I totally have to see that too!

Another independent gem (based off the trailer, haven't found any reviews thus far). It's subtitled so if you don't like reading (ahem, Lisa), this might not be for you. It's called "Everlasting Moments" and it's a story about a woman married to an alcoholic and desperate to get out. She turns to photography as a way to feel and see things again. And I love the old man becoming her life coach. In fact, I'm really loving that theme from movies.

Click here for the trailer. Release date is early March, but I bet that's just for LA/NYC. So it might be a few months before it has a wider release.

"I totally have to see that!"

The Education of Charlie Banks:

I have no idea when it is coming out (it says 2007 on imdb.. hmm) but it looks great. Yes, Fred Durst directed it...but at least he isn't starring in it. Watch the trailer below and be checking your independent movie theatre for the release date.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1128071961/

Shopaholic 2.14

Yea, yea. I went and saw this romantic comedy, alone, and on Valentine's Day which basically equates to social suicide.

I am not a shopper. At all. Like the very thought of it cuts my breathing in half. The long lines, spending hours in dressing rooms, obsessing over colors....all not for me.

So you'll imagine my shock while sitting there and watching this splendid movie and enjoying every minute of it. The movie delivers laughs and epitomizes the Magazine editor (which is dying according to all of the magazines out there folding).

What I walked away with (despite the fact I may just be the only person in existence SANS a credit card), I wish I was as passionate about something in my life as character Becky and her shopping. Like I have my phases, but nothing that survives day in, day out, my love and admiration like Becky and shopping. So at the end of the film, I had a craving to shop and see if I push through the anxiety I usually feel, could in turn, become something of Becky's passion. I drove by the mall, saw the crowded lot, began getting stomach cramps and drove home to saddle up next to the computer and jcrew.com where I managed to drop a hefty penny without the dressing rooms, lines and sales associates telling me this color looks great on me when it fact, it doesn't.

Katie asked me to remember one piece of fashion advice from the film: Never wear green with yellow. But I still will. Do you have to follow the fashion rules even if you're not a shopaholic?

Confessions of a Shopaholic 2.15

Lots of fashion, laughs and of course romance in this movie. If you are in the mood for some fluffy girl time, this is the movie to see. With all of the colorful clothes and strikingly good looking men, you are bound to leave with a smile on your face.

Isla Fischer is adorable as Becky, the girl who can't control her shopping obsession, who lands a job at a savings magazine in order to climb the corporate ladder to her dream job. I don't want to give away the rest (there isn't that much to give away) but I will promise you that you will love all of the famous camio's that popped up in Shopaholic.

3 things about this film:
1. Great soundtrack, but unfortuntely you have to buy the whole album on itunes (if we are friends I will be honest I will probably cave and download it, you can burn it from me)
2. Favorite line "That was a fresh start calling and its for you" trust me you'll love who says it
3. I want to go out and buy an array of short gloves in every color under the sun

"I just saw shopaholic and for the first time in my life I have this powerful urge to shop!"-my girl Hanna

Facing Windows 2.11

This movie isn't new and I didn't know that. I figured I landed a one-night showing of this movie at the theater. So I go. Only to find, it's the Jewish Film Festival. I still decide to go see it; sounded good enough to get me down here, so I head inside.

I am greeted with white, bald and gray heads sitting in the jam packed theater. A nice woman named Ellie comes up, chats with me and wants to know how to get younger people to the festival. I saddle away and look for a seat. I sit next to a wrinkly old man named Eli. Who talks me up a bit. After the director asks survivors to stand, I see Eli struggle to stand up. When he sits back down, he starts telling his tale to the woman next to him. He then itches his arm to expose numbers.

I'm bewildered. And didn't really pay attention through most of the movie. It was good, but I couldn't help but think the movie was acting out in front of me right now with me and Eli. In the film (which is subtitled), Giovanna befriends an older camp survivor named Davide. The theme screaming at you is all about freedom: freedom in your life, choice, actions. I sat there wondering if my Davide was sitting to my right.

When the film ended, Eli invited me to get some coffee with him. So I did. And we sit and I listen when he starts dishing life advice to me and how I, like Giovanna in the film, need to decide what I want to do and just do it, no questions asked.

If I learned and walked away with anything last night, it's Eli's words. Here, I have a Holocaust survivor telling me not to settle in life and do what I want and love to do. I don't really know how a person can ignore those words coming from someone who was denied that very will. 

Needless to say, I immediately went home and googled the next film festival showing in the area and will be going. That $10 ticket ended up buying me so much more than a show.

