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Tag Archives: romance
What “Bridget Jones’s Diary” Can Teach Us About New Years Resolutions
Bridget Jones (played by Renée Zellweger) is the perfect movie to usher in a new year. The film starts on New Year’s Eve at a party hosted by Bridget’s parents. There she meets—or re-meets—Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a boy who, as her parents tell her, she used to splash around in the kiddy pool with. Bridget begins the New Year feeling depressed and alone. She pictured herself married, thinner, and with better smoking habits at this stage of her life. To this end, she starts a diary which will document her quest for these goals. For anyone who has created their own list of New Year’s resolutions, here are some things we can learn from the movie.
1. Love yourself just the way you are. Bridget tries to change herself by cooking multiple-course gourmet meals, becoming a svelte goddess, and having the perfect poise. By the movie’s end she ultimately realizes that she is lovable just the way she is. It just takes the right person to see this beauty in her.
2. Sometimes the love of your life comes in an unexpected package. Bridget is drawn to her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), a womanizer whose flirtations with Bridget are inappropriate given the nature of their work relationship. Bridget tries to overcome her feelings for Daniel, and it turns out the man of her dreams is someone she meets in an ugly Christmas sweater.
3. Look outside the box for a meaningful career. Bridget isn’t happy at her current job in a publishing house. Once she leaves this company she finds a better fit in daytime television. Of course the switch isn’t always smooth, and Bridget has to do her time as an entry level employee sliding down fireman poles to deliver the news.
Photo © Petro Feketa – Fotolia.com
Tagged Bridget Jones, Colin Firth, morals, Renée Zellweger, romance
New On DVD: Jane Eyre
Mia Wasikowska has had quite a year. The Australian native starred in The Kids are All Right and the Alice in Wonderland remake in 2010, then hit the big screen again with the enormous undertaking of Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Jane Eyre has all the makings of a successful Victorian period piece. It has the dramatic desperation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (1999), the feminist quality of Pride and Prejudice (1995, 2005), and a musical score exactly in accordance with a Gothic Victorian romance. Wasikowska herself brings an enormously candid presence to the role, and any mistreated bookish girl will find herself drawn to the down on her luck character.
The story itself is based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel of the same name which she published in 1847. It follows the protagonist through her difficult childhood as an orphan, her mistreatment at a harsh boarding school, her domestic servitude, and finally her employment as a governess at Thornfield Hall. Jane falls for the mysterious Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender), the guardian of her French charge. Jamie Bell stars as the highly religious St. John Rivers, and Judy Dench plays Mrs. Fairfax—the keeper of Thornfield Hall.
The only thing lacking in Jane Eyre is some quality that makes it rise above other epic Victorian movies that have been filmed in the past two decades. The older generation will like it well enough, but it will be the younger generation, who are just beginning to experience all these classic movies have to offer, who will find in Jane someone to represent their own struggles as young adult women searching for love and fulfillment in the face of harsh realities.
Photo © AlienCat – Fotolia.com
Tagged book adaptation, costume drama, drama, Jane Eyre, Judi Dench, romance
Hot Momma Movies
In these five films, older women help young men become confident, focused and directed.
The Graduate (1967)
Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) spends the summer lounging in his parents’ pool after graduating high school. His apathy toward beginning an adult career lands him in a complex web of affairs between himself and an older woman—and the older woman’s daughter.
American Pie (1999)
High schooler Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) has a crush on the mother of fellow classmate Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott). When Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) returns his affections, he wins the respect of his jealous peers.
The Pallbearer (1996)
Shy Tom Thompson and beautiful but fragile Ruth Abernathy (Barbara Hershey) embark on an affair which complicates both the memory of Ruth’s dead son who was Tom’s former high school classmate, and Tom’s budding relationship with his former high school crush Julie (Gwyneth Paltrow).
Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
Best friends Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal) both pine after older Louisa (Maribel Verdú) on an impromptu road trip. Louisa toys with the boys’ emotions while wrestling with the hidden demons in her own life.
