Magical Movie Moments - Leatherheads  

Posted by Linda Keilbart Scanlan in , , , , ,

"A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America's nascent pro-football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford, America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton aims to prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections. As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams. Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter... Written by Orange" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379865/plotsummary)

This summary is really accurate and I could leave it at that and say "Amen". My job however is more involved than copying other people's work.

"Leatherheads" was my husbands choice of movies last week on Pay-Per-View. while we were in a motel in Salt Lake City. I am not a sports fanatic in any way shape or form. I do enjoy the occasional live baseball game, but anything else....Yes, I did not watch much of the Olympics either.

Now that it is fully understood where I stand with sports, let me say that sports movies get me even less motivated. When I understood that George Clooney was going to be starringin this feature film, I was filled to over-flowing with doubt. "Georgie boy, you're too old for this role," I thought.

I found myself getting involved in the plot and asking if this was based on actual events. (I haven't found anything to confirm that, by the way.) I'll watch sports movies if they are based on true stories. That quality gives them redeeming value!

Just as I was interested in the lives of the characters, we got a call from three daughters (ages 27, 21 and 14) who were stranded in Brigham City. It was getting dark, I couldn't leave them there! So here I was, the anti-sports movie watcher, complaining that I had to miss the end of the movie to go pick up the girls.



With George Clooney, Renee Zellwegar and John Krasinski as stars, this film made a touchdown. It was released in theaters in April and is now available on DVD. Rated PG-13 for "brief strong language", this film will score in your home.

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Magical Movie Moments - The Brothers Grimm  

Posted by Linda Keilbart Scanlan in , , ,

Don't let the title fool you. This movie "The Brothers Grimm" is not based on the true life events of the Brothers Grimm as I originally thought. Instead it is the product of a great imagination which stems from the mind of Ehren Kruger.

Kruger basis this movie on the fairy tales of The Brothers Grimm. The Brothers (played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) encounter in their travels an enchanted forest. "...the brothers (Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, both inexplicably adopting English accents) are con artists who go from town to town posing as conjurers who can protect the local populace from evil spirits. A French general (Jonathan Pryce) catches on to what they're doing and forces them to work for him, on pain of death. But when they're sent to a new town, their old tricks prove useless against an age-old curse that really does haunt the woods." (Author: kylopod (kylopod@aol.com) from Baltimore, MD)Many references to fairy tales (most recorded by the Grimms) are made, but they are slightly different from the actual tales: - Little Red Riding Hood is referred only by her Red Riding Cape, which follows her name in the original German, Rotkäppchen. - The heroic woodsman from "Little Red Riding Hood" is now an evil henchman. - Rapunzel is now an evil queen who locks herself in a tower to escape a plague rather than a princess imprisoned. - The Big Bad Wolf is now a large wolf rather then a diabolical personification. - The Gingerbread Man is now an incarnation of a mud monster. - Jack from Jack and The Beanstalk is changed to Jake to follow along with the brother's names. - Hanzel and Gretel refer to themselves as "Hanz" and "Greta", which are shorter abbreviations of their own names. - Cinderella or the German form Aschenputtel is really the Grimm Brothers as they scrub the floors. The deleted scene in the DVD shows this better. - The evil queen is also the queen from Snow White in her chant about who's the fairest of them all. - All the girls' fingers are pricked as they fall into a deep sleep just like Sleeping Beauty. - As the Woodsman is preparing Angelika for the crypt, he places slippers on her feet, which turn into glass slippers, another reference to Cinderella. Correction: The Woodsman is preparing Sasha, placing a gold ring on her little toe that magically becomes glass slippers, with another reference when the crypts are opening and the girls are clicking their glass slippers together, especially seen in the crypt on which Cavaldi is lying. When preparing Angelika, one only sees him collecting her blood. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355295/trivia)



The "reality" of this fairy tale is that it is definitely geared for older teens and adults with its PG-13 rating. It is not a fairy tale made mushy and soft like the Barbie movies. This is action and drama. I found it intense, my older children found it "cool". Its a refreshing twist of the classics.

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