Plot:
Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) is an insecure copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times who has never had a real relationship. One day, her editor-in-chief, Rigfort (Garry Marshall) assigns her to report undercover at a high school to help parents become more aware of their children's lives.
Her first day at South Glen South High School is miserable. Josie reverts to the old geek persona that ruined her first high school career. She also has an unfortunate run-in with three obnoxious popular girls (Jordan Ladd, Jessica Alba, and Marley Shelton), and Guy Perkins (Jeremy Jordan), the school's most attractive, popular student. Josie loses hope, but is reassured when a kind-hearted nerd named Aldys (Leelee Sobieski) befriends her. Aldys, who loathes Guy and his gang, invites Josie to join The Denominators, a group of intelligent students.
Josie develops a crush on her English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan), and becomes the top student in his class. After reciting a romantic excerpt from Shakespeare to Sam, Josie has horrible flashbacks to when she read a romantic poem aloud in class to her high school crush, a popular boy named Billy Prince (Denny Kirkwood), who later asked her to their senior prom, making her dream come true. However, on the night of the prom, Billy arrives with another girl and both of them hurl eggs and insults at Josie, humiliating her and breaking her heart.
One night while out driving with Aldys, Josie encounters Guy and his gang at a local hangout called "The Court" where promiscuity and underage drinking take place. Her managing editor Augustus "Gus" Strauss (John C. Reilly) loses patience with Josie after a rival paper scoops The Court story, and orders Josie to become friends with the popular kids. He arranges for her to wear a hidden camera, and soon the whole office becomes obsessed with her story.
Josie confides in her brother Rob (David Arquette) about her fears. Rob, who was their high school's most popular boy in his teens, urges her to let go of her old self and start anew. To help her, Rob enrolls as a student and becomes an instant hit. He then uses his influence to draw Josie into the cool crowd, much to the dismay of Aldys.
Sam and Josie grow closer, but Sam struggles with his feelings as he thinks she's a student. Guy and Josie attend the prom as Rosalind and Orlando from Shakespeare's As You Like It. Anita, Gus and Josie's other co-workers watch through the camera and are overjoyed as she is voted Prom Queen. As Guy, being the Prom King, dances with Josie, Sam looks on with a longing in his gaze. Soon after Josie gets herself alone, Sam approaches her and asks her for a dance. Dancing together, both contemplates upon being honest about each other but gets interrupted as Josie realizes a mean trick being played upon Aldys.
In the background, as Guy dances with Aldys as an alleged act of friendship and Guy has a crush on Aldys, the mean girls attempt to dump dog food over Aldys. Outraged, Josie throws her crown away and reveals her true identity. She praises Aldys for her kindness and warns the students that one's persona in high school means nothing in the real world. Sam is hurt by her lies and states he wants nothing to do with her. Also angered is Rob, who as a phony student received a second chance at baseball. Josie, ultimately making amends, secures him a coaching job.
Josie vows to give Gus a story and writes an account of her experience. In it, she admits she's never been kissed, describes the students of South Glen South, and avows her love for Sam; the entire city is moved by it. She writes she will stand in the middle of the baseball field and wait for Sam to come and kiss her. Josie waits, but the clock runs out with no sign of Sam. On the verge of giving up... cheers, then a booming roar, as Sam emerges to give her a romantic kiss.
Review:
I love this movie to bits! the soundtrack are spot on and catchy.. the storyline both endearing and heartbreaking at the right moments.. sigh, i love this movie~
Nine people in Baltimore deal with their respective romantic problems, usually thwarted by the differing ideals and desires of their chosen partner. At the center of this is Gigi Phillips (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young woman who repeatedly misinterprets the behavior of her romantic partners.
Gigi and Alex
Gigi is a single woman who repeatedly misreads mundane actions and comments from her dates as indications that they are romantically interested in her, and frets when the guy does not call her.
In attempting to meet Conor Barry (Kevin Connolly), a real estate agent, at a bar, she befriends the bar owner Alex (Justin Long), who reveals the strategies men use to avoid a woman.
He explains that if a man is interested in a woman, he will overcome any obstacles to ensure they date again, and that Gigi has been misinterpreting and obsessing over imagined "signs" that she receives.
