Ale-Aba Look for ridiculous in everything !

LOVE ACTUALLY RATING: 7/10 http://www.joblo.com/loveactually.htm For more reviews and movie wallpapers, visit http://www.joblo.com/ PLOT: A slew of top British actors get together for a screenplay penned by the man who wrote FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, BRIDGET JONES' DIARY and NOTTING HILL, and proceed to develop several romantic/comedic relationship storylines. What follows is a terribly long review for a film that likely didn't need to be dissected to that point, as well as some fun humor, cute romance and love, people...love!! CRITIQUE: When I first saw the studio marketing this film as the ultimate romantic comedy , I couldn't help but feel really bad for the person who came up with that idea (and who would surely get fired for it sometime later) since it simply set the bar too high for any movie. The ULTIMATE romantic comedy?? Pleaaaaaaze. That said, this film is actually a jolly ol' time and even though the tagline is still a little too self-serving for my taste, it does relate the film's two best qualities, both of which it has in abundance: romance and comedy! Yes, I can say that if you enjoyed films like FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL and BRIDGET JONES' DIARY, chances are pretty great that you will enjoy this fluff-piece as well. The main difference between this and the former films being the lack of character development in this one. Granted, this movie is jam-packed with a who's who from the British acting ranks (although someone apparently forgot to invite Kenneth Branagh to the party) with everyone getting a little piece of the film's bigger pie, but in the end, they basically just present us with a bunch of cutesy characters saying cutesy things, reacting to loving moments and ending up in compromising situations that ultimately...well, turn out cutesy or romantic. Wow, now isn't that just the greatest de_script_ion of this movie? Seriously though, if you're expecting to totally get into all of these characters' stories, I don't think you'll be overjoyed with this affair, but that said, the film is constructed so perfectly that you really don't end up caring too much about that anyway. The truth is that the characters all felt real or fun enough to enjoy for over two hours and despite none of them being sizably overbuilt (they all basically have great beginnings and endings , but not much in between), I still cozied up to them, appreciated each story on its own and ultimately, felt great watching the movie, and even prop it for not being all-out phony with several scenes of actual drama and sad stuff interjected throughout the love affairs. I was expecting the film to run safe across the border, but was impressed by its inclusion of heartbreaks, upsets, deaths and adultery. Wow, so it's not just bells and whistles, eh? In fact, being a person in love limbo as we speak, I appreciated some of the more honest looks at relationships as much as the funner, over-the-top stuff like that one British dude who believed that he could only get laid if he visited the U.S., so he does and well...see the movie to find out what happens. It's even got some T&A! Wow. I also adored its booming soundtrack, covered in nifty Christmas tunes, its charming look and feel, as well as its many laugh-out sequences (pay close to attention to how Liam Neeson phrases his question about who his son likes in school...hilarious) Some of the stuff that I could have done without included the Rowan Atkinson cameo , the lame-o hick U.S. President's political scenes, which screamed look at me, I'm trying to make a point in this film too! , certain scenes that ran a little long, as well as the aforementioned lack of development in some of the stories. But overall, despite that last nitpick, I really was impressed by how well the screenplay developed so many of the relationships and ended them all satisfactorily (and not necessarily happily ) My brother, with whom I saw the film, also noted how it covered the entire gamut of different kinds of love in the world, including that between husband and wife, brother and sister, friend to friend, father and son, boss and employee, student to student and more. That was another brilliant part of the movie's success, in my opinion, since basically anyone in any circumstance in their life would be able to related to, at least, a few of the characters at the same time. Nice! I was the guy in love with his cat, I guess. Anyway, before I ramble on too long (too late), allow me to prop all of its actors as well, including the stunning Keira Knightley, who despite not having much of a role to play in the film (although the scene in which she watches the videotape is priceless), provided me with just enough material for the next few weeks, Hugh Grant, who continues to play the same guy in most of his films, but also, surprisingly, continues to crack me up, the great Alan Rickman, who brings some groundedness to the show, Liam Neeson, whose relationship with the cute kid, I probably liked the best, and even Bill Nighy, who I thought would be a great bore as the aging British rocker , but who turned out to have some of the funnier one-liners in the entire film. Whether