He's Just Not That Into You

He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

Directed By: Ken Kwapis

Written By: Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long

Rating: PG-13

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This movie is an unusual case for several reasons. One: I have seen it before the most recent viewing (ask my pal Austin Funcheon about this one, too). Two: It's been a few weeks since my last viewing, instead of a few days. Three, I'm adding a new segment to TAR's posts in some of the movies that I've seen before. This is called "what can we learn from this movie"? and this movie is the perfect one to start with.


Anyway, this is the story of about 9 different people (I may or may not have just counted the names under "starring" to get that number) that are slightly entangled in one another's lives, whether they be blind dating, best friends, co-workers, or casual acquaintances. They are all exploring the relationships in their lives. This movie (again, ask Austin) makes me CRINGE for so many reasons, but there is a lot of truth to it.

The Story:
GiGi (Ginnifer Goodwin; TV's Once Upon A Time) is actively seeking her prince charming, most recently after a blind date with Conor (Kevin Connolly; TV's Entourage), who still can't stop thinking about Anna (Scarlett Johansson; The Avengers) who gets wrapped up in an affair with Ben (Bradley Cooper; The Hangover) who is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly; A Beautiful Mind), who works with GiGi and Beth (Jennifer Aniston; Horrible Bosses), who is not married to but forever committed to Neil (Ben Affleck; Daredevil). GiGi ends up seeking advice from Conor's bartender friend, Alex (Justin Long; Accepted), who seems to be the only one in this story with any sense. That's why he got his own sentence.


The Tangent:

I know what you're thinking, and yes, this is insanity. It's just enough to keep the plotline's pulse up, as any one of these isolated stories would flatline, and yes you're also thinking:"This piece of devil worship is where they got all those ideas for those star studded movies with no plot like Valentin'es Day and New Year's Eve", and frankly, you're probably right. I know I only gave this movie three stars, but this is still a must watch, because....wait for it....


EVERYTHING SAID IN THIS MOVIE IS TRUE. UNABRIDGED, UNSATURATED, UN SOME OTHER FANCY WORD....TRUTH.

People cheat because they have doubts, they don't call because they're not interested, they get married because they love each other and they don't get married because they don't love each other. Every day another crazy girl is born because they are seeking the best in people, or trying to force finding their prince charming. I'll tell you. I've seen this movie before, but now that I'm watching from the outside (A relationship standpoint) it all seems a little....trivial.

The Review:

This is a good movie. The acting is pretty solid throughout, but nothing special. Standout performances are Justin Long and Ginnifer Goodwin. Though I'm not actually sure if G.G. (see what I did there?) is a talented actress or if she's just that crazy town banana pants. Either way, she pulled it off well.

As I mentioned earlier, the plot was held together through all of the intertwining story lines, though it worked well for the film. I've never read the book so I don't know how that all works together. The writing is clever and altogether it's a "fun little movie". I mean, you'll never get the full experience without Austin being there to pause it every so often to say "YOU'RE AN IDIOT!!!" ...but I digress.


The Segment You've All Been Waiting For: What We Can Learn From This Movie

I've been so psyched to write this section that it took me forever to get back here from Facebook and start again...wait....gotta like one more picture....

Okay. Now I'm ready. What can we learn from this movie? Besides the obvious, like "If a guy doesn't call you, he doesn't want to talk to you", or "he'll see you if he wants to see you". These lessons are spelled out pretty easily in the movie. I wanted to dig a little deeper.

In this movie, Alex tells GiGi that all of the stories you hear that contradict the rules I listed in quotations above are exceptions. They are the exception and you are the rule. This principle can be applied to a larger part of life. Like politics. Everyone on both political sides has sob stories that tug at the heartstrings for their argument. I won't give any examples so that I don't lose my heavily convicted right or left wing readers (all 3 of them)! But, next time you hear one think...what if that story is the exception....and not the rule?

