“I want to go to there” to quote the great Liz Lemon that’s exactly how I feel after watching the trailer for Michel Gondry’s blockbuster. I don’t want to run this point through the ground but Michel Gondry (director of such art house classics as Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind) doesn’t make blockbusters and after watching this trailer you can’t help but feel like you’re seeing a bizarro Iron Man (directed by regular Jon Favreau). I hope that this film just proves how great a director Gondry really is, able to give us beautiful artsy films as well as this mainstream production, a much more difficult task than one might think. Then there’s our star Seth Rogen, who looks very comfortable in this role (which I found surprising) even delivering a very Seth Rogen line such as “I want you to take my hand. I want you to come with me on this adventure.” which could have come from any Seth Rogen film to date (Pineapple Exress, Knocked Up, Observe and Report). We don’t see enough of Christoph Waltz’ character and we probably see all we need to see of Cameron Diaz who looks like she’s impersonating Gwyneth Paltrow from the Iron Man series… oh well, you can’t have it all. Anyway, I cannot wait to see The Green Hornet when it’s released in theaters January 14, 2011! Enjoy the trailer-

Valentine’s Day has come and gone but you’re still feeling romantic so here’s my top 15 favorite romantic movies or movie romances… I don’t know, I like them and I hope they like me just as much! First up: a classic romantic comedy and its remake, that’s right, Sabrina (1954) and Sabrina (1995). The original was written and directed by Billy Wilder whose filmography we should all know by heart. Wilder’s Sabrina starred Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, and you’re thinking why would anyone want to remake this all-star classic? Don’t ask why, just watch the Sydney Pollack remake starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear. It’ll be worth your time. No, the remake is not better than the original but it is good and I do hope you’ve seen both or are planning on watching them soon!

Next up on the list is the Meg Ryan section a.k.a. Nora Ephron section which also has a Tom Hanks subdivision. When Harry Met Sally… is the movie I reference most when friends can’t figure out why they can’t be friends with people of the opposite sex. I’ll let you in on a little secret- the sex gets in the way. This modern classic romantic comedy was written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner and starred Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby. Probably Carrie Fisher’s second best movie, behind The ‘Burbs, this rom-com was just what we needed to leave the 1980s behind us and kick start the 1990s. The 1990s was the decade of love for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (not sure what either of their spouses thought of this) as they started in Joe Dante’s Joe Versus the Volcano before meeting up again in two films written for the screen and directed by Nora Ephron 1993′s Sleepless in Seattle and again in 1998′s You’ve Got Mail. Sleepless in Seattle, or An Affair to Remember without the ocean, was the second Meg Ryan movie to feature Harry Connick Jr.’s golden tones (When Harry Met Sally… was the first) on the soundtrack. You’ve Got Mail, or The Shop Around the Corner remake, came to us at a time when we needed to know how to have an online relationship and basically bridged the gap between the 1990s and 2000s. What will the decade of the 2010s be without Meg’s guidance?

Now we’ve reached the Hugh Grant part of our romantic journey, beginning with 1994′s Four Weddings and a Funeral written by Richard Curtis (we’ll see him again) and directed by Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco). Richard Curtis also scripted 1999′s Notting Hill and starred Julia Roberts alongside Hugh. 2002′s About a Boy was adapted for the screen by the Weitz brothers from Nick Hornby’s novel and taught us that no man is an island. Richard Curtis wrote and directed Hugh in 2003′s Love Actually a wonderful rom-com and holiday film starring Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thomson, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney and Alan Rickman. Love Actually in my opinion is the only star-studded cast to successfully pull off the rom-com.

Since we’ve been in merry old England with Hugh Grant what better time to reveal two recent romantic films with foreign appeal- Paris, je t’aime (2006) and Amelie (2001). Paris, je t’aime has your love story in it — it has to, with 18 different stories being told in all! Based on the subject of love in Paris the film is actually a collection of short films by sometimes famous directors such as Gus Van Sant, the Coen brothers and Alexander Payne, starring Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, Natalie Portman, Gerard Depardieu and Ben Gazzara. Paris, je t’aime is definitely a film in a league of its own. Amelie, I really don’t know where to begin other than saying Amelie has more style in minute 2 than most directors have in a lifetime and if you don’t fall in love with Audrey Tautuo then you’ve truly got a heart of stone. Please don’t have a heart of stone.