Their friendship continues, and Gigi interprets his eagerness to always assist (such as taking Gigi's call while he is on a date) as a sign that he is interested in her. She makes a move, but Alex claims he is not romantically interested in her and chastises her for ignoring his advice. She angrily replies that at least she has not let herself become cynical and bitter like him.
Gigi eventually moves on from Alex, however, in a role reversal, Alex begins falling for Gigi.
After leaving several unanswered messages, Alex arrives at Gigi's apartment to declare his love. Gigi thinks that she is the rule, but after Alex suddenly kisses her passionately, he says that she is his exception.
Janine, Ben, and Anna
Gigi's friend and co-worker Janine Gunders (Jennifer Connelly) is having difficulties in her marriage to Ben (Bradley Cooper). As Janine obsesses on their home renovations, Ben becomes attracted to Anna Marks (Scarlett Johansson), a yoga instructor and aspiring singer, and the feeling is mutual.
Ben and Anna pursue a flirtatious friendship under the pretense of him helping her establish a singing career. Ben reveals to Anna that Janine once gave him an ultimatum by threatening to leave him if he did not propose. Ben agrees to be friends with Anna, and in order to flirt with him she strips and jumps naked into a swimming pool. She invites him to join, but he decides against it.
Fervently anti-smoking (due to her father's death from lung cancer), Janine pointedly asks Ben if he has been smoking and later is perturbed to find cigarette butts hidden in their back yard. Ben insists that they are not his, and their contractor, Javier (Luis Guzman), says none of his workers smoke at the house.
During a tense shopping trip, Ben reveals to Janine that he has cheated on her. Janine is devastated but rationalizes Ben's behavior, blaming herself for being too cold in the relationship, and decides she wants to save their marriage.
After a positive meeting about her singing career, Anna begins to have sex with Ben in his office. They are interrupted by Janine who, hoping to spice up their marriage, has arrived unexpectedly. Anna hides in a closet, and Ben attempts to send Janine away who then makes a heartfelt plea to save their marriage, and there are indications she succeeds in seducing him. After Janine leaves, Anna angrily departs vowing to cut ties with Ben. As Janine tidies up Ben's clothes back at their completed house, she discovers a fresh pack of cigarettes in a pocket, and she explodes in anger. When Ben returns home, he finds his clothes neatly folded with a carton of cigarettes and a note attached from Janine asking for a divorce. Janine moves into a new apartment by herself to start a new life, and Anna is later seen performing at an upscale nightclub. Ben is alone, purchasing the same beer at the same supermarket where he met Anna.
Conor, Anna, and Mary
Meanwhile, Anna enjoys a close friendship with Alex's friend, Conor. He is romantically interested in her, but Anna is only interested in a casual relationship. Conor misinterprets her hugs and cute nicknames for potential romantic interest.
Anna's friend, Mary Harris (Drew Barrymore), works in advertising for a local newspaper, and helps Conor promote his real estate business in a series of print ads. Like Gigi, she meets many men (mostly online), but despite constantly monitoring emails, pager, phone, and Myspace messages, her dates go nowhere.
While Conor attempts to cultivate a gay clientele, two gay men tell him how he is going wrong with Anna. Taking their advice, Conor decides to declare his love to Anna. Vulnerable after falling out with Ben, Anna agrees to start a serious relationship with him. But when Conor proposes buying a house and moving in together, Anna admits she doesn't want to, and they break up.
Mary later runs into Conor, recognizing him from his ad photo, and introduces herself, since they have only spoken over the phone. They hit it off, and start dating.
Beth and Neil
Gigi's other co-worker, Beth Murphy (Jennifer Aniston), is living with her boyfriend, Neil (Ben Affleck), who is also friends with Ben. After seven years of dating, Beth wants to get married, but Neil does not believe in marriage. With Gigi's newfound pragmatic stance on relationships after advice from Alex, she announces she will no longer misinterpret vague gestures from men as more than they really are. This spurs Beth to confront Neil about their relationship. When he still doesn't want to get married, she breaks up with him.
