The main flaw of “Uptown Girls” despite being, well, a bad movie, is that it’s never sure what type of movie it wants to be. While it’s geared toward the younger female crowd, should it be? With a basic adult theme and many complex adult issues that are dealt with within the story, would girls even understand what was going on other than knowing Fanning’s character is spoiled? Ultimately, what’s sad about this movie, is that the pig has a lot more charisma and likeable aspects than any of the other actors in this, and boy can it act! Hot damn. Seriously though, it’s hard not to find Dakota Fanning adorable. She’s a very good actress for her age and most of the time I enjoy her acting in the movies.
Tag Archives: Musical
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)
Mary is this whiny brat who dreams of becoming an actress; she wants to so badly that she speaks in Shakespearean droning dialogue but never really says much, and is smart enough to know the works of George Bernard Shaw, but isn’t smart enough to know that Jersey isn’t that far from New York. Regardless, she gets into a tizzy when she is forced to move from New York to New Jersey with her family (reasons unexplained) and thus her chances of becoming an actress are ruined… well, she really is a drama queen, ever hear of something called the LIRR? It’s this huge train station with trains that takes people wherever they want, and, big surprise, you can go from Jersey to New York in only three hours. How can the writers omit such a logical detail such as that?
13 Going On 30 (2004)
“13 Going on 30” is fluff, and it knows it’s fluff, it’s embedded within the screenplay, and what makes this such a surprisingly enjoyable movie, is that the writer’s do not try to deny it and approach the situations with a humorless approach, but instead take it simply for what it is, and it works here. For a film basically compared to “Big”, being a basic remake and or sequel, it was marketed more for the female crowd along with a bit of a bittersweet approach to it that’s hard to find but is nonetheless fun once you get down to the seams.
You Got Served (2004)
Well, it’s safe to say, that at no point in this review will you see the word “good” describing this movie, unless you see the sentence “Good god, what a piece of crap”, or “Good god, why?!” “You Got Served” tries to capitalize off of break dancing and free styling, while attempting to create its own moneymaking properties and crazes, case in point, the phrase “You Got Served.” What this film’s main problem is that everything about it is feels so artificial. It feels like an hour and forty minute infomercial for two really crappy music bands whose fifteen minutes ended years ago. Not even the mindless marketing tools MTV could fuel a film that had nothing to go by except a lot of flash and dash and no brains. It seems like casting agents just took a lot of the actors from the WB network and dropped them into the film and made it feel like it’s trying to get across that these characters are really from the ghetto.
Love Actually (2003)
Love. It’s a beautiful feeling. And it’s the worst pain one can experience. But “Love Actually” is a celebration of both sides of love. Longing, happy marriages, and crushes, and oh so much more. Deep down it’s a dedication to the people of 9/11, as the introduction declares, and it’s plenty resonant in the all-star tribute with a humongous cast of talented actors from Liam Neeson to Colin Firth right down to Martin Freeman, Elisha Cuthbert, and Billy Bob Thorton. In this episodic Capra-esque fairytale, we meet a large group of people experiencing life and love in all ends of the terminology. There are really too many sub-plots to mention, but I’ll try.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
They were the bass guitars in “My Girl”, they were the pianos in “Cool Jerk” and “You’ve Really Got a hold on me”, and they were the drums in “Ain’t too Proud to Beg” and “Heatwave”, they were “The Funk Brothers”, the most under-appreciated band in music who had more number one hits than the Beatles, Elvis, and the Rolling Stones combined, the people who Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder loved to hang around and learn from as the modern artists featured in the documentary do. Not only does this pay tribute to the artists but it gives them a spotlight of glory that they were never given. The Funk Brothers were a group of men who were a mixture of talented jazz, soul, and club musicians whom were assembled by Motown founder Berry Gordy to play the music to his artists songs, and though some came from different cities and were of different races they became brothers nonetheless.
Down with Love (2003)
“Down with Love” has the right intentions; it’s a throwback to the old Kim Novak and Rock Hudson romantic comedies from the sixties; the hip, groovy, fluffy as a marshmallow, and very colorful romantic comedies were sometimes very entertaining, and while “Down with Love” has all the ingredients of a satire, this is never sure whether it really is a satire or a spoof. A satire is an amusing jab at a topic, a spoof is making fun of a topic and unfortunately, “Down with Love” jumps from one genre to the other so constantly throughout the progression of the film that it makes your head spin. Barbara Novak is a brutal young go-getter, a tough ballsy female writer for a magazine, a female pioneer in a male dominated society who has written a book called “Down with Love” which breaks down and analyzes all the tricks men pull with women, but can’t get it published.