you're single or taken, married or separated, a nice person, an asshole or all of the above, this movie is sure to warm the cockles of your heart with its fun spirit, its many engaging characters, its peppy soundtrack, its relatable storylines and ultimately, its message about love and how it's all around us. That's right, folks...it's around you right now. Look over to your right...you see that person? That person loves you. Now walk on over there and love them right back. Cheers! Where's JoBlo coming from? About a Boy (8/10) - Bridget Jones' Diary (8/10) - Jerry Maguire (10/10) - Notting Hill (5/10) - Two Weeks Notice (7/10) - The Wedding Planner (3/10) - When Harry Met Sally (10/10) Review Date: November 5, 2003 Director: Richard Curtis Writer: Richard Curtis Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner Actors: Hugh Grant as Prime Minister Liam Neeson as Daniel Emma Thompson as Karen Genre: Romantic Comedy Year of Release: 2003

Susan Granger's review of Love Actually (Universal Pictures)       Writer Richard Curtis ( Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill ) turns director with this engaging, episodic romantic comedy set in London during the Christmas season. There's the newly elected Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who falls for a junior staffer (Martine McCutcheon), the PM's sister (Emma Thompson) who fears her husband (Alan Rickman) is straying, a grieving widower (Liam Neeson) coaching his young stepson (Thomas Sangster) through the pain of puppy love, a reclusive novelist (Colin Firth) seeking solace in the South of France, a shy spinster (Laura Linney) yearning for a hunky co-worker, a nerdy loser (Kris Marshall) seeking sex, a bewildered bride (Keira Knightley) and an aging rock star (Bill Nighy). Their tales delve into the varied permutations of love - unrequited, romantic, married,  platonic and familial - which make people happy, sad, silly, serious, contemplative, even cynical.       But one of the risks of a writer directing his own _script_ (like Robert Altman) is not knowing where to cut. For example, one storyline that should have been eliminated involves sweet-faced porn-movie stand-ins who fall in love on-the-job; their requisite nudity earns the R-rating which is a shame since this should be a feel-good, family-friendly romp. In the ensemble, Hugh Grant is dashingly debonair while Emma Thompson's poignant heartbreak is Supporting Oscar-caliber as is Liam Neeson's palpable compassion, but Billy Bob Thornton seems miscast as a lecherous, bullying American President. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Love Actually is a sprawling, sentimental 7, as the warm, wistful, whimsical tales unfold and ultimately converge. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 36244 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1216578 X-RT-_title_ID: 1127289 X-RT-SourceID: 742 X-RT-AuthorID: 1274 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10

'3BlackChicks Review...' LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)   Rated R; running time 129 minutes   Studio: Universal Pictures Genre: Romantic Comedy Seen at: Eastwood Neighborhood Cinema Group (Lansing, Michigan) Official site: http://www.loveactually.com/ IMDB site: http://www.imdb.com/_title_/tt0314331/combined Writer: Richard Curtis Director: Richard Curtis Cast:  Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Thomas Sangster, Colin Firth, Lucia Moniz, Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Heike Makatsch, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Rodrigo Santoro, Kris Marshall, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003 Review URL:   http://www.3blackchicks.com/2003reviews/bamsloveactually.html I've never been much of a Hugh Grant fan; in fact, about the only Hugh Grant movie I recall really liking was ABOUT A BOY.  But I think I've found the secret to liking Grant: stick him in a huge ensemble cast.   And make him shake his booty. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) LOVE ACTUALLY features an ensemble cast of characters whose stories all revolve around a theme that gets the Whifflebat treatment here: Love (Actually) *Is* All Around.  Though that usually implies romantic love, the notion is that love comes when it's least expected, as the Cast Of Thousands discover in eight interweaving stories about first love, new love, familial love, unrequited love, recuperative love...you get the idea. THE UPSHOT There are a ton of reasons for me to have disliked LOVE ACTUALLY: It had way too many characters to tell good, full stories about, even at a longish 129 minutes.  It wasted the criminally talented Emma Thompson.  It used Dry British Humor.  It had Hugh Grant. Yet, those same reasons only endeared me more to this movie.  And anyway, my lead is a wee bit misleading; to say this is a Hugh Grant movie , isn't quite accurate.  With eight interweaving stories to contend with, Grant's scenario as a newly-smitten new Prime Minister, gave him enough screen time to entertain, without boring me to death with his same ol' Bumbling Englishdude schtick.  A little Hugh Grant goes a long, long way. A little being the operative term here; because a little is all that we get of each of these stories.  