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Monday, October 29, 2012

Movie Monday- Listen To Your Heart

Netflix, Netflix, wherefore art thou, Netflix…


Netflix and I endured a long-suffering battle that ended faux-tearily in what I thought would be a permanent separation. It was annoying to have to turn on the Xbox to use it, the movie selection at the time was poor, the search engine sucked, oh the woes of the First World... (If you haven't read these, they're hilarious.)

For too long, Mr. Netflix and I wafted, teetered on the brink of divorce, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Then they raised their prices, split the services down the middle, and Redbox became the reigning Convenience Champion of Movie Nation. So, I shouted: Good riddance eight-ninety-nine piece of crap, don’t let your ass bump my ‘cancelled account’ email on the way out! I breathed a sigh of relief, dusted my hands off on my jeans, and stomped over to the sink to do the dishes. Cable sucks, but so what? I didn’t need TV, and I didn’t need Netflix. But when our TV broke down and his bright red, well-designed outline-fonted button glowed at me from the remote of our new LED 3D TV, I couldn’t look away. We, he and I, were stuck there, momentarily locked with our histories reeling past our eyes, and I felt weak.

But it was short-lived. I fisted my hands, set the remote on the coffee table, gritted my teeth, and walked away. Again. Then the wooing began. A draw of my eye toward his pop of color on our black remote. The hush of his whisper in my conscience with that unmistakable air of seduction.

Mr. Netflix: Give me another chance. I've changed. I have so much to offer. (Like I haven't heard that one before.)

Me: Not from what I remember. (Damn straight.)

Mr. Netflix: You haven’t seen me in so long, how do you know? Check out my new sexy interactive menu. You won’t even recognize me.

Me: I don’t think so, Mr. Netflix. We tried this before, and I gave it my all. It. Didn’t. Work!

I really thought I had him with that. I barreled through. I was strong. But Mr. Netflix did not come to the table unprepared.

Mr. Netflix: But it’s one month free. How can a beautiful, beautiful woman like yourself turn down FREE?

Me: (blushing) Mr. Netflix, please. I’m married. But…

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Okay, if you’re thinking I fell for that double beautiful comment, you’d be wrong. But another weekend of absolutely nothing on cable totally did me in. I caved, rejoined, and my oh my, Mr. Netflix, you were not kidding. Your new sexy interactive menu is so full of promise, choice, and endless hours of adding fun-looking and inspirational indie movies to my Instant Queue….

Which brings me to my choice of the day.


This little gem would not have found its way to me if it weren’t for Mr. Neflix and my joyous reunion.

Synopsis (from IMDB)
Danny (Kent Moran) has an apartment as small as his paychecks, no family, and a struggling music career. But with unwavering optimism, for Danny, "every day is a great day to be alive." It's love at first sight when Danny meets Ariana (Alexia Rasmussen), a wealthy hearing-impaired girl from Greenwich, CT who tragically cannot hear the music she inspires him to write. Ariana is torn between hanging onto the shelter her controlling mother (Cybill Shepherd) provides and fighting for a love that, if just given the chance, might just change her life. When tragedy strikes, determined that nothing can keep them apart, they must trust in the power of their love, and together discover just how important it is to "listen to your heart."

WARNING: SUBTLE SPOILERS.

My first impression of the movie was that it was low budget, maybe less than stellar acting, but duh, I knew what I was getting into when I started it. Other than that, I was very drawn in by the opening song, where the main character (a musician) is singing one of his compositions, and I have to say, I was captivated. And being a late-bloomed addict of ABC Family’s SwitchedAt Birth, Ariana’s disability was a pull to me even before I hit play. (I’ve become only a little hyper-obsessed with signing. I may fake having a deaf friend just so I can have an excuse to take ASL, because I think it’s such a neat and beautiful language.)

Danny and Ariana’s first meet was all eyes. Obviously love at first sight, but so cute, I couldn’t fault them using this tactic for the movie. It felt real to me. Cybill Shephard is perfetto! in her role as Ariana’s controlling, manipulative, heinous wench of a mother, and to see Ariana rise above, not only her disability, but her thousand pound weight of a mother was truly applause-worthy. I literally wanted to stand up off my couch, eyes glazed with tears, and shout WOOHOO at the top of my lungs.

I rooted for these two the whole time, and Kent Moran was pure man-candy to ogle, a bonus. Their story kept me glued, riveted, and feel-good woozy with secondhand love… Right up until the end. I won’t divulge top-secret stuff, but I will outright say that the ending went too far for me. Well, that, and they basically stuffed every clichéd, heart-wrenching dialogue into one movie. Danny to Ariana: “Not everyone gets to say they’ve found the love of their lives.” Danny to his best friend: “You know, man, I’ve never had a brother.” Things like that, that really should be touching, but because we’ve seen them so. many. times, they’re kind of nauseating. If they would’ve weeded those out, or perhaps made them slightly more creative and less recognizable, and stopped it about a half hour sooner, LISTEN TO YOUR HEART would’ve received 5 GIANT SMOOCHES from me! But they didn’t, so they get 4. And a half. And maybe another quarter.

(Sigh…)

I really did enjoy this movie, and ended up watching it again a few days later with my mom, because I knew she’d enjoy it. It’s about becoming a champion over one’s circumstances, some unfortunate, some not, which I’m a total sucker for. It’s about friendship, brotherhood, rising above our sad economy (a smaller storyline). But most of all it’s about love, and with love as real as Danny and Ariana’s, who can resist a little peek, regardless of my personal feelings.

Danny and Ariana, you made me heart you. Thanks ;)


10 comments:

  1. We don't have Netflix though hubby has been eyeing it.

    Okay, why have I not hear about the movie??? Geez, I'm out of the loop. :p

    Thanks for the advice to read the final Between the Lines book. I'm on it. I just wish Emma and Graham were it in. I love those two.

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    1. Stina, thanks for being a member, you rock! And me, too! I adored Emma and Graham, and I was wishy washy about the third book, but it had a perfect 5-star review, it had to be good, right? It so was! And as in my review (below) I mentioned how I reread entire sections of the book because it was so stinkin' good=) Enjoy!

      Oh, and yes, this movie is so cute! Really worth the watch. And one more thing, I did hear that (on Webber's site, I think) that Graham and maybe Emma are going to be in the upcoming novel, so I guess we will stay tuned on that.

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  2. Omg!! This post was so fun! I love your convo w/Mr. Netflix!

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    1. Lol, thanks! As I mentioned, he and I are on good terms now. But the future is still uncertain. I'm a tough girl to please, and if he doesn't deliver... :)

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  3. really funny conversation with netflicks...what a flirt! haha...great blog and new follower here, hi!

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  4. New follower here. Nice to meet you, Megan!

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  5. HI, all! It's great to meet you, too. Thanks for following!!

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  6. I was looking for reviews of Listen to Your Heart when I came upon this post, and I was seriously tearing up I was laughing so hard at your relationship with Netflix. I was at work so you can imagine that I couldn’t hide this so I soon had a small crowd of my DISH coworkers around my computer monitor reading your hilarious lines! Many of us could relate with the inner bickering of having Netflix since a lot of us used to have it before switching over to Blockbuster @Home. After DISH joined up with Blockbuster, we all tried the free trial and stuck with it since they have better prices and a better selection than Netflix. I think I’m most fond of them because I can stream and rent DVDS/Blu-rays by mail, and I still pay less than I did with Netflix. Listen to Your Heart is next on my queue, so now I’m really looking forward to it after your wonderful review. Thanks!

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    1. Selina, you're welcome! And I'm honored you loved my post. Mr. Netflix and I are doing better now. Cross your fingers:)

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