The Monday Question: Romance!

Welcome to another Monday Question. Hope you have had a movie filled weekend and really enjoyed yourself. This weekend Before Midnight opened in various countries. I saw it at the first possible moment I could and as my review shows I loved it. Just like the other two movies you connect to these two people and understand what they are feeling. It got me thinking that I don’t know of too many other romantic movies which are similar to this. The only ones I could come up with are Once and Lost in Translation. Someone suggested An Affair to Remember, but I was very disappointed by it, as it did not feel realistic for a moment. So this week I’m looking for suggestions:

Which realistic romantic movie shouldn’t be missed if you love movies like Once, the “Before…” trilogy and Lost in Translation?

Bellflower (2011)

Bellflower review

The rise of technology has had a big impact on the world including the world of film. Digital cameras are now of the quality that it is possible to make your own low-budget movie in HD. Even special effects can now be done on you PC at home and this has resulted in some interesting low-budget movies in recent years. Bellflower has been made with a tiny budget of $17000 and shot on a camera that director/editor/producer/writer and actor Evan Glodell made himself. He made the camera because he wanted a unique look he might not get out of “normal” cameras. It’s an interesting approach, but is the end result worth watching? Continue reading

Handsome Harry (2009)

Harry Sweeney (Jamey Sheridan) is an ex-navy officer who has started his own company in a small town when he left the navy. He has been very succesful and is about to sell his company to retire. He receives a phone call from an old friend, Thomas Kelley (Steve Buscemi) asking him to visit and he agrees. Thomas is very ill and knows he will die soon. They start talking about the past and talk about a subject which they have been silent about for years. Together with some other friends they committed a crime. As his dying wish Thomas asks Harry to find the victim of their crime and apologise to him. For Harry it’s and unforgettable and painful journey into his own past. Continue reading

Ondine (2009)

Most of you will know the classic fairy tales. When you were a kids you heard the stories about Hansel and Gretel, little red riding hood and Snow White. These stories have been told for centuries, but despite their age they are still being told as they have some magical qualities and a deeper truth which will teach something to kids. The lessons learned are usually about the fear of something evil, which has to be defeated.
According to Wikipedia an ondine is a mythological water nymph and as it usually goes with people telling stories, they get changed and local elements are added to it. In the Irish version of the story the nymph is called a Selkies which you will see after a seal sheds of its skin to change into a human.

This movie has based its story on this fairy tale. Syracuse (Colin Farrell) is a fisherman who finds a woman in his net, Ondine (Alicja Bachleda). The woman is still alive and tells him that she wants no one to see her. Syracuse takes her to a deserted house where she’s able to stay. She joins him on some fishing trips and every time she sings a song he catches more fish than he ever does.
Syracuse is divorced and has a young daughter, Annie (Alison Barry), who’s in a wheelchair and regularly has to go to the hospital for dialysis. When she finally receives an electric wheelchair she gains a lot more freedom and go out on her own. She discovers the secret her father is keeping from her. Continue reading

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007)

It’s never nice to be alone during the holidays at the end of the year. Wilson (Scoot McNairy) is not looking forward to the end of the year and wishes the year to be over as soon as possible. A friend of him convinces him to get a date on the last day of the year. He places an ad on Craigslist and it doesn’t take long for replies to appear. He decides to meet up with Vivian (Sara Simmonds). The movie follows the two during the last hours of the year and shows them meeting up and talking to each other.
As the movie has won quite a lot of awards I was looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately I wasn’t prepared for such a big disappointment. Continue reading

The Notebook (2004)

After several people advised me to see this movie, I decided to listen and watch it. The Notebook is a very romantic movie that is mainly set in the 1940’s. Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) sees Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) around town and immediately is in love with her. She’s not interested in him, but after many times of him trying to go out on a date with her, she finally agrees. The two connect with each other and are inseparable until the end of summer. Alli has to leave to go back home. The question is whether their love for each other is strong enough to survive with the distance between them. Continue reading

Vertigo (1958)


According to MedicineNet.com:

Vertigo is a feeling that you are dizzily turning around or that things are dizzily turning about you. Vertigo is usually due to a problem with the inner ear. Vertigo can also be caused by vision problems.

The word “vertigo” comes from the Latin “vertere”, to turn + the suffix “-igo”, a condition = a condition of turning about). Vertigo is medically distinct from dizziness, lightheadedness, and unsteadiness.

After a chase on the rooftops of San Francisco, John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson (James Stuart) starts suffering from it. He’s even afraid to get on small ladders. He has to quite his job and leaves the police force to become a private detective. He’s asked by an old friend to shadow his wife as she has been acting very strange lately. He takes the job and follows the woman everywhere she goes around San Francisco, which results in not only some beautiful shots of the city, but also a suspenseful thriller as only Hitchcock could make them. Continue reading

Mr. Nobody (2009) – Movie of the year?

What are the consequences of the choices you make? That’s the big question that’s asked in Mr. Nobody. It’s 2092 and Nemo Nobody is the last mortal man on earth. The rest of humanity has found a possibility to live forever (it’s not made clear why Nemo is not using it). At age 118 he’s big news as everyone is waiting for his death. A journalist manages to get into his room and ask him to tell about the life he has lived. Nemo starts his story and it seems like he’s not telling about his life, but about several different lives. Continue reading