“He’s Just Not that Into You”
He’s Just Not that Into You
In Theaters: Feb. 6th, 2009
Director: Ken Kwapis
MPAA: PG-13
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly & Bradley Cooper
I don’t know where to start:0 “He’s Just Not That Into You” is a great chick flick with an all-star cast.
Set in Baltimore, we follow a group of young adults in their various relationships. We have the singles: Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin), Mary (Drew Barrymore), Conner (Kevin Connolly), Anna (Scarlett Johansson) & Alex (Justin Long).
Then there are those in committed relationships: Neil & Beth (Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston) and Janine & Ben (Jennifer Connelly, Bradley Cooper).
The main character of the movie would be Gigi. As a young, twenty-something, Gigi is down on her luck in the single’s scene. She just can’t seem to decipher all the language of rejection. She is optimistic that when a guy says he had a good time that she should expect another date or a call. After a blind date with Conner, she decides to show up at one of his local haunts. She hopes to casually bump into him, but instead meets his roommate Alex who is a bartender.
Alex takes Gigi under his wing and educates her on all things dating related. Now how does Alex know so much? Well, not only is he a bartender, but he is an expert womanizer.
Gigi runs back to her office where she works side-by-side with Beth & Janine. She tells them all the relationship revelations that she is having. This causes both Beth & Janine to question their relationship status. Are they the exception or the rule in their relationships?
Now Beth has been in a relationship with Neil for seven years. They have a wonderful relationship and Neil is very much in love with Beth, but he holds unconventional beliefs on marriage. Beth wants the commitment of marriage and doesn’t understand why if Neil loves her so much then why can’t he marry her. Beth ends their relationship because ultimately she feels like she has been compromising her happiness for a very long time.
Now Janine’s husband Ben is having an extra marital affair with an aspiring musician and yoga teacher named Anna. Janine knows that something is up. Long before the affair begins her and Ben’s relationship had been on the rocks. They have had no physical intimacy for a year, but Janine thinks it is the stress of their home renovation. Janine comes off as being very controlling, paranoid, and unlikable, but in the end she is right-on with her suspicions and a true hero in the movie.
Now, Mary & Anna are best friends. Anna is constantly going to Mary to hash out all the details of her multiple relationships. Mary assures Anna that she is the exception and that her relationship with Ben could work out to be the perfect romance. Mary herself is very unlucky in love. Her last date ends up as a loser who is juggling multiple women so much so he can’t keep them separated. Although Mary plays a very small role in the movie, she has a wonderful surprise ending:)
The storylines in “He’s Just Not That Into You” are too much to hash out here with many twists and turns. Each of the characters’ stories intertwine several times which adds to this wonderful chick flick.
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
Photo Credits: http://www.hesjustnotthatintoyoumovie.com
New In Town a “pursing” review
New In Town
In Theaters: Jan. 30, 2009
Director: Jonas Elmer
MPAA: PG-13
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick, Jr., Siobhan Fallon Hogan, J.K. Simmons
“New In Town” stars Renee Zellweger as Lucy Hill. Lucy is a successful executive from Miami, Fl. As she climbs the corporate ladder on her way to VP, she decides to take a small assignment in Minnesota. What we notice about “Miami Lucy” is that she is single, structured, driven, and has expensive taste. She’s a little bit uptight for the small town, New Ulm, where she will make her temporary home.
Now we aren’t told this, but apparently Lucy has never lived outside of Florida. We could assume that she makes big bucks, but has yet to take a vacation to anywhere frigid. She seems totally shocked that Minnesota is freezing. This only adds to the element that Lucy is extremely out of place.
Upon arrival to New Elm, Lucy is greeted by her receptionist, Blanche Gunderson. Blanche offers Lucy a warm welcome and invites her over for dinner. At dinner, Lucy meets a group of local scrap bookers and a single guy in town, Ted (Harry Connick, Jr.). Lucy is truly embarrassed because she realizes that this seems to be a set-up. She doesn’t have anything in common with back-woods Ted and proceeds to announce their differences over dinner.
