Six Degrees: Jennifer Love Hewitt: Cafe

Cafe (2011)

Synopsis
A good-hearted musician struggles to find a way to tell his beautiful barista coworker that he loves her, despite the fact that she is in a relationship. Meanwhile, regulars and customers at the cafe where they work have their own problems and encounters. A police officer keeps an eye on his wayward cousin, who owes money to a charismatic dealer, and a married man contemplates his relationship with a good-looking new acquaintance. However, one customer believes he is in fact the main character in a computer simulation of modern life, set in the cafe, all designed by a young girl.






My Thoughts
I've never seen or heard of this movie, but it sounded...interesting. Starts out pretty weird with some cops in a cafe and shots fired, and then one of those great flash back scenes to "Last Sunday," so hopefully we'll see why someone's shooting up a small cafe.

So far this movie is super weird. We've got a cop who has what I'm assuming is a less than law-abiding cousin he's looking for, a group of law breakers (though you're not really sure what it is that they do, yet), a weird writer in the corner who compares the population of West Philadelphia (break into Fresh Prince song HERE) to a blend of coffee (which I actually thought very interesting), a nervous coffee barrista who secretly loves his coworker, and a computer nerd whose computer tells him he's really just an avatar that she created along with his entire world...I'm confused...You?



It seems like you get to spend a movie people-watching in a cafe without them knowing. I'm a people-watcher, and sometimes I really wish I could hear what they were saying without being a creeper. The first half of this movie you get to meet everyone who walks through the door and hear what they're saying and learn about their lives without them knowing you know. And watching all the lives intersect, as they do in movies and sometimes in life, is intriguing.




The writer has a tatto that says "What a piece of work is man." I don't know why, but it really stood out to me. I guess if you people-watch at a crazy cafe all day, it would probably seem true. Although, if the whole world is just a bunch of avatars, it wouldn't really matter...This movie is quite weird...

Maybe this "programmer" is supposed to be God? She created this world and is always there listening and talking back to those who choose to "tune her in"...She created all the "characters"...She put free will into the programming...I don't know how I feel about the comparison, but it seems like you're supposed to make that leap...'

I, honestly, can't decide if I really like this movie or if I really hate it. It's one of those movies that you'll probably have to watch a few times to decide. Or you might just completely hate it the first time around. Have you seen The Fountain with Hugh Jackman? I had a similar reaction to that movie...had to watch it a couple of times before I was sure. You can't make sense of it really, but there's just something about it that draws you in...Anyway, give it a shot if you want, and let me know what you think!

Random Facts
The film takes place almost exclusively inside a real working West Philadelphia cafe.

LAST Christmas Special: Wrap-Up

Here's my personal (and RottenTomatoes) rating of the Christmas movies I have watched and shared. I tend to not be super hard on movies, so you might think my ratings are very generous, but these are just my opinions. Most seem to fairly well correspond with RottenTomatoes, though I've never really used them to look up ratings before...


Anastasia (1997)
Love this movie, even though it may not be a "Christmas" movie. It seems like a great day-after-Thanksgiving movie, when you want something wintry, but not quite Christmastime.

Me: 92%
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%






The Family Stone (2005)
This movie reminds me of my family so much, which is probably why I like it. There doesn't seem to be much special about it, but I still tend to like it.

Me: 82%
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%








The Family Holiday (2007)
This movie was one of those corntastic Christmas movies. Has Uncle Joey from Full House, and a couple of fairly adorable children. I wasn't a huge fan, however, and Rotten Tomatoes didn't even have a rating...

Me: 61%
Rotten Tomatoes: -







White Christmas (1954)
This one is a classic, and I love the music in it. I'm a fan of these older musical films. So it all depends on the mood that you're in, but if you're looking for an old-time music number, this one will work.

Me: 94%
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%








Good Luck Charlie (2012)
Another corny one, though the paintball scene was pretty entertaining. That's what I'd like to do for Christmas some year.

Me: 61%
Rotten Tomatoes: -








Lucky Christmas (2011)
Win the lottery, find a perfect guy...Yeah, sounds like an okay Christmas. Super corny, but what do you expect from these Hallmark and Disney Channel movies?

Me: 63%
Rotten Tomatoes: -




A Christmas Story (1983)
Another classic, though I've never been much of a fan of this one. I used to watch it in school, but this is the first time I've watched it since then. Still not a huge fan...but it's not horrible.

Me: 74%
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%



A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
More classics! This is one of those movies that I always used to get yelled at for never having seen it. It's a cute one!

Me: 91%
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%






Prancer (1989)
When you look at the quality of this movie, it might not be much. For some reason, though, I've always really liked this one. It's a new spin on a Christmas tale and I think it's a cool idea. How many of us would be willing to take in Santa's reindeer??

