Groundhog Day (1993)

Groundhog Day (1993)
Director: Harold Ramis
Actors: Bill Murray, Andie Macdowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
    
Happy Groundhog Day!! Today Punxsutawney Phil has let us know if we will have an early spring or a long winter. Does anyone actually know the legend behind Phil the groundhog? Before we start let’s get a little update! The story stems from an old German myth, if a groundhog awakens from his winter sleep, crawls out of his hole and sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter. If he comes out and does not see his shadow, spring is soon to approach. So, every year Punxsutawney, PA gets crowded with people to watch this yearly event and celebrate the hope of an early spring. On that note, Hollywood saw an opportunity for a film and Groundhog Day was born. 
   
When a cocky, self-centered weatherman is sent to Punxsutawney PA to film the yearly arrival of Phil, he gets stuck in a time-loop that forces him to relive Groundhogs Day every day until he understands the value of life. 
Groundhog Day is one of those movies that slip through the cracks and I can’t tell you why. The script is clever, the concept is genius, the actors are awesome, but it lacks some sort of ‘WOW’ factor. Every single person that I spoke to about this movie said the almost the exact same thing ‘I haven’t watched that movie in years, I forgot it existed’. Yet, when I asked “what about Ghostbusters?”, almost every person said, “I LOVE THAT MOVIE!”. Why doesn’t Groundhog Day get the same reaction?


After watching Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and getting to know Bill Murray’s acting methods a little better, his signature character is usually the douche-bag which he plays extremely well. For some reason though, Phil doesn’t seem the grasp the audience the same way that Carl (CaddyShack) or Venkman (Ghostbusters) does. There is something missing from his overall performance. I cannot put my finger on it, which bothers me. This is a situation I guess I will have to let slip through the cracks as well. Andie MacDowell did a great performance. The idea that Phil is self-centered and Rita is selfless really makes the chemistry between the two characters really POP! 

Groundhog Day is funny, clever, well scripted and well directed - it deserves more than just “Oh, I forgot it existed” and it definitely deserves more than being played on TV only once a year!!! 

    Favorite Scene: The last scene - I felt like this was going to be obvious.

    Favorite Song: I’ve got you Babe - Sonny & Cher (Cher is my fav artist of ALL TIME!)

    Favorite Quote: Phil: “I killed myself so many times I don’t even exist anymore.”

Love,
Jennifer

Pretty Woman (1990)

Pretty Woman (1990)

Director: Garry Marshall

Actors: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Jason Alexander

Welcome to the month of February. The shortest, yet longest, month out of the entire year. With red-heart shaped balloons everywhere it is hard to see through to the beautiful days of March that lie right around the corner. Other than the obnoxious holiday of Valentine's, February does offer importance to the year, Black History. While we should celebrate the individuals that have shaped our history all year long, there is a month dedicated to them. Valentine's is celebrated February 14th in which I will be covering romance films for the first 14 days with the exception of February 2nd - Groundhogs day. The rest of February will be dedicated to Black History month. Films that have captured and shaped black history, from dramas to comedies. This being the first day of February, my list of romance begins and the first movie on my list - Pretty Woman.

When Vivian - a prostitute who works on Hollywood Blvd - meets Edward - a wealthy businessman - not only do sparks fly but, what started out as a business proposition turns into a lot more. 

Being a typical run-of-the-mill Cinderella story, Pretty Woman is sexy and fun. As I watched Pretty Woman, all I could think about was the amazing chemistry that Julia Roberts and Richard Gere have together and how incredibly beautiful these two people are. I have to admit, I have seen this movie well over 50 times in my entire life. The VHS (showing age I know) I had was almost worn out. There is a special kind of charm that brings this movie to life. 

I have read review after review, talking about how this movie is totally absurd all because Edward tries to ‘buy’ Vivian, this kind of story still plays out in Hollywood - Fifty Shades of Grey, for example. If Edward or Christian Grey was some broke ass MF these characters would be considered criminals, not romantics. Regardless, I think this is such a cute freaking movie. If anyone says otherwise they are a fun-sucker and you should not be around them- you know, bad energies. 


Favorite Scene: The shopping montage (DUH!)

Favorite outfit: Vivian’s original ‘prostitute’ dress.

Love,
Jennifer

Upcoming Events for February 2018

Hey everyone!

     Just a friendly note to my readers out there! I took a little break for the month of January. All that driving in the beginning to getting back into my daily routine of work and school really took a toll on me. 


Some Good News though! 

     I am preparing myself for the month of February!  I have been preparing my list (and checking it twice- haha - I KNOW CHRISTMAS IS OVER!). There are two very important events happening in the month of February. While I believe one deserves more importance than the other, I am going to be covering both.

     First, we have Valentines Day (YUCK), a day dedicated to showing your partner how much you love them. With that being said, I will be doing romantic films for the first fourteen days of February - with the exception of Groundhogs Day which falls on February second. 

     Secondly and most importantly, I will be covering Black History Month for the rest of the month of February with the exception of Presidents Day which falls on February 19th. I am really looking forward to some of the movies I have added to my list for the second half of February. If there are any movies you want to recommend please do in the comments below. 

I look forward to hearing from you all! 

From me to you,
Jennifer

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Only one more day until Christmas! I am going to burst with all this holiday cheer! There is so much happening in a short period of time! I wish I had Clarence as my guardian angel to guide me through the rough times of the holiday season. With that being said, I am glad to announce that the next movie on my list is "It’s a Wonderful Life".

