Richard Curtis
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Thus, his latest comedy, “About Time,” which he wrote and directed, is a disappointment, not only because it keeps reminding you in spots of other films and plays that toyed with similar ideas — oh, let’s say “Groundhog Day” and “Back to the Future” or even the Thornton Wilder classic play “Our Town” — but also because the movie doesn’t measure up to Curtis’ own high standards.
If anything, it too closely recalls Harold Ramis' fantasy masterwork "Groundhog Day."
About Time seems to be locked in the same revolving pattern, repeating itself over and over but without the eccentric wit of Bill Murray’s recurring Groundhog Day—a movie which Stephen Sondheim once considered musicalizing (his new plan of action is now, instead, collaborating, with Ives on a similar time-sensitive storyline).
Initially, getting a girlfriend is the reason Tim hits rewind on his life and there are faint echoes of Groundhog Day as he experiments with ways to impress blonde bombshell Charlotte (Margot Robbie), then Mary, saving one of the bigger laughs for their first night together.
Sure, Bill Murray pulled similar stunts in Groundhog Day , but both the universe and Andie McDowell saw through his shit.
One could make the case, I suppose, that Bill Murray more or less did the same thing to Andie MacDowell in Groundhog Day, but it's worth pointing out that his efforts to woo her by turning back the clock ended in failure.
…the two engaging in Love Actually-style signage from their distant towers…
“What do you get if you cross American Sniper, The Last Of Us, Stranger Things, Aliens and Love Actually?”
…un gran cuaderno y una pizarra para intercambiar mensajes (y que a más de uno le recordará a aquella mítica escena de Love Actually).
At one point they start writing notes to each other that they can read with their binoculars, a la Love Actually.
Love Actually-inspired note cards and flexing their own sniper skills leads to the two breaking protocol and meeting one another on Drasa’s side of the gorge.
They first communicate via signs (a la “Love Actually”)…
Its multi-strand approach evokes Love Actually, which gets a hilarious nod, but this is a more tightly focussed narrative that beautifully celebrates multi-cultural London.
Ameen is brave enough to wear his Richard Curtis influence on his sleeve, directly referencing Love Actually , but the sense of things being spread too thin is particularly apparent when it comes to the female roles.
Ameen, who also wrote the script, may have a good eye for realism, but his film quite consciously exists in the shadow of Christmas romcoms of old – namely, Richard Curtis’s Love Actually .
Aml Ameen is a big fan of Love Actually and, in Boxing Day , gives us a charming twist on the schmaltzy Christmas classic.
Director Garry Marshall’s latest effort (* out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Friday) to ape the holiday-themed, intertwined-tale magic of 2003's Love Actually — Valentine’s Day (2010), New Year’s Eve (2011), etc. — may boast a star-studded cast but it’s a spectacular dud on every other level with tonal whiplash, a little casual racism played for jokes and a script seemingly pulled from Hallmark cards rejected for being too hokey.
Recently, Garry Marshall has started his own mini-movie franchise with holiday movies, clearly inspired by the modern-day Christmas classic Love Actually (comparisons stop there).
Sure, you’ll forget all about it a week after you’ve seen it, but it’s mostly pleasant and occasionally touching, even though it’s a lot closer to an episode of “The Love Boat” than “Love Actually."
Just like the wonderfully made “Love Actually,” “Valentine’s Day” weaved together a host of romantic stories all played out on Cupid’s holiday.
What “Love Actually” did for Christmas, director Garry Marshall has been attempting — and failing — to do with every holiday on the calendar.
But like their somewhat better British cousin Love Actually, those movies had enough memorable moments to raise the overall enterprise.
(It’s interesting that every time-travel-themed love story, from Chris Marker’s masterful “La Jetee” and “Back to the Future” to this, is haunted by death and loss, no matter how comedic the register.)
From Robert Altman's groundbreaking oeuvre to 2003's cheerful " Love Actually " to 2009's wiser, altogether stronger " He's Just Not That Into You ," tossing big ensembles together to represent some particular microcosm within the world has become a subgenre in and of itself.
