Author Archives: Dazzling Erin

I Watched Heart Of The Country (2013, Dir. by John Ward)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

After her husband is arrested for financial fraud, country singer Faith (Jana Kramer) returns home to North Carolina and reconnects with her estranged family.  Her father (Gerald McRaney) is there to offer support and small-town, no-nonense wisdom and she’s going to need all of it when she has to choose between the hot local doctor and her repentant husband.

Because Faith’s father was dying of a brain tumor, I assumed this was a Nicholas Sparks movie but it wasn’t.  It was just a close copy.  Heart of the Country was a movie about the importance of keeping your marriage together, even if your husband was involved in a Ponzi scheme!  Faith’s husband (Randy Wayne) didn’t have anything to do with the scheme but he knew it was going on at his firm and he didn’t say anything.  When he thinks about rejecting a plea deal that would keep him out of prison because it would mean admitting his guilt and embarrassing his old money family, Faith’s father tells him to be a man and admit that he knew what was going going on at his firm.

Other than some mild language, Heart of the Country could have easily passed for a Hallmark movie.  I didn’t agree with Faith’s decision at the end but I did like the way the movie portrayed the relationship between her and her father.  Gerald McRaney was really good in the role.  It was the last movie that I watched yesterday and I’ll give it a mild recommendation just because of McRaney and some of the music on the soundtrack.  If you’re into Hallmark-style movies, this one was okay.

I Watched A Walk To Remember (2002, Dir. by Adam Shankman)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

After popular high school student Landon Carter (Shane West) gets busted for drinking on school property and pulling a prank that nearly killed another student, he’s given a choice.  He can either be expelled or he can tutor other students and take part in the school play.  At both tutoring and play rehearsals, he gets to know Jamie Sullivan (Mandy Moore), the daughter of the local reverend (Peter Coyote).  Even though Jamie doesn’t wear makeup and only owns one sweater, Landon falls in love with her.  Too bad she’s dying.

A Walk To Remember is a movie that I can remember walking down to the movie theater to see with my friends.  Shane West was so handsome.  Mandy Moore was so beautiful, even if she did only own one sweater.  The film taught us all that there’s nothing more romantic than falling in love when you only have a year to live.  (At least, that’s what it taught us girls.  The boys just learned that they could nearly kill someone and their only punishment would be having to appear in a school play.)  I loved it when I first saw it and I still enjoyed it when I rewatched it yesterday, even if I now realize that it never made sense that Mandy Moore would only own one sweater.  There’s a lot about the movie that doesn’t make any sense but Shane West and Mandy Moore had that irresistible chemistry.  Early on, when Jamie warns Landon not to fall in love with her and Landon says it will never happen, that’s when everyone knows that they’re destined to be together.

The movie still made me cry, even though I now know that someone has to die in every Nicholas Sparks story.  Getting married right out of high school makes sense when one of you is going to be dead before college reopens for the fall.  Did Landon ever remarry?  He better not have.  I will never forget A Walk To Remember.

Song of the Day: Sister Suffragette

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

There aren’t many songs for Susan B. Anthony Day so I guess Sister Suffragette from Mary Poppins will have to suffice!  This song is about the struggle of women to get the vote in England so it mentions Emmeline Pankhurst instead of Susan B. Anthony.

In America, the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing all women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920.  Thank you, Susan B. Anthony!

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Celebrating The Silhouette…Again!

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

As a photographer, I love a good silhouette shot.  Here are some more of my favorites.

4 Shots From 4 Films

Nosferatu (1922, Dir. by F.W. Murnau)

Gone With The Wind (1939, Dir. by Victor Fleming)

The Exorcist (1973, Dir by William Friedkin)

Saving Private Ryan (1998, Dir. by Steven Spielberg)

So, I Watched The Last Song (2010, Dir. by Julie Anne Robinson)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Ronnie Miller (Miley Cyrus), who is 17 and way too rebellious to be likable, travels to Georgia to spend the summer with her father, a former concert pianist named Steve (Greg Kinnear).  Ronnie is a sarcastic brat up until she discovers that a racoon is trying to eat a nest of turtle eggs.  She tries to protect the turtles.  The aquarium sends over a volunteer named Will (Liam Hemsworth) to watch over the turtle eggs and he and Ronnie fall in love over the course of several nights on the beach.  Ronnie starts to straighten out her life but then she learns that her father has cancer and that the reason he invited her and her brother to Georgia was so he could have one last summer with her.

This is a Nicholas Sparks story so, of course, someone has to die.  I always tell myself that I’m not going to cry whenever I watch a Nicholas Sparks movie and then I do.  Greg Kinnear was really likable as Steve and Liam Hemsworth was really cute as Will and I know I would have fallen in love with him too if we were protecting turtle eggs together.  When the eggs hatched, the baby turtles were adorable.

It’s too bad Miley Cyrus can’t act because her performance was so bad that it ruined the movie.  Even the racoon that tried to steal the turtle eggs outacted her.  I got tired of Ronnie and her attitude.  No matter what happened, Ronnie had to be sarcastic about it.  Even when she finally realized that the world didn’t revolve around her, Miley still delivered all of her lines in the same flat, smartass tone of voice so I didn’t buy her change of heart at all.

I’m glad the turtles made it back to the ocean.

It’s Love, Part 12

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Every year, I like to share some of my favorite romance comic books!

Starting in the late 1940s, many comic book companies tried to broaden their audience by publishing romance comic books.  These comics told dramatic love stories in which young women had to deal with issues of cheating, divorce, jealousy, heartache, and the search for the one.

It’s Love!

 

What is the lesson that we can take from these vintage comic books?  I think the main thing we can learn is that love is never easy.

But, even if he is a member of the establishment or has long hair, it’s totally worth it.  Right, Nicky?

They sure do look happy!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Remember The Snake In The Grass?

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

I’ve written about this before but do you remember this guy?

During the Victoria Era, there was a thing called a “Vinegar Valentines”  That was when people would send each other Valentines that, instead of proclaiming love, would explain why someone was still single or that they shouldn’t trust their current companion.  The Snake In The Grass was an example of the type of Valentine that people used to get back then!  People could even get this one custom made to change the human face of the snake to make sure that it resembled whoever was being accusing.

Can you imagine getting one of those on February 14th?  I’m glad we don’t do that anymore!