Somewhere in Time (1980)

The hopeless romantic in me was completely taken with this flawed but well executed tale. Christopher Reeve showed an extraordinary range that i wish had been displayed more often, i think being known as the definitive Superman grew tedious for him. It sure would have for me. (Of course me playing Superman would be slightly ridiculous).

The plot is somewhat straight forward and unbelievable (but it's fantasy so that doesn't really matter). Richard Collier (Reeve) is a renowned playwright who is staying at the Grand Hotel, while there he see's a picture of Elise Mckenna (Jane Seymour), a stage actress from 1912. He is completely fascinated by her and seeks information about her. He soon finds that Elise (at that point very old and played by Susan French) had given him a watch 8 years, ago (of course he had no idea who she was), she asked him to 'Come back to me' and then she was gone. Convinced that he is meant to be with her he hypnotizes himself to go back in time.

This is movie that doesn't rest on it's time travel (TT can often come across as a bit gimmicky) or it's two (very good looking and talented) stars. It is one of those romance films that you know is completely absurd and yet you want to believe that it could happen and that it is possible, which i think is why i liked it so much. I  found the ending to be a little cliche'd but then i remembered that this was made in the late 70s/80 and the cinema romances back in those days often were a little silly for me. But i think i didn't like the ending because it was the ending. I wanted the movie to go a bit longer just so i could witness more of the amazing chemistry between Reeve and Seymour.

All in all i am glad that i finally got around to watching this movie and am sure that i will watch it again one day. I would recommend this to people who are fans of things like The Time Travelers Wife (2009) and Kate and Leopold (2001)- both movies about love across different times. But also to people who enjoy a good romance like me. I don't watch many romance movies because i find a lot of them cheesy and cliche' ridden, but i liked this one. I would certainly like to read the book it was adapted from though.

"There is so much to say.... i cannot find the words. Except for these: i love you" Elise Mckenna (Jane Seymour), Somewhere in Time

I know what you did last summer (1997)

Here is a fairly well known teen slasher/horror of the nineties, along with Scream (1996) it is probably one of the most recognized of it genre for that decade. Although it has it's cliche's and isn't scary it should be noted that unlike some other slashers that came before it (and after), it has a good mystery that holds the audiences attention- much more so than the murders depicted in it.

This is a twist on the old escaped mental patient with a hook for a hand thing. Only the escaped mental patient is replaced by a fisherman that four high school friends accidentally 'kill' during their final summer together (they have just graduated high school). and his weapon of choice is, (surprise, surprise) a hook.

The friends i referred to above are played by: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. their acting isn't that great, JLH is the same in most movies, Prinze is a mediocre actor of nineties 'young star of the moment' variety, Gellar is tolerable and probably the least annoying character. of course, that doesn't stop her from being a run of the mill one. Phillippe is dangerously psycho as Barry and i really wanted him to get killed ASAP. Howver the actors capably inject humour into their otherwise plain characters, seen best when they aren't having attempts made on their lives.

The movie's plot isn't very good, there have been movie before and since with similar plots, but the way it seems to reference is familiarity sets it apart from other slashers (except Scream of course). if they didn't just reference the familiar mold of the story but instead attempted to break away from the cliche's then it would have been a much bolder and perhaps better movie.

for a night in with friends this is a good movie to watch because it's not gross or scary- so you wont go to bed with nightmares- but it manages to maintain our interests until the final face off (until the sequel).

"We should have a plan, Angela LansBury always had a plan"Helen (Satah Michelle Gellar), I know what you did last summer