When Harry Met Sally...

When Harry Met Sally...

Castle Rock Entertainment

July 21, 1989
Romcom
DVD
B-

So here's the thing.  I saw this movie once or twice before, not at the time, because at twenty-one I was a little young for it.  I always thought it was over-rated but not terrible, and just seeing the trailers made me mildly dislike Meg Ryan for decades.  So I didn't exactly go into this with high hopes.

But it's actually pretty good, sweet and mildly funny.  I can't relate to it, I don't think I've ever related to it*, but it's definitely interesting in an anthropological sense, very much of its time.  And it's much better than at least 90% of the romcoms out there, especially ones I've attempted for this project.  And, yeah, I'll finally start cutting Meg Ryan some slack.

Nora Ephron wrote (with a lot of input), and Rob Reiner directed.

*I relate to Going the Distance hard, even if I'm not actually like any of the people in it.

America's Sweethearts

America's Sweethearts

Columbia etc.

July 20, 2001

Romcom

DVD
C+

I saw this at the time and thought it was all right.  This time, I was most struck by the following:

• It's so weird to have the Internet a non-factor in publicity
• The "Hector" stuff is pretty racist
• Catherine Zeta-Jones is easily the best part of the movie
• Billy Crystal co-wrote a script where his character is in a lust-hate relationship with a dog, that parallels the title characters'.

Anyway, it's still watchable but yeah, mostly as a period piece.  Joe Roth directed, five years before Freedomland.

This is on a Julia Roberts "Triple" pack, but I've already rejected Mona Lisa Smile.

My Giant

My Giant

Columbia etc.

April 10, 1998

Comedy

DVD
C

I gave this twenty minutes, because it did start out promisingly.  But I lost interest once Crystal went to the "giant's" house.  Crystal co-wrote, and Michael Lehmann directed, nine years after Heathers.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

Disney/Pixar

November 2, 2001

Animation, Children's, Sci-Fi, Comedy

DVD
C

Watching this for the first time since the original release, I still like the world-building and somewhat the characterization, but I found the child more annoying than cute.  I tuned out somewhere between a third and halfway through.  Pete Docter co-wrote, and co-directed with David Silverman and Lee Unkrich.  

Analyze That

Analyze That
Warner Bros.
December 6, 2002
Comedy, Crime Drama
DVD
D+

I've never seen Analyze This, but I can say that Harold Ramis's direction and (co-)writing on this movie are a far cry from Groundhog Day.   I would've gone with a C- but the jokes about mental illness added to the unfunniness.