The Holiday

Somewhere between holiday movie and guilty pleasure lies The Holiday. The tale of two women from opposite continents who escape to each other’s homes & lives to escape their own at Christmas is much more fun and touching that you might think.

What I like most about The Holiday is that this is the film that made Jack Black more than a crazy comic to me; here he plays Miles, a nice guy and a film composer who gets cheated on but ends up rescued by Kate Winslet. And who would have ever thought Winslet and Black would be a cute couple? Nancy Meyers scores points for that one.

Perhaps what makes the LA portion of the story all the more enjoyable is the addition of Arthur Abbott – a writer from the golden age of Hollywood afraid to venture back out into the world. He manages to reset Iris’s world view and in the process resets his own.

This might be a chick-flick, but I do enjoy this film.




Iris: Well, I just wanted to get away from all the people I see all the time!... Well, not all the people... one person. I wanted to get away from one... guy. An ex-boyfriend who just got engaged and forgot to tell me.
Arthur Abbott: So, he's a schmuck.
Iris: As a matter of fact, he is... a huge schmuck. How did you know?
Arthur Abbott: He let you go. This is not a hard one to figure out. Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.

The Holiday

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Originally uploaded by ns520za

I said it once and I will say it again, I like The Holiday. It’s a chick movie, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that it’s a good movie. If I had any criticism about this movie it would have to be that I want to spend more time in the world that Iris visits in LA, and watch more of her adventures with Miles and Arthur.

I think this movie is becoming a holiday tradition for me. I actually think of The Holiday every time the Santa Ana winds blow in and annoy the heck out of me. The only think they fail to say about the winds in the film is that they turn your weather about 20 degrees warmer and suck all moisture out of the air so along with being blown around you become uncomfortable. But that’s not really important to the story is it?

Arthur Abbott is the character in The Holiday that I adore. He’s a crusty, whimsical old man that’s lived through Hollywood’s glory days and watched it all pass him by for years now until Iris comes into his life. Iris helps Arthur see himself as a viable, vibrant person again and he manages to do the same for Iris. This is a great friendship on screen and I find myself hoping that one day I will meet someone like Arthur to regale me with stories and encouragement about their past in the industry.

I enjoy this movie. It’s light hearted, funny, well acted and everything a good romantic comedy should be.

Arthur Abbott: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some
reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake! Arthur, I've been going to a therapist for three
years, and she's never explained things to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.

Revolutionary Road

Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet-Revolutionary Road(19)
Originally uploaded by gr8tfate

Sam Mendes makes amazing films – films that promote discussion and thought, while somehow also managing to be a dynamic, visually stunning, intelligent film. Revolutionary Road is no exception to this rule. While, Revolutionary Road may not be a simple film it all boils down to one thing – marriage.

Revolutionary Road is about the life a husband and wife share, and the lives they still keep from each other. April and Frank Wheeler are the adorable young couple from Revolutionary Road; they have two children, Frank works in the city, April takes care of the kids, they are the life of the neighborhood. But both are miserable. Frank hates working every day at a jobs he hates where he feels unappreciated, and going home to feel still unappreciated. April spends her entire day taking care of the children, house and her husband and feels alone, unappreciated and desperate for something more. Frank and April are tired of living the life they were told they were supposed to live and they decide to change and thus reinvigorate their lives and relationship – but the problem is that by taking control of their lives they end up taking on the world.

For those looking for a uplifting, enchanting romance Revolutionary Road is not that film. Revolutionary Road is American Beauty devoid of the dark humor, and somehow more bleak. This is not to say that Revolutionary Road is not a film that you can’t enjoy; this is a movie that tells a story that few people want to tell. It is a brave film that does not pull punches or try to lie about the very real situation too many couples face – the “hopeless emptiness” as they say in the film.

In Revolutionary Road Sam Mendes, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet & the entire team that made the film have made a film that transcends time and will be talked about for generations to come. I do believe this film will be the recipient of a great many Oscar nominations this year, and will take home at least one of the golden statues.

Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: Justin Haythe
April Wheeler: Kate Winslet
Frank Wheeler: Leonardo DiCaprio
John Givings: Michael Shannon
Helen Givings: Kathy Bates

April Wheeler: So now I'm crazy because I don't love you, right? Is that the point?
Frank Wheeler: No! Wrong! You're not crazy, and you do love me. That's the point, April.

The Holiday

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Originally uploaded by ns520za

If you know that I loathe most romantic comedies and holiday films you would be surprised to find out that I adore The Holiday. In fact, I am a little shocked that I like The Holiday as much as I do. However, I do blame this on another of my likes and dislikes – I love movies about movies and The Holiday has a main character that edits trailers, one character that is a film composer and another character that was a screenwriter in the golden age of Hollywood.

At its core The Holiday is a film about Iris and Amanda. It’s Christmas time and Iris, a columnist from England is heartbroken to discover Jasper the man that has been leading her on for two years is engaged to one of her coworkers and didn’t even have the decency to tell her before making the announcement. In the states Amanda makes movie trailers and has just dumped her boyfriend Ethan for cheating on her with his secretary. Both women are devastated and don’t want to stay home for the holidays; through chance Amanda finds that Iris has listed her home on a home exchange website and the women decided to switch houses for the holiday. Iris heads to Hollywood and meets Miles a film composer who seems to have her luck in love, and Arthur who is Amanda’s elderly neighbor and a prolific screenwriter from a Hollywood era long gone. In England Amanda meets Graham, Amanda’s brother and the two hit it off only for Amanda to discover that he is a widower with two small daughters. Both women begin complicated relationships with the men – Amanda’s romantic and Iris’s at first purely friendship with both men, at first.

I do have to say that I have nothing against the characters in England but the storyline of Iris, Miles and Arthur are my favorite part of the movie. Not only do I love the old Hollywood influence in the story but I find Iris to be the character that I can empathize with the most. I also adore Kate Winslet and Jack Black together which I didn’t think was possible. It’s an odd pairing but it’s kind of like Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, once you see Billy Crystal in the role you can’t imagine anyone else playing that – I think Jack Black did that in The Holiday. I think Kate Winslet needs to be in more movies. I love watching her act.

I really think that The Holiday is just a really good film, not just a holiday film. It is able to transcend it’s categorization because it uses the time of the year as a catalyst, not as an overarching theme by which the movie is driven.

Director & Writer: Nancy Meyers
Amanda: Cameron Diaz
Iris: Kate Winslet
Graham: Jude Law
Miles: Jack Black
Arthur Abbott: Eli Wallach
Ethan: Edward Burns
Jasper: Rufus Sewell
Maggie: Shannyn Sossamon

Arthur Abbott: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god's sake! Arthur, I've been going to a therapist for three years, and she's never explained things to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.