You've Got Mail

You've Got Mail

Warner Bros.

December 13, 1998

Romcom
DVD
C

I saw this at the time, a time when I saw a lot of romcoms.  It offended me as a lifelong book-person.  Still, when it came along alphabetically in this project, I wondered what I would think of it now, a quarter century later, especially since I softened on Meg Ryan after watching When Harry Met Sally... a few months ago.

And, well, there are times when it's deliciously dated, from its concept to its OMG cast.  The soundtrack is generally solid, typically for Nora Ephron (who directed, and co-wrote with sister Delia).  New York City looks pretty and ridiculously clean.  But this movie still offends me as a book-person, because nothing about the bookstores is or ever was realistic.  (Don't get me started on its misunderstanding of Pride and Prejudice!) And of course there's the whole Tom Hanks amiably gaslighting poor Meg thing.  Still, I watched it to the end (again) and can't go below a C.

(And, yes, I've seen The Shop Around the Corner, which is over-rated but less offensive, if I recall correctly.)

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.

Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle

TriStar

June 25, 1993

Romcom

DVD
D+

This is at least the third time I've attempted to watch this movie over the years.  Oh well, at least it was nice to see David Hyde Pierce in a supporting role.  (This time I tuned out before most of the recognizable faces showed up.)  Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote.

Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia

Columbia/Sony

August 7, 2009

Dramedy

DVD
C-

This is the movie that made me dislike Amy Adams for awhile.  (I loved her in Enchanted and it took American Hustle to win me back.)  One review recommended watching just the "Julia" portion of the film and I can attest that that does work pretty well.  Anyway, I gave this a quarter hour today, and there wasn't much Julia in it, so I'm not using the "historical drama" tag or whatever.  Nora Ephron directed and wrote the screenplay, based on both Julie Powell's Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen and Julia Child's My Life in France.  

Cookie

Cookie
Warner Bros.
August 23, 1989
Crime Comedy
DVD
C+

Co-written by Nora Ephron and directed by Susan Seidelman, this is more oddball comedy than screwball comedy, in that it's one of those "mob Family & family" movies of that era (mid- to late '80s), but it hasn't quite worked out the plot or the plotting.  It has a whole bunch of still recognizable faces, some of which it forgets about.  (Um, goodbye Ricki Lake, it was nice glimpsing you.)  But I found it mildly entertaining for what it was, and Lloyd acquits herself well with the New York accent and the morphing wardrobe.

Bewitched

Bewitched
Columbia
June 24, 2005
Fantasy, Romcom
DVD
D

Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote this mess with her sister Delia.  I saw it at the time and mostly remembered that the concept-- the movie isn't a remake of the classic TV show but a movie about a remake of the classic TV show-- was convoluted, and Will Ferrell was annoying.  Both still true, but I probably would've given the movie a C- or a pity C back in '05, and I did watch until the end.  This time, I was irritated with Kidman before Ferrell showed up, although he did bring it down from a D+.