But still, in terms of sheer quantity ... well, "Love, Actually" was a lot better.
She not only steals with shameless abandon from Love Actually (set pieces and plot devices alike), but she seems to think that all the prefab sentiment found in Valentine’s Day is surprising and fresh.
Fortunately, like Love Actually , Valentines Day -- from a story and witty screenplay by Katherine Fugate ( Carolina ) -- manages to hold our interest despite skipping around to so many characters.
It’s a sitcom script, with every role given a singular emotional beat; the writing seems more attracted to caricature than realism, which is precisely why the film it’s blatantly ripping off, 2003’s “Love Actually,” was a tonal whirlwind marvel.
Several short stories about love, and expectations of the most romantic day of the year come together in the end in a very "Love, Actually " way.
The premise seems ripped from Richard Curtis' "About Time" — it's a millennial "Groundhog Day" meets "The Butterfly Effect."
Though it borrows heavily from Groundhog’s Day, Back to the Future, Just Friends, and even About Time, this time travel war on the friend zone has a handful of good ideas of its own.
The trailer and premise of this movie made me wary, as they’re reminiscent of About Time’s “time travel is a good way to get laid and fall in love” ethos.
Directed by Ari Sandel and written by John Whittington, this rom-com has comparable elements to About Time (yes, Hollywood is still doing time-travel), but lacks in its sincerity.
Netflix’s latest, When We First Met, takes all the ick we ignored in About Time and Groundhog Day and distills it into a potent combination of the worst parts of Groundhog Day crossed with Insert Friend Zone Movie Here.
Almost Famous (2000)
Directed by Cameron Crowe
influenced The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Plot Characters
…deejay named Emperor Rosko and played by Hoffman as an exuberant extension of his Lester Bangs in “Almost Famous.’’
Macho games of chicken!) around a baseline narrative—involving young Carl’s (Tom Sturridge) experiences joining the musically obsessed crew—poorly pilfered from Almost Famous .
It's eclectic staff includes celebrated Yank D.J ââ¬ËThe Countââ¬Ë (Philip Seymour Hoffman, seemingly reprising his role as Lester Bangs from "Almost Famous" and enjoying it just as much the second time around), chunky womanizer Dave (Nick Frost), rehabilitated wild-man Gavin (Rhys Ifans), terminal sad-sack Simon (Chris O'Dowd), the dense Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke), New Zealander Angus (Rhys Darby) and young ladies-man Mark (Tom Wisdom).
And the disc jockeys are mostly unremarkable (with Philip Seymour Hoffman basically recycling his Lester Bangs act from “Almost Famous”).
His naïve Carl, peeking forward to manhood like Almost Famouss William Miller (Patrick Fugit), forms the dramatic backbone of the story.
Mr. Hoffman’s is a slovenly, less accomplished version of the Lester Bangs of “Almost Famous,” Mr. Ifans’s the slick, mysterious womanizer and Mr. Branagh’s the profoundly cranky government employee.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Directed by Glenn Ficarra
influenced by Love Actually (2003)
Plot Themes
It reminded me a lot of “ Love Actually ” with its multi-generational ensemble and interlocking stories, not to mention its ability to strike a balance between drama and comedy without compromising the integrity of either one.
Because it features an ensemble of people who can't quite get love straight, it reminds me a little of "Love, Actually."
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“Bad Santa,” “I Love You Phillip Morris”) and scripted by Dan Fogelman (“Tangled”), the film apparently takes its cue from Richard Curtis’ 2003 ensemble hit “Love Actually” and like its predecessor has a great cast.
An ode to this very topic, "Crazy, Stupid, Love." doesn't exactly rewrite the rule books (didn't 2003's " Love Actually " already beat it to the punch?), but when it's good, it's very, very good, hitting notes of honesty and perception with the precise aim of an ace archer who knows a thing or two about joys and aches of the heart.
Richard Curtis did it splendidly with Love Actually (2003).
