The Vow

"The Vow" is based on the actual relationship of Kim Carpenter, who wrote a book about his marriage to his wife Krickitt, also known as The Vow.  Ten weeks after their wedding, the couple were in an automobile accident in which Krickitt suffered brain trauma, which erased memories of her romance with Kim as well as their recent marriage.

 Starring Rachel McAdams as Paige Collins, and Channing Tatum as her husband Leo, the movie

is a romantic tale of courtship, marriage and domestic bliss that is rudely interrupted by a car crash which leaves the Paige unable to remember anything at all about the her husband Leo.  To complicate matters Paige can remember most of her life before meeting Leo, but none of it involving him.

He dedicates all his time to woo her and make her fall in love with him, even if she cannot remember him. His chances are hampered when her estranged and wealthy family, start pulling her back toward them, not to mention her ex-fiance.

Though critic reviews have been mixed on the film; I won't give out any spoilers, but I was pleased how the ending wasn't cheesy.  If you're a fan of either McAdams or Tatum, I recommend seeing it.

-Katie-

Clue

"Well, to make a long story short..."

This classic movie is a hysterical portrayal of an old school, murder mystery dinner- starring Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, and Martin Mull. Its starts off following a group of guests, who are all mysteriously invited to a house by an anonymous host- all of them are unaware of two things; first that they all are connected in some way, and second, that there is a murderer in the house.

The fast paced witty banter between the guests is the best part of the movie, that and Tim Curry playing the butler. The movie seems to revolve around the butler, Wadsworth and his ability to relate to each of the seemingly wealthy guests, while also revealing to each of them that they are all being blackmailed, and that someone is looking to kill off certain people.

They are constantly pointing the finger back and forth between each other trying to find out who the killer really is. The guests surely don’t trust each other, but soon realize that they are going to need to rely on one another, and the information they are willing to share, in fear of being killed. Just when the pieces start to fall into place, and the frustration between the guests is at an all time high- as you watch, you will be unable to control the intensity of your laughter. The confusion that comes from this movie is not only the question of who the murderer is, but of how absolutely hilarious a movie based around homicide can be. Watch this movie and find out who did it!

-Samantha-

Save the Last Dance

"Save the Last Dance" stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas, premiering in 2001, about an interracial couple's harships and true passion. I'll admit, this is one of my all time favorite movies which I own on DVD and have seen about a million times.

Julia Stiles' character, Sara, goes through a life changing hardship which causes her to give up her dream of going to Julliard for ballet. She is also forced to move in with her "father" whom moved away from her when she was yonger. Sara moves from a predominantly white neighborhood to the South Side of Chicago. This movie shows the hardships that Sara goes through when she enters into an interracial relationship with her new boyfriend, Derek, played by Sean Patrick Thomas. Sara and Derek's relationship taught me that you cannot let other people determine who you should be with.

"...it's about me and him, not us and other people..."

This movie is about passion and following your dreams until they come true. Derek decides to not let Sara give up her dream because of a hardship she has faced. She was born to dance. This movie always makes me feel like I was born to dance as well...but then when I try to dance along to the moves Derek teaches Sara, I decide to stick with my day job.
-Danielle-

The Town

I have been dying to see The Town for awhile now, I just never took the time to sit down and watch it.  Well I finally did, and I was everything I thought it would be and more.

The Town is one of the best crime movies I have seen since 2006's The Departed.  Taking place in Charlestown (a neighborhood in Boston), MA,  four friends rob banks.  Typical scenario I know, but it's worth the watch.

Without telling any spoilers, "The Town" is based on the novel "Prince of Thieves," by Chuck Hogan.  The movie tells the story of Claire, a bank manager (Rebecca Hall) who is taken hostage during a robbery. As she tries to recover from the trauma, she's comforted by Doug ( Ben Affleck), who it turns out was one of her kidnappers. Meanwhile, Doug's buddy Gem/James (Jeremy Renner) is worried that his new love interest might figure out Doug's true identity, while an ex-girlfriend (Blake Lively) continues to vie for his affections. 

Affleck has become a critically acclaimed filmmaker, winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay for "Good Will Hunting" in 1997, which he cowrote with best friend Matt Damon.  Since then he has made his directorial debut on 2007's Gone Baby Gone and The Town, both being well-received and doing great at the box office.

"The Town" is the best crime thriller that I've seen since 2006's "The Departed."  Big robberies and showdowns...for those who haven't seen "The Town" yet, go see it!