As we wander through the life of George Bailey (James Stewart), we see his life did not turn out exactly how he expected. All the plans he made for himself got lost in situations that required more immediate attention, leaving George to believe the life he planned out was not worth living.  

When Clarence (Henry Travers) is sent from Heaven to help George get through rough times, he shows George how life would have turned out if he was never born.

I have had several people recommend this movie and since I have never seen it, I had no idea what I was in for. Well, let's just say I started watching it at around 11 PM and ended around 2 AM ugly crying in my bed and wanting to call my mom to thank her for giving me life. That is how beautiful “It’s a Wonderful Life” was. You, at one point or another, have impacted someone’s life in a positive way that not even you realize it at that moment. Your life has more meaning behind it than you give yourself credit for.

I honestly think the reason this movie had so much impact was that it does not only show you how George Bailey is feeling currently but, It takes you through his entire life and every decision he made to end up where he is. James Stewart was phenomenal and so was Donna Reed. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is based on the short story ‘The Greatest Gift’ written by Philip Van Doren Stern. If I could go back in time and shake Mr. Stern’s hand, I would. That is how highly I thought of this movie. My next adventure would definitely be reading ‘The Greatest Gift’.

I HIGHLY and I mean HIGHLY recommend this movie to everyone. Even though it is a Christmas movie, it is a movie that can be watched when you're feeling down in the dumps. It will easily liven your spirits.

9 Guardian Angels out of 10

Home Alone (1990)

Since I did a drive from New Jersey to Florida, I was unable to update my movie review yesterday. Hope I am forgiven! I will double up today to make up for it! Hope you all enjoy!

This movie blows my mind sometimes. I could not go to the corner without my parents knowing exactly where I was, so how do you forget your child at home while on a trip, no less?
On the real, this movie is actually really damn funny and cute.

When Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) accidentally gets left at home during Christmas, he must fend off some burglars that have targeted his house. 

Even though, Macaulay Culkin has been a piece of work growing up, he was a fucking awesome child actor. I do not think there is one Macaulay movie that is not good. Home Alone really kicked off his career. Working alongside actors like Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, there is no way this movie was going to be bad from the start. Seriously, the shit that Kevin McCallister puts Harry and Marv through is extremely entertaining. For example: when Marv gets electrocuted, I almost chocked on my soda. It is definitely a movie that both kids and adults will enjoy.

While the story line does have some plot holes, hey, what movies do not? I do have to say, overall, the story is pretty damn original. 

8 hot irons and feathers out of 10

Love,
Jennifer 

Bad Santa (2003)

Have you ever watched something so bad but still laughed and thought ‘wow, I must be a horrible person’. This is what watching Bad Santa is like. 

Billy Bob Thornton is all sorts of dirty in this movie. Along with Bernie Mac and Tony Cox, this trio makes this movie fucking side-hurting funny. Billy Bob plays Willie, who is an alcoholic and a sex addict who works with fellow con man Marcus (played by Tony Cox). Both set up as Santa and Santa’s Helper at different malls around the United States and rob them every Christmas Eve.  During their plan to rob a mall, Marcus and Willie get themselves into an unfortunate situation- a crooked security guard (played by Bernie Mac-RIP) wants half of their winnings and a troubled little boy wants nothing more than to befriend Santa.

This movie is so bad that it’s good. So creative and dirty. Billy Bob does a great job of making you feel gross in all the right places. The thought that was put into setting this cast up together really pulled this movie through. This was one of those moments in Hollywood where if the cast would have been different by just one person, this entire movie would have tanked.  By far one of the better dark humor Christmas movies out there. There are so many Christmas movies for kids that it was about time they threw out a Christmas movie for adults. 

This movie really is a great addition to your Christmas rotation. Make sure the kids are not around for this one.


 
7 dirty Santa suits out of 10

BYEEEE!

Last Holiday (2006)

Before we start I have to say that the reason I chose this movie was for the sole purpose that I absolutely LOVE Queen Latifah. With that being said, I had totally forgotten that she did a Christmas movie. It wasn’t till I googled Christmas movies that Last Holiday came up.

Holiday Rom-Coms are always an easy go to. They are fun and quirky and just all around feel goods. This Rom-Com was just okay. It was completely predictable. Queen Latifah plays Georgia, who is so uptight and stressed out all the time. When she finds out she has a terminal illness and only has three weeks to live she wants to enjoy all the things she was always too scared to do. 

God, I love Queen Latifah, but there was no saving this movie. The plot was completely predictable and kind of annoying. You know that because she is dying that everything is going to go just as planned. The character that was Georgia’s love interest, Sean (played by LL Cool J - this man is unbelievably gorgeous!), was so boring. While I am not going to spoil the ending to you because I’m not that kind of monster, the ending did not faze me at all! There was no OOMPH! It was just alright. Acting wise - Queen Latifah did well, as she always does, she has a knack for making people laugh naturally and LL Cool J was honestly just there as handsome love interest - Sorry J but I'm being honest.

Pro: Gérard Depardieu is in this movie! 

This movie did produce some giggles which means it wasn’t a complete waste of time but, It is a movie that could easily fall through the cracks if no one mentions it for a while- you know kinda how I forgot it existed. 

5.5 roasted quails out of 10

BYEE!