Never Let Me Go

I totally bawled my eyes out at the end!  I'm not talking the one tear down your cheek crying, I'm talking tears flowing, face all scrunched up, heart breaking kinda cry!  This movie is soooo beautiful and the story is very powerful.  Basically, in an alternate version of scientific history, children are "designed" to be clones of average human beings, and must begin donating vital organs around the age of 20.  The story revolves around 3 of these children all grown up and facing the reality of living for only a few more years at the most, all while forming relationships that create quite a love triangle.  My heart just broke at the end because of the love between 2 of them!  (I am a romantic at heart...)  I was so intrigued about what was going to happen, I actually watched the whole movie in one sitting, which doesn't happen often with DVD's.  So overall, it was a gorgeous movie, although maybe not for everyone.  It's very powerful yet understated, much like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road, and Cold Mountain - 3 of my all time favorites.  CHECK IT OUT if you think it sounds like something you might like!

Jackie's Top 5 - Romance

The Notebook

No question this is #1 on the list.  I dare to say that it's the most romantic movie ever.  I mean, come on:  guy and girl fall in love and then are seperated by circumstance, and years later he painstakingly builds a humongous house for her like he originally said he would without her even knowing about it?!  We all hope to find a love like that some day.

 Shakespeare In Love

It's been several years since this one came out, but even Jackie at 17 totally loved this movie!  It's quite comedic at times, but at its heart it is all about love.  It's a fictional tale about Shakespeare while writing Romeo and Juliet, probably the most famous love story of all time, where he meets and falls madly in love with a woman betrothed to someone else.  As you can imagine, it's ending isn't exactly a happy one, but I will say that neither of them die.  GREAT MOVIE!

Romeo + Juliet

How could Romeo and Juliet be left off this list?  I saw this movie like 5 times in the theater when I was about 15, and then had it on VHS and watched it ALL the time.  And yes, I was totally in love with Leonardo and wanted to be Claire.  But besides all that, it's really a good movie.  Baz Luhrman did a solid job transforming it to modern day, but kept random things original - like the language.  It's literally Shakespeare word-for-word.  And besides being a solid movie, it's really romantic and heart-breakingly sad at the end (we all know what happens, right?!)  Leo and Claire were perfectly cast, and they all did a good job transforming this classic tale to a 1990's film.  If you haven't seen it - you should!  Consider it educational - it's Shakespeare!  And it's entertaining!!

 

Notting Hill

Oh my goodness, I love this movie.  Everyone has at least considered what it would be like if their celebrity crush actually knew they existed, and this brings that fantasy to life so perfectly.  It's not always easy, and it's not always perfect, but they fall in love despite the crazy circumstances of a famous face dating a totally unknown man.  And how perfect that the famous face is Julia Roberts?  Hugh Grant is totally adorable as the unknown man, trying to impress this movie star, despite his cooky roommate, crazy family, and simple living as a book store owner.  Bonus points for being funny, too!!

500 Days of Summer

This is a totally fresh take on relationships, that was released quite recently.  See my original review:  here.  I loved loved loved the way this movie portrayed a realistic relationship - the excitement at the beginning, followed by fights and annoyances, and maybe even a little dancing in your head after a momentous occasion.  I also liked how it didn't hide the fact that often in relationships, one person is more in like/love than the other.  During the movie, you almost feel like you're in the relationship as well, because you begin to remember instances in your own relationships similar to theirs.  I just loved how it took me back that way - I would say that's not easy to accomplish without being ridiculous!





The Adjustment Bureau

Good thriller!  It won't change your life or anything, but it's exciting and unpredictable.  I had no idea how it would end, and it actually ended better than I expected (although maybe a little sappy.)  The adjustment guys work for a "big boss" who is never revealed, but is obviously a God like figure.  I liked how that was no question in the movie that a "big boss" existed, but I didn't really like the way they implied that this god may have made mistakes that needed to be fixed - like, was that a statement about our God?  But overall, it was really exciting and even sweetly romantic at times.  I would CHECK IT OUT!!

Going the Distance

Barf!  I expected this to be a light hearted romantic comedy, but it just wasn't.  It's one of those movies that can't quite decide what it's trying to be - is it a romance?  or is it funny?  or is it raunchy?  It kind of tried too hard to be all 3 of those and it just didn't work.  They used the F word so much it was annoying (do 30 somethings actually talk that way??  Maybe 19 year olds, but hello anyone over 25 probably has a job where they have to be somewhat presentable!) and they threw in random drug use and weird sex scenes that were just over the top.  Don't waste your time.  PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eat Pray Love

Blech.  I had to force myself to actually finish this on DVD.  The main character is ridiculously self-absorbed, and the story bounces around too much.  I liked the concept, until I found out that the author of the book got money from her publisher to take the trip in the first place.... lame!!  It was cool to see the different places she visited, but that was not nearly enough to save this jumbled mess.  I was just super bored with it.  So - PASS!

Life As We Know It

Not bad!  The story was a little choppy, but it was kinda cute, sometimes sweet, and even a little funny.  It's not gonna change your life or anything, but it's worth watching if you like these kind of movies.  Overall, it's BEARABLE.

The King's Speech

There's a reason it one Best Picture at the Oscars: because it is the best film of the year!  It's excellent.  CHECK IT OUT... NOW!

Babies

L-O-V-E-D this documentary!  It was really interesting to see 4 different babies, from 4 completely different areas in their first year of life.  There is no dialogue, it is seriously just the babies who of course are too young to talk.  That may sound kinda boring, but they do show quite a bit of bonding with parents and stuff like that so there's never a dull moment.  It's cute to see how they're so much alike, yet so different being from different areas of the world.  I don't even have kids and found this TOTALLY interesting!  I would definitely CHECK IT OUT!