Does Mandy Moore look fat in this picture (shown on the right)? I really don’t think so, yet that’s what my sister and her friend think of her in her new movie, Chasing Liberty. They say she’s fat! (Though, note: they still think she’s pretty.) Has it come to girls not only thinking that they’re fat, but thinking other *skinny* girls are fat, too? It’s not cool! Mandy Moore looks the same as she did in her other movies: skinny! The only problem that made her look a bit wider would probably be the horizontally striped shirt she was wearing. But other than that, she didn’t look fat! It made me very mad to hear this, and even though it’s her birthday today, we still argued about it this morning.
The movie was pretty good. It’s wasn’t *excellent*, but it was good. My mother said the dialogue was a bit weak, but I thought it was fine. My sister was completely ga-ga over the guy starring alongside Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode.
It was about an 18 year old girl, Anna (code named “Liberty”) who’s basically lead a very sheltered life, first being the daughter of the governor for eight years, then the president for six years, being constantly surrounded by security guards, is all she’s really used to. When her family goes to Europe, she takes an opportunity to slip away from all of her security guards and go on a little adventure of her own with the help of a guy she meets on the street (played my Matthew Goode), little does she know, that Matthew Goode is another secret service agent that her father has watching her (dum, dum, dum!).
All in all, it was a pretty good movie, and there were some funny parts, too, and some funny characters including a crazy backpacker searching for a dream girl and a poor gondola (is it driver?) who can’t get customers. There is also a fairly good subplot involving two of the secret service people “chasing liberty”.
Sadly, this movie hasn’t been getting great reviews. I have a thought about movie reviewers. They are way too picky! In the olden days, people went to see movies to have fun, nowadays, it seems that people go to movies to ridicule them! Movies are made to be fun, they are not made to have people dissecting them and judging them. I enjoy movies mostly as long as they’re not boring. If it’s paced well and has a pretty good plot that doesn’t make me want to get up and leave, I pretty much enjoy the film. Not so with today’s movie reviewers. They’re so whiny! Ooooo, the acting was stupid! Ooooo, the plot was unrealistic! Ooooo! It’s like, shut up! People spent tons of time and money on making those movies, sit back, enjoy them, and be done with it! Don’t ruin it! The people of today are so used to seeing really well made movies with tons of special effects and trick cinematography, that they completely overlook good movies without that stuff. I think that if movies like The Wizard of Oz or any of those other old movies came out today, they, too, would be ridiculed by the reviewers of today.
Movies are meant for enjoyment. They are meant to take you away from the harshness of the world. They are not always to be taken as seriously as they are taken. Please, people, lower your standards, for the sake of having fun!
11 Comments
I definately agree with you – making a movie is extremely hard work, and hearing afterwards that critics think it’s bad is horrible. People need to be less critical and just enjoy.
And yes – it’s the shirt that gives an impression of Mandy being bigger. It’s upsetting, though, that your sister and her friend would call it being fat.
I think you’re wrong and I also pretty much disagree with your views. SINCE lots of people spend a lot of time and money on making movies then they SHOULD be more than just pure entertainment. *shrugs* That’s why I like the movies I do, ones that do more than simply hold my attention for two hours.
I’m not against movies that are more than just attention-holding, but I don’t think that people should be so mean to movies that are just plain entertainment. Does nobody else just like getting a warm fuzzy feeling after seeing a movie? Must they make comments?
I get a fuzzy feeling after movies that are well done, well acted, well scripted and all that. I don’t get a fuzzy feeling after every disposable movie, Max. Some people do *rolls eyes*
*sticks out tounge*
But honestly, what is the point of commenting or even thinking about things like that with movies (unless they happen to be really awful)? I mean, most large movies made today are pretty much well acted. Compared to other movies, like some independent films, they are very good. What is the point, though? They’re only like ninety minutes to two hours. Books, yes, I care if those are good, because you read them over large spans of time, but movies, as long as they’re moderately good, I don’t really mind. There are just a few things that make me really not like movies:
-When the actors don’t really get the role they’re playing.
-When the movie is dragged out and becomes terribly boring.
-If the movie is trying to be overly artsy, and in doing so makes it very unenjoyable.
-When movies are overly violent/gory/anything else for no real reason.
-Movies that are trying to be dramatic and moving but are just corny and give you headaches.
Darn! Look, Adam, you’re making me think about negative stuff and making me feel depressed!
Max reviewers arn’t extra mean to movies maybe they just honestly didn’t like it that much, I haven’t see that Mandy Moore movie but it didn’t look to good and from what you explained that plot seems a good deal stupid to me. And all movies are expensive and long to make these days, that doesn’t mean they can’t be bad it just means mistakes were made even though they work hard, like when your dad makes bad jokes he thinks about them for a while and then says some funny ones and some that make you want to slap him. Max I just think you don’t like hearing bad things or critizism of any kind if people don’t like movies it doesn’t really affect you so why should you care.
Russ is right. Movie critics aren’t too picky, they’re just good at their jobs.
Then why do they hate great movies?
….and Russ, please don’t use run on sentences. :)
They hate “great movies” because they’re better than you are at their job. Critics aren’t stupid, Max, they have the knowledge and ability to discern a good movie from a bad one. Critics don’t go to a movie expecting to love it, and they don’t go to a movie thinking about all the people who worked hard to make it. Because those people are just doing their job, nothing special to a critic. You would make an awful critic if you sympathise with the cast and crew, Maxwell.
I don’t always sympathize with the cast and crew, and that very rarely is a reason I use to like the movie. There are several movies out there that I don’t like. But perhaps we should stop arguing about this. There is no “good” or “bad” movie, it’s all a matter of the person and their opinion. I just happen to like certain movies that other people don’t and I happen to not like certain movies that other people do. It doesn’t mean that I’m a bad critic. I think I tell why I think it’s good, so that’s fine.
hey. was surfing for matthew goode when this came up. mandy moore DID gain weight but she’s NOT FAT :o) and she’s still pretty. she was skinnier in her previous movies though. anyay, love the design on this one. eye-catching. w-ell… gtg search for more matthew goode info. heheh