I had high hopes for this movie but I was let down rather harshly. Despite what is said in the beginning of the movie, it is only just another boy-meets-girl movie, although the ending was less typical. Actually, I didn’t think the whole movie had much content, now that I try to remember what actually happened, I can only remember bits and pieces, for example the main characters sitting in a park, shouting ‘penis!’ (don’t ask…).

The way the story-line was constructed was a little peculiar as well, it took me a short while to get used to the narration jumping from present to the past and back to present again. It was all a bit confusing, to be honest. Also, as much as I adore Zooey Deschanel, her character was utterly boring. I suppose she was intended to be quirky and eccentric but I didn’t get that sort of feeling from her at any point. At best, her character was a little unusual by stating she didn’t believe in love (though she didn’t stand behind those words in the end).

Perhaps I’m too demanding but this movie just wasn’t that good. It wasn’t even that funny. And it could have been so much better, there was potential. But meh, this is what they came up with.

It’s not really a surprise that I liked this film, is it? I’ve read Gone with the Wind a couple of times, and the story is just so compelling. Sometimes the book feels unbearably long but it still is a great story of love, growth and life.

I’ve heard some people say the film version was very slow and dragging, one friend even admitted that she couldn’t finish watching it. I thought events were rolling rather nicely and smoothly, even though things were left out and some scenes (from the book) were shortened quite harshly. Having read the book, it was no job for me to follow the story and know what’s going on but for someone who didn’t know the whole story (as told in the book), I’d think some things might have been left in the dark, so to speak.

I found the second disc to be more interesting than the first one – just as in the book (I have it divided into two volumes); the story gets better as it goes on, and everything happening after the war is mighty fascinating, and Scarlett, as a character and human being, grows tremendously. She transforms from a conceited and silly girl into a strong woman, strong enough to make it on her own. Sure, she still has her tantrums but that’s in her nature, the transition is still remarkable.

Scarlett and Rhett are a couple that… I don’t even know how to describe them. Their relationship is so vivid, so strong, so alive – after that every other relationship on screen or in books seems too sugar-coated and too polished; they had passion, perhaps too much, so it tore them apart. The again, that’s the beauty of it all, had their relationship been any less passionate, it would have lost all its mysteriousness and suspension.

♥

I remember going to the movies with two of my friends when this film came out, and, about three hours later leaving the theatre in disappointment and disgust. Sad to say, at that time the story was too serious for my liking, and thus I got very little out of it. Of course, I was at the delicate age of 15 then and not quite sure what to think about the things I saw.

Now, 6 years later, I watched the film from a completely different perspective. It was to be expected (and greatly hoped, too!), naturally, and I knew right from the beginning that this time I’d enjoy the film far more than I did the first time. And quite right – the scenery and cinematography are stunning and beautiful (in their own way!), creating a haunting atmosphere. Granted, the storyline is a little feeble, there should have been something more than just revenge, one single theme is too little for almost a three-hour film.

What comes to the actors, well, I was greatly intrigued by Daniel Day-Lewis’ character. I’m always drawn to the ‘bad guys’ in films, and Bill was no exception. A strange, strange character, and I think Day-Lewis played his part well, bringing out the peculiarity of his character without being too extravagant. DiCaprio on the other hand… he’s so mellow. Was there any rage in him? I didn’t see any, and, well, if you have lived 16 years in an orphanage, perhaps you lose your accent, but it still bothered me that he didn’t have even a hint of Irish accent left… I won’t even go to Cameron Diaz because I can’t stand her, I mostly just tried to tune her out.

All in all, I very much enjoyed watching Gangs of New York, not once did I wonder when it would end. But there is one ‘negative’ thing: all the Irish accent and music heard in the film just added to my desire to go to Ireland, I don’t think I can stand it much longer, let alone think about anything else! ...but I don’t really mind. :D

Anyone else think Winona Ryder and Keira Knightley look alike? It’s quite disturbing how prominent their resemblance is in this film. Keanu Reeves is as stiff as ever, that man really has only one face and even that isn’t too attractive (and even less interesting). But Gary Oldman, oh…

Every time I watch a film or read a book about or just inspired by Dracula I get more and more attached to the story and the creature itself. There’s just something compelling about Dracula, an unexplainable pull…

I wasn’t too familiar with the storyline when I started watching this film and the beginning seemed very promising… but then everything just got strange. A motionless family-life and a hope to escape the emptiness of social standards by pursuing a life in Paris – like I said, since I didn’t know what to expect I was a bit taken aback. I’m not saying Revolutionary Road was a bad film, or a boring one, and had I been prepared for this kind of a story, I most likely would have appreciated it more while watching. Now that I’ve had time to think it over, the story and the subjects it touches, are thought-provoking, even distressing at times. Even though the film is set in the 1950s, some of the topics are still relevant today. Back then, the norms of how to live a normal life were much more strict but even today, when freedom in any form is greatly encouraged and appreciated, people trap themselves in meagre lives, dull themselves into mediocrity and ordinariness. So it makes me wonder, how much has really changed?

Meh. Comedies just aren’t my cup of tea, I never laugh at the intended scenes, and to add romance to the mix, yuck, way too sappy.

I don’t know what to say about the storyline. According to the film, women are pathetically sentimental and men a bunch of dickheads who never call. It was infuriating how the whole film was full of clichés are truisms: the fact that a film had to be made around them, makes me sad.

But how hot was Justin Long in this film? Before he started acting like a chick, that is. Swooo-oon.

Ahhahahaa, lovely. ♥

I love Bill Nighy, I love British accent, and I lovelovelove the music played in this film! Oh, and Tom Wisdom totally made me swoon, oh my.

I’ve come to realise that books with a lot of description and portrayal of scenes and such just aren’t my cup of tea, I find prolonged descriptions utterly boring and that’s the case with this book as well. I try to like it and I try reading it in small sections but I can’t get past the fact that the portrayals are dragging and so boring. I probably force myself to finish this but it’ll take time… bleh.

I don’t think I’m contradicting myself by giving the book 3 stars and saying it was a lot of crap. The story had its moments, and I was enjoying it from time to time but seriously, the plot was no good at all.

I lost my interest in the Twilight saga when it came so repulsively popular and that’s why it took me this long to read the last book, I couldn’t stand all the hype, and the first Twilight film just added more to this by being such an unbelievable failure.

All the enthusiasm I remembered having after finishing the first book was gone now, and I wasn’t as smitten with the characters as I had been. Now there was just pure interest towards the different characters, especially those who didn’t belong to the core of the story. Bella had started to annoy me already in the earlier books, so that was nothing new, but I also discovered that Edward had the same effect on me – sometimes it was hard to believe he had lived almost a 100 years, so helpless and out of reason he sometimes was.

Two things I mostly enjoyed about the book: the middle part that was told from Jacob’s perspective and the confrontation with the Volturi near the end. The rest of the book… okay, but it did feel like Meyer had ran out of ideas and had to conjure up something this far-fetched to have something to write about. I must admit, she did fairly well, coming up with enough material for a 700-page novel. But that’s about it, this time quantity won over quality hands down.