't make any more.

• Bye, Willy. Thanks.

• Goonies never say die!

Stills:

The Time Traveler's Wife

2009

Director: Robert Schwentke

Distributor: New Line Cinema

Key Elements: Story – Concept

Review:

It has got to be hard to make a Sci-fi Romanca movie. But this one pulls it off. And I'm surprised by how much I like it.

I think the real beauty of the sci-fi genre, is that the science creates situations that draw out bigger philosophical questions. In this case, how would this anomaly affect a marriage? I can't think of many other sci-fi movies that have gone there before.

[Spoiler Warning:]

My favorite thing about this movie is the ending. Henry's past self travels to after his death, giving his wife a daughter a last chance to see him. I'll admit, I got really choked up here. It made me think of how, as Christians, death really ISN'T the last word for us. In the end, we'll all be reunited with God. I love how this movie gives us a tiny taste of how it will feel - but unlike in this movie, it will last.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• I was just hoping you're married to me.
• That's your daughter. She's time-travelling.
• I wouldn't change one second of our life together.

Stills:

Little Manhattan

2005

Director: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett

Distributor: 20^th Century Fox

Key Elements: Story –Characters –Concept

Review:

This is a very cute movie. I clearly remember when I first started to notice girls, and so much of this movie resonates with my experience. I even remember the debates about whether or not girls mature faster than boys.

It’s a fun watch, but I think the ending is the best part.

Also, I love that New York City itself is like a character of the story.

[Spoiler Warning:]

Gabe explains that this is a love story, but it’s not until the end that you realize the love isn’t his and Rosemary’s – It’s his parents. After fighting and threatening divorce through the whole movie, they finally get back together.

I think it illustrates that no problem can be too difficult to fix in a relationship if both people are willing. What I love is that I think the crucial moment comes in a conversation Gabe has with his dad. Gabe asks why all love has to end. And his dad’s face shows that he realizes the wrong message he’s been sending his son. And I love that, like a good dad, he takes steps to correct it.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• I really had no room for a woman in my life.
• Okay, what's going on here? What the heck is this? Oh my God. What's this feeling in the pit of my stomach? Who is this - this amazing creature before me? I looked at Rosemary and just felt so, um, confused. She's a girl. I'm supposed to despise girls, not feel nervous talking to one, not feel tongue-tied. I mean this was Rosemary Telesco, I knew her since Kindergarten!
• Does she like like me?
• Never had I been so keenly aware of the ability of palm to manufacture sweat, but I was determined to hold that girl's hand for every single second.
• This much I know firsthand - love hurts.
• Look at them all. Rats in their cages, their lives destroyed by love. I'm done with it. I won't be like them. The fools.
• See, this is just like I told you. Same thing I knew getting into this whole mess - love ends.
• But it wasn't that easy. I guess love never is.

Stills:

The Social Network

2010

Director: David Fincher

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Key Elements: Story – Lines – Characters – Music

Review:

When I heard they were making a movie about Facebook, I rolled my eyes. How could that be worth watching?

But this is one of the best written movies I’ve seen in years. The dialogue alone is brilliant, but the story pacing and character delvelopment are also perfect.

I was blown away. Great movie.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• People wanna go online and check out their friends, so why not build a website that offers that. I'm talking about taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online.
• As if every thought that tumbles through your head was so clever it would be a crime for it not to be shared.
• We lived in farms, then we lived in cities, and now we're gonna live on the internet!
• If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook.
• The internet's not written in pencil, Mark. It's written in ink.
• I like standing next to you, Sean... it makes me look so tough.
• You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be.
• As for the charges: I believe I deserve some recognition from this board.

Stills:

Inception

2010

Director: Christopher Nolan

Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

Key Elements: Story – Concept - Music – Visual

Review:

This movie is fantatic. Completely.

In a time where every movie is a sequel or a remake or simply another take at a tired formual – here, finally, is something new.

The visuals are astounding – but they’re matched by the story! All around an amazing film.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• I can access your mind through your dreams.
• Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.
• You're asking me for Inception. I hope you do understand the gravity of that request.
• The seed that we planted in this man's mind may change everything.
• I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.
• Wait, whose subconscious are we going through exactly?
• She locked away a secret, deep inside herself, something she once knew to be true... but chose to forget.
• Your world is not real!
• I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure. But it doesn't matter…

Stills: