"When Harry Met Sally"


   "When Harry Met Sally" is a romantic comedy movie that was directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron. The movie revolves around two characters, Harry Burns and Sally Albright, that gradually work their way up from being brief acquiantances, to being lovers by the end of the film in a wonderfully paced fashion. Upon their first on-screen meeting a very important question is asked that sets the tone for the rest of the movie, "can men and women truly be friends?"

     Harry and Sally's relationship began when the two shared a trip to New York City after graduating from college. While getting to know each other during their trip to New York City, Harry constantly critizes Sally's actions and mannerisms. Prior to that we are shown that Harry is dating a close friend of Sally's, Amanda Reese. Due to Harry and Amanda being romantically involved, Sally gets upset at Harry when he makes a pass at her (although she later claims she wouldn't have slept with him anyways). Afterwards they spend the rest of the ride discussing the factors between men and women being friends. After taking opposing stances on the subject, they finally arrive in New York and part ways on somewhat unfavorable terms.

    Throughout the following years Harry and Sally bump into each other again at an airport, with Sally dating a man named Joe, a former acquintance of Harry's; and Harry soon to be married to Helen. After the flight, they part ways once again and a few years go by. After the timeskip it is reveled that Harry is getting a divorce and Sally had just broken up with long term boyfriend, Joe. After meeting in a bookstore they decided they would pursue a friendship. Harry and Sally ended up spending a lot of time together strictly as friends, even setting each other up with their respective best friends. Their friends Jesse and Marie ended up with each other and decided to get married soon after.

    Eventually things turned sour after Sally, while crying, confided in Harry about Joe getting married soon; they ended up having sex unexpectedly which left things very awkward when Harry rushed out in the morning. This left a big rift in their relationship, but after a few weeks at Jesse and Marie's wedding they got into a big fight and Sally slapped Harry after he implied he had sex with her out of pity (bad move bro!). Following their fight, Harry repeatedly tried to mend his friendship with Sally, but to no avail. Then, at a New Year's Eve party that year, Sally feels alone without Harry by her side. Meanwhile, Harry is shown spending New Year's alone and walking the streets of New York until he reaches the place where they said their goodbyes for the first time. When Sally decides to leave the party early, Harry appears and declares his love for her; they make up and kiss, the end.

   Although I typically don't like romantic comedies, I really liked "When Harry Met Sally". I feel that the movie has pretty good pacing and a nice "root for the obvious couple" type of feel to it. My favorite parts of the movie were the fake orgasm scene in the restaurant followed up with the woman at the next table saying "I'll have what she's having". As for whether men and women can be friends or not, I tend to agree with Harry. I think a relationship between a heterosexual man and a woman can be platonic in the beginning or later on at some point, but never the whole way through without sex or feelings getting in the way.



P.S. I don't care what anyone says, that wagon wheel coffee table was awesome.

                                             "Eat Drink Man Woman"



      "Eat Drink Man Woman", is a Taiwanese drama directed by Ang Lee that was released in 1994. The movie mostly revolves around widowed father, Chu; and his three daughters, Jia-Chien, Jia-Jen, and Jia-Ning as they struggle to manage their family relationships and personal lives. Chu, the widowed father, is the head chef of one of the largest restaurants in Taiwan; and under no circumstances is anyone allowed to cook in his home except himself. The people closest to Chu constanly tell him that he is losing his tastebuds and that his cooking has been declining for years. Jia-Jen, the oldest daughter, is a school teacher that has recently converted to Christianity. She claims to have been nursing a broken heart from an ex-boyfriend for the past 9 years. Jia-Chien, the middle sibling, is a talented chef in her own right, but she turned out to be an successful executive for an airline corporation; having been ran out of her father's kitchen many years prior. Jia-Chien and her older sister share a somewhat strained relationship due to her feeling neglected after the passing away of their mother. The youngest daughter, Jia-Ning, is an employee for a fast food restaurant. She grows attracted to the emotionally tortured boyfriend of her cruel and fickle coworker.

     Eventually, the Sunday dinners start to dwindle in attendance as each member of the family finds new love and/or moves out to pursue their interests. Jia-Ning revealed that she was pregnant by her cruel coworker's ex boyfriend and that she would be moving away with him. Jia-Jen finds love with a fellow teacher and decides to get married right away so that she doesn't break her newfound Christian values. Jia-Chien ends up falling for a man she later realized was Jia-Jen's claimed ex-boyfriend. She ends up finding out that Jia-Jen's story about having her heart broken by him was a lie; the two never dated, only knew of each other, and barely to the point that he didn't even remember who she was. The two end up going their separate ways and Jia-Chien receives an offer to work in Holland. At dinner, Chu makes a huge announcement that left everybody shocked, as they thought he would propose to Mrs. Liang, a woman who had been over taking care of him everyday. It turned out he decared his love for her daughter, Jin-Rong, who also loved him and were planning to move out on their own. The movie ends with Jia-Chien making dinner in a new apartment, which seems to imply that she took the job in Holland.

     I really enjoyed this movie, it just seems like a warm and humble movie about family, love, and personal relationships; that also has some twists and turns along the way. "Eat Drink Man Woman" made me really hungry after watching it, I plan on tracking those dishes down and trying at least a few of them.

                       "My Neigbor Totoro"

 

    "My Neighbor Totoro" is a Japanese animated film that was directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki, and released in 1988. This film portrays the story of Tatsuo Kusakabe, a university professor; his two daughters, Mei and Satsuki, and their mother, Yasuko. The story starts out with Tatsuo, Mei, and Satsuko moving into an old house to be closer to the mother that is hospitalized and recovering from a chronic cold. While exploring their new home, Mei and Satsuki discover that there are "dust bunny" like spirits that inhabit the house. The dust bunnies are revealed to be spirits that tend to make their home in uninhabited old houses that soon move on once new owners move in. Mei is later seen playing outside the house where she witnesses a set of ears wandering through the field. She chases the creature throughout the field and into a pathway hidden in the bushes. At the end of the pathway she runs into a massive version of the creature she was pursuing, the titular character Totoro. Mei ends up falling asleep on top of Totoro, and when she wakes up he is gone and Satsuki has come to find her. Afterwards Mei tries to tell her father and sister about Totoro and show them his tree, but to no avail.


 
    One dark, rainy, and desolate night Satsuki and Mei waited at a bus stop for their father to return from work. As Mei falls asleep, Satsuki finally gets her chance to see Totoro for herself. She noticed he only had a small leaf to hide from the rain, and gave him her father's umbrella. In return he gave her a small pouch of enchanted nuts and seeds. Shortly before their father's bus arrived, a giant cat multi legged (a lot more than four) shaped bus appeared to pick up Totoro and dash away through the country-side. After the sisters planted the seeds, they witness Totoro and his comrades doing a dance to help the seeds grow. The girls joined in and together they made a massive tree grow and flew to the top of it on Totoro's magical top. Upon waking up the next morning, the extravagent tree has disappeared, but the seeds have sprouted.

    Upon learning that something serious might have happened to their mother, Satsuki yells at Mei to stay with Nanny while she calls her father. Mei, believing that healthy food will make her mother better again, decides to take an ear of corn to the hospital on foot. Mei's disappearance has everyone panicked and looking for her, but Totoro and the Catbus assist Satsuki in finding Mei and dropping off the ear of corn at the hospital windowsill where their parents are sitting and smiling comfortably.

    Although I felt the film dragged on longer than necessary, I enjoyed it and would probably watch it again with some younger family members of mine. I liked that we got to the movie with all of the original voices intact (albeit with subtitles), I hate watching Japanese animation that has the english voices "dubbed" over. I like that it is a simple family film that manages to create drama and suspense without the use of a villain, fighting, or conflict between the characters. The Kusakabe family just wants to protect each other and enjoy each others' company.

