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pranayet_writer
Reviews
A Cinderella Story (2004)
this movie's the best
may be minor SPOILERS ahead : this is the best movie i've ever seen. in fact, it's so good that i had to wait for three days before i could comment on it a little more impartially. sam (played enchantingly by hilary duff) was the happiest girl in the world, living with her father in an L.A suburb, but then not only did her father get married to a stepmother from hell but he died in an earthquake. years down the line, she's scrubbing in a diner whose workers are her only family, and she's suffering torment from not just her stepfolks (her wannabe-popular stepsisters follow mom's lead) but also the kids at school, who pick on her and her best friend because they're both complete nerds. but sam's one refuge is her anonymous e-mail buddy, who's completely in love with her and dreams about going to princeton like she does. but when they meet at the homecoming dance (sam is dressed as Cinderella) he turns out to be the most popular guy in school. i totally started crying when the kids at school picked on sam and then i was practically bathed in tears at the end, when the popular guy kisses her in the football stands. (any teenage girls out there??? have you SEEN a guy hotter than chad michael murray???) a must-see movie for kids who dream of fulfilling their dreams. a beautiful movie that speaks up for being yourself and making your dreams come true. watch it - you'll miss something if you don't!
Blue Crush (2002)
ONE OF MY BEST MOVIES
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD: I LOVED BLUE CRUSH. All you movie critics who love Godfather II so much, stop saying that Blue Crush isn't worth watching, because it SO is. I was watching this on a Sunday afternoon, and I didn't watch the whole thing, just about fifteen-twenty minutes at the end, but I still LOVED it, even though Friends was playing right on the next channel and people would probably want to watch THAT instead. But I watched Blue Crush, and boy, am I glad I did. Not just because Kate and her friends were hot in bikinis, or because the beach scene was so beautiful, or because the whole feel was so exotic, or because the soundtrack was so ear-pleasing, or because the acting was convincing. But because of all these things put together. Annie's boyfriend was cute, don't give him a hard time! The camera must have been an unusually good one. The editing gave a cool feel to the movie. I just can't wait to get a DVD from somewhere and watch the whole thing! The only problem I have is that Michelle didn't get to win the contest instead of Annie. She was so strong and tough, she should have achieved something, too, like Kit did instead of her perfect sister in In a League of their Own. THEN the movie would have been THE best I've ever seen, but because of that little hitch, In a League of their Own and What A Girl Wants is still on top. VERY much worth watching. 9/10.
The Princess Diaries (2001)
Awful and horrendous
I just LOVED the Princess Diaries books by Meg Cabot, and my friend loved the movie, so I went and saw the movie with pretty high expectations. Ten-twenty minutes into it, I was like, Um, What??? Halfway in, I was outraged. Leaving the T.V room of my friend, I was determined that I would like to sue Disney and the makers of the movie. What is WITH those people? Why couldn't they stick to the book? The book was funny, original, and interesting. The movie was seriously crap. One of the best things about the books was the setting in New York, not to mention Grandmere's total scariness, Lilly's bossiness, Lana's total cruelty, and TINA HAKIM BABA. None of these things were there in the movie. Lana Weinberger (Thomas?) was not even mildly threatening. The school was more like some museum. And, what, there weren't even any students in for Assembly when Mia threw up? Michael was scarily creepy-looking. Josh was - less said about him, the better. Julie Andrews was graceful and supportive and beautiful - but, HELLO, GRANDMERE IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GRACEFUL AND FRIENDLY AND BEAUTIFUL!!! Anne Hathaway as Mia was the only watchable thing about the movie, and not even because of her (lack of) acting skills, but because she was at least portraying Mia like in the book. And she is also quite pretty. But apart from her - and the part in the movie where Mia dines with all those important people, and where she gives her speech, and of course the part where Lana sings that song at the beach party - the movie is TERRIBLE!!!
Tehzeeb (2003)
good, could be much, much better
I'm highly surprised with the high voting average (7.4/10 when I last checked) that Tehzeeb received. I mean, yes, the film is very intelligent, with very strong actors playing their parts beautifully - Urmila Matondkar as the simple, happy daughter but with a resentment towards her star-singer mother, Shabana Azmi as the star-singer mother who is very charming and gushy but is thought by Urmmila to have murdered her husband and ruined her children's lives, Dia Mirza as the mentally retarded daughter - um. how can you be retarded and still put on makeup and curl your hair on your birthday and other days, I wonder? I guess her mom and sister did that for her. - who is, in my opinion, a spoiled brat, because ordinary two-or-four-year-olds are not pampered so much, and Arjun Rampal as the cute, innocent, loving (and lovable?) husband of the daughter; but what was Diana what's-her-name and Namrata doing there? What were all those crappy, unnecessary songs doing there? They completely stopped the story and made us all eager to change the channel to hum dil de chuke sanam, which was playing and which had much better songs. Sure, some of the atmospheres in Tehzeeb were quite dark and suspenseful, but why ruin the effect with sudden lighthearted moments when we want to get on with the true serious story? I can only think that the director got scared with some of the effects or something. However, the fact that the retarded girl did not recover from her attempt to shoot herself with her brain fully repaired, and the mother dying when her daughter went to her to ask for her pardon, were very nice touches that set it apart from most bollywood happy-ending flicks. But then again the movie got ruined by the clips at the end. This movie is supposed to be serious, not funny!
Still, all in all a nice almost-art movie. 6/10.
