The Movie Headquarters

Watch it Here at: Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

Watch it Here at: When Harry Met Sally

When Harry Met Sally is a 1989 film written by Nora Ephron, and directed by Rob Reiner. The romantic comedy stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The film follows the relationship of Harry and Sally from the time they meet on a carpool ride from the University of Chicago to New York, through the next 12 years or so of chance encounters leading to friendship, and more in New York City. The film revolves around the central question: Can men and women ever truly be "just friends"? It popularized the term "high maintenance" as applied to individuals who are difficult to please.



Starring:
Billy Crystal: Harry Burns
Meg Ryan: Sally Albright
Carrie Fisher: Marie
Bruno Kirby: Jess


Once again, Nora Ephron was involved in another masterpiece. Not only was the film funny and quirky throughout, but it was truly romantic, not the onverly dramatized mushy stuff found in most movies today. The entire plot was beliveable, and I found Billy Crystal's bluntness and Meg Ryan's quirky schoolgirl personality in the opening scenes to be quite complimentary. Of course, as all probably know, the orgasm in the diner was one of the funniest moments in film history. The progression of the characters over a 12 year period was also well done in my opinion. Once again, I couldn't help but fall in love with Meg Ryan's "very attractive" (-Harry Burns) personality, not to mention her looks. Although a great film, it lacks the unforgettable ending of "Sleepless in Seattle", and it has slightly less replay value (once a week versus once per day for "Sleepless in Seattle") One of the best films in its category, and it earns good marks as my second favourite film of all time.

The Famous Scene:


Trivia:

• The segments of married couples telling the stories of how they met are real stories that Rob Reiner collected for the film. Actors relate the stories.
  
• Harry can be seen reading Stephen King's Misery (1990), which would be director Rob Reiner's next film.
  
• The woman who says "I'll have what she's having" after Sally's faked orgasm is director Rob Reiner's mother.
  
• In the museum scene, Harry adlibs, "But, I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie." Sally laughs and looks to her right where Rob Reiner silently prompts her to go with it.
  
• Director Rob Reiner and producer Andrew Scheinman are credited on some drafts of the script
  
• Before deciding on the title, "Just Friends", "Playing Melancholy Baby", "Boy Meets Girl", "Blue Moon", "Words of Love", "It Had To Be You", "Harry, This Is Sally", and "How They Met", were titles were considered by Nora Ephron, Andrew Scheinman, and Rob Reiner.
  
• The off-camera voice that says, "Hey everybody, 10 seconds until new year," is Rob Reiner.
  
• According to screenwriter Nora Ephron the infamous "I'll have what she's having" line was actually suggested by Billy Crystal.
  
• Sally's picky and crazy eating habits were put into the movie after Rob Reiner saw Nora Ephron ordering her food in the same way Sally did in the movie. When Rob brought this up, Nora said, "I just like it the way I like it," a line which was put into the movie.
  
• Harry is somewhat based on Rob Reiner. Rob was depressed, and loved being depressed, like Harry Burns in the film. Sally is somewhat based on Nora Ephron. Nora is optimistic, cheerful, loves control, and is the type of person who is "just fine" with everything, just like Sally Albright.
  
• For the infamous orgasm scene, the original script called for just Harry and Sally to talk about women faking an orgasm, until Meg Ryan suggested that Sally actually fake an orgasm at the table. Rob Reiner loved the idea and put it into the script. (I'm sure thousands of teenage boys thank you for this, Meg)
  
• The orgasm scene was filmed at Katz's Deli, an actual restaurant on New York's E. Houston Street. The table at which the scene was filmed now has a plaque on it that reads, "Congratulations! You're sitting where Harry met Sally."
  
• Nora Ephron was happy with how the film turned out, but was never happy with the title of the film, and says it's the one thing she would go back and fix if she could.
  
• Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, and Andrew Scheinman chose beautiful locations to highlight the characters lack of insight - Harry and Sally are as blind to romance as they are to the love growing between them. The same logic was used for Harry's apartment. The windows overlook the Empire State Building. It could either the loveliest - or - loneliest, view in the world.
  