Me: 78%
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%







Prancer Returns (2001)
A sequel, and a very stereotypical sequel. I don't think this movie was necessary, and there were better ways to go about it, but it wasn't a horrendous follow-up.

Me: 64%
Rotten Tomatoes: -








It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
I know this is another one of the classic, loved Christmas films, but I could not really get into it. I'm not sure why, because I tend to like the older movies.

Me: 81%
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%






Jingle All the Way (1996)
I liked this one more than I think I was supposed to. I enjoyed watching Schwarzenegger play at karate and pretend to be a super hero. I don't really understand half of what he says, but it's entertaining to me. I also thought the kid was cute, and the movie was cute, even though it went a little crazy with the commercialism preaching.

Me: 64%
Rotten Tomatoes: 17%







Elf (2003)
I love this movie, as do many others. I'm not usually a Ferrell fan, but Zooey Deschanel wins me over, and it's a very funny and lovable film.

Me: 90%
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%






Holiday Inn (1942)
This movie is fantastic. It gave us White Christmas and another chance to watch Crosby and Astaire work together. Those two make a fantastic team. A wonderful musical holiday film.

Me: 100%
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%







Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Another one I'd never seen before, at least not in the recent past. Fairly cute movie, though.

Me: 89%
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%








National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
I could not get into this movie. It is not my kind of comedy. I can see how others could find it entertaining, but it is really not my kind of thing.

Me: 51%
Rotten Tomatoes: 63%








The Santa Clause (1994)
I think I liked these movies more than I should have, too. I'm a bigger Tim Allen fan than I knew I was. I like his sarcastic humor. It goes along with my own, I think.

Me: 91%
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%








The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
I even liked the sequels! I thought they did a great job of continuing the story with a realistic new twist. It gave us more information and background around the big guy, and kept the same characters (I love character consistency).

Me: 86%
Rotten Tomatoes: 55%







The Santa Clause 3 (2006)
Yep, liked this one, too! :-)

Me: 81%
Rotten Tomatoes: 15%








The Polar Express (2004)
I thought this movie was cute, but it took me a while to get past the idea of Tom Hanks being every main character. The imagery was gorgeous, at least!

Me: 78%
Rotten Tomatoes: 56%







The Search for Santa Paws (2010)
Super corny...The stuffed dog where Paws comes from is very creepy...And it reminded me too much of Annie. You run a risk when you pick out random movies from your local library, but sometimes you can find the gems...And sometimes you find these...

Me: 58%
Rotten Tomatoes: -







Christmas in Canaan (2009)
Billy Ray Cyrus...I feel like not much more needs to be said...

Me: 54%
Rotten Tomatoes: -









Christmas Lodge (2011)
This was a typical Thomas Kinkade film. The scenery was very pretty, the story was very corny. I got a little more into this random library movie than I did the other two. Not a bad one.

Me: 71%
Rotten Tomatoes: -










Feel free to rate your favorites or least favorites or tell my opinions are horrible! I welcome the comments! :-)

*So Christmas is over and I'll get back to my random actor films. I'm thinking about doing a sort of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon type thing. I'll pick an actor and watch a movie of theirs, then pick a different actor from that movie and do a movie of theirs. That way I'm not watching 14 Will Smith movies in a row, because I get a little burnt out, and I'm guessing you do, too. We'll give that a try...*

Christmas Special: Random Movies from the Library....

**I know it's been a while since my last post...My house lost our internet for a while. So here's a belated Christmas post, and I'll move back to my random actors soon enough. Hope everyone's holidays have gone well!*

The Search for Santa Paws (2010)

Synopsis
When Santa and his new best friend, Paws, discover that the boys and girls of the world have lost the spirit of the season, they take a trip to New York City. But after Santa loses his memory, it's up to Paws, a faithful orphan named Quinn (America's Got Talent's Kaitlyn Maher), her new friend Will (The Game Plan's Madison Pettis) and a wonderful group of magical talking dogs to save St. Nick and show the world what Christmas is really about.








My Thoughts
You can probably tell from the synopsis that this is a very...very corny movie. If you have a 4-year-old who is a puppy-lover, this movie might be for them. The dog is cute (except when it's in the creepy fake dog mode...), the little kids are fairly adorable, and it has a 'little orphan Annie' feel to it.

There's Christmas magic and talking dogs and an odd-looking Santa to help the kids and the audience remember the spirit of Christmas.

And, of course, the common face to Christmas movies, Danny Woodburn, as Santa's main guy.

