The Holiday, in many ways, is exactly what people are complaining about when they bemoan the death of the modern romantic comedy. It is about to unlucky in love women who swap houses for the Christmas holiday and subsequently meet new men and have their lives change. Along the way, the women flop about, drink […]

Today I indulged in a double feature of movies that I have always associated with Christmas, even if they’re not the typical type that grace best of Christmas lists. But both of the following films have famous climactic scenes that take place during the Christmas holiday and that wouldn’t have the same poignancy without their […]

So far I’ve dealt only with Christmas movies that I’ve loved. This installment is one that kind of takes me aback a little bit when I watch it: The Family Stone. If you don’t remember The Family Stone, or if it doesnt grace your beloved Christmas-movies list, I don’t blame ya. It came out in […]

The second movie in our holiday-viewing docket is Elf, another new classic. At once heartfelt and hilarious, Elf consciously conjures up a childish sense of wonder while playing to an audience that ranges from the littlest tykes to middle aged Will Ferrell fans. The story of Buddy the 6+ ft elf is a unique one […]

 

I have a confession to make. Despite years of soccer-playing, action-figure-collecting, comic-book-reading, action-movie-loving tomboy-ery, I’ve always, truly, wanted to be a Disney princess. But I didn’t want to be just any princess: I wanted to be Belle, the confident heroine who ultimately saves herself and her love with her brains and good heart. This is […]

 

For Christmas movies. The “Holiday” season has never really begun for me until I allow myself to slip into the pop culture cocoon of movies, tv shows, and music specifically designed to activate the heart tingling part of us all that wants to give ourselves over to childish optimism. And nothing is quite as essential […]

 

If I were to remake the list below, Deathly Hallows would easily and handily fall at number 1. It wouldn’t even be a debate. Let’s just get this out of the way, right here: to me, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was easily the best film of the series, the best adaptation of a […]

 

Everytime I’ve tried to sit down and review the most recent installment of Harry Potter, I felt overly burdened by the attempt to unpack all my (and any tried and true Potter-fans) baggage walking into the theater. The baggage weighed down the review, until all cinematic point was lost, but I felt that the review […]