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Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)

Notting Hill (Ultimate Edition)

List Price: $26.98
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Soundtrack! Good movie!
Review: Hugh Grant is wonderful! Julia just "so-so". I loved the movie - the soundtrack alone is worth the price. Recommend both to everyone!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: on of the best movies ever
Review: I first saw this movie on tv and loved it after looking in stors I finaly found a copy. This is a cute mivie about finding your true love. It had a funny cast and Hugh Grant is wonderful in this movie. I think its his best yet. Julia Roberts is all right in this movie but it is manely about Hugh.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How did I go so long with out seeing this?
Review: After watching this movie I only had one question for myself: "How did I go so long with out seeing this?" The movie made me laugh, made me cry, and made my jump for joy. I don't think I have seen a movie that brings you through as many emotions as this one does, and lets you off at the top of the roller coaster. This movie set me flying as much the second time I watched it as the first. I'm glad it is now part of my collection, and I strongly recommend that everyone else get a copy and keep it close to your VCR.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Amiable and sweet-natured
Review: For screenwriter Richard Curtis' follow-up to the unexpected success of Four Weddings and a Funeral, he had to capitalise by importing big name star Julia Roberts. Whilst he does this, the result is nowhere near as personable as the excellent Four Weddings or the later Bridget Jones' Diary, despite it being probably the best romantic comedy of 1999. The story has poor bookshop owner William Thacker (Grant) meeting famous actress Anna Scott (Roberts) by accident and them forming a relationship that has to overcome the problem of Anna's celebrity. Of course, the answer is obvious from the very beginning, although there are enough flourishes and nice touches to make this much well worth seeing for any movie-goer, no matter how cynical.

In particular, the supporting cast is a charm (mainly consisting of well-known British TV actors), in particular the wonderful Emma Chambers as William's sister. Carrying over her performance as Alice in British comedy The Vicar of Dibley, she steals just about every scene she's in. Of course, it would be impossible to overlook the main performers and Grant is amiable enough doing his typical role as the English fop. Of course, the real interesting point of note there is that this was the role that rescued him from his ugly public persona at the time. As for Julia Roberts, she has appropriately enough never looked more beautiful, and puts in a charismatic performance (despite it not being quite as memorable as her tour de force in Erin Brockavich) that in particular shines at the end when she presents William with the choice to be with her or not. Managing to portray vulnerability she is every bit the luminous actress that the role demands of her.

There isn't really much to fault the film for, just the fact that it isn't particularly anything special. Indeed, it's telling that things are a lot more interesting when we're not focused on the leads' romance. Especially, what was probably meant as a study of the nature and absurdities of celebrity doesn't really come together. This has nothing to do with the acting but more the fact that it's difficult to take seriously something that presents itself openly as a fairytale romance. Or maybe this was the point, but if it's that love can conquer all then it's hardly unconventional. Still, the vein of wonderful British humour (along with Emma Chambers and Rys Ifans) make this enjoyable and sweet without ever succumbing to sentimentality. Sure it's no classic but you'll be hard pushed to find something more sweet-natured.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Delightful Romantic Comedy--British Style!
Review: Richard Curtis (writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, and co-writer of The Vicar of Dibley, Mr. Bean, The Black Adder, and Bridget Jones's Diary) is, at least in my books, a fairly safe bet when it comes to comedy. Like Four Weddings and a Funeral, this film is a light (albeit fanciful) romantic British comedy which proceeds at a gentle pace, with the humour being characteristically understated and seasoned with some very funny moments. As with so many British comedies, the humour is primarily dialogue-based with very little reliance on slapstick or silly gags.

The film stars Hugh Grant (an actor whom, I will confess right now, I enjoy) as William Thacker, the rather reserved owner of a travel book shop in the Notting Hill district of London. Thacker meets Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), a high-profile Hollywood actress, when she wanders into his book shop. Things more or less progress from there, with the tensions arising from the stressors one would naturally expect to surface in any relationship involving a famous individual.

The supporting actors are absolutely wonderful in this film, with my favourite being James Dreyfus (The Thin Blue Line's side-splittingly funny Constable Goody), who is the real show stealer as Thacker's hilarious shop assistant, Martin. Dreyfus's role is a small one (and I'd have loved to have seen more use made of him), but he is certainly pivotal in providing the film with some of its funniest moments. Then there is Emma Chambers's portrayal of Thacker's ditsy, hare-brained sister, Honey (a character very similar to Chambers's role as the air-headed Alice Tinker in The Vicar of Dibley). Of course, one must not forget Thacker's Welsh flatmate, Spike, a slovenly, tactless, not to mention witless idiot.

The Special Edition of the video contains (after the closing credits) roughly seven clips that were edited out of the film, which I really enjoyed seeing. Following this is a five-minute behind-the-scenes tour with Hugh Grant, during which the viewer is introduced to Grant's parents (which was kind of nice).

