Balloons, Boys and Barcelona

Ever since it has released, I have been wanting to watch 'The Ugly Truth'. Finally we got around to watching it this weekend and it was well worth the wait. Katherine Heigl is the new romantic heroine(the new Meg Ryan as Chrys says although I disagree). She plays a fierce career woman(T.V show producer) craving to be swept off her feet by a Mr. Right. She has a list of qualities that he needs to have and only goes on dates once these are verified and a proper background check is done by her secretary. Gerard Butler plays the male agony aunt with an evil twist. He hosts a show on a rival T.V channel which preaches lust as opposed to love because boys will be boys. He ends up in the same T.V show as Katherine's much to her chagrin. He literally hijacks the show with his brand of relationship advice and the audience loves it forcing the producer to keep him on and try to keep him happy. The rest is predictable... the lead pair fight a lot, the guy trains the girl to snare her Mr. Right, but falls in love with her too in the bargain. Even though it may be predictable, the wit and crackling chemistry between the lead pair, makes this a beautiful movie.

Yesterday we did a movie marathon and watched two back to back. The first one was a well recommended 3D animation movie called 'Up'. I like the trend of making animated movies targeted at all age groups. This is not a kiddie movie coz it has some complex human emotions that kids may get confused by. It's the story of Cane who has a love for adventure since childhood. He marries his childhood sweetheart Ellie who too is an adventure enthusiast and who wants to one day travel to the mystical Paradise Falls in South America and build a house right over it. They never get around to doing it. Time flies by and they grow old and one day Ellie passes away. Cane is shattered and one day decides to attach numerous balloons to his house and fly away, house included, to Paradise Falls. What he doesn't account for is a castaway in the form of a little kid who is in search of some adventure too. The child's character is so adorable that you forget that it's animated. The old man too comes alive. So on their way to the falls, they have several adventures, encounter villains and come back home triumphant. 3D is an awesome technology, but I hate wearing those oversize glasses which are invariably scratched and damaged at multiplexes, especially after paying exorbitant cash deposits for them. This movie is good, but not so great. It's got it's moments but I would have been OK with it not being 3D and watching it on DVD.

The other movie we watched was Woody Allen's 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' starring Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. In his trade mark style, Woody Allen explores the relationships between men and women. The story is unreal yet believable. It's about two best friends who go to Barcelona one summer and end up learning a lot about themselves.

The two friends are poles apart yet alike in certain ways. Vicky is engaged to the perfect guy while Christina is a bohemian at heart or so she believes. They meet a handsome painter, Juan Antonio at an exhibition. Someone tells them that he has had a messy divorce after his wife had tried to kill him. Christina is smitten. Antonio wastes no time in inviting the both of them for a weekend of fun, adventure and love making at a small hamlet. Vicky is shocked at his bluntness, but Christina convinces her to come along. Once there, the three spend a day sight seeing and at the end of the day a drunk Antonio invites both of them back to his room. Vicky flatly refuses but Christina is tempted. However due to food poisoning she is laid up in bed and Vicky ends up being seduced by the charming painter the next night. Christina unaware of all this carries on an affair with Antonio once they are back in Barcelona and even moves in with him. Here unexpectedly his ex-wife (played by Penelope Cruz) turns up after a failed suicide attempt. It turns out that Antonio is still in love with her, but can't live with her due to her volatile nature. Their relationship is passionate but mutually destructive. However Christina's presence acts as a catalyst and the three of them become lovers and live in harmony until one day Christina decides that she has had enough of this lifestyle. She leaves the two of them who end up fighting again and separate. Vicky meanwhile gets married but realises that she is in love with Antonio. All the messy relationships culminate in a nicely tied up end.

Although all the actors have done a really good job it's difficult not to notice the presence of Woody Allen in their mannerisms and dialogue delivery. I wish he would let his actors find their own groove and not imitate him. But that doesn't diminish the fun we had watching this movie.