Now Lucy’s assignment is to restructure a manufacturing plant located in New Elm. Lucy goes in with the knowledge that a number of the employees are to be scrapped to streamline production of a new protein-bar. The plant workers know that anytime corporate sends them someone jobs will be lost. They are extremely cold to Lucy and even play a prank on her to get out of a day’s work.
Now for a little twist, Lucy has to work with the local union rep. on her plans to restructure and low-and-behold, Ted is the local union rep. Lucy offers an apology for her behavior at dinner and they agree to keep things professional.
What is believed to be a small stay in New Ulm turns into months and months. Lucy has finally earned the trust of the plant workers and has grown to like New Ulm. Although her and Ted got off to a rough start they develop a slow romance. Lucy helps Ted’s daughter get ready for a formal and later that night she and Ted are able to get to know each other. Lucy discovers that Ted is originally from the Carolinas (I actually forgot which one) and moved to Minnesota when his wife became sick with cancer. When his wife died, he didn’t want to up-root his daughter and has been in New Ulm ever since. A make-out session begins and is only broken up with the arrival home of his teenage daughter.
Now for the twist, Corporate has the results back from the protein-bar test markets, and they realize they don’t sell. Orders are that the plant must be shut down within a month. Lucy is depressed, and now the whole plant including Blanche(receptionist) has turned on her. Lucy has grown so attached to the town. She racks her brain for a way to keep the plant. She flies back to Miami to plead her case, but with no luck.
With some creative thinking, Lucy comes up with a plan to give the plant one more shot before closing, but the plant workers will have to trust her……
Overall, I really enjoyed “New In Town.” The story was fun and the characters were interesting to get to know. The only thing that bothered me during the movie are all the close-ups of Renee Zelleweger. I think she is really pretty but something odd is going on with her lips. I can’t tell if it is filler or the unnatural pursing that some of the Hollywood women do, i.e. Olsen Twins & Angelina Jolie. It really was distracting amidst a fairly good Chick Flick.
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
Photo Credits: New In Town- www.newintownmovie.com
Sorry Everyone:(
Hey So sorry everyone…I have been traveling and sick for the past two weeks. Although, I was able to catch all three recent Chick Flicks in Theaters: New In Town, He’s Just Not That Into You, and Confessions of a Shopaholic. I haven’t sat down to share my thoughts on any of them.
Maybe I will get around to this tomorrow.
Thanks
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
“New In Town” kicks off the weekend as the annual Super Bowl Chick Flick
“New in Town”
Opens: Jan. 30th
Director: Jonas Elmer
MPAA: PG-13
Starring: Renee Zellweger & Harry Connick Jr.
My prediction is that “New In Town” will be much better than “Bride Wars.”
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
World Television Premiere of “Suburban Girl” on WeTv
Suburban Girl
On WeTv- Saturday, January 31st 8p|7c
Director: Marc Klein
MPAA:PG-13
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alec Baldwin, Maggie Grace
“Suburban Girl” stars Sarah Michelle Geller as Brett Eisenberg a young New York book editor. A shift in power at the office causes Brett to rethink her career strategy. She quickly learns from a relationship with an older man (Baldwin) that she has some growing up to do. This may include dumping her college boyfriend and standing up for herself in many areas of her life.
Interesting tidbit:
“Suburban Girl” was originally titled “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing” because it is an adaptation of two short stories from writer Melissa Bank’s book “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing.” Later the title was changed because of ownership rights to the other undeveloped short stories.
Enjoy!
La Femme Reel-The Chick Flick Dossier
Does the economic down-turn make us require more from a Chick Flick: A look at Bride Wars…
Bride Wars
Opens: Today- January 9, 2009
Director: Gary Winick
MPAA: PG
Starring: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Johnston, Steve Howey, Candice Bergen, Chris Pratt, Bryan Greenberg
Tonight, in a rather cynical mood, I wandered over to the theater to watch Bride Wars. Americans are losing their jobs, newspapers are filing bankruptcy, and a financial doomsday seems to be around the corner, etc. etc.
Well, what is the purpose of many chick flicks if not to distract us from real life? They transport us to a place where designer handbags, cute men, fun shoes, girl-time, and cocktails abound. Our current times make a movie like Bride Wars seem silly.
