66 - Anywhere But Here

Connection To THE JOYRIDERS - the three young "joyriders" of that movie all actually appear in this and it's from the same year (1999), so it's a connection between Shawn Hatosy, Elisabeth Moss or Heather McComb... you know what I'll go with McComb, you never know the two might come in handy at a later date.

Natalie Portman came onto the scene in astonishing style with Léon (as I knew it here in the UK or you might know it as The Professional) with a great performance as Matildha, she followed it up soon with roles in Heat (small but memorable), Mars Attacks and Everyone Says I Love - which I know you could argue on the quality of them last two movies but the them three films all had astonishing cast lists, during this time she also stole the show in the lesser-scene Beautiful Girls, by 1999 she would turn 18 so she would be categorized not a child actress anymore and the most famous for her that year was Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace, not a bad career choice from a certain point of view, but if this was some people's first experience of her they would genuinely think what a wooden actress she is, the same year she would make Anywhere But Here and if I was writing this in 1999 you could start to think maybe a question in a few years to come will be - whatever happened to Natalie Portman?

I need to start this next paragraph by saying I'm roughly the same age as Natalie Portman, well she is a year-ish older then me, the reason I had to start with that is that I have had a crush on Natalie Portman for so long now, spanning 3 decades (I always like saying stuff like that), probably since 1997/98 so she really is an age appropriate crush for me, I had cut out pictures of her on my bedroom wall, and as the years have gone the crush as never really gone away, even if other actresses have been let in and being allowed to share that affection - I didn't want people thinking I was a dirty old man well I write because I imagine some of how the movie is viewed is seen from how I was in my teenage years.

Anywhere But Here, along with Where The Heart Is, the following year is what I have always considered the period where she was in danger of falling into "safe" pictures, where the films are not necessarily bad but are just not the most challenging pictures - perhaps what you see is what you get.

ABH (what I'll call it from now on) as teenage daughter (Portman) and flighty mother (Susan Sarandon) upping sticks from a small town to California, hence the title of the film because it's not exactly where Portman wants to be, so most of the film is Portman moping (of missing home) or challenging her mother while she in return does stuff on the spare of the moment or insist they go for ice cream

Among the events in the movie has her cousin Shawn Hatosy SPOILER die during the movie, which seems like death by plot convenience to me to get a sad reaction from you as the audience member END OF SPOILER.

Perhaps the most effective scene for me is because I am child of divorce and my dad didn't want me is the scene where Portman is on the phone to her father who really wants nothing to do with her, I'm not sure how this scene would play to other people but me for I really identified with her.

Sadly a more interesting movie is presented when we saw Thora Birch in her underwear in her photo and then we learn Natalie Portman was the one who took it, am I alone in thinking that would be a better movie??? (get out of her you pervert)

Overall I can see why somebody with a different taste in movies would really like it but despite the lovely Portman it's just not the movie for me at the end of the day, and it's not that I disliked it I found it mainly okay despite decent performances from Portman and Sarandon.

65 - The Joyriders

Connection To METEOR - Martin Landau.

I actually put The Joyriders on knowing nothing other then it starred Martin Landau and Shawn Hatosy and it was called The Joyriders, so it's rare I go into a film totally blind not even knowing the plot, but here goes.

The film is about a suicidal elderly man (Landau) who ends up getting "kidnapped" by three wayward teens (Hatosy, Elisabeth Moss and Heather McComb) and though I predicted the direction the film was going to go (that they would start to identify with each other, care for each other etc.) I ended up really liking it once it get, I wish it would just get there a touch sooner.

I had a problem with the "kidnapping" which I have put in quotes because the film still wants you to identify with these characters that it's really something that is out of the kids control, it kind of doesn't make sense though how they end up taking Landau, mostly because it doesn't seem in their character until it actually happens.

The 4 leads characters gelled together really well particularly Landau with Moss - the more naive, sweetheart of the trio (Hatosy more immature and McComb more live wire) and she plays the sort of character you could fall in love with simply because she is so undeniably sweet even if her life as gone to shit. There is a good smaller role for Kris Kristofferson as a friendly preacher, he's enjoyable for the time he's on screen. The sole bad casting for me was Diane Venora as Moss' mother she just didn't deliver a very good performance.

Overall, the first part is not a bad film but the second part is very good, the longer the film goes the more you start to feel for the characters and by the end you are hoping for a happy ending for everyone.