-Katie

Almost Famous

"I always tell the girls, never take it seriously,

if ya never take it seriosuly, ya never get hurt,

ya never get hurt, ya always have fun,

and if you ever get lonely,

 just go to the record store and visit your friends."

This movie is a trip; taking place in 1973, and revolving around sex, drugs and rock & roll.

The real magnitude of this movie is about how much love a person

can have for a band, and their music.

The lovely Penny Lane is played by Kate Hudson, and the 15 year old, strong minded, rock and roll journalist- William Miller is played by Patrick Fugit. Other stars that appear in this movie include, Jason Lee, Frances McDormand, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Faiuza Balk, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jimmy Fallon, Rainn Wilson, and Jay Baruchel.

The movie revolves around an up-and coming band: Stillwater. The talents include- lead guitarist, Russell Hammond, lead singer, Jeff Bebe, drummer, Ed Vallencourt, and the compact bass-player Larry Turner. Throughout the film, Williams true understanding of music continues to grow, and from the beginning you can tell that his love for the music is real. But William is not the only one who is a true fan, Penny Lane and her loyal followers ‘The Band-Aids’ also share the same love and passion that only a true fan would appreciate. Its important to know that Penny and her girls are not groupies, she quotes “ ‘Groupies’ sleep with rock stars because they want to be near someone famous. We are here because of the music. We are Band Aids.” They allow William to join their clique and together they go around the country touring with Stillwater, following them to every show. And this is where William begins to fall for Penny.

The whole reason William is able to join them on their incredible tour is because of his accessibility to get the band on the cover of the Rolling Stones. The members of Stillwater frequently refers to William as ‘the enemy” because of the fact that he’s a journalist and whatever he writes, will determine how the world views the band. And all they want to do is look cool- how hard is it to make them look cool? Well it can be hard to make a band look cool when they are constantly fighting over their images, stardom and ladies. The different love triangles that go on throughout the film are nearly impossible to explain, but beautifully come together towards the end.

Add to this an overbearing mother, an incompetent manager, and a whole bunch of characters who worship music and everything it has to offer- you’ll get a film bursting with fun. If you are a music lover, or just a person who wants to be apart of something great- you must see this movie!

-Samantha-



Friends with Benefits

This weekend STARZ decided to premier the movie "Friends With Benefits". This movie stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. I hate that this movie and "No Strings Attached" with Ashton Kutcher came out around the same time because I always confuse the two!

I have yet to see "No Strings Attached", so I can not tell you which is better but I did like "Friends with Benefits".

For all the ladies reading this, who knew our little NSYNC boy, Justin Timberlake, had such a rocking body? He can sing, dance, act and has 12-pack abs.

For all the gentlemen reading this, Mila Kunis is beautiful too and does a great job in this role as she looks for her prince charming.

This movie is about an emotionally damaged girl, Jamie, who just wants to find the perfect guy to live happily ever after with. Along comes Dylan, who is emotionally unavailable and wants nothing to do with a girlfriend. When Jamie and Dylan meet it is far from love at first sight.

We've all heard of men and women trying to be "just friends with benefits", but can this really work?

You'll have to sit down, get your popcorn and watch the movie inorder to find out.

This movie does have a happy ending and it angers me because it leads people to think that having a relationship with someone, which is just based on sex, will workout for the best. On the other hand, if someone is making thier life decisions based on a movie they saw with NSYNC boy, Justin Timberlake, then they have a problem.

This movie does have alot of nudity so just make sure you are not watching it with your parents!

-Danielle-

This Means War

This weekend I was so excited to be going to see Channing Tatum's new movie 21 Jump Street.  Sadly when my friend and I got there, the showing we wanted to go to was sold out.  So instead we settled on This Means War, starring (my favorite actress) Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine.

Heading into the theater, I wasn't sure what to expect, some reviews were good, others not as much.  I won't give any spoilers except that Reese's character Lauren does choose one of the men in the end (though not who I wanted).  

I thought I was good enough for a date movie, it has aspects for both men and women; action, comedy, and romance.  Yet it seems to fall into the same boat as all of the other romantic comedies lately, just adding two CIA Agents fighting for the same girl.

Personally, I feel like this was none of the three actors better movies.  Chris Pine had won me over as a surprisingly quick-witted Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movies, as did Tom Hardy in Inception.

My suggestion is, if you haven't seen it yet and you do want to watch it, wait until it's released on DVD and rent it on a rainy day.

-Katie-