The Cutting Edge Revised

Yeah, I watched the Cutting Edge (2): Going for the Gold. This is an atrocious, made for ABC sequel to theatrical The Cutting Edge which was released in 1992. Basically this movie is a remake of the first one, pitting two unlikely skating partners together so that they may fight shamelessly and fall in love minutes before the movie ends. This romantic formula is very cliche, but most of the time I fall for it anyway, just not in this instance.
The moment the film lost me (and no, it wasn't at the opening credits, but it wasn't much further) takes place after the two leads go on a first date together. The girl is talking to her two friends endlessly about this fanatastic guy that she had met who is all very funny, handsome, and athletic. She is shown to be just delerious with joy. Only a few seconds go by and she sees him pull into the drive way of the hotel she is staying at. Seeing him at the hotel was sort of a suprise to her, although the real surprise was the fact that he worked at the hotel as a valet. Upon that revelation, she stares him down cold, treats him as an inferior, and she gets into a car with her friends with the intention of never seeing him again. All of a sudden, the man of her dreams becomes a some poor leper boy to her because he works part-time as a valet at the Hilton.
I suppose the frightening thing is that a scene like that in real life would just annoy the hell out of me and that wouldn't surprise most of you. But what's frightening about it is that I probably wouldn't give up on the person who was so spitefull with me, even after I've evaluated that the relationship will only be detrimental to me, short-term or long-term.



Now playing: Ghostbusters Score CD -Elmer Bernstein

Furthering the Tribute to Wicker Park

One of my friends recently praised and reviewed the film Wicker Park on his blog. I was really happy to see that because it was a film that I was raving about for a while after I saw it on DVD nearly a year ago. When the movie was coming to theaters, I remember bad-mouthing it because it was rated pg-13. I wasn't upset at the rating directly, but I was upset at New Line's marketing department for advertising this as an erotic, 'Basic Instinct' type thriller when its rating indicated otherwise.
After about a year into its video release, I finally rented this film that I had so purposefully scorned in theaters (I often do this. I just saw D.E.B.S which was awful). What can I say about Wicker Park but that I absolutely adored it. It is one of my favorite films of the last five years. It took a very non-tradtional approach to romance by challenging the effect that love/romance has on the people surrounding us.
One of the only stumbling blocks to this film is that it takes a little bit of time to develop its direction. I remember recommending it to one friend who lost patience and shut it off after only half an hour. I begged him to try it again because the last hour of the film and its spectacular conclusion were well worth the struggling start.



Now Playing -The Four Feathers by James Horner