Rounding out our list is Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (don’t be a dead shark) and Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which I would never delete from my memory. Finally there’s Ewan McGregor starring in the homage to 1950s romantic comedies Down With Love and also starring in the only musical I like- Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! see I didn’t have to include Pretty Woman to have a hooker with a heart of gold on this list! romance! film! loveliness! am I right? am I wrong? would my favorites ever breach your top ten? leave me a note in the comments section! LYMI

My first question going into this film was; Does anyone rent videotapes anymore? Do kids these days even know what they are? Alright, that was two questions. And for the movie to work you really have to suspend that disbelief. Let me back up, there is some more disbelief you will need to be suspending, but I need to tell you the plot first. Mike and Jerry (Mos Def and Jack Black respectively) are taking care of a run down old video store/thrift shop for elderly old Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) while he’s away. Somehow along the way Jerry gets magnetized. Yeah, you read that right, he becomes magnetic. Granted, it’s not as much as a logic leap as a store still renting video tapes, but it’s still a pretty huge hurdle if you’re looking for realism. Aaaaaanyway, Jerry erases all of the tapes in the store by his mere presence. *HEY! That’s why they made them rent video tapes! The plot line wouldn’t have worked if they had DVDs/it this took place this century. * Now, people are coming in to rent movies and these guys don’t want to see the old man’s store go our of business, so they decide to grab a video camera and make their own versions of famous films (Ghostbusters, Rush Hour 2, Robocop and plenty of others). Throw in some evil corporate developers trying to have the store demolished and some evil corporate show biz lawyers trying to shut down our boys and you’ve got yourself a movie.

So what did I think? Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) does a sometimes masterful job directing here. The montage scene in particular is incredibly well-done. There is a whimsical and almost fantastic feel to nearly everything about the film, which somehow works to help you get around the absurd storyline. Even though the movie takes place in a horrible neighborhood that is barely one step up from the projects (maybe just a step over). This is a neighborhood where the thugs merely glare at you rather than beat you into a puddle of your own blood and piss. This is a neighborhood where people still seem to know each other. Alright, that too may be harder to believe than Jack Black becoming magnetized. However, even though I “bought it” I still felt like it was lacking something. It felt like it could have been funnier. Many of the funniest parts have been seen on the trailers, and once you’ve seen a couple of movies get “Sweded” (what they call their movies) the joke has kind of played out. I didn’t get bored, but I wasn’t really busting a gut laughing either. Gondry did do a good job of taking this goofy idea and giving it some soul and meaning, but more on that later.

Mos Def keeps working his way up my “Actors I Really Enjoy, But Don’t Go Out Of My Way To See” list. He’s almost on my “Actors That I Will Be More Inclined To Watch A Movie Because They Are In It” list. I really hope that his real voice isn’t that borderline retarded voice that he used in 16 Blocks (and slipped into a few times in this) though. He brought a simple-minded sincerity to the film without making it too sappy. His initial refusal to do, and later outrage at being part of, the Driving Miss Daisy remake is one of the few (and nicely underplayed) darker moments of the film. Damn, I really wish I had thought of a better way to put that. Jack Black is in good form here. He is a much better sidekick than lead, and in this he gets to slip into that more comfortable skin. Don’t believe me? Watch School of Rock, then watch High Fidelity. See what I mean? In Be Kind, Rewind Black gets to act like his usual goofy self, but he pulls it back a few notches from his more recent performances, and that is a good thing. He and Mos Def have a decent chemistry and his spastic insanity was a nice foil to Def. Danny Glover was alright I guess. It’s hard not to like an actor playing the lovable old man about to get tossed out on his ass by the corporate developers. Mia Farrow is actually still cute. It’s in a crazy old lady kind of way, but anyone that publicly speaks out against Woody Allen is aces in my book. Hell, for that I’ll say she still looks gorgeous. I should mention that Melonie Diaz was great as the woman in their lives. She was realistically pretty, and about as intelligent and savvy as you could expect for anyone from this world.

WONDER TWIN POWERS ACTIVATE

For probably the most commercial movie of Michael Gondry’s career he managed to work some covert anti-commercial messages into it. He is clearly opposed to the gentrification of the movie/video business, or what he sees as his art. The statements run rampant through the film, that what these guys are creating is just as valid, if not more (to their community) as anything Hollywood produces. Our heroes suffer the futility of fighting the system (corporations, lawyers, Hollywood) to be find the triumph of art over adversity (that soul and meaning I mentioned earlier). This was a good movie, but not a great one. I don’t think it really hit on all cylinders, but when it did it nailed it. It could have/should have been funnier, but at least the drama wasn’t over played or out of place. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon all in all.

RATING: 7/10

I swear, you best be knocking that shit off or I will knock dem teeths right down your throats.