A CINDERELLA STORY REVIEW

A Cinderella Story tells a tale told too many times before. With a few modern
twists, Cinderella delivers a forgettable yet marginally likeable adaptation of the
fairy tale classic.

Sam Montgomery (Duff) is a high school senior who after losing her father, must
wait hand and foot on her Botox-enhanced stepmother, Fiona (Coolidge) and her
ditzy stepsisters. Sam works seven days a week at the family diner while
maintaining her "A" average at high school so that she will be accepted at
Princeton. Besides her good looks and sweet personality, Sam feels ostracized
from the rest of the school with the exception of her friend Carter (Byrd). Her only
other companion is a cyber boyfriend. Communicating by text messaging and
email, the two schoolmates fall in love without even knowing each others name.
When they meet for the first time at the Halloween Dance, she is surprised when
her Prince Charming turns out to be Mr. Popularity Austin Ames (Murray).
Although shes only wearing an eye mask, Amess inferior perception skills fail him
as he doesnt realize who she is. (Ames would be perfect for the Jimmy Olson role
inSuperman. He would never realize Clark Kents secret identity.) Sadly, Sam must
return to her job before midnight, and as she flees the ball, she loses her cell
phone.

I honestly did not realize a movie could squeeze this many Hollywood clichs into
86 minutes. Beside the Cinderella characters, we also have the Mean Girls, the
sci-fi geek, the evil rich kids, the geeky yet innocent male friend, the overbearing
dad etc. Did anybody in Hollywood go to a real high school? I think Director Mark
Rosman watched Heathers and 90210 one too many times.

The primary problem with this movie isnt the re-imagining of Cinderella its the
ludicrous background characters and unrealistic school settings. Im not sure
about anyone else, but I sure wasnt allowed to send instant messages during
school nor did school seemingly start at 11am. A great deal of the film is set at
school, but not a second took place in a classroom. The directors limitations are
all too clear whenever he inserts modern aspects around the Cinderella story.
Rosman cannot take complete blame since Hilarys mom, Susan Duff, receives a
producer credit. Hey mom, dont quit your day job.

Even with all these problems, I cant really hate A Cinderella Story. Duff has a
sweetness that endears her to the audience, while both Duff and Murray are
believable enough when spouting dialogue aimed at 13 year olds. If Duff ever
takes control of her career from mom, maybe shell blossom as an actress.

Will I remember this movie in a month? No, but I still rememberGarfield , and
thats not a good thing. Only, I find it hard to rip this movie because it isnt aimed
at me. Its aimed at a pre-teen and teenage crowd. Usually those types of movies
are nauseating and tedious. Those of you who watched Scooby Doo 2 know what
Im talking about. Thankfully, Cinderella Story doesnt grate the viewer in such a
manner. For a parent who ends up being forced to see it, that alone is a
redeeming quality









TWILIGHT REVIEW
One of the most highly anticipated films of the year may well be a complete mystery to
anyone over the age of 20. Stephanie Meyer's series of Twilight novels have been a teenage
publishing sensation, especially in the United States where over 20 million copies have
been sold. The inevitable film now arrives, with huge expectations, and it's easy to see what
all of the fuss is about. The literary phenomenon has now become a massive film success.

Twilight is the story of Bella (Kristen Stewart), a 17-year-old girl who relocates to a tiny
town in Washington to live with her father, the local Chief of Police (Billy Burke). She is
given a warm reception by a friendly new school, but soon becomes attracted to a
mysterious classmate named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Edward's family is
equally strange: all adopted, all startlingly good-looking, if a little pale of face.

It's not giving anything away to say that Edward's family is a clan of vampires: and there
are inherent dangers for Bella if she follows a relationship with him, not least the fact that
she herself may become one of them should the inevitable happen with her new love.

Director Catherine Hardwicke previously explored troubled teens in her breakout film
Thirteen and here she shows why she was an excellent choice for the job. The subtext is the
forbidden, being an outsider and burgeoning teenage sexuality and Hardwicke brings a
sensitive and evocative touch to all of it. There will of course be ardent fans of the books
who will complain about what was left out or given short shrift, an inevitable result of
translating a much-loved 600-page novel to the screen, but it feels like a successful
transition to someone who is coming to it for the first time.

Another reason for the film's success is its choice of lead actors: as Bella Kristen
Stewart comes of age, having played the child role in many Hollywood films up to now. Her
awkwardness in the face of her emotions for Edward is well-judged. Another career is
launched in the shape of Robert Pattinson, a young English actor who has the necessary
looks to make teenage girls around the world swoon, but with the added bonus that he can
act. With a $70 million opening weekend in the US, a new franchise is born.

Paul Hurley

Titanic

I went into Titanic with trepidation: it is being hailed as one of the best love stories
depicted on film. Cynical as I am, I don't think much of movies with a romantic theme to
them. However, I was curious to see the spectacle that director James Cameron had created.
Fortunately for me, Titanic is not only great in terms of action, effects, and visuals, but also
provides excellent commentary on the issue of the class struggle.

Jack Dawson (Leonardo Di Caprio) is a young boy who wins passage to America aboard the
Titanic in a lucky game of poker (upon boarding the ship, Jack tells to his friend that they
are "the luckiest sons of bitches in the world"). Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) is
travelling to America, to be married to Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), a situation she is not
thrilled about. Sparks fly when Dawson manages to talk Rose out of jumping overboard, but
tragedy awaits as the unsinkable ship hits and iceberg and begins to flounder.

In the movie, this story is presented to the audience as a flashback. The narrator is Rose,
101 years old, with the last name Dawson. She tells the story to a treasure hunter (Bill
Paxton), who is looking for the famous (and valuable) Heart of the Ocean, a diamond that
was given to Rose by her fiance, Hockley.

The recreation of the ship, both the exterior (the rendering for which was done using
Digital Alpha processors running Linux) and the interior are impeccable. The dialogue is
witty and brilliant. The movie is slow at times, but reaches its climax when the ship begins
to sink. The fact that Cameron takes his time in telling the story makes it all the more tense.
Cameron could've skimped in any of these areas (dialogue, cinematography, effects,
authenticity) and still come out with a great movie, but he doesn't. He sticks to the formula
that has worked in other great epic movies, and he pulls it off one hundred percent.

The ship was thought to be unsinkable, and so a compromise was made on the number of
lifeboats aboard. When the ship did sink, it is the richest that got first priority on the
lifeboats. While they waited in half-full lifeboats, they were exposed to the cries of people
freezing to their deaths and didn't do a thing to help them. If a similar tragedy were to
happen today, would the result be any different?

The acting is excellent by all concerned, but I was most impressed by Zane. The nice thing
about a ship sinking is that it is a relatively slow event, and Cameron takes every advantage
of it. The depiction of the mighty ship going under is so much larger than life and I feel this
is the most magnificent part of the movie. Just for that reason alone, Titanic is a movie not
just to be seen, but to be experienced. So make sure you see it on the big screen. It goes to
show that the concept of the disaster movie is far from dead.