Later, the preparations for her younger sister's wedding brings the issue into sharper focus for Beth after hearing many back-handed comments from various family members. During the reception, her father Rod (Kris Kristofferson) suffers a heart attack. Beth looks after him as he recuperates while her sisters wallow, and their husbands remain glued to the television playing video games and watching football with constant takeout as the household falls into chaos. As Beth reaches the end of her patience looking after her siblings and in-laws as well as her recovering father, Neil arrives with groceries and helps with the chores. The two reconcile, with Beth saying that Neil is more of a husband to her than her sisters' spouses are to them, and she will not insist they be married. Neil later proposes to her, and they marry in an intimate ceremony aboard his sailboat.
Review:
I've watched the movie many times that i could literally mouthed off the lines :D
the most favourite couple would of course be Alex and Gigi. they're sweet together. especially after Alex starts mooning over Gigi soon as they parted ways.. amek kau. padan muka Alex :evil laughs:
then, there would be the sweet pairing of Connor and Mary. they hit it off so easily because they had the same sense of humor. funny isn't it, how easily one can bumped into one's soulmate after despairing for so long over someone unavailable.
i like the part when Neil realises that though he doesn't believe in marriage, he's willing to give it a shot just because he loves Beth too much. it made the 7 years of waiting worthwhile, don't you think? Beth ni mmg sabar betul!
as for Janine, JC played it so convincingly that to this day i detested her character, she made me itched! same detest goes to SJ's character, she's only into Ben so much so because he resisted at first. but you have to admit, he was unhappy with Janine. when Anna continued to charm his pants off, he simply surrendered, albeit haltingly due to his loyalty to Janine. in the end, they were all three unhappy people. though Janine admitted that she's now dating again.
but then, i do think Ben and Janine are best divorced. their marriage is lukewarm at best and Ben is always held by guilt to stay married to her. of course you have to work hard at making the marriage works. but if you can't find it in yourself to confide in your partner about the things not right in your relationship, maybe it wasn't meant to be. Ben was suffering. he doesn't know how to convey that he's not happy without having Janine freaked out and feeling an ass himself. so he rebelled by smoking as in retaliation.
Well, enough of that. This however is my favourite scene of the movie:
Plot:
A girl named Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) is born in Minnesota. Within her mind's Headquarters, there live five personifications of her basic emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Anger (Lewis Black). The emotions influence Riley's actions via a control console. Riley's memories are stored in colored orbs, which are sent into long-term memory each night by a suction tube. Riley's most important memories, known as "core" memories, are housed in a hub in Headquarters and power five "islands", each of which reflects a different aspect of Riley's personality: Family, Friendship, Goofiness, Hockey and Honesty. Joy always tries to keep Riley happy, and she and the other emotions try to prevent Sadness from using the console, not understanding her purpose.
When Riley is 11, her family moves to San Francisco. Riley is disappointed by their lifeless new home, and the moving van with all their belongings gets lost. Sadness begins touching Riley's happy memories, causing them to become sad memories, so Joy tries to keep Sadness isolated. However, on Riley's first day at her new school, Sadness causes Riley to cry in front of her class, creating a sad core memory. Joy tries to dispose of the new core memory before it reaches the core memory hub, but she instead knocks the other core memories loose, destabilizing the personality islands. As Joy scrambles to collect the core memories, she is sucked out of Headquarters by the memory tube, along with the core memories and Sadness. They land in the maze-like storage area of long-term memory.
Fear, Disgust, and Anger try to keep Riley happy, but inadvertently distance her from her parents, friends, and hobbies, causing her personality islands to crumble into the Memory Dump, an abyss where fading memories are disposed of and forgotten. Anger believes that going back to Minnesota will make Riley happy again, so he inserts to the control console a light bulb, which gives Riley the idea to run away to Minnesota. Meanwhile, in long-term memory, Joy and Sadness find Bing Bong (Richard Kind), Riley's childhood imaginary friend. He tells them they can get to Headquarters by riding the train of thought. After exploring Imagination Land in Riley's mind, the three eventually catch the train, but it crashes when another personality island falls and destroys the rails.
As Riley prepares to board a bus bound for Minnesota, Joy attempts to abandon Sadness and use a "recall tube" to return to Headquarters. However, Riley's last personality island falls and breaks the tube, plunging Joy and Bing Bong into the Memory Dump. In the Dump, Joy discovers a sad memory of a hockey game that becomes happy when her parents and friends comfort her. Joy now realizes that Sadness's importance is to alert others when Riley needs help.