This deficit of development would've killed a lesser film; it is to the credit of this talented cast, that they did so much with so little.  Perhaps the brevity of story development here, made the situations more immediate for me than would happen in a traditionally-told romantic comedy.  And it left me wanting to know much more about each of the scenarios:  Did Karen kick Mia's skanky butt?  Will the Prime Minister kick the President's butt?   Can I ever rid my mind of the image of Billy's butt? Given the Big Names in this cast, the love stories that I found myself cheering most for, surprised me.  The first was the hilarious bit about socially (but not physically) shy porn stand-ins John and Judy; Martin Freeman and Joanna Page deserve a special award for deadpanning under those circumstances.  And my heart went out most for the youngest member of the ensemble, Thomas Sangster as Sam.  I guess stories of First Love just do it for me - even though the twist here, focusing less on Sam's and stepdad Daniel's loss, brought me up short at first.  In any event, I loved every minute Sangster was on-screen; I cringed a bit at some of the words writer/director Richard Curtis put in Sam's mouth, but the shock soon passed. That's not to say that all went well with LOVE.  Even given the short shrift in storyline development across the board, some of the fat could've been trimmed by dropping the weaker subplots (the aging rocker) and beefing up the anorexic (Karen & Harry & Mia, oh my) or potentially more interesting (dropdead gorgeous Karl, Sarah and her coc, uh, romance-blocking brother) storylines.  Indeed, I have to wonder why Curtis thought it would be a good idea to spread a movie so thin, with a huge (albeit, talent) cast to dole out stories to in the briefest of time allotments. But despite its main flaws, LOVE ACTUALLY managed to be charming, funny, and especially as concerns the wise-beyond-his-years Sam, sweet (though thankfully, not overly so).  Unless you're a real scrooge, it's a nice way to kick off a holiday movie season. THE BLACK FACTOR [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith] It's not often that I Learn Something from a movie, but the more I see films not _base_d in America (or made primarily by American filmmakers), the more I am faced with the fact - at least as presented on the Silver Screen - that racial issues are not a one-size-fits-all glove that covers the whole planet.  And though I'm sure that racism exists in the United Kingdom, it does my heart good to see Black characters, in context, taken for granted.   Hmm.  If that didn't come across clearly, know that, in this specific case, that's A Good Thing. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE Bugger me; LOVE ACTUALLY is actually fairly good.     LOVE ACTUALLY rating:  greenlight Rose Bams Cooper                     Webchick and Editor,                     3BlackChicks Review                     Entertainment Reviews With Flava!                 Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003             EMAIL: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it                 http://www.3blackchicks.com/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 36271 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1217376 X-RT-_title_ID: 1127289 X-RT-SourceID: 447 X-RT-AuthorID: 3672 X-RT-RatingText: 5/5

Love Actually Full Price Feature Yes, of course I know you knew I would give this movie a Full Price rating, just from the preview alone.  I am not afraid to admit that my companion and I sat, long after the credits had stopped and lights had come up, not wanting to leave the theatre because it felt too soon.  We just wanted to bask in it for a while.  We felt like we had had a delicious and sumptuous feast, with sweetness and tartness and even a bittersweet finish.  The film is a surprise and a delight, and by all means please go see it.  I could see it again and again. Written and directed by Richard Curtis, much has been made of this writer with the bodacious chick flick pedigree of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones.  However, let's not forget the other things he has written, such as the inestimable Black Adder series and the little known but fantastic The Tall Guy.  This is his directorial debut - it is probably wise for such a complex story structure to be directed by the writer.  He handles the multiple plot lines with aplomb.  Is it a chick flick?  Oh hell yeah.  But I think any sensible man who can appreciate a well-written story and some boobies as well will be happy to let his girlfriend have sex with him after they see it.  Because she will want to.  Hear that, fellas? (Ladies, you get Rodrigo Santoro and of course Hugh and Colin.) Add the enormous cast of Brit wit darlings and consistently emotionally complex actors, the pedigree, what's not to like?  Oh believe you me, I was terrified that my expectations would be too high.  The feel-good preview, with Hugh Grant dancing charmingly and Colin Firth smiling accessibly and Emma Thompson shrewdly seeing through husband Alan Rickman's foolishness, Laura Linney vibrating with palpable joyŠMaybe it looks glib and flip and Christmas fluffy, and you wonder, how can they tie these people together?  