In the Land of Women (2007)
Similar to the other films, Carter Webb (Adam Brody) finds himself involved with both neighbor Lucy (Kirsten Stewart) and Lucy’s mom Sarah (Meg Ryan) at the same time. His attentions help them both through difficult periods in their lives and also help him heal from his recent breakup.
Photo © Kudryashka – Fotolia.com
Tagged Comedy, drama, older women, romance, sex comedy
Classic Couples In Films
The Way We Were (1973)
Frizzy-haired girls everywhere feel special when they watch the romance between Jewish Katie (Barbra Streisand) and All-American jock Hubbell (Robert Redford). Hubbell and Katie act as polar opposites in the film, both in politics, background and dreams for the future. This movie celebrates differences and how one person can influence another’s’ life forever.
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
The inclusion of this movie goes without saying. Countless books, remakes and references to Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) have made him one of the Western world’s most iconic symbols of masculinity and humility. Elizabeth Bennett (Jennifer Ehle) changes Mr. Darcy’s heart—and her own—in a way that romantics have attempted to copy for decades. Jane Austen’s Bennett and Darcy are perhaps the original romantic comedy couple of all time.
The Notebook (2004)
It helps that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, who play Noah and Allie, fell in love while filming their movie. Their real-life affection most likely fueled the believability of their on screen romance and made every look, touch, and word electric and true. It’s no wonder that America longs to see these two lovebirds reunite. But by the looks of things, America may be waiting a lifetime.
The Princess Bride (1987)
What can be more classic than a daring lad (Cary Elwes) rescuing a damsel in distress with luscious locks? Not to mention the tights and sword, the fact that she is a princess named Buttercup (played by Robin Wright), and that he must win her in a duel. It’s a comedic rendition of a classic couple storyline that has become a classic itself.
Photo © olly – Fotolia.com
Movies Based On Jane Austen And Her Novels
Must-see movies for all Jane Austen fans.
1. Lost in Austen (2008)
Modern-day Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper), born and bred in Hammersmith, is obsessed with Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. When Elizabeth Bennett shows up in her bathroom, Amanda walks through a secret door and finds herself atNetherfieldPark, right at the beginning of the novel. Amanda works against odds to ensure the plot develops as it’s supposed to, but she finds herself so immersed in the lives of these characters that there is no chance of extracting herself. ThisBBC miniseries is surprisingly witty, heart-wrenching, and will surely win the approval of any true Jane Austen fan.
2. The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
Based on a novel of the same name, five women and one man form a book club in which they discuss one Austen novel at each meeting. The five women are based off the five heroines of the novels, most notably with Prudie (Emily Blunt) mirroring Persuasion’s Anne Elliot. While perhaps not as riveting as Lost in Austen, the movie grossed $3.5 million in theUSA. Also starring Amy Brennan as Sylvia (mirrored after Fanny Price), and Hugh Darcy as uncultured and seemingly clueless sixth member.
3. Clueless (1995)
This modern hit loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma has Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, a classic “dumb blonde” whose matchmaking skills take a turn for the worse when her own feelings get involved. With Jeeps instead of carriages and dances instead of balls,Cher is still as witty and loveable as Emma Woodhouse. Catch this all-star cast, which includes Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd, in this iconic teenage comedy that Jane Austen would surely have loved.
4. Becoming Jane (2007)
Unarguably the most like an Austen novel, this film has Anne Hathaway as Jane herself and James McAvoy as her thwarted love interest, Tom Lefroy. Jane wishes to make her living through writing—an endeavor which Tom, and Jane’s father support. However, while Tom loves Jane’s independence he is not able to marry her without throwing his family into destitution, given that Jane has no dowry. Jane uses the events of her own life as inspiration as she pens Pride and Prejudice—the novel she is ultimately best known for. Be sure to have the tissue box handy for this one.
Photo © jorisvo – Fotolia.com
Tagged adaptation, becoming jane, Clueless, Jane Austen, Lost in Austen, novel, period, romance