Movie Review: Miss Congeniality (2000)

Aloha, everyone!
(Sorry, I had to say that because it is a reference in this movie).

Time for another movie review! Today I'll be reviewing a very quotable and funny spy movie that you're sure to get a kick out of. Enjoy!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Miss Congeniality (2000):

Based on: I read that it is based on a true story of someone who went undercover at a pageant.
When there are threats of a bomb at a famous beauty contest and scholarship program, the FBI decide to have an agent undercover as part of it. They have to hire a specialist to teach the agent Gracie Hart, a rough and sloppy tomboyish girl, how to act like a Miss United States contestant. She has to do things that she hates and perform a talent which she claims that she doesn't have all while putting up with the teasing of all of the other agents. At the same time she interacts with the other girls trying to figure out, could any of them be involved in this plot?
"I'm in a dress, I have gel in my hair, I haven't slept all night, I'm starved and I'm armed. Don't mess with me!"

Genre: Action, Comedy.
Length: approx. 109 minutes.
Costumes: 7, imagine what you know about any pageant like this. Those are the costumes. A little low sometimes, but what did you expect?
Script: 7, there are a few bad words.
Crew:
Directed by: Donald Petrie.
Written by: Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, & Caryn Lucas.
Starring:
Sandra Bullock as Gracie Hart.

Michael Caine as Victor Melling.

Benjamin Bratt as Eric Matthews.
Candice Bergen as Kathy Morningside.

William Shatner as Stan Fields.
Heather Burns as Miss Rhode Island Cheryl Frasier.
Ernie Hudson as Harry McDonald.
John DiResta as Agent Clonsky.
Melissa De Sousa as Miss New York Karen Krantz.
Steve Monroe as Frank Tobin.
Deirdre Quinn as Miss Texas Mary Jo Wright.
Wendy Raquel Robinson as Miss California Leslie Davis.
Cinematography: 7, just usual.
Cinematography by: László Kovács.

Music: 7, I like the songs scattered throughout.
Music by: Edward Shearmur.
Notes: One of the things that my family quotes from this all the time is a reference to the movie Midnight Cowboy (1969). I didn't know that until the other day!
"Hey! I'm gliding here!"
Quotes: 9, as I mentioned above, there are a lot of good quotes here! Sometimes my sisters and I will start saying whole scenes.
'"What would be your ideal date?"
"That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket!"'
Content: 6, there is crude humor, drinking, and a lot of suggestive things. There is also a character who proclaims to be homosexual, and I'm telling you this as a warning to anyone who is bothered by that. I believe that is only one scene, though.
Originality: 9, a lot of spy stories involve going undercover, but I'm never seen another at a beauty and talent pageant!

Good For: Comedy lovers, fans of the actors.
Age Range: Because of the crude humor and suggestive things this is rated PG-13, but I think I first watched it when I was about 10 and was fine, so it depends on the person.
Overall Score: 7!
Bonus thoughts:
This is a hilarious movie. While there are a few things that I feel "eh" about, it never fails to make me laugh! My favorite parts are all of the interactions between Sandra Bullock and Michael Caine! I actually always think of both of them as "the actors from Miss Congeniality".

Gracie hates that she has to do this. She especially hates the code name that she has "Gracie Lou Freebush" which she made up mocking the contestants. She thinks that it is all fluff and nonsense, but gradually makes friendships with the other girls and realizes what this could mean for someone.

Why did I review this today? I know that none of you were wondering that, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy and Quiggy at The Midnite Drive-In are hosting the Beyond Star Trek Blogathon!

The idea of this blogathon is to feature actors who were big in Star Trek in other roles. As I told Hamlette, I'm not much of a "treky" but I thought that this would be fun to do!

For the blogathon:

The Star Trek actor who is in this is William Shatner, who is famous for playing Captain Kirk. I had watched this movie before I saw bits of Star Trek then when I did but I didn't notice any similarities. It wasn't until I was watching Miss Congeniality again with my sister when she pointed out, "Hey, that's Kirk." My response of course was, "Who?" Once she explained I realized that she was correct.
William Shatner plays Stan Fields who is the announcer and host of the pageant. Even when I was watching this the first time I thought that he had a good "announcing" voice.