I'm not doing many 'thoughts' on these movies, because chances are no one has seen them or will watch them unless they are really adventurous or are looking for new movies to introduce to their small children. This movie is cute, but only if you're planning on watching it with 2- to 5-year-olds around to show you when to laugh and when to be concerned. My family and I were never really sure...But at least there's a happy ending, of course.

There's also a sequel, Santa Paws 2: Santa Pups (2012). I'm probably not going to watch it, but I thought I'd at least let you guys know that it's out there. If you've got an interested youngster, you should watch it and let us know what you think.

Random Facts
Kaitlyn Maher (playing Quinn) was also in other puppy movies: Santa Buddies (2009), Treasure Buddies (2012), and Santa Paws 2: Santa Pups (2012). (I guess there are a lot of Buddy movies these days...I've only seen the original and a few of the early sequels, so I don't know if they're any good. Any of you have thoughts?)


Christmas in Canaan (2009)
Synopsis
DJ and Rodney are two boys who don't like each other from the start. Rodney thinks DJ is an ignorant white farm boy, and DJ thinks Rodney acts too smart for his own good. After a school bus scuffle between them, DJ's father and Rodney's grandma come up with a clever idea that brings them closer than either would have liked. Living in Canaan, TX in the 1960's does not make it easy for a black boy and a white boy to forge a friendship. It is only amid the magic of an unforgettable Christmas that DJ and Rodney discover a land of milk and honey where hope and love make all the difference.





My Thoughts
I tend to steer clear of Billy Ray Cyrus' acting attempts, but this movie came home from the library, and I figured I might as well. I wouldn't really call it a Christmas movie; it's more focused on the race issues of the 60's and how difficult it is for a black kid and a white kid to figure out their differences and find a way to be friends anyway. It's kind of a surface examination, but you can see the underlying issues all over.






Halfway through the movie, after the boys have grown up and their relationship has cemented, Christmas finally comes and they're tested a few more times. Hard economy and people split down the middle. The "some Christmas" part was super corny, but it made its point. It really is the thought that counts, and Christmas shouldn't just be about stuff...If you can get past the cliche phrases and corny acting, it really is a great thought.








It's hard to watch movies with such hatred for everyone. And it never ends up well for anyone...It's tough to even figure out how people end up like that. Even today, people fight before they talk...Half the time they agree with each other, but don't even realize it because they're so busy yelling at each other. Everybody just take a deep breath and chill out :-)

I'd say this one's worth a watch if you can get past Billy Ray's corny phrases. He sings most of the soundtrack, too. It's an all right movie, though, with a good message.





Random Facts
Canaan, Texas is a small town northeast of Denton, Texas, near the Oklahoma border.

This movie was based on the book co-written by Kenny Rogers.

Christmas Lodge (2011)
Synopsis
During a weekend trip to the mountains, Mary (Erin Karpluk) finds herself at the now-dilapidated lodge where she spent the holidays with her family growing up. She becomes determined to restore the building to its former glory. Inspired by her grandfather and guided by her grandmother in heaven, Mary throws herself into the project, and during the process finds herself drawn to Jack (Michael Shanks), a handsome man who loves the lodge as much as she does. Historically unlucky in love, this chance encounter allows Mary to renew her faith in life and discover her one true love.





My Thoughts
I can really identify with Mary in this movie. Her attachment to the mountains/hiking, her feeling of dedication and obligation and loneliness, even though there are people everywhere. Just not connected the way she way she wants to be. Hopefully, this movie provides her with the chances she needs to get happy, the way that real life tends to not do so easily. I'm sure it will...

Michael Shanks will always be Dr. Daniel Jackson from Stargate to me. He looks different without the dorky glasses, but he's still Dr. Jackson. I know he's been in a ton of stuff since then, but I was very attached to that show and its characters. I like him quite a bit without the glasses and with the tool bet, though. The mountains look good on him. :-)

Sometimes I don't understand why people can't see themselves. When they're with people that they should obviously not be with. Not necessarily bad people, but people who they do not belong with. Mary and ???? definitely do not belong together...But I'm sure she'll figure it out soon enough.



Everyone should take a night every now and then to listen to the stories of their grandparents and parents. It's so fun to sit and listen and watch how much they enjoyed their lives. And you can learn a lot of interesting things...like how your grandparent might have burnt down a school bus or fallen out of a car back in the day. :-)




This is a Thomas Kinkade movie, so it is a little scripture/Jesus focuses. I like this movie a lot, but I can't really explain why. It takes a while to get to Christmas, but it's a pretty good build up, and the family parts seem fairly realistic. Some of the lines seem a little forced or out of place, but it's still pretty good overall.

Random Facts
John Innes (Grampa) was also a little involved in the Stargate story. He was Zaddik in Stargate: Atlantis.