Review: “Steel Magnolias” (1989)

Directed by: Herbert Ross

Produced by: Ray Stark, Andrew Stone, Victoria White

Written by: Robert Harling

Edited by: Paul Hirsch

Cinematography by: John A. Alonzo

Music by: Georges Delerue

Starring: Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts, Tom Skerritt, Sam Shepard, Dylan McDermott, Kevin J. O’Connor

Based on the play by Robert Harling

Year: 1989

 

Steel Magnolias is one of those films I used to automatically think about when I thought of the term “chick flick.” It may well be one of those movies, like Sleepless in Seattle, which helped make me aware that movies can become so “gendered” and that there’s such a stigma attached to them that, if you just happened to like the film and not be part of the target demographic (i.e., women), then people begin to… well… “question” you. And I think I knowingly let this affect my enjoyment of the film and would overtly express my disgust for the film whenever the prospect of putting it on arose. Of course, I was probably ten around that time, but that stigma tainted all my future attempts to watch this movie with my mom, who happens to be a huge fan, even though I knew that, secretly, I found much to enjoy about it. And, even then, having been long since out of the house, time has also certainly taken its toll on my memory as to what it was that I enjoyed.

Theatrical Review: “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Produced by: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof

Edited by: Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey

Cinematography by: Daniel Mindel

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, John Cho, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin

Year: 2013

 

After years of anticipation, the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ bold new restart of the Star Trek film franchise is finally here. Though it was the eleventh film in the series, as the first film set in this alternate universe, it was also the franchise’s first step in an attempt to grab at a brighter future after years of the franchise taking a dive in both quality and creativity. With the promise of the series shedding years of expectations and established canon with a bit of time travel, 2009’s Star Trek brilliantly maneuvered the series into a position where it could once again surprise new audiences, Trekkies, and Trekkers alike.

Review: “Titanic” (1997)

Directed by: James Cameron

Produced by: James Cameron, Jon Landau

Written by: James Cameron

Edited by: Conrad Buff, James Cameron, Richard A. Harris

Cinematography by: Russell Carpenter

Music by: James Horner

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill, Jonathan Hyde, David Warner, Victor Garber, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart, Danny Nucci, Jason Barry, Suzy Amis, Ioan Gruffudd

Year: 1997

 

Titanic is responsible for exposing me to what is very likely my first experience with the phenomena of backlash toward something popular. Though I was just 11 when the film first released back in 1997 and had very little interest in actually seeing this 3-hour epic romance, I distinctly remember getting caught up with the other guys in my class who took great joy in teasing the girls who had begun bragging that they had seen the movie multiple times and memorized every moment. I even remember writing a sort of anti-fanfic of the film that I read in front of my 5^th grade class for an English writing assignment wherein I was transported into the setting of the film and took the place of Jack and Rose at the end of the ship as it was sinking, thus dooming them both to a watery grave. There was also probably some destruction of a certain famous drawing from the film and the theft of the giant blue diamond. I hadn’t even seen the film at that point, but I had heard so much about it, I basically knew all the plot points and buttons to press that would set off the girls’ tempers and win the favor of the guys.

Review: “Dirty Dancing”

Directed by: Emile Ardolino

Produced by: Linda Gottlieb

Written by: Eleanor Bergstein

Edited by: Peter C. Frank

Cinematography by: Jeffrey Jur

Music by: John Morris, Erich Bulling

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes, Kelly Bishop, Jane Brucker, Jack Weston, Max Cantor, Lonny Price

Year: 1987

 

It speaks to a film’s popularity when a single song can instantly remind you of the film, even if you haven’t seen it. For this movie, the song that most people think of is the Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes duet “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” the declaration of love in the form of a cheesy 80s pop ballad that inexplicably serves as the catalyst for the film’s final dance number, despite the film being set in the early 1960s. Oddly enough, this wasn’t the song that reminded me of this film’s existence and necessitated its inclusion into Girly Movie Month. The credit for that goes to yet another 80s pop song, “Hungry Eyes,” which similarly finds its way into the film as one of many anachronisms that likely served to make the film more palatable to the 80s teen audience the film was aiming for at the time of its release.

Review: “The Notebook”

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Produced by: Lynn Harris, Mark Johnson; Toby Emmerich, Avram Butch Kaplan (executive)

Written by: Jeremy Leven (screenplay); Jan Sardi (adaptation)

Edited by: Alan Heim

Cinematography by: Robert Fraisse

Music by: Aaron Zigman

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, Joan Allen, James Marsden, Jamie Brown, Sam Shepard, David Thornton, Kevin Connolly

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks

Year: 2001

 

Nicholas Sparks adaptations have become something like an annual event, it seems. Sure, it’s not actually true, but it feels true, what with all the films attempting to cash in on this film’s success as a tear-jerking romance novel adaptation. It all started with Message in a Bottle in 1999, and then there was the Mandy Moore film A Walk to Remember in 2002. The biggest film in this series of cloying romantic fantasies, though, seems to be The Notebook, a film that even romantic movie haters had at one point or another assured me is actually “a pretty decent movie.”

Now, I admit that I had basically pecked out portions of story from this film based on scenes I had caught glimpses of while on various trips back home, mostly when my oldest stepsister was still living at home. There were probably two or three good efforts thrown in there, too, of me actually trying to honestly follow the film with them before something else caught my attention and I wound up not following through with it. When I started Girly Movie Month this month, however, I knew that this would ultimately have to be reviewed, being basically the girly movie that comes to my mind when I think of the term “girly movie.”