Big Fat Liar (2002)
I give it around seven on ten
Big Fat Liar is a fun movie, the kind of movie that is fantastic the first time you see it, okay the next, and snooze-down-boring the third time. I should know. I have seen it four times...fallen asleep twice. Why did I see it after the second time? My 10-year-old sister adored it. So I guess it's a movie that kids will love, but even for teens, it can get sort of...corny. After the second time. Frankie Muniz is pretty good, but the thing is, he acts the same in every single movie, though smart-alecky suits him better in Big Fat Liar than in the Cody Banks flick. But, still. It was a good movie. Frankie Muniz plays a smart-aleck who lies constantly and audaciously to get himself out of trouble and who has a not-so-lying but still quite drama queenish best friend, played by Amanda Baynes,whohelps him along in his quest to take revenge on a Hollywood producer who "stole" his English paper when his limo knocked him down on his way to the college to give the paper in. Jason (Muniz) goes to Los Angeles to get back the paper and to prove to his father that this was one case of 'cry wolf' for him. The Los Angeles scenes in Hollywood were awesome, but it was the step-by-step payback and breaking down of Wolf that really got to me. The funniest part, in my opinion, was when he went to that house as a clown and and got knocked down by those rowdy boys. I liked it because I've babysat for some, um, 'bad' boys myself. My sister thought the blue face part was great. I thought the movie would have been even better if there had been even flicker of romance between Kaylee and Jason, though. Still, quite a watchable movie, with bits of comedy and fantasy to spice it up.
Swimfan (2002)
look at it from the teen perspective!
I don't know why all these people are so keen on ripping swimfan to pieces. I saw this movie yesterday, on a tiny plane-seat-TV, and guess what? I was fascinated from the first go. The background music especially was gripping - creepy, chilling, compelling - as were the blue tints at home and the dark atmosphere at the pool, and the eerie silence when the ghostly music wasn't playing. I liked the coldness in Madison's eyes, too, and the way the editing made her look once, twice, thrice, with that little scratchy music every time you saw her face at a different angle. As for Amy, she played her character exactly like she was supposed to - sweet, a little confused, very enthusiastic and simple. Ben was actually slightly cute, too. I thought this movie had a lot of sombre atmosphere. If you concentrate on the atmosphere and ignore the unexplained things - why Ben preferred Amy is NOT unexplained. Hello, Amy was nice, sweet, lovable, and familiar, okay? Erika, aka Madison, was CRAZY. Insane. A murderer if her obsession wasn't returned. - then Swimfan can be quite a blockbuster. If it's supposed to thrill teens, well, it thrilled me all right! Swimfan worked brilliantly for me.
It Takes Two (1995)
cute but unreal
I thought the movie was cute, but parts of it suck - like the parts that can't possibly be real. I mean, identical strangers? Please!!! And how are two people from completely different walks of life get into each other's parts like they'd been born to it, even if they shared the same gene pool, which Amanda and Alyssa don't seem to? However, the billionaire scenes were quite a sight for sore eyes, and the scenes between Diane and Roger were really romantic. And the twins were really good. Maybe the last part was a little too crude - ripping off the back of the evil stepmother's dress, it kind of spoilt the funny, sweet, and well-done scenes for me. Still, unreal as it is, I guess movies are SUPPOSED to be unreal, that's part of the whole package, the enjoyment of the fantasy or whatever you call it, so in that score It Takes Two was pretty relishable and enjoyable. Mary-Kate and Ashley were, as usual, awesome in the movie. They managed to pull off the whole thing...they, with Roger Calloway and Diane Barrows (I haven't looked at the cast list for the real names yet!) made the movie a fun-filled, worth-watching, sweet little fantasy that most families would miss out if they didn't see. Very cute!
What a Girl Wants (2003)
very very good
i have seen this movie thrice, and not even on the big screen, and each time my eyes were glued to the screen. okay, so the storyline was a bit not-going-to-happen-to-me-ever, but hello, this is supposed to be a fantasy!! and that's exactly what it was. a fairytale. it was really dazzling and beautiful, and i started crying at the last happy ending scene. very well done!!! the whole thing was unreal. there were the funny scenes, the romance angle, the grand palatial scene...i would LOVE to see this again!!! colin firth played the stuffy British lord whose career matters most perfectly, amanda bynes WAS free-spirited, be-yourself Daphne Reynolds, her love interest was really interesting, and the evil stepsister and her 'escort' were well casted. teens are going to love this movie, and you never know, it might even bring out the fairy-believing kid in adults. if you have some time to relax, maybe you should watch this.
Bride & Prejudice (2004)
a feast to the eye
the movie was fantastic! let's face it - if you're out for entertainment and fun, this is where you should be, to enjoy the sleek shooting, the dazzling settings and costumes, the romantic angle, the gorgeous cast, and the absolute HUMOUR. but if you're some serious critic who looks at movies to pick them to pieces, you won't like it and you need to lighten up, take some time off from seriousness, and just drink in the feast-to-the-eye this movie is - not to mention aishwarya rai and martin Henderson. complains against their on screen chemistry? i think they're doing great as they're supposed to play a couple attracted to each other in spite of themselves, not as the whole love at first sight thing, and according to that they look incredible together.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)
pretty cool
I am a teenager, so maybe that's why I think DRAMA QUEEN ROCKS!!! I thought the movie was better than the book, because in the movie gorgeous Carla Santini gets shown up when Stu shows up at the cast party and proves that Carla lied about Lola not being there at his party, and in the book that doesn't happen. You need to read the book to actually understand the movie, I admit, but all in all the movie was really well done. Eli Marienthal was extremely cute as Sam, and Alison Pill, Lindsay Lohan, and Megan Fox all fit into their roles like they'd been tailored for them. And as for the song 'That Girl' maybe taken by itself it's nothing so great, but when you take it with the movie - wow, it is SO inspiring. It really teaches you to be yourself and follow your own heart. (The movie, I mean, not the song.) Teenagers and preteenagers are going to have fun watching this movie, and adults might want to let them, because at the end of the day this movie really sticks to what really matters : living your dreams.