                "Hedwig and The Angry Inch"

 

   This movie revolves around the life of Hansel Schmidt, who was a transexual lover of rock music, who ended up getting married to an American soldier, getting a botched sex change, and assuming his mother's identity in order to leave Germany. The botched sex change left the now better known as "Hedwig", with a dysfunctional one inch piece of flesh; the famous "Angry Inch". The telling of Hedwig's story as well as backstory is achieved by a number of musical performances as well as flashbacks.

    Present day Hedwig, after being left by her husband for another man, now travels around the country with her band "Hedwig and The Angry Inch". While traveling and performing at gigs, the band is following a huge rock star and former lover of Hedwig's, Tommy Gnosis. Hedwig repeatedly tells anyone who would listen that she and Tommy Gnosis used to be lovers and that he stole all the music that they wrote together as well as songs that she wrote alone. Hedwig and The Angry Inch usually perform at small-time venues such as diners, restaurants, and bars around the country in front of small and usually disapproving audiences; while Tommy Gnosis usually performs on grand stages in front of thousands of adoring fans in comparison.

    Nearing the end of the film, after being abandoned by her bandmates due to mistreating a member, Hedwig while working as a prostitute, re-encounters and makes peace with Tommy Gnosis. They are soon found out and Hedwig's popularity skyrockets and she becomes famous. Hedwig eventually reunites with her band and performs in a highly covered concert. The final scene of the movie shows them playing in a white room and dressed in all white, which I assumed it implied a heavenly place or a state of happiness or bliss for Hedwig.

  

     I liked the film overall. No matter what kind of mean and nasty things Hedwig said and did, I always seemed to sympathize with Hedwig and the struggles she has been through. Honestly, some of the gay and transexual parts of the movie made me a little uncomfortable, but only because I usually don't expect to see it outside of maybe True Blood. I tend to keep an open mind and accept everyone :). The multiple musical performances were a pleasure to listen to. I'm not really a rock fan, but this film has helped expand my musical horizons as well as my understanding of those with differing sexual orientations.
   

                                 "The Fighter"
   
           

    The Fighter is a 2010 sports drama film directed by David Russell. The film is about a down and out professional boxer, "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world welterweight championship and overcoming the chaos and demons that seems to follow him via his family. Micky Ward is portrayed by Mark Wahlberg, his older brother Dick Eklund by Christian Bale, his love interest by Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo plays the domineering mother to both Micky and Dicky.
 
       The Fighter is based on the true story of Micky Ward, a down and out welterweight boxer, continually being held down by his brother's selfishness, and his mother's single and only focus being reinvigorating Dicky's career; he eventually becomes the welterweight champion of the world. The story follows the period of his life before his success. The focus is on Micky dealing with his personal demons, from his own family which includes his mother, his older brother and his seven sisters. Micky lives in the shadow of his brother Dicky both personally and in the eyes of everyone around him.
 
       Known as the "Pride of Lowell", Dicky's primary claim to fame is his boxing match with Sugar Ray Leonard, where Eklund claimed to have knocked down Leonard, who eventually won the match. Dicky is a crack addict who has proved himself to be unreliable on many occasions.  A move by Dicky and Alice at one of Micky's fights makes Micky come to the realization that his boxing career and well-being is being stalled and perhaps even under-minded by the two, who are only looking out for themselves, mostly for Dicky's hopeful but never-lived comeback. After Dicky's incarceration, Micky takes Charlene's advice and proceeds with his boxing career without his brother or mother, much to their anger. Decisions like figuring out where his family fits into his life become exceedingly important as his shot at the world welterweight title closes in.
   

       My reaction to the film, is that it is a very inspirational story that not only shows off the glorious side of boxing as we are used to seeing, but also the gritty side. From Dicky's crack addiction and self delusions to the old school television style camera angles, these elements give off a sense of relatability. As if the successes portayed, as well as the downfalls could happen to anyone, if we work hard or just neglect enough.