Having finally seen the film all the way through in one sitting, I feel as though I can honestly sit down with anyone who may have told me in the past that this was actually a “decent” film and tell them to their faces: “You are so full of it.”

Review: “Legally Blonde”

Directed by: Robert Luketic

Produced by: Ric Kidney, Marc E Platt

Written by: Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith (screenplay)

Edited by: Anita-Brandt Burgoyne, Garth Craven

Cinematography by: Anthony B. Richmond

Music by: Rolfe Kent

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Ali Larter, Linda Cardellini, Holland Taylor, Raquel Welch

Based on the novel by Amanda Brown

Year: 2001

 

Have you ever seen the sequel to this? It’s horrible. Don’t do it if you haven’t. You’ll thank me when you haven’t peeled off your face because of it – and I’m not referring to the skin treatment. I’m being quite literal. It took lots of stitches and recovery time after I saw that junk on TBS.

Anyway, who needs a sequel, anyway, when Legally Blonde is itself two small complementary films merged into one pretty, pink package? One half college romcom, one half courtroom comedy, Legally Blonde provides a satisfyingly perky romp into a girl power fantasy.

In Honor of Mother’s Day: <3 Girly Movie Month <3

So, May has begun! And what comes with May? FLOWERS! And Mother’s Day! And my mom’s pretty girly — she had me make sure that her Dutch Bros. cup was pink, which was only available online — so, yeah, to commemorate the month of flowers and mothers who like girly things, I’m going to review nothing but girly movies!

Wait! No! Not that kind of “girly movie.” Geez, you freak!

No, what I mean are movies like You’ve Got Mail, The Lake House, Bridesmaids, Enchanted, Brave, etc. will, for the next month, grace The Viewer’s Commentary – only not those, ’cause I already reviewed those.

Stereotypically girly, you say? So be it. I’ll most likely be doing something similar for June and Father’s Day… Anyway, yeah, so get ready to get in touch with your feminine side. Girly Movie Month begins…

Disclaimer: Incidental reviews of theatrical films during this time will not be counted as “girly” movies, unless, of course, they are actually a “girly” movie.

Review: “Star Trek”

Directed by: J.J. Abrams

Produced by: J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof

Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman

Edited by: Mary Jo Markey, Maryann Brandon

Cinematography by: Dan Mindel

Music by: Michael Giacchino, Alexander Courage (themes)

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, Eric Bana, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy, Ben Cross, Clifton Collins, Jr., Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison

Year: 2009

 

It’s one of my favorite films now, but at the time this was first announced, I absolutely hated the idea of revisiting the original series characters. It wasn’t out of any sort of loyalty to the original cast, really, nor out of any sort of deep respect for their final film together, The Undiscovered Country (which contends with The Wrath of Khan for the best film), but more because I was sick of the franchise staying in the past. Other fans were seemingly of the same mind, with viewership so low for the prequel series Star Trek Enterprise that it resulted in the first Star Trek cancellation since the original series, and the abhorrently tacky Next Generation send-off Star Trek Nemesis earning the lowest box office in the series. So why was the studio and director J.J. Abrams, a self-admitted non-fan of the franchise, so keen on moving backward with the new film when stagnation was the series’ biggest problem in the first place?

Review: “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family”

Directed by: Tyler Perry

Produced by: Tyler Perry, Reuben Cannon, Roger M. Bobb

Written by: Tyler Perry

Edited by: Maysie Hoy

Cinematography by: Alexander Gruszynski

Music by: Aaron Zigman

Starring: Tyler Perry, Loretta Devine, Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, David Mann, Cassi Davis, Tamela Mann, Lauren London, Isaiah Mustafa, Rodney Perry, Shannon Kane, Teyana Taylor

Based on the musical play by Tyler Perry

 

I watched a pretty bad movie this weekend, the Robin Williams-starring What Dreams May Come, but even that trite piece of cloying rubbish couldn’t come close to satiating my craving for bad cinema, apparently. And so I ran through my Netflix queue and discovered that, long ago, I had stashed away a Tyler Perry movie for just such an occasion. And, well, I did it. I finally did it. After watching about 70% of Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman on TBS and then not being able to take any more, I finally watched my first complete Tyler Perry production, Madea’s Big Happy Family. And, oh my God, I don’t know how I got through it. (Actually, maybe I do. Here’s a hint: it rhymes with “bin and chronic.”)

Review: “Jurassic Park III”

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Produced by: Kathleen Kennedy, Larry J. Franco

Written by: Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Edited by: Robert Dalva

Cinematography by: Shelly Johnson

Music by: Don Davis, John Williams (themes)

Starring: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter

Based on the Jurassic Park book series by Michael Crichton

Year: 2001

 

I remember when I first found out this movie was actually a thing that was happening. It was amazingly sudden, if I recall correctly. I was still fairly new to the internet back in 2001, and the only magazines I read at the time were gaming magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, so it’s not like I was exactly up on the latest movie news. So imagine my surprise when I saw several ads and merchandise hanging around Wal-Mart (as it was written at the time) for a third Jurassic Park film that I had never even heard about.