Romance Movie Review - Beastly

Anything that has to do with Beauty and the Beast is automatically on my DO IT list.  DO IT as in rent it, buy it, listen to it, or whatever I need to do in order to check it out.

The moment I heard about BEASTLY, it went on my DO IT list.  And I'm very glad I did.  The story set in New York in today's time follows the original fairy tale quite closely.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some literary teacher somewhere did a comparison study between BEASTLY and the original fairy tale, or even Disney's version, for that matter.

At no point does the romance become sappy.  It's fully believable.  And Kyle's beastly self (in his handsome guise) reminds me of the best-looking guy in high school whose parents always gave him everything he ever wanted, but he turned out to be an obnoxious jerk anyway.

Of course, to me, the people who nearly stole the show was a tug-of-war between Mary-Kate Olsen as the goth girl cum real witch, and Neil Patrick Harris playing Kyle's blind tutor.

And the ending was perfect.  Just...perfect.

Which is why my recommendation is a total High Five!   

Somewhere in Time - the Quintessential Romance Movie

It was in the early 1980s. I was fresh out of college and working two jobs -- full time as a music teacher at a junior high school, and part time at a department store.

I had a crush on Chris Reeve ever since I first saw him in Superman. Jane Seymour's beauty was astounding. So when the movie came to town, the last showing of the evening was at 9:30. I got off work at my part-time job at 9:00, and rushed to catch the last show.

I cried copious tears. I went back 4 more times to see the movie, and every time I sobbed into my tissues.

Back then, VCRs were new, and ran anywhere from $600 and up. I got my first one at Sears (an RCA) for nearly $900. Blank tapes cost $24.95 for a 60 min. tape (the VCRs were not programmable back then to adjust to different times - you had to buy the tape to fit the time you needed.)

SiT was the first movie I ever bought in VHS format, for $89.95. It was a LOT of money to spend for someone earning less than $10K a year.

The movie endures. The movie is priceless, IMHO. This week, station WGN out of Chicago is holding a Somewhere in Time contest where the winner gets free lodging at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

If you are interested in entering, go here. (Contest ends Feb. 20th!)

To learn more about the movie, here is the official site, and here is the IMBD info.