A big thank you to Quiggy and Hamlette for hosting!
Thanks for reading! Have any of you seen this? Have you seen William Shatner in anything that isn't Star Trek related?

Aloha!

MovieCritic

Movie Review: Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)

Hello!
Today is the last day of Hamlette's We ❤ Shakespeare Blogathon (check out the Master Post HERE)!

I've had so much fun writing my other two posts, but this has been my favorite. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! The button I chose to put here is another Romeo and Juliet retelling, but this is my favorite of all the ones that I have watched!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning.

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011):

Based on: Romeo and Juliet - by William Shakespeare.

"The story you are about to see has been told before...a lot. And now we are going to tell it again...but differently."

This story is about next door neighbor's garden gnomes. Like their owners they are bitter enemies. It's the blues vs. the reds! They like to show each other up by racing lawnmowers down the alley. When the blues's mower gets wrecked by a red, two blues, Gnomeo and Benny, plan for revenge. They are also very proud of their gardens. The leader of the reds is very protective of his daughter, Juliet. She spots a rare flower and decides fetch it to prove to her father that she doesn't need to be protected. Gnomeo and Juliet meet and fall for each other without knowing the other's color! As it is later pointed out, "It's doomed."

Genre: Romance, Comedy.

Length: approx. 84 minutes.

Costumes: 7, there is one gnome that goes around without really any clothes on, and we see people's underthings, but besides that they are good.

Script: 9, no bad words that I recall!
"How romantically tragic."

Crew:

Directed by: Kelly Asbury

"'Okay, I'm thinking of a movie that is one word and it sounds like "spider".'

'Is it "Spiderman"?'

'You're good!'"

Written by: Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Steve Hamilton Shaw, John R. Smith, & Rob Sprackling.
Starring the voices of:
James McAvoy as Gnomeo.

Emily Blunt as Juliet. 
"'When will you realize that you are delicate?'
'I'm not delicate!'"
Matt Lucas as Benny.

Jason Statham as Tybalt.
Ashley Jensen as Nanette. (She is on the red side, but she is actually green because she is a frog.)
Jim Cummings as Featherstone.
Michael Caine as Lord Redbrick.

Maggie Smith as Lady Bluebury.
Patrick Stewart as William Shakespeare.
Stephen Merchant as Paris.

Ozzy Osbourne as Fawn.
Kelly Asbury as Red Goon Gnomes.
Dolly Parton as Dolly Gnome.
James Daniel Wilson as Fishing Gnome.

Animation: 9, as you well know, I'm not a fan of digital animation, but I love this!!

Music: 10, they did such a good job with this! All of the music is based on Elton John's and for "Your Song" they changed the words to make it for garden gnomes. But, my favorite part is when the character Benny is hitting buttons. Each button he hits makes a noise and he plays out the opening for "Benny and the Jets"!

Music by: James Newton Howard, Chris Bacon, and Elton John.

Quotes: 9, "Oh, Gnomeo, Gnomeo, are we really doomed to never see each other again? Why must you wear a blue hat? Why couldn't it be red like my father? Or green like a leprechaun? Or purple, like...uh...like...um...like some weird guy?"

Sorry, I had to put this picture here because the face she makes when she says "weird guy" always cracks me up.

Notes: This movie is so great! It has so many Shakespeare references! They live on Verona Drive, their owners names are Miss Montague and Mr. Capulet, we see references/Easter eggs to the plays As You Like It, The Tempest, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, and I think there is one for King Lear, but I'm not familiar with that one so I'm not positive. They even changed some of the lines in Romeo and Juliet to make them fit!
"I don't know, a weed by any other name is still a weed."

Storyline: 8, there is some crude humor, suggestive things, separation, dealing with revenge (though it shows that it is bad), and the gnomes fight a bit.
"Other people's hate destroyed my love, and I could do nothing about it."

Overall Score: 8.5!

Bonus thoughts: I do know some people who don't like it, but I do, and they did a really good job making this!


A huge thank you to Hamlette for hosting this! I had a great time. Once again, go check out the other posts HERE!

Thanks for reading! Have you seen this movie? What do you think?

MovieCritic