• The movie's line "I'll have what she's having." was voted as the #33 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
  

Sometimes too much of a bad thing can be good. As exemplified in the following 10 worst films ever. Awesomely bad is the only way to describe this list:

• Manos: The Hands of Fate
  
• Plan 9 from Outer Space
  
• Anus Magillicutty
  
• Gigli
  
• Monster A Go Go
  
• Ballistic
  
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
  
• From Justin to Kelly
  
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn
  
• Batman and Robin
  

Within the next week I'll try to add some links to these films if I can find the time. Look forward to "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" and "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

If you have any awesomely bad films to add to this list, feel free to add them and I'll update my list (if I agree, so only relavent suggestions please).

January 7th:

Movie Reviews: 'Code Name: The Cleaner'

Code Name: The Cleaner, starring Cedric the Entertainer, is being swept up and trashed by most critics. John Anderson in Newsday calls it, "the Motel 6 of comedies, the Taco Bell of refined taste and, in terms of Cedric's career, could have come with a half moon on the door." Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News begins her review by remarking, "Yep, it's January ... the month when a movie's end-credit outtakes are guaranteed to be funnier than any scene from the actual film." One of the better reviews for the movie comes from Kyle Smith in the New York Post, who remarks that the movie "isn't as bad as you'd think (and New Line Cinema has my permission to use that quotation in their ads)."

Movie Reviews: 'Freedom Writers'

Freedom Writers turns out to be a rather unlikely winner among the January throwaways. Starring Hilary Swank in the role of Erin Gruwell, a real-life teacher whose classroom is made up of minority students, the film has what Manohla Dargis in the New York Times describes as "a strong emotional tug and smartly laid foundation." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution remarks that "it infuses new energy into a timeworn formula." Several critics have high praise for Swank's performance. Swank, writes Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun,"has the gift of emotional transparency. No one's better at playing characters who arrive onscreen nearly blank and get shaped by experiences that unfold before our eyes." And Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times comments: "There is a raw, guileless quality to Swank that shreds any hint of condescension or exploitation." "Hilary Swank gives a powerhouse performance," writes Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune. But several critics aren't buying any of that. Bruce Westbrook in the Houston Chronicle writes: "Swank's film feels less like a strange truth than Hollywood fiction. That's not because we can't buy a California English teacher broadening her students' worldview from gang warfare to a grasp of history and the grace of humanity. It's because this film fails to earn what Gruwell earned in real life: credibility."

Little Change at Box Office Expected This Weekend

Night at the Museum, The Pursuit of Happyness, and Dreamgirls, all of which finished (in that order) at the top of the box office last week, are expected to remain at the top again this weekend. None of the three new films opening wide this weekend -- Freedom Writers, Happily N'Ever After, and Code Name: The Cleaner -- is expected to present much of a threat to their dominance. Neither are any of the films that bowed in limited release last month to qualify for Oscars and which will be expanding this weekend and next. They include Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, the critically acclaimed futuristic drama, which has performed impressively thus far; Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; The Painted Veil; and Miss Potter.

Look Who's Watching

Viewers who watch TV programs on their computers, video iPods and the like also watch more primetime programs on their TV sets than the average viewers, according to a study by CBS research chief David Poltrack. Poltrack says his studies indicate that digital media presentations often sharpen the desire of people to see the programs on their bigger screens. The studies also found that 56 percent of the TV audience with broadband connections at home are aware that some network programs can be watched on their computers and that 46 percent of them had already viewed at least one program. Details of the study are expected to be released at next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

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Watch it Here at : Sleepless in Seattle CD1 and Sleepless in Seattle CD2

Sleepless in Seattle is a 1993 movie, directed by Nora Ephron, based on the story by Jeff Arch. Sam Baldwin (as played by a youthful Tom Hanks), a Chicago architect, has just lost his wife to cancer and decides he needs a complete change of scene. He and his eight-year old son Jonah move to Seattle but Jonah thinks that his father needs a new wife in order to get his life back on track. One evening, he calls into a national radio advice talk show and persuades his father to go on the air. The voice (and call) is heard by thousands of women across the nation, including Annie Reed (as played by the beautiful Meg Ryan), a journalist from Baltimore, Maryland. Annie, although engaged to be married to Walter, can't rest until she meets Sam, which she eventually does, at the top of the Empire State Building in New York City. Sleepless in Seattle was nominated for two 1994 Academy Awards: Best Music, Original Song for "A Wink and a Smile", music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Ramsey McLean; and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Nora Ephron, David S. Ward, and Jeff Arch. The film is essentially a reworking of "An Affair to Remember", using both its theme song and clips from the film in critical scenes as well as the meeting at the Empire State Building. At one point, some of the characters discuss the film, with Sam commenting that it sounds like a "chick movie." The success of Sleepless in Seattle led to a resurgence in popularity for "An Affair to Remember" to a younger generation of filmgoers.



