Romance – Page 5 – cinemescope

100 Word Review – Eagle Vs Shark (2007)

June 21, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, RomanceTagged Australian, awkward, Comedy, Jemaine Clement, Loren Taylor, quirky, Romance, Taika Waititi1 Comment

Not the animal on animal gore fest you might expect. This is a wonderfully quirky Australian comedy.

Lily (Loren Taylor) works in a fast food restaurant in the same mall as the tech shop where Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) works. When he invites her to his friend’s animal-themed fancy dress (thus the title), all of her dreams have come true. What follows includes a road trip, exotic candles and a fight to the death.

Written and directed by the hugely talented Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows), this is funny, romantic, awkward and very human. It’s an absolute delight!

100 Word Review – The Wind Rises (2013)

June 17, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Drama, RomanceTagged animation, Anime, biopic, Drama, Hayao Miyazaki, history, Romance, Studio Ghibli, tragedy, war, World War IILeave a comment

Another truly beautiful animation from the creators of Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro. This is the sort of biopic that could only come from the mind of the breathtakingly talented Hayao Miyazaki.

Based on the life of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi fighter planes that were used by the Japanese during World War II. In true Miyazaki style, it follows not only the facts of Horikoshi’s life but also his dreams, where he has conversations with Giovanni Battista Caproni, the famed Italian aeronautical engineer.

It combines the historical and the fantastical with moments of romance and tragedy.

100 Word Review – The Artist (2011)

June 16, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, Drama, RomanceTagged Berenice Bejo, Comedy, Drama, Hollywood, IMDb, Jean Dujardin, Michel Hazanavicius, Oscars, Romance, silentLeave a comment

If you haven’t seen this already where were you in 2011? It is a masterpiece of silent filmmaking in the modern age.

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and his dog are silent movie stars at the peak of their career in Hollywood’s golden years. He meets Peppy (Berenice Bejo) an aspiring dancer and helps her with her career. But as talking pictures takeover, their lives are sent spinning in very different directions.

Hilarious, romantic and dramatic, writer and director Michel Hazanavicius perfectly captured the essence of that tumultuous time in Hollywood’s history and translates it for a modern audience. It’s technically flawless!

100 Word Review – Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

June 8, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, RomanceTagged Comedy, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Literary, Maggie Gyllenhaal, philosophy, Queen Latifah, Romance, Tony Hale, Will FerrellLeave a comment

“This may sound like gibberish to you, but I think I’m in a tragedy.” – Harold Crick

Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an IRS agent who starts hearing his life narrated (by Emma Thompson) in his head, foretelling his upcoming death. Running out of options he seeks the help of a local literary professor (Dustin Hoffman).

This is a brilliant comedy that combines philosophical and literary theory to examine our control over our own destiny, how far we would go to preserve that, and what it’s like to live a story.

Queen Latifah and Maggie Gyllenhaal co-star in this extraordinary film.

100 Word Review – Man Up (2015)

June 1, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, F-Rated, RomanceTagged Ben Palmer, British, Comedy, Harriet Walter, Lake Bell, Olivia Williams, Ophelia Lovibond, Romance, Sharon Horgan, Simon Pegg, Tess Morris, The Inbetweeners MovieLeave a comment

Currently in cinemas across the UK, buy your tickets now!

Lake Bell (yes, she’s American but she can do a surprisingly good British accent) stars as Nancy, a cynical 30-something who ends up on someone else’s blind date, with not-quite-over-it divorcee Jack (Simon Pegg).

With a whole host of excellent British actors (too many to mention here), this is the debut feature from writer Tess Morris and hopefully the first of many! Director Ben Palmer (The Inbetweeners Movie) has done a marvellous job, taking the audience on a journey that is truly awkward, funny, romantic and just down right wonderful.

100 Word Review – The Truman Show (1998)

May 27, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, RomanceTagged Andrew Niccol, Comedy, Dead Poets Society, Ed Harris, IMDb, Jim Carrey, Laura Linney, Lord of War, Peter Weir, RomanceLeave a comment

I was once told that this film was a warning from Hollywood about the lizards who were controlling the world from their base on the Moon. Whether or not that’s true, this is still a film that everyone should watch.

Jim Carrey stars as Truman, an insurance salesman whose whole life has been part of a reality tv show without his knowledge.

With the marvellous Laura Linney and Ed Harris supporting and director Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society) bringing Andrew Niccol’s (Lord of War) words to life, the Oscar nominations are to be expected. Funny, romantic, sad, paranoia-enducing; simply wonderful.

100 Word Review – Strictly Ballroom (1992)

May 24, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, RomanceTagged Australian, Ballroom, Baz Luhrmann, Comedy, dancing, mockumentary, Paul Mercurio, Romance, Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby3 Comments

Directed by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby) shows off his style and sense of humour in this wonderful, quirky Australian comedy.

Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio) is tipped to win the Pan Pacific Ballroom Dancing Championship, until dancing non-regulation steps loses him his dancing partner. With an overbearing mother living through his successes, will he risk dancing his own steps? And if so, will he find someone to dance with him?

This film is dramatic and hilarious. Part-mockumentary, part romantic comedy, full of feather boas, extraordinary hair styles and some toe-tapping tunes. It is guaranteed to make you smile!

100 Word Review – Pretty In Pink (1986)

May 19, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, RomanceTagged 1980s, Andrew McCarthy, Comedy, James Spader, John Hughes, Jon Cryer, Molly Ringwald, Romance, teen2 Comments

John Hughes is, of course, the king of the teen film; this is the jewel in his crown.

High school student Andie (Molly Ringwald, who else?!) finds herself infatuated with “richy” Blane (Andrew McCarthy) as her childhood friend Duckie (Jon Cryer) vies for her affection.

Silly names aside, all of these characters are endearing in their own way. If on first viewing you find the plot predictable I would remind you that this is the film all other teen flicks are based on.

It has the punchy soundtrack you would expect of the 1980s as well as the fashion sense.

100 Word Review – The Philadelphia Story (1940)

May 12, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, Drama, RomanceTagged 1940s, Cary Grant, Comedy, Donald Ogden Stewart, Drama, George Cukor, High Society, James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, RomanceLeave a comment

As it’s her birthday, today we are going for another classic Katherine Hepburn masterpiece.

Tracy Lord (Hepburn)’s ex-husband (Cary Grant) and a tabloid reported (James Stewart) turn up a few days before her second wedding, making her question what type of woman she is and what type of man she should marry.

Fantastic cast and director George Cukor (My Fair Lady, A Star is Born) aside, the script is a masterpiece which won Donald Ogden Stewart an Oscar for best script. Stewart won Leading Actor.

It was remade in to musical High Society (1956), but it doesn’t compare to the original.

100 Word Review – Bringing Up Baby (1938)

May 11, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, F-Rated, RomanceTagged 1930s, Cary Grant, Comedy, Dudley Nichols, farce, Hagar Wilde, Howard Hawks, Katherine Hepburn, leopard, RomanceLeave a comment

This is the film in which I fell in love with Katherine Hepburn.

Cary Grant plays a mild-mannered, confused palaeontologist who is swept up in the whirlwind that is heiress Susan (Hepburn) and her pet leopard, Baby.

A great, fun film, farcical and wittily written by Hagar Wilde (Carefree) and Dudley Nichols (Stagecoach), and directed by Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday). It’s romantic, it’s risqué and it’s roll-around-on-the-floor funny. I’m not exaggerating.

“It isn’t that I don’t like you, Susan, because, after all, in moments of quiet, I’m strangely drawn toward you, but – well, there haven’t been any quiet moments.”