Joy and Bing Bong try to use Bing Bong's wagon rocket to escape the Memory Dump, but after several tries, Bing Bong realizes their combined weight is too much and jumps out, allowing Joy to escape. Bing Bong fades away, finally forgotten. Joy goes to Imagination Land and uses various tools to propel herself and Sadness through the air to Headquarters. They find that the idea to run away has disabled the control console, rendering Riley numb and apathetic. Joy encourages Sadness to control the console with Sadness successfully removing the idea, reactivating the console and prompting Riley to return home.
As Riley arrives home, Sadness reinstalls the core memories, which caused Riley to burst into tears, confessing to her parents that she misses her old life in Minnesota. Riley's parents comfort and reassure her, creating a new core memory, which is a combination of sad and happy. A year later, Riley has turned 12 and adapted to her new home, and her emotions now work together to help her lead a more emotionally complex life. She has become much happier with new friends and a new hockey team.
Review:
it is such a bittersweet story. about how we cope about our feelings. some people choose to be happy through and through no matter what. except that sometimes they must allow for sadness to set in.. by constantly denying a sad moment to coexist, sooner or later we'll be imbalanced, incomplete. a sane reasonably healthy person must recognise all the emotions and keep them in balance.
at first, i was so disgusted with Sadness, rasa nak cekik-cekik je. but as the story progressed, i realised, she was that way as the product of 11 years neglect and shun. Joy completely controls Riley and relegates Sadness into a forgotten corner, assigning her to reading mind manuals and such. that wasn't nice of Joy, you see. as she allows other emotions to have a role in Riley's day, the same courtesy should be extended to Sadness.
there was a few moment when i cried. this is really an emotional movie, you know. for example, when Riley cried at school, that was a touching moment.. then, Bing Bong, when he sacrificed himself to save Joy. it reminds me of forgotten old friends who used to make us happy when we were a child. then, when Riley confessed her sadness to her parents, that was also a tear jerker moment for me.
All in all, it was a flawless movie.. something that children might enjoy together with their parents for its very strong family values. though i wonder why Riley has a mixed gender emotions whilst Mom's emotions are all female and Dad's are all guys.. hahaha.
good memories...
life is always ok when you have laughter with your family
The Plot:
When a man (Simon Pegg) mistakes her for his blind date, a woman (Lake Bell) decides to play along to see what happens. they spend their time together and have so much fun that Nancy dreads telling Jack that she's not Jessica, not really..
it boils down to having Nancy's longtime adulator, Sean (Rory Kinnear) to blackmail Nancy in the toilet that finally the ruse is out.. Jack is furious at the deception but Nancy tries to reason with him that she is just taking her chances with him.. she's 34 already and for once, she's being impulsive. they continue to snap at each other until Jack realizes that his bag is left at the cantina with Nancy's diary in it. they race each other for it and arriving, Jack's bitterness over the deception simply simpers down.. he tries to be cordial to Nancy until the arrival of his divorced wife, Hilary and the man she was having affair with simply annoyed him. Jack passes Nancy off as his girlfriend and good naturedly, she just plays along. once Hilary lets it out to Nancy that it was she who was having an affair during the marriage, Nancy sees Jack on a different light and sets out to help him out. they flirt and dance it off to make Hilary jealous.
on the dance floor, Jack and Nancy converse about each other, this time more openly seeing each other's faults. it hurt Nancy badly that Jack is able to see her cynic view of life. it makes her think of herself. they then proceed to drink a shot together with Hilary and Ed. Ed's coat suddenly gets caught in the fire and Nancy, having lied about being a firefighter is trusted to put off the fire only to spurt the nozzle towards Hilary and Ed both..
the laugh over the incident brings Jack and Nancy close again that as they go to the Waterloo Station where Jack is supposed to meet the real Jessica, Nancy mumbles about inviting Jack over to her parents' 40th anniversary party. Jack obviously doesn't catch up with the invitation as he's excited over meeting the 24-year-old Jessica. they part in good faith as Nancy kiss Jack's cheek.
at her parents' house, over the jubilant mood of the party, Nancy simply breaks down and cries over losing Jack much to the consternation of her family. on the other hand, Jack finally meets up with Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond) and discovers that the chemistry is not there between them. he ends up telling her about Nancy and she encourages him to find her.