Anyway, there's my deep "food for thought" moment of the day. I hope you enjoyed this post and I would really, REALLY appreciate your feedback. Even if you say "Hey Nick, your blog sucks, please stop wasting your time" You'd actually be doing me a huge favor. I appreciate honesty. You can always click the little clicky buttons below and comment, or feel free to Facebook or tweet me as well! (@nickyahogan).

I love you all and truly value feedback of any kind!

God Bless!

NAH
The Archives Report

Sixteen Candles

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Directed By: John Hughes

Written By: John Hughes

Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, Gedde Wantanabe

Rating: PG*

My rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars

PEOPLE!!!!! We have reached a very, VERY momentous occasion. This is the first review I have written of a movie that was made before I was born. It will not be the last, but it IS the first. 

 I actually also wanted to address the asterisk (you know, the *) at the end of the PG rating. This is intended to denote that this movie was actually released before the creation of the PG-13 rating. We don't really think about this often but, the PG-13 rating was instated in July of that same year, when this movie had been released in May. Nowadays, it's pretty safe to say that this movie would be rated at LEAST PG-13, but when the gap between PG and R was nothing, this movie fell right in between. (I said that outright because I didn't want anyone showing their kids thinking "Oh it's PG" and then being...shocked). 

I came across this movie in a 3 pack with Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Breakfast Club, and I had some "Shop Your Way Rewards" points burning a hole in my pocket at the K-mizzle. So I paid about 4 bucks and I got this gem of a three pack. I haven't watched the other two yet, but I assure you I will and there will be Archives Report entries devoted to each. :)

I decided to watch because I got two from the random number generator, and asked my Twitter followers (@nickyahogan) to vote. I only got one and just against the other movie, but since it was from the wise, talented mentor and friend of mine, Beki Baker, it counted as 11.5, and it was that that swayed my decision. So after 4 paragraphs, the movie:

Sixteen Candles is the adorable story of Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald; The Breakfast Club) whose family has forgotten her 16th birthday in light of her sister getting married the following day. The story follows her through dealing with her crush, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling; Mermaids), The Geek who pays her entirely too much attention (Anthony Michael Hall; The Dark Knight) and other various problems of an ignored sixteen-year-old girl. I don't want to give away too much of the plot (in case you've been busy for the last 28 years like I have), so I'll just go ahead and give you what I thought and enjoyed.

I enjoyed the story and the progression of the film. I thought that it started out a little slow (a lot of films do) but it picked up the pace and was overly lengthy (Approx. 93 min). I realize that it was a teen movie from a previous generation, so I.. A) Won't nitpick at the clothes. I didn't like their clothes but I also wasn't alive when these things were fashionable, so I only have these movies to tell me what people actually dressed like back then. and B)....well I didn't have a B but I wanted to use A...so make one up!!

The acting wasn't the greatest I'd ever seen (it never is) but Molly Ringwald did a good job with her character, and Schoeffling hasn't appeared on screen since 1991 but he had some things going for him, too. My favorites on this end, though, were Hall's Geek and the exchange student staying with Samantha's grandparents, "Long Duk Dong" (Gedde Wantanabe; Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Both of these actors brought something unique, fun and interesting to their characters, and had me laughing out loud...by myself...at night....in my room..but I digress. They saved the movie for me. I also enjoyed a little role of another geek named Bryce, played by John Cusack (Say Anything; Better off Dead). He had a smaller role in this film but I know we were all secretly wondering how he got in good with John Hughes for all those other movies!

There is plenty more I could say about this movie. It's not the greatest movie of all time by any means, but it sure is enjoyable and you should watch it if you are interested in movies or if you just like ever so slightly cheesy 80's teen movies (which, I TOTALLY do). Good movie, not for kids necessarily, rent/Netflix/borrow it for sure!

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please leave me feedback. I have a cool little button down there now that lets you mark "funny" "interesting" or "cool". If you thought that this was remotely close to one of those categories I beg you to click. It will let me know you read and give me a little boost. Also, remember that my list is published in earlier posts and if you have suggestions, PLEASE send me some. Obviously my movie selecting methods are getting a bit ridiculous. 

Anyway, thanks for reading. Click some buttons below :) and have a nice day! God bless!

NAH