Romance – Page 6 – cinemescope

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.”

100 Word Review – Romancing The Stone (1984)

May 4, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, Comedy, F-Rated, RomanceTagged 1980s, Action, adventure, Comedy, Danny DeVito, Diane Thomas, Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, Robert Zemeckis, RomanceLeave a comment

With promotional images like this, what’s not to love?

Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas star in this romantic action adventure about a novelist (Turner) who sets off to rescue her sister from Columbian smugglers. On the way she encounters a soldier-of-fortune (Douglas) and becomes embroiled in an adventure she could never have imagined.

I’ll admit to being rather sceptical going in to this, but it is actually brilliant. Think Indiana Jones, but with more romance and a three dimensional female lead. Why all adventure films aren’t like this one, I don’t know. A wonderful escapist film, and it’s on Netflix.

100 Word Review – Safety Not Guaranteed

May 1, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, Comedy, Romance, Sci FiTagged adventure, Aubrey Plaza, Comedy, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni, Mark Duplass, Romance, Sci Fi, time travelLeave a comment

Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke… You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.

In 1997, this actually appeared in the classifieds section of an American magazine.

Three journalists (Aubrey Plaza, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni) attempt to find out the truth about Kenneth (Mark Duplass), the recluse who placed it.

There are wonderful characters, so prepare to be moved. Don’t expect explosions. It’s very human, with a grounded level of action and adventure, and a dash of deadpan humour.

100 Word Review – Easy A (2010)

May 1, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, F-Rated, RomanceTagged 1980s, adaptation, Amanda Bynes, Comedy, Dan Byrd, Emma Stone, John Hughes, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Patricia Clarkson, Penn Badgley, Romance, Scarlett Letter, Stanley TucciLeave a comment

More than your average teen Rom Com.

Olive (Emma Stone) is a clean-cut student who, in an attempt to save her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) from endless bullying, fakes losing her virginity at a party. But no-one can manipulate the High School rumour mill for ever and get away with it.

There are some seriously sized head-nods to classic John Hughes movies and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlett Letter (Easy “A”, get it?) plays its part. If Emma Stone wasn’t enough, the supporting cast’s fantastic; Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell.

Funny, romantic and empowering.

100 Word Review – Penelope (2006)

April 28, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., F-Rated, Fantasy, RomanceTagged American, British, Catherine O'Hara, Christina Ricci, fairytale, Fantasy, James McAvoy, Nick Frost, Penelope, Peter Dinklage, Reese Witherspoon, Richard E. Grant, RomanceLeave a comment

Born with a pig snout and pig ears because of an ancient curse on her family, Penelope (Christina Ricci) must hide from the world until she can finally be accepted by one “of her own kind”.

The cast is baffling; James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara, Richard E. Grant, Reese Witherspoon, Peter Dinklage and Nick Frost to name a few. The accents are beyond confusing. Some are British, some American, no logic applies.

This is a fairytale, but not in the traditional sense. It’s about mothers and daughters. It’s about appearances and curses and self-confidence. It is weird and it is wonderful.

100 Word Review – A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

April 13, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., RomanceTagged 1940s, angel, classic, David Niven, debate, heaven, Kim Hunter, law, Powell and Pressburger, Romance, theology, warLeave a comment

Peter’s (Daid Niven) bomber is going down over the Channel. He makes radio contact with June (Kim Hunter), and American service woman and passes on his dying words.

But when his designated angelic guide gets lost in the fog, he wakes up near June’s house. So he finds himself caught up in a celestial legal battle for his life, literally.

Niven and Hunter are utterly compelling and completely heartbreaking in this classic Powell and Pressburger feature. Full of theological debate and logic, every detail has been clearly thought-through to create a film that is … heavenly.

More than your average romance.

100 Word Review – Her (2013)

April 9, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Romance, Sci FiTagged Being John Malcovich, computers, Impossible, Joaquin Pheonix, Romance, Scarlett Johansson, Sci Fi, Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things Are, writerLeave a comment

Set in the not-too-distant future, Joaquín Pheonix plays Theodore, a man who becomes romantically involved in his operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).

This is an example of Spike Jonze at his absolute best, combining the romantic whimsy of his adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are (2009) with the psychological intrigue of Being John Malkovich (1999).

Pheonix does a sterling performance as the lonely writer whose desperation for human contact in a world of screens and computers can be empathised with on a global scale.

This film is perfect for any romantics out there, whether or not they like Sci Fi.