2012: Week 6: This Means War

This Means War

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Action

Main Players: Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Chelsea Handler

General Gist: Two best friends who are CIA partners fall for the same girl and decide to make it a competition to see who will win her over.

Deb's Take:
LOVED IT! This movie had everything, (almost).... Romance, Action, Comedy, Hot men, Hot Woman (so my husband says), and was extremely enjoyable. The theatre was filled with people who laughed a lot. I loved that it was funny, had great action and still had the romance I enjoy so much. It's rated PG-13, but a little more like PG-15 to me. (my new rating scale). Chris Pine and Tom Hardy did great. They played best friends so well. Reese Witherspoon did not disappoint either, she was great. Most enjoyable was Chelsea Handler. I loved her in this movie. She made me laugh out loud quite a bit! This movie comes out on Valentines day, and I will say, I think it is a great movie for a couple to go see. My husband really enjoyed it just as much as I did. Houston, we have a winner!

Tiff's Take:
I couldn't agree more with Deb.  (Finally, one in the new year that we completely agree on!)  This was such a fun movie.  All the actors did great.  Reese Witherspoon was lovely and likable as expected.  Chris Pine and Tom Hardy were perfect eye candy. (I must admit Tom Hardy was a little higher up on my hottie scale though.  Crooked teeth and all.)  Chelsea Handler was crude and witty making a great sidekick. 

This movie actually comes out next week but we were lucky enough to go to a prescreening.  So if you're thinking of going to a movie to celebrate Valentine's day next weekend this would be a great one.  Most romantic comedies are really just chick flicks.  But this one I think would be just as enjoyable for a guy as it would for a girl.  And like Deb said, it was really funny.  There were many laugh out loud moments.  Actually a few times the whole audience was roaring.  You can't beat that.  Make this one a date night!  

Preview: "The Vow"....we hope!

Week 18: Water for Elephants

I have really been looking forward to seeing Water for Elephants.  Mainly because I love going to movie's that are books first.  I know there can be a lot of disappointment because rarely do you see a movie that's even close to as good as the book.  But I don't have a real vivid imagination so I love seeing how a movie brings a book to life.

When I read this book I was a little disappointed with the whole love story.  For whatever reason it didn't give me enough emotion or something.  That being said, I thought it would be perfect for a movie.  Movie's can't give you quite as much as a book so I thought the book was at a level that would be captured well in the movie.  Does that make sense?  Am I just rambling?

So on to the movie.  I was curious to see how Robert Pattinson would do in a non-Twilight role.  I think he did a really good job.  And he had pretty good chemistry with Reese Witherspoon.  She did a great job.  She fit the role well.  Christoph Waltz, an unknown character for me, played the other main guy.  He was the slightly crazy, abusive ring leader.  I thought he really fit the bill.

It seemed like the movie stayed pretty true to the book.  I read it over a couple years ago so it's been awhile but it seemed pretty close.  And I did think the love story was better as a movie.  I would say, overall this movie was better than average.  Better then most we've seen lately.  I'd say it's worth going to whether you've read the book or not.

To Sum it up: Good, high profile actors and a decent book to movie film.

Week 18: Water For Elephants

This week we finally got to go see "Water for Elephants" I always like seeing movies of books I have read, but usually choose to see them some time after I have finished the book because movies miss so many details and I hate feeling like I have been cheated. I waited just long enough this time, I remembered most of the book, but not too well.

The story line behind this movie is about a man who joins the circus, after his mother and father pass away and he has nothing left. He becomes the circus Vet. Robert Pattison plays this main character, Jacob. Jacob starts to fall in love with the horse performer, Marlena, played by Reese Witherspoon. The problem is in the fact that Marlena is the wife of August,(Christoph Waltz) the circus' manager. The elephant comes in as the circus aquires an elephant that Marlena and Jacob must train to keep the show bringing in money. The book is awesome by the way.

I think Reese Witherspoon did a good job with her character. She seemed to capture Marlena's personality from the book. I always feel like a movie doesn't completely allow the viewers to see the characters like a book will, but in her case, it wasn't bad. I was diappointed in August's character. He wasn't quite crazy enough. In the book he showed the battle of a bipolar type personality, but in the movie he just seemed moody. Robert Pattison did well as Jacob, although I do feel like he was slightly too "happy" in the movie, the book led me to believe he was more depressed and somber.

The supporting characters were lacking, there were some good storylines that the movie didn't have time to capture. I wished somehow the development of characters could have been better. Although, the book was slightly lacking in the development of Marlena and Jacob's relationship so I guess I can't expect the movie to do any better.

I think I liked this movie because the book came to life a little bit for me, not so much because I thought the movie was exceptional. I think if I hadn't read the book I would have thought the movie was lacking and rushed, with pieces missing.

All in all I think the movie was ok, it was nice to see how someone put it in picture form. I would recommend reading the book more though!

See you next week.