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Author Topic: Love Actually Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-08-2003 09:02 PM                     I really enjoyed this movie. Richard Curtis is an excellent screenwriter (and writer of one of the funniest TV shows ever, THE BLACK ADDER), and this is his first attempt at directing. LOVE ACTUALLY is about love and its many incarnations...brotherly, family, romantic, lustful in all of its good and bad glory. The storytelling is very good here with many well-crafted characters. Not all ends happily ever after here, but thats part of being human. The acting is just wonderful by everyone. Emma Thompson, a special favorite of mine, is terrific in her troubled relationshiop with the always excellent Alan Rickman. Hugh Grant plays his typically likable "Hugh Grant" character, who falls in love with the adorable Martine McCutcheon. This is more of a charmer than a "laugh riot". A very likeable movie. I think both men and women will like this film. I wouldn't consider it a "chick flick". And, to all you folks in Wisconsin, why are you keeping such a secret? Guys will be flocking there after seeing this film! Now we know what goes on during those cold Wisconsin nights! Compliments to the usual outstanding presentation by the crew at Marcus Cinemas. [ 11-10-2003, 06:31 AM: Message edited by: Mark Lensenmayer ]  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-09-2003 01:09 PM                     Actually it called Love Actually. I think this is a very good film. I saw it at Show East on a 2K DLP machine. The film was presented very well and looked great. I think of it as a greatest hits album. It's not a complete film but a nice taste of the filmmaker's art. The filmmaker, Richard Curtis joked on NPR that he was just trying to make the next seven movies at one time. When asked how he got so many big stars, he said they liked it because they only had to work about two weeks each. Billy Bob Thornton only worked two days.  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-10-2003 06:31 AM                     Thanks, Ian. Thread title is now corrected.  |  IP: Logged Michael Swarbrick Film Handler Posts: 23 From: London, England Registered: Jan 2002 posted 11-10-2003 02:12 PM                     I once heard the title was supposed to be Love, Actually, but didn't notice the comma on the credits when I saw it. I don't like this movie that much. It feels too carefully constructed to pull the heart strings. Seems very cold and calculating. Also, coming from someone who people claim is a great writer, I think the writing is pretty poor. It was like he couldn't think of a good storyline, so he came up with 10 little ones so he could please everyone. And what's with the ending? Everyone in the movie, including the Prime Minister, happened to be at the airport at the exact same time?! The only good thing about the movie is Kiera Knightly.  |  IP: Logged Dennis M Dow Jr Expert Film Handler Posts: 141 From: Bloomfield NJ USA Registered: Oct 2003 posted 11-10-2003 11:58 PM                       I really enjoyed this movie..... But I think Bill Nighy made the movie.... He was hilarious as the Middle-aged rock star trying to make a comeback....  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 11-15-2003 01:04 AM                     The movie was watchable. But it is better as a video rental or something to watch on premium cable. The writing was downright mediocre in some parts while pretty decent in others. The irony here is that one of the few funny segments in the movie has this british guy who wants to come here to the US to get laid and thinks his british accent, while not upper class in his homeland, would be considered super classy and sexy in the U.S. Sometimes, I think we overrate Brit movies because of the accents. Most of the segments were "too precious" with their sitcom like cutesy situations(no more clever than a My BIg Fat Greek Wedding). This is stuff I used to enjoy a lot .... MAYBE 10 years ago. I think a lot of Brit movies are getting too lazy with these cutesy situations. That freaking Full Monty(a decent movie, but hardly Oscar worthy) started this trend of people flocking to these "comedies". I hated the Liam Neeson segment with the kid who gets annoying after a promising start. The Colin Firth segment seemed like the only real segment of all. Hugh Grant segment was pretty watchable because Hugh Grant makes most movies watchable. Still stuff like having him dance to Jump by the Pointer Sisters is the "older crowds" way of laughing at some sitcom level humor while pretending to be watching a work of class. All those blowhards who criticize Kill BIll for lack of character development have no problem giving this movie a free pass in terms of character development. By the way, what was the relationship between Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson? was she the kid's teacher? And why did Emma seem like such a stranger to her own brother at the end? They seemed to be no bitterness whatsoever to explain the total disconnect between them. I liked the Keira Knightly segment. Rowan Atkinson was hilarious in his little cameo. Bill Nighy was one of the few who had some bite to his acting in this movie.  |  IP: Logged Evans A Criswell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1579 From: Huntsville, AL, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-19-2003 10:49 PM                        Moved my other post into this thread. I thought there was a thread for this movie and did a search and didn't see the thread in the list ("Love Always" was the only close thing that showed up, at the top of the list). In fact, this thread doesn't show up in the search, but only the one that I started that was locked. Original post with many new comments added (so it will be here with the others): Attendance: 2003/11/18 19:05, Regal Hollywood 18, Huntsville, AL, Auditorium 2, Scope This was a very enjoyable movie. Instead of one big plot, there are a lot of little ones. It has the feel of a soap opera, where a scene is shown for a bit, then a totally different scene is shown, and so on, eventually getting back to the first one. There's plenty of humor, and lots of people. I was amazed when I saw the list of cast members in the credits at the number of people. This is a light-hearted, fun romantic comedy, and it had the feel of several of the past few romantic comedies movies I've seen that had Hugh Grant in them. I've enjoyed all of those, so I knew I'd enjoy this one. Hugh Grant is getting older, but he is still able to project a young man image. He's still very slender. The drummer kid rocked! There were a couple of "TV moments" in this movie I didn't like. First, during the part where the wedding video was being shown, it was shown from a VHS tape onto a 16:9 set. Do some camcorders allow recording anamorphic 16:9 video onto SVHS or VHS? If not, then the picture was cropped. Second, there is one scene where a 4:3 set is being shown and the picture looks like a non-anamorphic 16:9 image being shown in the set's "squish down to 16:9" mode, making things look shorter and fatter. The kid is watching the image, which is occupying about half the screen, distorted. Why put that in the movie? To show how dumb his father is about setting up a TV? The woman who got the Judy Collins CD instead of the bracelet she thought it was. Did the conflict between her and her knowing what her husband did get resolved in the end, or did I miss it? The lady who finally got her dream guy, Karl, to come over to her place, and they're about to make love, and she's too stupid to turn off her stupid cell phone, set to the default ring at the loudest volume -- No guy in his right mind would want her. I hate that ring, because most people don't know how to change it or run it down. So many characters winding up together in the same place at the end was quite odd. I really enjoyed the music in the movie. To start with, the Christmas version of "Love Is All Around" was really bad, but funny in a strange way, and the movie managed to make fun of it throughout the film. It is great when the artist singing it openly refers to it as "a turd". The next morning after seeing this movie, while getting ready for work, the first song I played was the Troggs version of "Love Is All Around". During the movie, I was wondering how many hits Judy Collins had. On the pop chart, not many. "Both Sides Now" was her biggest hit, which went to number 8 in 1968, and I've got that playing in the background now as I edit this post. I never cared for "Jump For My Love" when it was out in 1984. Hearing it again after so many years in the context of the movie made me like the song more now than I ever did back then. The kids in the movie were performing "Catch a Falling Star". It reminded me of how much I liked the Perry Como version of that and "Round and Round". The presentation was very good. I noticed the CAP code in only one spot in the movie. A bunch of dots appeared in a bright background area of a scene. My eyes were drawn to them. 6 commercials were shown before the previews started. (I always count them now). There was aperture shadow on the right side of the top edge and a point in the lower left where it looked like the aperture plate had a little bite taken out of it makign the image there go past the left masking. That plate needs to be remade. [ 11-20-2003, 09:26 AM: Message edited by: Evans A Criswell ]  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-19-2003 10:55 PM                        Well that's Infopop's great search function for you. This thread was actually 6th from the top when you posted. Oh well, no big deal, I'll delete the other thread.