It’s a good setup — suggesting perhaps a more sobering version of “Love, Actually” with fewer grand gestures — until subsequent scenes set the deafest tone possible.
The movie, now on Netflix, falls neatly into the time-honored tradition of holiday-based ensemble romantic comedies ( Love Actually , Valentine’s Day , New Year’s Eve ) as it follows a group of young adults and their respective romantic woes through the Christmas season.
Netflix’s Let It Snow is a modern-day Love Actually with fewer British accents and a whole lot of charm.
Director Luke Snellin tries hard to create his own young adult version of “Love Actually,” and while he doesn’t quite hit that high bar, he succeeds in highlighting a lot of his cast’s talents.
Christmas cheer abounds in this Love Actually for Generation Z, addressing our relationship to others, fame, and technology in the most annoying, pedagogic way.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The structure, which hops around from one romcom plot to another, is exactly the kind pioneered by Love Actually .
Many have tried and most have failed at the Love Actually -esque ensemble feature, but in the hands of Laura Solon, Victoria Strouse (adapting an earlier screenplay from Kay Cannon), and director Luke Snellin, this potentially sprawling snowtastrophe is a confectionary holiday treat.
Although it sounds like the name of the best Leslie Nielsen parody never made, “Love Hard” actually refers to the two most controversial works of Jesus-adjacent art since Andres Serrano’s 1987 “Piss Christ,” by which of course I mean “Love, Actually” and “Die Hard.”
It’s a message reinforced throughout the movie, including with a derisive comment describing “Love Actually” as “a movie about people falling in love based on how they look.”
Ironically, this film spends so much of its energy dissing Love Actually just to use the iconic (and yes, deeply problematic) sign confession to win us over.
The title — “Love Hard” — is a mashup of “Die Hard” and “Love Actually,” clashing visions visions of “the Best Christmas Movie Ever.”
Thus, his latest comedy, “About Time,” which he wrote and directed, is a disappointment, not only because it keeps reminding you in spots of other films and plays that toyed with similar ideas — oh, let’s say “Groundhog Day” and “Back to the Future” or even the Thornton Wilder classic play “Our Town” — but also because the movie doesn’t measure up to Curtis’ own high standards.
There is a brief mention of the butterfly effect, but director Richard Curtis does not explore with quite the satisfactory depth of, say, 1985's "Back to the Future" or 2004's " Primer " what it means when one person's time-travel can affect an entire universe's reality.
Some great films such as Back to the Future, Field of Dreams, The Terminator, Time Machine and more have explored this phenomenon.
But this is not The Terminator , nor even Back to the Future .
Yesterday (2019)
Directed by Danny Boyle
influenced by Love Actually (2003), About Time (2013), The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Por su parte, Richard Curtis es el responsable de filmes como 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, Love Actually y varios filmes de Mr. Bean.
The script’s from Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually), and like a lot of his work, it’s funny and fleet of foot, but a bit flimsy when you start examining it closely.
With that promising set-up, a screenplay from the crown prince of sentimental storytelling Richard Curtis (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Love, Actually”) and directed by the electrically talented Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “28 Days Later”), the jukebox musical drama/comedy “Yesterday” was atop the charts of my most anticipated movies of the Summer of 2019.
With a screenplay by Richard Curtis ("Love Actually," "Notting Hill"), the focus is on the relationship between Jack and Ellie and it's a bit light in the loafers.
Imagine a world in which the Beatles never existed and you'll get the high concept behind this comedy from the rather unlikely team of screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) and director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), both 62.
Your enjoyment of this one is going to depend on just how much ludicrousness and laziness you can put up with in Richard "Love Actually" Curtis's screenplay, one which removes all traces of the Beatles unless it becomes inconvenient to his plot, one which celebrates the meeting of its romcom pairing over 'Wonderwall' only to wipe out Oasis, one which throws together characters from Moscow and Liverpool with no explanation whatsoever as to how they would have met and one which apparently knows nothing about the music industry or basic human sense.
