Bright Star

Rating: PG

Movie Release Date: September 18, 2009

DVD Release Date: January 26, 2010

Plot 411: The trying love affair between poet John Keats and his muse Fanny Braune from start to end.

Review: I really enjoyed this movie because it was able to capture a deep love affair in a very unique way. It managed to use a lot of dialogue (and poetic language) to convey powerful emotions. Granted, back then people just seemed to speak more lyrically and poetically (we're all but savages now). I haven't really studied John Keats at all but, despite that, I still knew when his poems were being used because of how the words were delivered. That's definitely attributed to the actors. It could be just me, but I really felt consumed by the love between John (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny (Abbie Cornish). Even though I knew the ending, I still found myself hoping this would work out for them. I mean, how could a perfect love - one that surpasses barriers like class status, financial situations and peer pressure - not last for eternity? Everything - from the wooing to the proclamations of love - was done within the strict social order of the day and a glance or a secret smile told a lot. Even a brush of fingers against one another became something so much more. Nowadays, this type of romance just doesn't happen. It makes me sad for today's lovers.

Watch It: For an almost perfect love affair and to perhaps understand Keats' poetry better.

Skip It: Because unfortunately it's like Romeo and Juliet - a love of a lifetime that just doesn't survive.

Candy

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: November 17, 2006

DVD Release Date: March 27, 2007

Plot 411: A love story almost as tragic and destructive as Romeo and Juliet.

Review: Dan (Heath Ledger) and Candy (Abbie Cornish) are a young couple completely in love with each other. Their passion for one another burns even brighter after their introduction to drugs. The drugs seem to make their love more intense while at the same time making them more fragile. The couple's drug habits get worse and they do everything they can to get their fix. They steal from family members, prostitute themselves and commit identity theft just to fill the euphoria of the drugs. When they learn of an unexpected pregnancy, the couple decides to quit for the baby. But after years of drug abuse that has rocked their relationship, can they be responsible enough to raise a child? This movie is the first in which I truly recognized Ledger's acting chops. Sure, he'd been in several movies by this point (such as 10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale and Lords Of Dogtown), but even after Brokeback Mountain I thought it just might've been a fluke. How could the guy who did an impromtu Frankie Valli tribute pull off this tweaker? But Ledger pulls out all the stops and is really something to watch. It was a moving and powerful performance and utterly heartbreaking to know that he's gone.

Watch It: Because despite his genius as the Joker in The Dark Knight, I think he is even more amazing as Dan.

Skip It: Because of its pretty explicit drug usage.

Save The Last Dance

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: January 12, 2001

DVD Release Date: June 19, 2001

Plot 411: When her mother dies, Sarah moves to Chicago's inner city to live with her astranged dad

Review: After failing her ballet audition for Juilliard, Sarah (Julia Stiles) discovers the reason her mother was late was because she died in a car accident. After this blow, Sarah decides to give up dancing and must move to Chicago to live with her father. She enrolls in a predominantly black high school in a gritty area of town. Despite being a fish out of water, she is soon befriended by Chenille (Kerry Washington). Sarah also meets a wise-cracking boy named Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), who turns out to be Chenille's brother. When Sarah goes to a club called Stepps, she encounters hip hop for the first time and realizes that there is more to dance than her classical education has taught her. She also encounters Derek's ex-girlfriend Nikki (Bianca Lawson) and the drama begins. Nikki is trying to win Derek back and sees Sarah as a threat. However, as Derek teaches Sarah hip hop dancing, they grow closer and fall in love. When Derek and is friend Malakai (Fredro Starr) are targets of a drive-by shooting, Malakai wants to take revenge. Derek is torn between helping his friend and looking toward his future. When this movie came out, I was thoroughly entralled by it like most teens. It had a good love story, great music and dancing, action and drama. It felt as though the underdog would prevail despite all obstacles. Now that I'm older, I can see it for what it is. It's a fairly average movie of this type and kind of predictable. I think it did a good job at appealing to its demographic when it was released but don't think it is anything special. The idea that opposites attract is definitely not new and have already been captured on film in Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, Dirty Dancing or Step Up.

Watch It: For a notable performance by Julia Stiles, who was just breaking out at that time.

Skip It: In favor of West Side Story, which contains much of the same plot points.

Duel In The Sun

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: December 31, 1946

DVD Release Date: May 25, 2004

Plot 411: When an orphaned teen comes to live at the McCanles Ranch, she really shakes the place up and is torn between loving two brothers.

Review: When Pearl's (Jennifer Jones) parents are killed, she goes to live with her father's first love Laura Belle (Lillian Gish). The woman greets her with open arms, perhaps because she is the daughter of a past lover or because she is the daughter she never had. Pearl is met with extreme hostility from the Senator (Lionel Barrymore), Laura Belle's husband, because she's half white and half Native American. Almost instantly upon her arrival, Pearl is drawn to their sons - Jesse (Joseph Cotten) and Lewton (Gregory Peck). Already on shaky ground, the family becomes more unstable with her pressence and slowly falls apart. I enjoyed this movie because everything was so real. If you saw 300 cowboys ride down a hill, it was actually 300 men on horseback and not some CGI/green screen action. The wide, sweeping shots of the open fields and prairies also brought its own kind of beauty. One thing that completely annoyed me was the way Pearl is portrayed. She's seen as an uneducated and uncultured girl and is a wild animal that needs taming. This is why she draws Lewt's attention. She is a challenge and something to be conquered like a wild stallion. Living off emotions, she continually makes bad choices, even when the right choice is standing in front of her. Yet somehow we are to believe that these choices are made because there is a love so powerful that it overshadows all reason (ala Romeo and Juliet). Yeah, ok.

Watch It: For Romeo and Juliet in chaps, cowboy boots and hat.

Skip It: If you're firmly entrenched in women's lib. This will make you steaming mad.

Movie Clip: