The Bachelorette 2009 – The Finale

The final episode of The Bachlorette was quite emotional. Jillian Harris had the exciting, yet heartbreaking task of choosing between two men she has deep feelings for. Each man has qualities she’s looking for in a lifetime partner. That makes it even more difficult to make a choice.

As much as Jillian’s choice was going to be hard, it became even more difficult as 30 year old Reid, a realtor from Pennsylvania, makes a surprise return to declare his love for Jillian. His return was just moments before she was hoping for a proposal from one of the other two bachelors.

Reid poured his heart out, but Jillian had to stick with the choice she had made from her heart and Reid was sent home once again.

Surprisingly, Jillian also sent Kiptyn, a 31 year old business developer from California, home. Kiptyn seemed sincere from the start and had some awesome qualities. These qualities weren’t enough to override Jillian’s love for 29 year old Ed.

After lots of tears and heartache of having to send Kiptyn and Reid home, Jillian was filled with joy as Ed proposed and gave her a beautiful ring. May they have a lifetime of happiness, if they do indeed, make it to the altar.

New In Town (2009)

Lucy Hill, a city girl played by Renee Zellweger, is making a drastic change in her life by moving from Florida to a small town in Minnesota for her job. She finds the town people a bit difficult to get used to, including her union boss, played by Harry Connick, Jr.–representative of the weather’s stark chill.

The weather contributes to comedic scenes in “New in Town”, expressing how some people don’t realize just how cold some towns are—especially newcomers.

“New in Town” is a done-before movie, but it still holds a delight of its own.

Watch the trailer below for a preview:

The Ramen Girl (2008)

“The Ramen Girl’ is a light-hearted, yet intriguing movie. Brittany Murphy stars as Abby, an American tourist in Tokyo who is left by her boyfriend.

Abby hates her copy editing job in Tokyo as she gets very few assignments. She begins to feel her life has very little substance. One night she steps into a ramen noodle restaurant near her apartment. She falls apart and starts crying, only to be surrounded by those who speak a foreign language. The owner and chef of the restaurant tries to console her, somewhat hesitantly, with a bowl of ramen noodle soup.

The old cranky chef, played by Toshiyuki Nishida, later takes Abby on as an apprentice cook. She’s met with much criticism and a foreign language she has difficulty ever understanding. Somehow without the understanding of words, some meanings are understood.

To Abby’s surprise and delight, she meets a young Japanese man who captures her attention and later, her heart.

Abby wants to go outside the box and make ramen noodle soup her way. In the process, she learns more about life and herself.

“The Ramen Girl”–with Japanese subtitles–is rather slow-paced, but I found it to be a very charming and enjoyable movie. There are a lot of life lessons underneath the surface.

“The Bachelorette” 2009 – Ed Swiderski

Ed Swiderski was a strong contender for Jillian Harris’s heart on this season of “The Bachelorette”. Ed is tall, with dark hair and very work-oriented. Unfortunately, work got in the way as Ed chose to walk away from the show–and Jillian–so he would not lose his job. Jillian tried to understand, but underneath it all, she felt Ed was choosing work over her. After all, Ed went to the extreme of coming on a TV show to find true love. At least that’s the intention of the show. Wouldn’t it make sense to think things out before attempting to getting on the show in the first place?

But, Ed came back after realizing he couldn’t get Jillian out of his thoughts and heart. Jillian accepted Ed back as a contender and they shared some wonderful moments together, including Jillian getting to meet Ed’s parents. When Ed walked away from the show, Jillian didn’t get the opportunity to meet his family in his home town. He surprised and thrilled Jillian by flying his parents to the beautiful island of Maui to meet her.

Sharing a romantic night together didn’t go as expected. Ed and Jillian both expected a night of romance, but fatigue got in the way. Jillian was concerned, wondering if this is a clue as to what their life might be like in the future, if she chooses Ed.

Ed is a likable guy, but I question why he has trouble maintaining eye contact with Jillian. Does he have something to hide or is he just nervous? Does it possibly mean he would have trouble connecting deeply to Jillian, in the way she wants and needs? Does him walking away once, mean he may walk away again?

“Mystic Pizza”

“Mystic Pizza” is a simple, yet compelling story that takes place in a small town. The movie focuses on the life of three young women who work in a pizzeria. Julia Roberts stars as Daisy who dreams of marrying into a luxurious lifestyle, while her sister Kat, played by Annabeth Gish is the more studious and dreams of going to Yale. Lili Taylor stars as JoJo, who likes the company of a man, but seems to have a commitment phobia.

Leona, played by Conchata Ferrell, owns the busy small town pizza place. She forms a close bond with each of the girls as she sees their lives evolve. She has a legendary secret pizza recipe and is, both hopeful and anxious, when a pompous food critic is rumored to be coming to her restaurant. The critic’s reaction to the secret recipe is a key point in the movie.

The characters are believable. They each go outside their box, with some disappointments along the way, but dreams also come to life in their own way. Through it all, they form an even closer bond.

This is an older feel-good movie from 1988, with great acting and definitely worth seeing.

Bonneville

Bonneville debuted in 2006 and if not for the awesome cast of stars, some may feel this movie is less than impressive. Jessica Lange stars as Arvilla, Kathy Bates as Margene and Joan Allen as Carol. Let’s not forget Tom Skerrit who plays a truck driver.

Arvilla’s husband Joe has died and there is conflict between herself and her grown step-daughter as to what to do with her husband’s ashes. Arvilla wants to be true to her late husband’s wishes and scatter the ashes in the wind. Her uptight step-daughter wants a funeral, including the urn with the ashes.

Arvilla decides to make a trip to California to take the ashes to the funeral, as her step-daughter wishes. With her friends, Margene and Carol in tow, she heads out in Joe’s beloved old Bonneville.

The road trip springs forth a lot of experiences, including each middle-age woman learning more about themselves and about life. This movie captures enticing scenery and themes of friendship and even Margene, captures a man’s heart along the journey.

The script is good, although at times the movie is slow-paced. It isn’t a movie that will linger in your thoughts long, but is enjoyable. What happened to the ashes? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

“The Bachelorette” 2009

This season of the popular TV show, “The Bachelorette”, has been full of twists and turns. Jillian Harris has the arduous, yet exciting task of meeting Mr. Right. Jillian was a contestant on the last season of “The Bachelor” when she came very close to being proposed to by Jason Mesnick. Jillian wanted to find ‘her best friend’ and Jason claimed he needed more than that.

In a group of men vying for a woman’s affection, things can get heated up. Who is on the show with true intentions and who has an agenda? The men had their own theories, especially about Wes, a young and handsome country singer.

From the start, many of the men thought Wes was being deceitful. This posed a lot of confusion for Jillian, as she was being told Wes had a girlfriend. This statement came especially from the very handsome and very kind airline pilot, Jake who Jillian had sent home.

Jillian claimed Jake was ‘too perfect’. Even after being sent home, Jake returned in an attempt to spare Jillian heartache and confronted her and Wes together, hoping Wes would confess his agenda. Wes didn’t confess and Jillian had to find out for herself that, he was indeed, hiding something.

Was Wes’ need for fame and exposure more important than winning Jillian’s heart? Why did Jillian ever fall for Wes, who left her confused and sent home a great guy like Jake who was as genuine as they come? Stay tuned for more of “The Bachelorette”.