Burlesque is a new, fresh movie starring two pop icons. Tess (Cher) is the driven owner of a club called Burlesque in Los Angeles, that is about to break. Banks won't loan her money and she needs something new to attract visitors. Than the young and talented Ali (Aguilera) comes by and she wants to be a dancer. After a couple times asking Tess to give her a chance to be on the stage. Nikki, one of the dancers shows up right before a show, drunk and Tess sends her home. Ali has to take the place of Nikki and Nikki disagrees. She sabotages the preforming that Ali is giving by cutting off the sound. Ali suddenly starts to sing and the crowds go wild. Tess gives Ali the opportunity to be the main act of the evening. She writes a show around Ali, based on her singing. In the end Tess didn't make enough money off it and threatens to break again. When she is about to sell the club to Marcus, a real estate investor, Ali finds out that Marcus wants to build a skyscraper on the location of the club. Tess eventually gets a loan by a bank and the club can keep the doors open, thanks to Ali.
You shouldn't expect deep thoughts, watching this movie, it was entertaining though. I liked the story, I just expected a little bit more of it, but for a Sunday evening movie it was more than enough. The singing was absolutely delightful to listen to. Christina Aguilera and Cher are both great singers, and Aguilera pulls of an amazing dancing performance. If you want a light-hearted comedy, this is absolutely recommended!
This strong drama movie starring Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell is about a family with some problems. Frank Goode invites his children over for dinner because he hasn’t seen them after their mother died. After everybody cancels Frank decides to go visit his children all across the country against doctor’s recommendations. He starts at his son David in New York, more than a painting that David made, he did not see of him. After a couple of hours of waiting he leaves to his daughter Amy in Chicago. She turned down her father with the excuse that her son was sick. At dinner Jack and his father are fighting en Frank notice the tension. Amy drops him off at the train station where he meets a co-worker at the company of Amy, Tom. Frank continues his trip to Denver to see his other son Robert, a musician. Not surprised by the visit of his dad, he also makes up an excuse that his band leaves on tour to Europe and puts his dad back on the bus. He leaves to Las Vegas to see his daughter Rosie. Rosie picks him up in a limo at the bus stop. Later that night Rosie’s friend Jilly stops by and asks Rosie to watch her baby, Max, for the evening. Jilly later calls that she has to watch Max the whole night. Frank leaves Las Vegas to go back home but he doesn’t have enough pills for such a long flight. Rosie brings her father to the airport but in the flight Frank gets a heart attack and is brought to the hospital. He had a ‘dream’ about his kids when they were young but all the things that have happened. Frank figured out that Amy and Jeff split up and she confesses that Jeff left her three months ago for another woman, and that’s why Jack hates Jeff. Also he noted that Tom at the train station wanted to make a good impression. Frank knew that Robert wasn’t playing that night and wasn’t going to Europe on tour. Robert responds with: “There are lots of things we don’t tell you.” He asks Rosie if the baby is hers. She said she was going to tell him eventually. Robert than says to Rosie to tell him the rest of the story, but she refuses. Robert than says: “She doesn’t know if she likes boys or girls.” Frank asks David is he still lives in New York. When he says he doesn’t live there anymore, Franks wants to know where he can find David. David responds that he can’t tell him. Rosie eventually says to her dad: “Tell her we’re all fine.”
Frank wakes up in the hospital with his kids at his bed, accept for David. He tells his kids that he was disappointed that they all lied to him. He asks for David again but they tell him he can’t see him. He keeps asking and Amy says that David is dead. He died of a overdoses drugs.
Frank bought a painting at the art gallery in New York nearby David’s old apartment. Eventually he has what he wanted. His family together for Christmas, including, Jack, Max and Jilly.
This lesbian themed movie is based on the in 1931 produced German movie Mädchen in Uniform. Loving Annabelle is produced, directed and written by Katherine Brooks in 2006. She spent more than four years on this project.
The movie is about the young senator’s daughter, Annabelle Tillman (played by Erin Kelly). She is send off to a Catholic boarding school after causing trouble and being expelled. Annabelle is placed in a dorm leaded by Simone Bradley (Diane Gaidry) and shares it with three other girls; Christen, Katherine and Colins. Simone is a poetry teacher at the school. Also on this school Annabelle starts causing trouble. The school has a strict dress code and Annabelle has a nose ring and wears Buddhist prayer beads, she also enjoys the occasional cigarette. Mother Immaculata gives Simone the job to control Annabelle. Simone says she can’t control her and suggests that she should be put in another dorm. Mother Immaculata refuses and Simone tries to control Annabelle. Simone asks why she is making it so hard for her not to listen to the school’s policy. Annabelle responds that she got the beads from the first person she fall in love with and explains that she moved to Europe with her family a year ago.
The tension between Annabelle and Simone is growing. Annabelle tries to win Simone over but Simone keeps refusing, until spring break and all the students went home accept Annabelle. Simone drives Annabelle to her beach house that her parents gave her after graduating. Looking through some photos of Simone and her past away best friend, Amanda, she finds out painful details about Simone past with Amanda. Simone notices that Annabelle found the farewell letter and read it and she collapses. Annabelle holds her tightly in her arms as Simone is breaking down. The next morning they drive back to school and don’t speak to each other for over two weeks. At the school dance when Annabelle is preforming the song she wrote, confessing her love for Simone she finally wins Simone over and they’re ending up kissing outside the school. Eventually they spend the night in Simone’s room.
The next morning they miss breakfast and Katherine suggests that Annabelle is in Simone’s room. Mother Immaculata goes up to check on Simone and catches the two getting dressed. Mother Immaculata wants to speak with Simone right away. Simone tells Mother Immaculata that she doesn’t expect understanding and that she loves Annabelle. Simone is getting arrested and Annabelle runs after her with her most valuable possession, the Buddhist prayer beads and gives them to Simone. Annabelle ends up looking to the pictures Simone took at the beach house. The fade-off leads to the quote: “For one human being to love another that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks… the work for which all other work is but preparation.”
The DVD was released with an alternate ending. Simone is acquitted and Annabelle is driving off to Simone’s beach house.
This movie is not a typical love story with a happy ending. This movie is a movie about the thin line between right and wrong. At first I was bumped that they didn’t live happily ever after, but after watching the movie one more time I realized that it’s not a fairytale and those kinds of things never happen in real life. This story is realistic, because the student teacher thing happens more than we realize and Katherine Brooks has shown the consequences perfectly. Katherine about the movie: “The only reason I made this movie was to shoot a proper lesbian sex scene!” But I think, she did a whole lot more than that!
Welcome to my movie blog. I try to write as many reviews a I can. I am studying at the moment so I'm trying to do as many as I can with movies. I like to write movies as much as I like to watch them. Someday I hope my own movie will be produced by me perhaps. What some of you might surprises, I am a scientist. I've never studied anything that has to do something with movies. Also, I'm only 21 years old. I made a special e-mail address for this blog so if any of you have questions, you can ask them by sending me a message here of on my e-mail address: themovieblogger@hotmail.com. I will try to answer all the messages. Enjoy!