Bride Wars starts off just good enough. Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) have been friends since childhood. As young Jersey girls, they witnessed a wedding at the Plaza Hotel in NYC while having lunch with their mothers. They both embraced the goal of one day being a June bride at the Plaza.
Fast-forward 20+years. They both are in committed relationships and have maintained their strong friendship.
Liv is a successful attorney, and Emma is a teacher. Their respected career choices help to over emphasize their difference in personalities. Liv is a headstrong, cutthroat perfectionist, and Emma is the giving, gullible, pushover type.
Liv and Emma find themselves engaged within days of each other. This seems to be ideal. They will be each other’s Maid of Honor and plan their weddings together! Their first piece of business is to hire Marion St. Claire, wedding extraordinaire. Marion helps them both book separate weekend dates in June at the Plaza, but a clerical error has them both booked on the same day. With no other June dates open, Liv and Emma seek to nudge the other towards a different venue. Liv is sure that spineless Emma will cave. Emma protests that she has been saving up for “The Plaza” since she was sixteen! Liv protests that the Plaza is one of her only good childhood memories as both her parents are dead and won’t be able to see her get married. Bride Wars’ writers choose not to tell us how Liv’s parents died. This might have been a real chance to develop Liv’s character.
Bridal sabotage begins in the form of blood-orange spray tans, blue hair, jumbo cookie bouquets and hip-hop dance teachers, as each bride tries to ruin the others plans. I was looking forward to seeing Anne Hathaway in a dance-off with Kate Hudson as Emma crashes Liv’s bachelorette party. However, it was more entertaining to see Anne’s dance moves on the “Ellen” show this week.
Somewhere between all the bride wars, Emma’s fiance’ starts to show different colors. He seems relatively nice during the majority of the movie, but to force a conflict in the plot, he becomes the bad guy. Emma is having second thoughts of marriage but pushes onward.
Liv’s and Emma’s wedding day arrives. They both refuse to move their wedding, so they will both be getting married at the Plaza right across the hall from each other at 5pm. Minutes before they both walk down the aisle, Emma’s father comes to congratulate Liv and let her know how proud her parents would have been of her.
Liv’s final act of sabotage is to replace Emma’s video montage with embarrassing footage of a college trip gone wild. However, she has a change of heart and asks her Man of Honor to replace the video with Emma’s original copy. He doesn’t do it and instead tosses the original dvd in a flower arrangement. Thus, the embarrassing video plays as Emma walks down the aisle. Emma hits the roof!
Emma runs across the hall to Liv’s wedding just as Liv is walking down the aisle. A huge bridal brawl ends with tousled hair and layers of tulle between them. Emotions are spent and the girls have a moment of clarity and apologies are exchanged. One wedding is canceled and the rest you probably could predict.
Bride Wars ends with a pathetic set up for a sequel:(
“Bride Wars” is beautiful to watch: the flowers, the gowns, the city, Anne, and Kate. However, the dialogue is boring! Sure there are some one-liners in the movie, but we heard them all in the trailer. “Your wedding better watch it,” and “your wedding is going to be big…just like your A@# at prom,” are about the best they get.
There was a moment during a quick exchange between Emma and Fletch (her fiance’) about pep squads and shrieking teenage girls chanting “Be Aggressive,” in which I saw potential, but it was fleeting.
My recommendation- Make it a rental unless you are getting married soon or have unending devotion to Anne Hathaway or Kate Hudson.
Photo Credits: 20th Century Fox, Bridewars.com
La Femme Reel-The Chick Flick Dossier
“Bride Wars” did the movie trailer give it all away?
Bride Wars
Opens: Friday- January 9, 2009
Director: Gary Winick
MPAA: PG
Starring: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Kristen Johnston, Steve Howey, Candice Bergen, Chris Pratt, Bryan Greenberg
La Femme Reel’s Bride Wars predictions.
1.) Double wedding ending but not at the Plaza Hotel
2.) Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen) is really a fairy god mother sent to show that friendship trumps marriage
3.) Vera Wang’s name mention no-less then 5 times
4.) Clueless (yet you might like them more than the brides) grooms
5.) No note-worthy acts of bridal sabotage beyond spray-tan, chocolate baskets & blue hair
6.) Public apology and make-up hugs between Emma & Liv in front of their wedding guest
Add your own predictions by leaving a comment!