Thus, his latest comedy, “About Time,” which he wrote and directed, is a disappointment, not only because it keeps reminding you in spots of other films and plays that toyed with similar ideas — oh, let’s say “Groundhog Day” and “Back to the Future” or even the Thornton Wilder classic play “Our Town” — but also because the movie doesn’t measure up to Curtis’ own high standards.
At the very least, “Silent Night” expands Knightley’s Christmas-movie legacy beyond the most inadvertently creepy strand of “Love Actually.”
Think of this as “Death, Actually” minus the humor and depth of Richard Curtis’s “Love Actually.”
It might bring Keira Knightley back to the festive genre, but Silent Night is the anti- Love Actually .
When we think of Keira Knightley and Christmas movies, we think of those indelible images of a pre-“Walking Dead” Andrew Lincoln delivering his equal parts charming and creepy flash-card proclamations to her in “Love, Actually” (2003), but if you think THAT holiday moment was problematic, welcome to “Silent Night.”
This deliberate lump of coal has the benefit of featuring Keira Knightley, who starred in one of the ultimate happy Christmas movies in Love Actually, a choice that seems intentional when you unwrap its yuletide sentiments and find that all of the love, romance, joy, and friendship holiday movies peddle in are made into kindling by the film’s caustic sense of humor.
For everyone who has ever watched Love Actually and Last Christmas and idly wished for all their characters to be suddenly, brutally obliterated, Silent Night may sound downright irresistible.
The Anglo-American culture clash has been a common theme of numerous recent Britcoms, from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to "Notting Hill" to "Love, Actually."
Working Title seems to have a corner on British romantic comedies (Bridget Jones, Notting Hill, you name it), especially when combined with British wish-fulfilment fantasies (a prime minister to be proud of in Love Actually, an English tennis champ here).
All these ingredients are present and correct for Wimbledon, but happily – at least for anyone who felt Love Actually was like being trapped in a sugar factory - the words “Richard” and “Curtis” do not appear on the writing credits.
Putting it mildly, these folks are not in the Richard Curtis (Love Actually) class but in the Romantic Comedy 101 league.
Call it cinematic magic, but what Wimbledon really lacks is that quirky English wit that helped make Love Actually such an irresistible charmer.
A product of the team behind "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and "Love Actually," it's a rousing athletic-underdog story about low-ranked, self-stymied pro tennis player Peter Colt (Bettany, from "A Knight's Tale," "A Beautiful Mind" and "Master and Commander" ) who finds his groove by falling in love with Lizzie Bradbury (Dunst), the rising-star queen troublemaker of women's tennis.
It employs the female lead and the soundtrack artist from “About a Boy,” whose hero was also named Will, and even borrows the look of the poster for “Love, Actually.”
Though falling a good bit short of the best of the Working Title-produced romantic comedies—like Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001), About a Boy (2002) and Love Actually (2003)—Adam Brooks’ Definitely, Maybe marks a notable improvement over the company’s last two efforts, Wimbledon and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (both 2004).
The film is the latest from England's Working Title production studio, the clever chaps who gave us "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "About a Boy," "Love, Actually" and several Coen brothers films.
CHICAGO – The makers of “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill” know how to do romantic comedy that doesn’t somehow fall into the trap of a formulaic chick flick like “27 Dresses”.
"About Time" will never stand up as solid time-travel science-fiction any more than the cult romance "Somewhere in Time" did in 1980.
Even the title of the new effort from the creator of “Love, Actually” is a sad cliché, but the whole plot treads the same territory as “Somewhere in Time,” “The Lake House” and “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” and its mixture of whimsy and mawkishness is familiar, too.
Curtis should stick to the light comic moment, where people are sleepless in Seattle and Reese Witherspoon is home in Alabama, and leave the heavy romantic comedy lifting -- like When Harry Met Sally or Bonnie and Clyde, say -- to more accomplished directors and writers.
This is very reminiscent of the scenes between Liam Neeson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster in “Love Actually.”