He's Just Not That Into You 2.8

The perfect movie for couples, girls' nights and even that "Hey dude, we really should go see this movie." It's hard to find a lot not to like about the film from the star-studded cast, to the identification with the characters, to the "When Harry Met Sally" interviews and to the beautiful blue-eyes of Mr. Bradley Cooper.

The film lived up to the hype and made sure to deliver the laughs, tears and awkward moments of dating. The ending leaves the viewer satisfied and make sure you stay through the credits! We don't want to give too much away or regurgitate all of our favorite lines (although if you hang with us, you'll probably hear them, forewarning).

We would request someone out there would either a.) go on a blind date or b.) a first date. Then please get back to us and let us know about all of your awkward moments.

Note: Sam and Hanna wrote this post while sitting on the couch, in our pajamas, in Chicago.

*Our only qualm about this book adaptation: It would have been amazing to have another big named star awaiting to steal the scene. Like circa Wedding Crashers (Will Ferrel) and Tropic Thunder (Tom Cruise). The cast list was already amazing, but throwing the audience that curve ball would have been a fantastic bonus.

Defiance 2.3

Totally defied any and all expectations. You know, WWII movies are all generally the same: killing the 'bad' guys and adorable men covered in dirt. So going in, I was more excited about seeing the Billy Elliott kid than anything else (fell in love with him with his first plie).

But this movie, totally blew me out of the water. As a self-proclaimed WWII nut, I figured I'd seen it all since I tend to read any and all things I can get my hands on. This story depicting how hundreds of Jews ran from the Germans and then built a 'community' in the woods is crazy. The story lasts throughout the first year of the war and it is too good for words. You never hear about the Russian armies hiding out in the woods from the Germans. Or about the Jewish people who built camps, deserted them and rebuilt somewhere else. This movie brings it to light.

The tale centers around 4 brothers who come together after Germans ransack their village. You see the struggles of sibling rivalry and how it drives them apart only to drive them back together. You see how Jews continued on with their lives during their time in the woods. It's crazy to think this make-shift refugee camp accomodated so many people for so long.

The fact this story has gone 'untold' for so many years is crazy. I find myself wanting to know more about the Eastern Europe countries during the War. We've had movies showing us about the US' efforts in the front, films from inside the camps and ones behind the enemies' lines. But this is the first, to my knowledge, of one depicting life for those who were fortunate enough to run away and survive a winter out in the wilderness.

I fear this film will get pushed under the rug with all of the other WWII movies that opened in the past few months (The Reader, Valkyrie, Boy in the Striped Pajamas) but it shouldn't. The acting is okay, but the storyline is truly inspiring. It made me want to run away with the Bielski brothers and join their fighting front.

A little taste of me.

-I hate violence, but could watch Saving Private Ryan, The Departed and Mystic River over and over and over again.
-I never took a film class in college and got C's on the movie papers I wrote in high school.
-While my friends were on our Senior Year Spring Break in high school, I was in San Diego at a journalism conference where I won (ooo oooo) an honorable mention for review writing. Granted, it was review writing for a live poetry reading, but an award's an award.
-My favorite Disney movie ever is Beauty and the Beast.
-Growing up I watched all the black and white horror films (The Hand still haunts me to this day). And am pretty sure this is the reason I cannot sleep alone in a house or without a stuffed animal.
-I'm a sucker for underdog movies (Hoosiers, Miracle), documentaries (Mad Hot Ballroom), foreign films (Life is Beautiful, The Class, The Sea Below), Julia Roberts films (My Best Friend's Wedding, Erin Brockovich, Closer, etc.), Tom Hanks films (A League of Their Own, That Thing You Do!, Splash!, Big) and anything directed by Clint Eastwood (Mystic River, Gran Torino, Million Dollar Baby).
-I'm addicted to the Cinemagic channel on XM radio.

Rachel Getting Married 1.30

Rachel Don't Get Married.

Half way through this movie I thought I was going to pass out. Then I thought about getting up to leave, but then felt light headed so I opted to sit back down and endure some more. Maybe it was the insane amount of candy I consumed in a hour's time.

Or maybe it was the documentary-esque, camera wobbling scene shooting going on. I got motion sickness while sitting.

The film is all over the place. I found myself sitting there wondering what the hell was going on, how did they get there and when it would it be over. Anne Hathaway's great in it, but the other people....her dad is too creepy for words (think Bozo the Clown with overdoing the emotions).

I went in with high expectations (everyone was talking about it!) but was severely let down. There wasn't even any good eye candy to keep you occupied.

Confession: After leaving, I did cry a little and just wanted my best friend in the entire world to tell me everything was going to be okay. She didn't answer her phone.