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
Which Bride are you?
La Femme Reel’s- Bride Wars Movie Poll
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
“New in Town” movie trailer
“New in Town”
Opens: Jan. 30th
Director: Jonas Elmer
MPAA: PG-13
Starring: Renee Zellweger & Harry Connick Jr.
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
My weekend rental “Purple Violets”
“Purple Violets”
Released on Dvd: Aug. 26, 2008
Director: Edward Burns
MPAA: NR
Starring: Selma Blair, Edward Burns, Debra Messing, Patrick Wilson
“Purple Violets” is an interesting love story of second chances. Selma Blair plays Patti Petalson a thirty-something former writer turned real estate agent.
Patti is currently in a horrible marriage to Chazz (Donal Logue) an up and coming British chef. There are many hints of infidelity: Chazz is staying out late, their communication is reduced to squabbles, etc. Patti is trying hard to keep their seven year marriage together but is having trouble remembering why they ever fell in love.
Patti’s BFF is Kate (Debra Messing) and while out for dinner one night, Patti and Kate run into their former college boyfriends. Patti’s former boyfriend is a famous detective writer named Brian (Patrick Wilson) who has just published his latest work of fiction. Kate’s former boyfriend is Michael-The Murph (Edward Burns).
While check out a hot new apartment listing one day, Patti runs into Michael. Michael is currently going through AA and begs Patti for Kate’s number. Patti finds it hard to refuse especially after he retains her services as his new real estate agent and then buys a multi-million dollar apartment.
After numerous attempts to apologize to Kate, Michael final convinces her to have dinner. Kate’s hatred for Michael stems from his womanizing college days. Kate is still sure that Michael cheated on her in college. Kate eventually sees that Michael is making a sincere effort to mend their friendship, but the more time they spend together the more the romantic sparks begin to fly.
Now back to Patti:
After their run-in at the restaurant, Patti drops by Brian’s book signing only to find out his new book isn’t well received by fans. Patti and Brian do some catching up and we discover that Brian has always been convinced that Patti is the better writer of the two. He is shocked that she hasn’t made a career out of her talent.
OK…so I don’t want to give it all away, but you can probably see where this is heading. I loved Selma Blair in the movie and would love to see more of her as the lead of many Chick Flicks.
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
Photo Credits- www.purplevioletsmovie.com
“Confessions of a Shopaholic” movie trailer
I have been super lazy lately with the total lack of Chick Flicks out there to write about so,
enjoy the movie trailer of “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in theaters Feb. 13th.
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
“The Collective” Trailer
“The Collective”
Director: Judson Pearce Morgan
Starring: Kelly Overton, Laura Allen, Wynn Everett, Shane McRea, David Plant
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
“Major Movie Star” a rental
“Major Movie Star”
Opens: USA- TBD
Director: Steven Miner
MPAA: PG-13
Starring: Jessica Simpson, Vivica A. Fox, Cheri Oteri, Steve Guttenberg
Jessica Simpson’s new movie “Major Movie Star” was a #1 hit in Russia this month, but for American audiences it might go straight to DVD.
Like Simpson’s last straight to DVD release, “Blonde Ambition,” her movies don’t come across as those that we would pay $10-12 to watch in theaters.
It is being reported that the movie will be retitled as “Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous.”
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
Chick Flicks on TV Oct. 31st-Nov. 2nd
Network:Oxygen
Center Stage Friday 4pm|3c, Sat. 5:30pm|4:30c & Sunday 2:30pm|1:30c
The Bodyguard Friday 6:30pm|5:30c & 9:15pm|8:15c
Network:TNT
Titanic Sunday 3pm central
Network:FAM
Practical Magic Sunday 7:30pm(eastern/pacific)
Mean Girls Sunday 10pm(eastern/pacific)
Chick Flicks on TV
Friday, Oct. 31st- Sunday, Nov. 2nd
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
” The Secret Life of Bees” Poll….is now working!
Sorry everyone, I had taken down “The Secret Life of Bees” poll because it wasn’t letting anyone vote…..but I have it working now!
La Femme Reel- The Chick Flick Dossier
