Karen Spends Her Welfare Money On DVDs...

TTG and I had a very lazy weekend, for the first time in a while. We went for our usual walk round the local park on Sunday evening, and when we got back, we proceeded to watch The Prince And Me, and The Notebook, straight after. (Yes it was a very late night.)

I wanted to watch The Prince and Me, mainly because of Julia Styles. I really like her as an actress, and loved her in Save The Last Dance, with Sean Patrick Thomas. Luke Mably (Edvard) was ok too, if a little too pretty, and a little too English.

I liked the story. It was totally girly, and completely fluffy. A quintessential fairy-tale romance. Loved it.

Paige is a brainy farm girl from Wisconsin who wants to go to med school. Eddie, on the other hand is the playboy crown prince of Denmark who's never done a day's work in his life.

Fed up with the expectations of his parents and country, Edvard decides to go to Wisconsin (I can't be arsed explaining why he chooses Wisconsin) and enrolls in the same college as Paige. They first meet, when Eddie sees Paige whilst she's working in a restaurant, and unfortunately for Eddie, he doesn't quite make the first impression that he would have liked.

Coincidentally, they become lab partners in school, which horrifies Paige, as she's desperate to do well, and she looks at the partnership with Eddie as the quickest route to an F grade.

Anyway, Paige discovers that Eddie isn't just a pretty face, and they end up falling in love, but as we know, the course of true love never did run smooth. (Especially in Hollywood films.)

I liked the chemistry between Paige and Eddie, and I liked the contrasts between their two worlds. I thought the cinematography was excellent, and I was really pleased that they actually filmed on location in Europe (Prague), rather than filming in some purpose-built set in America.

The secondary characters all played their parts well, Ben Miller as Soren, Eddie's butler, was quite funny, and I found myself eagerly waiting for him to speak, because he had this dry wit thing going for him. Miranda Richardson, as Eddie's mother had the icy haughtiness of a queen, down to a fine art. Can I just say, I thought she looked amazing, much better than her sister Joely (101 Dalmatians), who looks as if she's been nip-tucked (ha-ha, get it?) to within an inch of her life.

Overall good film, definitely one for the girls though. TTG fell asleep in the middle of it, which I pretty much expected. *g*

The Notebook



I also enjoyed The Notebook, once again though, it was a film for romance lovers of the female persuasion. I read the original book by Nicholas Sparks a couple of years ago, and I have to say, it was pretty hard not to compare the book with the film. I still enjoyed Rachel McAdam's performance, as well as Ryan Gosling's slightly overstated and much practiced wry smile.

I thought Gena Rowlands was excellent in her role, as was James Garner. I always remember him in The Rockford Files (re-runs of course), and I sometimes forget that actually, he's an old man now.

Once again, nice film, and I actually shed a tear or two at some of the bittersweet scenes between Garner and Rowlands. Well worth watching if you're not looking for War and Peace.

So, any of you watched any really good films lately?

By the way, Heroes is being aired over here at the moment, and I have to say, I'm just lovin' it!