In short, though I'm not a person who is normally attracted to the romantic comedy genre in general, I am a huge fan of British comedy, and I really quite enjoyed this film. But then Richard Curtis has a distinctive brand of humour which (at least in my opinion) is always highly enjoyable. Those who've enjoyed his other offerings (particularly Four Weddings and a Funeral, which bears the closest similarity to this one) will surely enjoy this film. Even if you're not familiar with Curtis (or with British comedies in general), I would not hesitate to recommend this film to anyone who enjoys and is looking for a really sweet, light romantic comedy. (Oh, and if you enjoyed this film, please check out The Vicar of Dibley--you'll not be disappointed. It's not a romantic comedy, but it contains the same type of humour and it is hands down one of the funniest shows around!)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great package
Review: I do not think this is the greatest movie in the world by any means (I bought it for my mother), but I am happy with what came in the DVD.
There are 2 DVD discs. One with a widescreen edition of the movie, one with a fullscreen view. Each CD had interesting extras like deleted scenes, etc.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Rhys Ifans rules
Review: A fairly run of the mill, brit flik romantic comedy, the casting of Rhys Ifans though brings a level of comedy which elevates the movies as a whole.
Hugh Grant playing his usual stuttering awkward englishman to a tee, and he does it so well.
The most annoying element is the friends over the topness, much as in Bridget Jones diary, the actors involved seem to be overdoing it and it all a bit sickening.
And if only that bloody annoying Ronan Keating song wasnt peppered throughout, it causes a wave of nausea on its opening strains.
as romantic comedys go, its a pretty good one

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ending rips off 'Roman Holiday'. Second hand stuff.
Review: None of this rings true, a sentiment apparently endorsed by Roberts who did not believe in a lot of her character's actions, especially over the old photographs. This may explain the lack of chemistry between the two stars and Robert's curiously stiff and un-attractive performance. I didn't believe in the press scrum outside Grant's front door, either. For a start, the police wouldn't accept an obstruction in a narrow street like that, but I won't carp on. There's the odd laugh.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: DVD - Ultimate Edition
Review: Notting Hill - You either love it or you hate it, and since you don't spend this much money on a DVD without knowing whether or not you like the film this review is purely about the extras on the DVD, ultimate edition. When I was trying to choose between the Collectors Edition and the Ultimate Edition I couldn't find any helpful reviews so here is the first Amazon review I have ever written.

Disc 1 -

Widescreen version of the film. Choice of English or French language, English captions and Spanish subtitles. Since I can't read Spanish I don't know what the difference between captions and subtitles is.

Feature commentary (subtitles available) - The Writer, Director and Producer talk over the whole film, providing a wonderful glimpse behind the scenes. Non-stop anecdotes about filming, props, sets, stars and supporting cast. The history of the blue door and the fate of garden benches. Why the entire production crew had to dress up in jackets and ties. Which of those locations were in fact sets on a sound studio and loads of other stuff that makes you view the film with a fresh eye. If you are still in love with Anna Scott and Wil Thacker, don't watch this as it does, to some extent, take away the magic of the story.

Spotlight on location (subtitles available) - 14:00 minutes - Scenes from the film with chat from the writer, director, producer, Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, Emma Chambers and Hugh Bonneville.

Seasonal walk down Portobello Road - 3:30 minutes - Disappointingly short but very interesting. The Special Effects Supervisor explains just how they filmed Hugh's one minute walk through six months of London's weather changes.

Deleted Scenes - 6 scenes cut from the finished film. Many others are mentioned during the feature commentary but these are entertaining enough although personally I am glad they didn't make it to the final version. William tries to tell his parents, another blind date at the dinner table, Spike serves Anna pepperoni pizza, Spike messing things up even more after Anna leaves, Spike giving wedding day interviews to the media and an alternative ending set in Tony's prospering restaurant.

Music Highlights - Direct jumps to nine songs from the movie

Recommendations - Just a trailer for Erin Brockovich

Travel Book - About three pages of text from a (very poor) travel guide to Notting Hill with a map and list of restaurants. I felt very cheated as I was expecting a live tour of the real Notting Hill; hoping for something like a thirty minute documentary you might see on the travel channel.

Production Notes - About a dozen pages of text, much of which is mentioned in the commentary.

Cast and Film Makers - Brief Bios of the main actors, the writer, producer and director.

DVD Newsletter - Web address to register for on-line newsletter. It didn't inspire me to register so I can't tell you anything about it.

DVD-ROM - If you have the hardware on your computer there 'might' be access to wallpapers, screen savers and internet sites. It doesn't say exactly what and since I don't have a DVD-ROM I can't tell you anything else.

Disc 2

Full screen version of the film - Language and subtitles the same as disc 1

Feature Commentary - Same as disc 1

Music Highlights - Same as disc 1

Travel Book - Same as disc 1

Production Notes - Same as disc 1

Cast and Film Makers - Same as disc 1

DVD Newsletter - Same as disc 1

DVD-ROM - Same as disc 1

Hugh Grant's Movie Tips - 4:00 minutes - Disappointingly short. Meet his parents and some of the crew.

Elvis Costello video - Elvis Costello singing his version of 'She'. This video gave me a headache. There are only four verses but I lost count at 50 camera jumps from Elvis in the theatre, Elvis sitting down and Elvis standing outside. Some clips from the film included

Shania Twain video - Cute video of Shania singing 'You've got a way' with some clips from the film. Nicely done.

Photograph Montage - 4:45 minutes - This I thought was going to be another space filler but I was very pleasantly surprised. Stills from the film and a few behind the scenes shots set to the Anna and Wil music score by Trevor Jones. I found it amazing how much more I saw in a still that I missed in the film. Very well chosen pictures and beautiful music.

US Theatrical Trailer - 2:45 minutes - As seen in American Theatres
International Theatrical Trailer - 2:10 minutes - As seen in English Theatres - These two trailers are totally different and really bring home the cultural differences between England and America. I was surprised to see clips from a deleted scene here.

There it is. If you got this far, thanks for reading. By the way, I loved the film. Like Four Weddings and a Funeral it is just so English. Being English myself, from London, with a crush on Hugh Grant, I am of course extremely biased.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Emotional story that assimilate the truthful love
Review: The film expresses difficult things with a fairytale like story that flow smoothly throughout the movie and you'll discover the other side of the celebrity , but its really a romantic story after all , full of emoitons , My advice if you are looking for something briliant don't search no more this is your movie .


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