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The Notebook, a review by Tom

Title: The Notebook
Year: 2004
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Rating: FSK-6
Length: 124 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35
Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital TrueHD, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: Commentary, English, German, Russian, Spanish

Stars:
Tim Ivey
Gena Rowlands
Starletta DuPois
James Garner
Anthony-Michael Q. Thomas

Plot:
Behind every great love story is a great story.

As teenagers, Allie (Rachel McAdams) and Noah (Ryan Gosling) begin a whirlwind courtship that soon blossoms into tender intimacy. The young couple is quickly separated by Allie's upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn't right for her. Several years pass and, when they meet again, their passion is rekindled, forcing Allie to choose between her soulmate and class order. This beautiful tale has a particularly special meaning to an older gentleman (James Garner) who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging companion (Gena Rowlands).

Based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, 'The Notebook' is at once heartwarming and heartbreaking and will capture you in its sweeping and emotional force.

Awards:

BMI Film & TV Music Awards	2005	Won	BMI Film Music Award	Aaron Zigman
Casting Society of America Awards	2005	Nominated		Matthew Barry, Nancy Green-Keyes
MTV Movie Awards	2005	Nominated	Best Female Performance	Rachel McAdams
MTV Movie Awards	2005	Won	Best Kiss	Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Satellite Awards	2005	Won		Gena Rowlands
Screen Actors Guild Award	2004	Nominated	Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role	James Garner
Teen Choice Awards	2004	Nominated	Choice Breakout Movie Star - Female	Rachel McAdams
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Date Movie
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Actor: Drama	Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Actress: Drama	Rachel McAdams
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Breakout Performance - Male	Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Chemistry	Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Nominated	Choice Movie Dance Scene	Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Liplock	Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie Love Scene	Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling
Teen Choice Awards	2004	Nominated	Choice Movie of the Summer
Teen Choice Awards	2005	Won	Choice Movie: Drama

Extras:
Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

A great love story! I had feared that this movie will be boring or too melodramatic, but it there wasn't a single minute where it wasn't engaging. Despite the two hour runtime the time flew by. I can recommend it.

Rating:

(From December Marathons - DISCUSSION AND REVIEW THREAD on December 20th, 2009)

Eagle Eye, a review by Jon

Eagle Eye
4 out of 5

Shia La Beouf and Michele Monaghan play Jerry and Rachel, two strangers thrown together by a mysterious woman who calls them and forces them into a race against time in a conspiracy that involves Jerry's dead twin brother.

I hate the term Hitchcockian. It's over-used and pops up in reviews of seemingly every conspiracy thriller, especially those featuring innocent heroes wrongfully accused. Eagle Eye is exactly that and a bit Hitchcockian. Bugger.

Seriously though, this could have been North By Northwest as seen by Michael Bay. Certainly director D. J. Caruso likes ripping off the great man (Alfred, not Michael). His last film was Disturbia, a take on Rear Window also with Shia, who is certainly capable of Cary Grant style wisecracks if the script let him do so more. Caruso likes ripping a lot of things off actually, from The Matrix to Enemy of the State, via Terminator of all things. His film is eventually so much fun none of that would matter if not for the painful and laborious start. For at least half an hour, I don't think there is a single original idea or shot.

If only the story could have inherited Hitchcock's lean character development. We wouldn't have such a bloated and dumb blockbuster, but a lean thriller. It all comes down to the backstory both central characters are saddled with. Jerry's twin brother has been killed, but why do we have to have the father who preferred the dead brother and never understood the under-achieving sibling? It's so old and obvious! Similarly, Rachel's son is integral to the plot, but why do we need the estranged useless father? Again, it's old.

From the moment Jerry escapes Matrix style from Billy Bob Thornton and jumps into Rachel's car, the film takes off at breakneck speed and doesn't let up, except to contemplate the bullshit it started with. It's so frustrating. The final act is three distinctly separate threads of action and is superb, but the tacked on epilogue, needed to resolve the unnecessary sub-plots is predictably plodding. A film so inherently daft should have been far less worried about such details. It smacks of under-confidence, yet Caruso proves he can hold together a big production.

Despite this, both leads are pretty good and Shia cements his deserved place as the next big movie star. His distraught everyman has shades of both Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis, if he'd been allowed to cut loose a little more. There's one or two memorable lines and he needed more.

The whole plot seems like it has been written in crayon. The overall Stars and Stripes patriotism gets old quick (Rachel's kid couldn't be more American, complete with freckles!), though the anti-US foreign policy idea is at odds with this so it's nicely balanced at least. I liked the central idea as well, revealing exactly who is responsible for the phone calls. I don't want to say too much, because in such a predictable film, the identity of the mysterious woman and why is a nice surprise. Even if you guess it, it's still well done. For those that have seen it...


This is definitely a three-star film that manages to pull together some four-star action and a memorable theme. I suggest if you're planning to see this, arrive about half-an-hour late. It'll be a much better film. Maybe there'll be a directors cut that actually removes stuff.

(From Eagle Eye on October 19th, 2008)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

4.11 Hunting Season (1999-03-11)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Julie Lacey (Writer)
Director: Francis Damberger
Cast
Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on January 5th, 2011)