Task 1
"As
Good As It Gets is a shaggy dog romantic comedy. All its messages are
worth taking to heart. Don't judge people too quickly. Never write
anyone off. Even the weirdest and most irritating people are full of
surprises. Everyone is capable of love."
What do you think
about their view? Is it true that everyone deserves a chance? Can you
remember any personal experience/s in which you were surprised by
somebody you didn't think well of?
Write a comment
in which you will express your own ideas and will also give an opinion
about what the classmate who has written before you has said. I know!
Everyone will try to be the first one! But.... the first writer will
comment on the last student or anyone he/she chooses.
Deadline: August 23
Task 2
I'm posting several reviews of the movie Your task is to either choose one review or parts of different reviews and say why you agree or disagree with it.
Some of them have been shortened and I'm including the source in case you want to read more.
Deadline: August 30
http://www.ardemgaz.com/cgi/showreview.pl?Jack+Nicholson~+As+Good+as+It+Gets
by PHILIP MARTINARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
James
L. Brooks' As Good as It Gets is a precariously balanced movie, one
that flirts with smugness. That it isn't awful is in some respects
amazing. It is tempting to write it off as one of those designer
romantic comedies for readers of The New Yorker, quiche-eaters and the
urbane elite. It makes such smug assumptions about its audience, its
demographics are so finely tuned: Yes, here we have the brave
working-class woman struggling to make it while caring for a sickly
child. Here we have the sweet, gay painter who seems more connected to
his little dog than any human being. And over here we have the most
unpleasant man in the world, an obsessive-compulsive romance novelist
who, as movie irony must have it, seems absolutely incapable of love. It
could have been one bad chick flick, a predictable smarmathon replete
with psychobabble about wounded inner children. It would end with
swelling music and a long-deferred kiss. But Brooks is not stupid. He
cast Jack Nicholson as the misanthrope and that made all the difference.
Now As Good as It Gets is being hailed in some quarters as a leading
Academy Award contender. It showed up on a bunch of critics' "10 best"
lists. It's a box-office hit. The fact that Nicholson is playing this
character tells us something. A canny director can make use of this
phenomenon.
http://movies.tvguide.com/good-gets/review/132715
You
have to admire the sheer audacity of a comedy that opens with a man
heaving a little dog down a garbage chute. Dogs, after all -- especially
ugly-cute ones that look like they should be auditioning for Gremlins 3
-- are the sacred cows of contemporary Hollywood. That said, Verdell
the ankle-biter recovers and proves to be the downfall of his tormentor,
Melvin the monster. Melvin (Jack Nicholson) is a cranky, clinically
obsessive-compulsive romance writer who lobs atomic bomb-quality
put-downs at all who cross his path, including neighbor Simon (Greg
Kinnear), who provides plenty of ammo by being gay, an artist and
Verdell's indulgent owner. Melvin is simply repugnant, a hideous and
self-centered caricature of a human being, and Nicholson's performance
is fearlessly repellent. Melvin's rituals include a daily trip to the
restaurant where he's served by Carol (Helen Hunt), the only waitress
who can stomach his endless abuse. Carol, of course, has her own
troubles: She's the single mother of gravely ill Spence (Jesse James).
Verdell's vengeance starts when Simon is brutally assaulted by a
hustler-turned-model (Skeet Ulrich) and his droogies: Simon's art dealer
(Cuba Gooding Jr.) bullies Melvin into tending Verdell while Simon is
hospitalized, and to his own amazement, Melvin falls for the scruffy
pup. When Simon reclaims Verdell, Melvin shifts his newfound beneficence
to Carol, getting Spence to a fancy doctor. While the initial surprise
of Nicholson's devastating cruelty gives the impression that anything
can happen, the picture settles into an all-too-predictable (and
unconvincing) end. "As good as it gets" is an overstatement. The movie's
too long, and the direction is sometimes slack -- but the script is
crammed with withering ripostes, ably delivered by Nicholson and Hunt.
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/78205/as_good_as_it_gets.html
The
film may be more ambitious and sophisticated than most Hollywood
comedy-dramas, but for all the delight it takes in Melvin's outrageous
sarcasm, it never quite eschews cornball cliché. Nicholson gives a
committed, credible, typically charismatic performance, and the rest of
the cast lends able support. The trouble lies in the rambling narrative,
Brooks' cautious direction and the cosy tone which renders the whole
thing reminiscent of an extended sitcom.
Author: GA
http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/65/As-Good-as-it-Gets
By Garth Franklin
Not
only one of the best romantic comedies of the year, but one of the best
films in ages - "As Good as it Gets" certainly lives up to its title.
With a truckload of cynical laughs and some compelling emotional
moments, .
The performances are truly great all around, Jack
Nicholson gives a career highlight performance as the
obsessive-compulsive 'Melvin' who's totally upfront and somewhat .
Rarely does the two romantic leads match each other in quality, but
Helen Hunt plays her best role yet making her character likable, funny,
intelligent and emotional.
Greg Kinnear puts in a surprising and
enjoyable performance as 'Simon', a gay artist and neighbour who puts up
with Melvin's insults (which fly thick and fast) and like the leads is
both funny and emotionally real. Cuba Gooding Jr. does excellent work
with his few minutes of screen time, playing a gay art dealer who sells
Simon's work and stands up to Melvin whenever he puts Simon down - a guy
full of assertiveness and realism that is very rarely given to any gay
film characters.
All the remaining supporting roles are enjoyable,
ranging from Shirley Knight as Carol's excitable mother who just exudes
cheerfulness, Yeardley Smith in a brief but funny cameo (always liked
her), and of course the scene-stealer being Verdell who is quite simply
the cutest and funniest dog I've ever seen in a movie.
The
character-driven script is extremely intelligent, the plot is a bit thin
but the pacing is fast and there rarely comes any dull moments. It also
doesn't fall into the boring 'schmaltzy' last half hour as so many
romantic comedies do, and in fact takes an audacious step by running
around 50 minutes longer than most.
Any faults? Well there really
isn't any particular scenes that stick in one's memory (eg. the "When
Harry met Sally" restaurant-orgasm scene), there are some points where
the film drags but quickly picks up again - the best example coming
early on involving Kinnear drawing a sketch of Skeet Urlich's character
and then being beaten by a gang of robbers.
The unpleasantness of the
moment though is lifted by a very funny scene in the hospital involving
Kinnear, Gooding Jr. & Smith. "As Good as it Gets" is definitely
one of the best films of 1997, and though it just misses becoming a
'classic film, it's still thoroughly entertaining and you'll leave the
cinema with a very warm and content feeling.