Starring:
Tom Hanks: Sam Baldwin
Meg Ryan: Annie Reed
Bill Pullman: Walter
Ross Malinger: Jonah Baldwin
Rosie O'Donnell: Becky
Gaby Hoffmann: Jessica
Victor Garber: Greg
Rita Wilson: Suzy
Barbara Garrick: Victoria
Carey Lowell: Maggie Abbott Baldwin
David Hyde Pierce: Dennis Reed
Dana Ivey: Claire Bennett
Rob Reiner: Jay

This is a truly well done film. Although the lead characters do not even meet (properly) before the final scene, Nora Ephron does a terrific job bringing together two different plots into one remarkable movie. Tom Hanks does a great job as Sam Baldwin in every possible connotation of the word "great". But the true star of this timeless classic is Meg Ryan, combining her stunning looks and quirky acting personality into the character of Annie Reed, my personal favourite character of all time (that's saying something). Jonah and his friend Jessica, although supporting actors, add a great deal to this movie in their interactions with each other, Sam, and Annie. The character of Walter is the greatest point of dissagreement among film critics. Some believe he adds a great deal of uniqueness to the film in not being the typical, abnoxious significant other that muct be gotten rid of before true love can be found by the lead. Others believe that his character adds a bit of maliciousness to the otherwise angelic personality of Annie in how she leaves him because of some childish obsession with fate and a man that she had never even met. My personal oppinion is largely that of the former; Annie's grace and infallible beauty are so great I would still absolutely adore her even if she killed the entire cast (morbid, but still true). Although the cast and the film itself have many detractors worldwide (mostly ignorant neanderthalic males), this movie tops the list of man's greatest achievements, just ahead of fire, the wheel, flight, and electricity (well, actually far ahead of the other four). If you have not seen this movie, I guarentee that your life is not complete.

Now on the the practicle reasons why I'm obsessed with this film. Keep in mind, some of my reasons may not be rational, and thus thats why it is called obsession. 1) Meg Ryan is at her most beautiful in this film no doubt, but its more than that. I've found myself watching this film continuously on loop for 46+ hours, just watching Annie. Call it weird, but its true, there is something "magical" about her. 2) Tom Hanks adapted a personality to a character that for once did not go overboard. Not for one moment did I realize I was watching Tom Hanks, I truly believed I was wagtching a man named Sam Baldwin that had lost his wife a year and a half ago. 3) Call me crazy but I can think of no better place for a romance than Seattle, something about it's weather makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 4) This is the only setting in which Rosie O'Donnell does not annoy me half to death. 5) Every time I see this film, it prompts me to see "When Harry Met Sally", "You'e Got Mail", and "The Green Mile". These top off (along with "Sleepless in Seattle" of course) my list of the four greatest achievements in filmography.

Trivia:

• A pre-"Seinfeld" reference to the real-life "Soup Nazi": A male journalist is speaking as Annie Reed enters an office at her newspaper, saying, "...he's the meanest guy in the world, but he makes the best soup you've ever eaten."
  
• This film's director (Nora Ephron) wrote "When Harry Met Sally", which also starred Meg Ryan, and was directed by Rob Reiner, who appears in "Sleepless in Seattle".
  
• Parker Posey was originally cast in the movie but later cut. She appeared with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks years later in "You've Got Mail".
  
• The silhouette of the couple on the box of chocolates in a shop window outside Annie's house is, in fact, a silhouette of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
  
• Kim Basinger was also offered the role of Annie in the early script process, but turned it down because she thought the premise was ridiculous. Dennis Quaid was also considered for the male lead.
  
• Obvious references to "An Affair to Remember".
  
• Jason Schwartzman auditioned for the role of Jonah Baldwin.
  
• Original director was slated to be Garry Marshall.
  
• Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks share approximately two minutes screen time together.
  
• The airplane scenes are actually shot at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington - inside the actual sales mock-ups.
  
• The role of Annie was originally offered to Julia Roberts , who turned it down.
  
• Mary Kelly was the name Sam Baldwin gave as the eighth girl he "made it with" in college. Mary A. Kelly is the Script Supervisor and also played a bit role as the nervous woman on the plane.
  
• The scene between Tom Hanks and Victor Garber crying over the movie "The Dirty Dozen" was completely improvised during the take.