Going Out? Try: Dear John! Open’s TODAY!

I had the privilege of seeing Dear John on Wednesday, and it was such an amazing movie – I chose it as my movie pick for this Friday.

Directed by Lasse Hallström and based on the novel by best-selling author Nicholas Sparks, DEAR JOHN tells the story of John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a young soldier home on leave, and Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), the idealistic college student he falls in love with during her spring vacation. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the couple is separated by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. While meeting only sporadically, they stay in touch by sending a continuous stream of love letters overseas–correspondence that eventually triggers fateful consequences.

I was very skeptical going into this movie. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. Nicholas Sparks’ last book-turned-movie was Night’s in Rodanthe, and I thought that was a terrible movie! I adored The Notebook, so I was hoping Dear John would fall somewhere in between. I can happily say that Dear John may be my new favorite Nicholas Sparks movie.

Follow Dear John on Twitter! @DearJohnMovie
I didn’t read the book (his books are waaaaaaaaaaay too sappy for me), so I can’t report how accurate the movie is to the book. But what I can say – is that I absolutely adored this movie from beginning to end. The chemistry between Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried is so real, you can almost feel it. You can feel the love they share, you get goosebumps, you get sad, you get happy – right along with them.

Can I just stop and talk about how beautiful Channing Tatum is? Hot dang, is he hot – or what! The movie opens with him surfing – and wow! He’s gorgeous! And luckily for us (and him) he’s quite a great actor! You wouldn’t think so – coming from his previous movies…but move over world! We will be seeing quite a bit more of Channing! And that’s fine by me.

Amanda Seyfried is as gorgeous as ever as Savannah. Does this Mamma Mia star get any prettier? She is beautiful, and has those soulful eyes that suck you in. She played the role of Savannah beautifully, and I can’t wait to see more of her in the future! (Love her on Big Love!)

There are two different relationships going on in Dear John. One between John and Savannah – but the story that is equally as moving, is the story between John and his dad. The relationship is so beautiful, it unfolds like a flower – until the end, when it is unbelievably moving. (Moved me to tears.)

Another thing I loved about this movie was the music. The music was so fitting and beautiful! After the movie was over, I knew I had to buy the soundtrack – which I did (and you can buy it here on iTunes).  Songs from Joshua Radin, The Swell Season and Fink help tell this beautiful story, and will leave you wanting to hear all the songs again. Bonus: Amanda Seyfried has a song on the album titled “Little House” and it’s beautiful!

Bottom Line: Your man may not appreciate this movie, but all you girls out there are going to love this. If you liked The Notebook, I think you’re going to love this movie. You’ll have to tell me what you think!

Staying In? Rent: Whip It!

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives in small-town Texas and yearns to break free of her mother’s (Marcia Gay Harden) world of beauty pageants and conformity. Bliss sees her chance when she meets the Hurl Scouts, a roller-derby team; she tries out for the team and wins a slot, lying to her parents about her new hobby. Bliss finds friendship and freedom with her teammates, but a conflict between a championship game and the Bluebonnet beauty pageant threatens to spill her secret.

The movie stars Ellen Page as Bliss, a unhappy teen stuck in the small town of Bodeen, Texas. She has a pageant obsessed mom, played by Marcia Gay Harden and an ex-football star father, played wonderfully by Daniel Stern. (He’s such a great actor, he needs to do more!)

While on a shopping trip with her mother in Austin, Texas, Bliss is introduced to roller derby, and instantly falls in love. What happens next is awfully predictable, but is also completely fun and exciting. Bliss is torn between pleasing her mother by competing in a beauty pageant, and competing with the roller derby team Hurl Scouts. Gee, I wonder what happens!

I think first time director Drew Barrymore did a brilliant job – but my only complaint is that Drew should not have starred in the movie. Her character, a stoner named Smashley Simpson was completely unbelieveble and bordered on annoying. With that said, I totally enjoyed watching Juliette Lewis as the badass, and Jimmy Fallon as the hilarious announcer. PS: Singer-songwriter Landon Pigg made his acting debut as Bliss’ rocker – love interest. I have his album sitting here on my desk – I’ll write that review up soon.

Bottom line – you should definitely check out Whip It! It’s so much fun! I loved it – and will totally be seeing it again!