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 11-20-2003 02:49 AM                     I absolutely loved this movie. Not only was I intrigued by the characters, but I felt the stories had depth to them. The movie just did not seem to be the typical fluffy garbage I'm used to. My favorite character had to be Bill Nighy as Billy Mack. His performance really did carry the film at times and had you guessing, "what's he gonna do next?" The film really does show that love actually IS all around. Whether it is at 10 Downing Street or in Wisconsin, love is everywhere and happens in all different sorts of ways. I think anyone that sees this film should be able to relate to one of the situations. Definitely one of my favorites of the year. And just remember this important message from your Uncle Bill kids: "don't buy drugs...become a popstar and they give them to ya for free!" AJG  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 11-23-2003 04:21 PM                     AMC Hamilton, 11/22, 6:45 PM show. Hall #6, attendance ~100 -- came 15 seats short of a full house. Somehow this hodgepodge of love stories works. Richard Curtis has done romance before and was able to pull it all together. Hugh Grant would make a better Prime Minister than the one currently at No. 10 Downing Street. Do keep an eye for Billy Bob Thornton as the American President -- he's more convincing than GWB but not as slick as Willie was. But why, oh why are the intertitles in Trajan? The opening titles and end credits are in a form of Helvetica. Having the intertitles in Trajan makes Love Actually look like a US picture. At least the Brits are geniuses when it comes to putting pop songs in the soundtrack. An Xmas remake of "Love is All Around"? The original lyrics can be heard in Four Weddings and a Funeral (which Curtis co-wrote). "All You Need is Love" in a wedding? Paul McCartney has worked with classical musicians of late. "Catch a Falling Star" in the Xmas pageant? Mr. Consistency himself, Perry Como, is smiling from up in heaven. A Memphis soul version of "White Christmas"? The producers must have that Otis Redding box set at home. Image: Good-to-excellent except for the odious CRAP Code -- plain as day near the end of R3! A wee bit of negative dirt seeped through in the last 2 reels. Sound: Excellent in SDDS -- defaulted to analog for 1-2 seconds at a negative splice in R1. Listen closely in the final scene and you'll hear "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys in true stereo. "God Only Knows" was recorded in stereo in 1966 but the master tape was not discovered until 1997.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Cope Master Film Handler Posts: 256 From: Overland Park, KS, United States Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-25-2003 10:34 PM                     Enjoyable film. What I liked about the movie was how well integrated all the stories were and it didn't ever seem to drag. This movie had a lot of heart. Solid *** out of four stars.  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-29-2003 02:20 AM                     I totally agree with Mitchell, I enjoyed it completely!  |  IP: Logged Jacob Huber Expert Film Handler Posts: 172 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 12-01-2003 08:44 PM                     How in the hell do you pronounce Bill Nighy's last name? I want to say Nye-E, but I'm not sure.  |  IP: Logged Rachel Craven Madam Moderator Posts: 2190 From: Pensacola, FL Registered: Dec 2000 posted 12-01-2003 08:51 PM                     I think thats right. Not 100% though.  |  IP: Logged Andy Muirhead Master Film Handler Posts: 323 From: Galashiels, Scotland Registered: Dec 2000 posted 12-09-2003 08:36 PM                     Yeah, probably dead on Ny-e for Bill. It would probably escape most film-techers, but the UK guys may remember Bill playing almost the same part in 'Still Crazy' a few years back (well an ageing rocker anyway). Look it up on IMDB. It's a great film (Love actually), and probably would be best viewed on xmas eve. Even a bah humbug like me was caught by the christmas spirit. bah! You could sit around and pick holes in the plot all day, but that would be to deny its main role, which is to educate that love actually is all around, the films full title. Ok, one thing.. the guy that goes to america to pull some women. They are so poor that they only have one bed.. they can't even afford pyjama's.. Well, they could afford to decorate the entire outside of their house with xmas lights and decorations. maybe a thought girls, but i'm sure if you pawned some of that shit you could maybe buy a few jammys, maybe even another bed.  |  IP: Logged

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