Notting Hill (1999)- A Short Review

“I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”- ANNA SCOTT (Played by Julia Roberts)

Filled with comedy, drama and charm,‘Notting Hill’ certainly packs a punch as a well constructed romantic comedy. Heavily due to some stunning chemistry from the lead actors; Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant respectively.

In short, the film is about a happy go lucky book owner, down on love (or even let down by it). Who comes across a movie actress in his bookstore, completely oblivious to her fame and popularity. A story of two worlds colliding and hearts meeting, ‘Notting Hill’ should definitely be on your’must watch’ list.

Without giving too much away the film focuses on the true price of fame and the real value of love. A love so strong that’s tested by the pressures of fame but never broken by it. Whilst also touching on the themes of ‘self-identity/discovery’ and ‘belonging’.

One particular highlight of the film would have to be the appearance of Rhys Ifans character of ‘Spike’ (Grant’s roommate in the film). A character who is vulgar (hygiene wise) and honest, yet extremely lovable. For me, he really offered the movie a lot of comedy and also tongue and cheek humour. With some very hilarious one-liners and a screen presence so natural and comfortable, Rhys Ifans certainly made his character 3 dimensional in all the different ways possible.

As for stand out chemistry, this falls no further than Grants and Roberts’ characters. For example, when each character is in the same screen space as the other, the whole set lights up through spark,charisma and intellect. Its chemistry such as theirs, which truly transcends ‘Notting Hill’ into a very memorable classic that is still looked at as one of Britains best loved romantic films of the 90’s. Not to mention, the biggest hit within the UK in that year, making it a full on romantic blockbuster.

One other strong point of the film itself includes its soundtrack (by Trevor Jones). Each song features fittingly within the film, offering pure emotion and intensity when needed as oppose to well executed romantic ballads which sure go hand in hand with the film’s success and popularity, considering the soundtrack itself won a Brit Award. Which was truly deserved, as it certainly elevated the film to new heights in securing it with a winning OST.

For those who have not watched this romantic hit, I would recommend grabbing those tissues before viewing it.

It will certainly pull at your heart strings but also fill you with laughter along the way. Get ready to watch your heart flutter and soar with pure emotion, in a film that certainly exceeds expectation.

See the official trailer here ‘Movieclips (2011) Notting hill official trailer #1 – (1999)’ :

Rating: 8.8/10

Bibliography

Movieclips (2011) Notting hill official trailer #1 – (1999) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RI0QvaGoiI (Accessed: 29 December 2016).

Finding Dory (2016)- Short Film Review

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming”- Dory

(TheEllenShow, 2016)

Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo released in 2003 was an instant sure fire hit. With an emotional sensitive storyline about a father finding his son amongst the deep blue reef ‘Finding Nemo’ certainly blew us away at the time with its stunning visuals, excellent characters and its moments of comedic hilarity. Its no wonder that over 10 years along the line, Pixar have come up with another counterpart within the Finding Nemo series (which was at a time considered to be a stand alone film). Although many had their doubts as to how the latest offering from Pixar would far from the originals, fans of Finding Nemo and even Pixar have certainly welcomed ‘Finding Dory’ with open arms, even much so proving it to be another box office smash, which certainly gives us a sense of nostalgia in terms of thinking of ‘Finding Nemo’.

In short, the film focuses on Dory (the fish with short term memory loss, voiced by the eccentric prime time television host Ellen DeGeneres) who is on a mission to find out what happened to her parents, after a sudden recollection of her actually realising she had a family in the first place. The story is taken along by some new character entries, alongside Nemo and his Dad (which certainly makes us feel very fuzzy, in seeing the original trio back on our screens).

Without giving too much away, the stand out moments for me would have to be little Dory and her parents playing hide and seek. This is because its here that we see her short term memory loss really come to the surface, thus making us feel empathetic and emotional over little Dory’s frustration and even condition. However as her character arch develops so do is her memory, thus in this way we see her develop in various ways, making us feel proud and inspired by Dory’s strength, her ability to try and of course her way of not giving up.

To conclude, I would say ‘Finding Dory’ is a must see family film. This is because it really embodies everything that a family is (i.e supportive, diligent, focused and of course devotingly loving). In some ways it carries in deeper message in the way that it shows us even with our own ‘difficulties’ or ‘problems’ we must not give up, we must instead assess the situation differently in order to reach a tactical and reasonable outcome. Its in this way that we learn from our experiences, whilst also letting them not break us but instead shape us into  better versions of ourselves that we may not have been able to have found till now.

Rating: 9/10

A visually stunning film, with an equally emotive and transcending storyline. Packed with even more comedy, empathy and even hilarity, ‘Finding Dory’ certainly impresses in all areas. Its commanding, uplifting, inspiring and absorbing, a film which should not be missed!

‘Finding Dory’ (2016) is available now on Blu Ray and DVD (UK)

Bibliography

TheEllenShow (2016) You’ve found the latest ‘finding Dory’ trailer. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKJA-VLpiCo (Accessed: 22 December 2016).