Category Archives: Romance

EAT PRAY LOVE (2010): Eat & Love, Clearly The Best Parts

Eat Pray Love (2010), Julia Roberts
Eat Pray Love (2010), Julia Roberts

Eat Pray Love had to be watched because I wanted to know the story of a person who chooses to  drastically change their life because what they have no longer makes them happy.

Said woman (Liz), played by Julia Roberts decides to embark on a three part journey, travelling from Italy to India then Bali in a period of twelve months. As you can imagine, she meets many interesting people en route.

If you’ve ever been to Italy or dreamt about going, you’ll love the first part of this movie. You’ll like it because it’ll remind you of what makes travelling great and particularly, all the things to adore about Italy. Those curious about what it can mean to be on a ‘spiritual journey’ will get the most out of part two, in India.

Eat Pray Love (2010), Javier Bardem
Eat Pray Love (2010), Javier Bardem

Filipe, (Javier Bardem) and pretty much everything that comes out of his mouth is a personal highlight of the final part of this movie. I particularly like his response to Liz when she says ‘I am so sick of people telling me I need a man.

Watch it if you’re curious about what he says and life changing adventures such as the one liz chooses.

Happy Film Loving, 

G

LOVE, ROSIE (2014): In Love, Timing Is Everything

Love, Rosie (2014), Liliy Collins, Sam Claflin
Love, Rosie (2014), Liliy Collins, Sam Claflin

Love, Rosie is a story about two people who’ve been friends for a very long time, while sharing feelings for each other, but somehow they never seem to get it together.

It’s the kind of predicament where you find yourself thinking, if only one of them spoke honestly, just once about what was in their heart, things would be very different.

But, sometimes everything is supposed to be just as it is at that time. Of course this is not at all comforting when you’re in the middle of it all and timing is not on your side.

Love, Rosie (2014), Liliy Collins
Love, Rosie (2014), Liliy Collins

Love, Rosie is one of those love stories that isn’t too typical of the romantic comedy genre. And the onscreen chemistry between Sam Claflin and Lily Collins, the leads of director Christian Ditter’s film is really quite something.

Watch it for the reasons above, and don’t wonder too long about how Lily Collins got that British accent just right. There’s also a beautiful father/daughter relationship to take in.

Happy Film Loving,

G

TOP FIVE (2014): Chris Rock. Funny, Current And Real, Like Always

Top Five (2014), Rosario Dawson, Sherri Shepherd
Top Five (2014), Rosario Dawson, Sherri Shepherd

The Chris Rock written and directed comedy/romance Top Five is  a film for all who had been missing the comic’s famous humour, and all fans of funny.

Though not a stand up comedy set, the story does keep getting more and more interesting as it unfolds.

Top Five (2014), Tracy Morgan
Top Five (2014), Tracy Morgan

There’s also a handful of very welcome cameos to make the experience even more fun. I’ll say no more about that, so you can be pleasantly surprised.

Rosario Dawson, Dawson, Gabrielle Union, J.B. Smoove and Tracy Morgan also star.

Happy Film Loving,

G

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (2014): The Things I Liked…

The Theory Of Everything (2014), Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones
The Theory Of Everything (2014), Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones

For those hoping that The Theory of Everything will delve deeply into the science that Professor Stephen Hawking is most famous for, that’s not the emphasis here. Instead, director James Marsh’s film focuses on the love story of Hawking, the acclaimed theoretical physicist plus cosmologist and his wife, Jane.

Starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything is great for all the important reasons, including a brilliant script and memorable performances by all, especially Redmayne, whose Best Actor Oscar win for this very role is highly deserved.

Redmayne does a memorable job of embodying Hawking’s physicality, conveying his emotions and his famously mischievous sense of humour through all the stages of his life.

The Theory Of Everything (2014), Eddie Redmayne
The Theory Of Everything (2014), Eddie Redmayne

The Theory of Everything is about many things. For me, the thing that stands out most is what it has to say about the beauty of friendship, love and most of all, what is possible with the human spirit. As Hawking put it himself:

“There should be no boundary to human endeavour. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope’.

If you haven’t already, watch it for all the reasons above.

Happy Film Loving,

G

ALOHA (2015): More Bradley Cooper Please!

Aloha (2015), bradley Cooper
Aloha (2015), bradley Cooper

More Bradley Cooper, Please!

It’s hard for me not to feel this way after his brilliant Oscar-nominated performance in American Sniper (2014); not to say that his new movie, Aloha is a similar kind of film, mind you

Writer/Director, Cameron Crowe – the man responsible for the 1996 hit, Jerry Maguire is back with the story of a celebrated military contractor (Cooper) who must choose between two love interests, played by Emma Stone and Rachel McAdams.

As we all know, love triangles can get notoriously tricky, particularly if you have to choose. Let’s see how things turn out for the parties involved in Aloha. Maybe we can get a few tips on how to manoeuvre similar predicaments.

What a shock that Jennifer Lawrence is nowhere to be seen in this movie. I’d become so used to her and Cooper sharing screen time. Luckily, we do have two great comedy Actors in the shape of Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) and Danny McBride of Pineapple Express (2008)This Is The End (2013) and other Seth Rogen/Judd Apatow movies.

Bring on the love triangle shenanigans!

Happy Film Loving,

G