remembering that Sean is the only link to Nancy, Jack finds him at the bowling alley. Sean drives him to a house and drops him off. only for Jack to find out that he's at a wrong house where a party of young people is going on. thankfully, a boy (Dean-Charles Chapman) there knows where Nancy used to live. Jack then leads the whole bunch of boys and girls to Nancy's parents' house where he finally makes a speech about how he feels. to which Nancy answers, quid pro quo :)
Review:
I adore this movie. it is funny, heartfelt and honest. Jack and Nancy are so believable and the chemistry between both of them is just right.. Sean is disgusting, thank you. and the fact that there is a boy in a random party (Tommen of GoT no less) who knows where once Nancy lived simply boggled my mind.
this movie makes me pine, the way a great romantic movie does, for a really great guy like Jack.. he's not frighteningly attractive, and has his failings, yet somehow, the heart simply connects, regardless. it doesn't take weeks, months nor years, a day would suffice..
me = hopeless romantic.
one thing that I really love about this movie is that it puts LB as the person who withholds the truth. usually it is a guy thing who simply decides to play the ruse, this time it's a woman's role, which is I find a refreshing twist. mind you, at age 34 myself, given the situation, I would too, within a heart beat. because Jack seems awfully like a nice person. he's charming on the get go and they simply click off from the start. I would like to find out where it would lead, don't you too? take chances, put yourself out there, or like Nancy chants over and over "get stronger thighs"
i got hooked into Game of Thrones last weekend, and currently up to the fourth episode of Season One. no wonder the series never got pass the Censorship Board: nudity, gory killings, sex, greed, lust and human depravities simply mixed in the superb, complex stories told.
i admit, i was first attracted to the story by Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington. his back story is solid, his pain draws and quarters my heart out for him.
and Bran Stark, played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright sealed the deal. I'm officially en route the GoT fandom :D
wise words, Tyrion, wise words..
i was fascinated by Tyrion too. Peter Dinklage was superb in playing the character, subjecting us to a person of many layers: intelligent, calculating, kind, susceptible and depraved in all manners a man can be. his deep, manly voice is a sonnet on summer days to me :grin:
there is Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) too. misunderstood, strong and willful sister that Jon Snow adored.. she's different from Sansa (Sophie Turner), her elder sister in terms of poise and feminine charms. but she does more than earn her mettle in fighting skills.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean) is a man of honour. he is much admired for his principles and keeping the oaths he's taken. I wonder why did Ned Stark hid the truth about Jon Snow's parentage.. perhaps it was to save him instead, who might turn out to be the Targaryen's heir, after all. oh my, that is just one sample of the intrigues that GoT abundantly supplies, and torments us all the same..
Lady Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) portrays a very strong character, suitable as Lord of Winterfell's wife and the mother of his children. It was a pity that she merely tolerates Jon Snow, but who could blame her, he was a reminder of her husband's infidelity..
spot on, i guess
it is remarkable that Jon lives with much love for Catelyn's children, despite her unloving care. Robb (Richard Madden), her firstborn despite her coldness for Jon, does maintain a loving, respectful relationship with Jon.
as for Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey, is easily the one to hate. her vindictive, cruel streak and manipulating ways, the mere presence made me repulse her. which actually shows how good LH is. i mean, i completely erased my feelings of admiration for Queen Gorgo in 300.
And Jaime Lannister played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is it just me or he just reminds me of Prince Charming in Shrek 2? the exact replica, i tell you! their son, Joffrey is what you may expect an incestuous by-product of Jaime and Cersei may be: cruel, self-important bully. Some even described him as a strong-willed child with a vicious temper and an unchecked sadistic streak.
Petyr Baelish, is one of the most memorable vermin in GoT, a person who can make your skin crawl in his presence. his past with Catelyn is one of the reasons Ned Stark can't stand him. yup, i love to hate his machinations and plots, the unseeing hands that cunningly drive the dagger onto your back with a charming smile reaching his eyes. that's how good Aidan Gillen is.
last and not least, i shipped Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa). man, that's how a woman wins her husband, no matter how uncivilized he might be. haha. but i guess, she does love him.
anyway, thanks for this illustrated Guide, i'm able to see the things much clearly :)