But there are even more people to enjoy than just these!  Little characters with smile-inducing plotlines and sweet, honest connections balance out the star-studded, heart-tugging bigger stories. Everyone in the film ties together in some way, either directly through being related or through friendship, or just being there to make that last second happen as it should, but it never feels forced or contrived, merely magical. The idea is that love is everywhere, in different shapes and forms, perhaps, than we traditionally search for it in a love story type narrative, and the film is chockablock with the many flavors of love. Oh yeah, and be honest about it too.  Love Actually is heartening and lovely and rich.  And it's really not all just a bunch of couples hooking up.  We have the agonies of first love, the rapture of a first kiss, the stress of unexpected advances, the complexities of sibling relations, the palpable disappointment of one's own mistakes, the terror of loss, and the anticipation and awkwardness of just asking her out.  With so many characters and plotlines, still somehow Curtis makes you know and even care about every person on screen, which is a screenwriting feat to beat the band, let me tell you. After seeing a film like The Human Stain, an overly intense drama with very few people, and nary a feeling evoked, having so many people enter your consciousness so effortlessly and leave warm, sure footprints is amazing.  Each story line could stand alone, but the interweaving adds so much to each story.  Curtis has, with this fourth Working _title_ chick flick, possibly ruined it for all men by just getting

All You Need is Love Actually by Homer Yen (c) 2003 Call me a silly romantic, but I've slowly developed an appreciation for the lighthearted work of director Richard Curtis.  This is the same man who brought us the romantic comedies Notting Hill and Bridget Jones's Diary. These films were filled with a sense of warmth and charm that made them easily enjoyable.  With Love Actually, the sweetness is magnified thanks to its Christmas season setting and the greater number of characters that populate the film. Love Actually bursts with the kind of old-fashioned romanticism that reminds us that our greatest personal triumphs arise from just following our heart. The film adeptly tiptoes through a pocketful of stories that give every audience member something with which to relate.  The characters comprise a tapestry of those that are young or just young at heart.  Each story is fleshed out as much as is needed without going over the top, which tends to doom other romantic comedies.  As a result, we can easily relate to the people involved as if they were friends from your church congregation. And we cheer them on as they struggle, writhe, and reset.  That's just the way love goes as we see its rewards as well as its many incongruous manifestations. For example, it fills you with resolve, as displayed by the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who goes from self-deprecatingly sheepish to leading man.  It fills you with fear, as displayed by shy Sarah (Laura Linney) who has loved a co-worker from afar.  It fills you with a sense of deep connection, as displayed by struggling author Jamie (Colin Firth), who becomes attracted to his foreign-speaking housekeeper.  And there are several other lessons learned.  While most of the stories were very likeable, I actually enjoyed this last particular component more than I did the others.  Wanting to be with each other, even the language barrier is just a minor obstacle when their souls speak to each other. Of course, every story must have some sort of dramatic reversal of direction before the happy ending can arrive.  At some point, everyone does something incredibly wimpy and can't seem to follow through, which makes us want to shake our fists at them.   But, the funny thing, notes one of the characters, is that everyone comes together at the last moment. That's a blessing and a curse.  With so many characters, it gets very busy as the film draws to a close.   Love Actually has enough material for three movies, and it would've felt more streamlined had it dropped at least one of the storylines.  At times, it seemed so hurried that it felt like Christmas shopping on December 23rd.  But that's another funny thing about love.  When you love something, you easily forgive its shortcomings.  Most will really like this film. And some will love it. And there's one more thing that I must note. Many of us try to get to the theatre early to find a prime seat, usually two-thirds of the way up from the screen and in the center.  This is usually because we need to be in the middle of the action.  But the feel-good energy of this film is so pervasive that you can basically sit anywhere and enjoy it.  I sat in the far back corner, and it felt just as prime a spot as any. And this film is as prime, if not better, than most films that I've seen this year. Grade:  B+ S:      2 out of 3 L:      2 out of 3 V:      0 out of 3 ========== X-RAMR-ID: 36303 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1218409 X-RT-_title_ID: 1127289 X-RT-AuthorID: 1370 X-RT-RatingText: B+