Moonstruck

Rating:
Summary: Favorite movie of all time
Review: It's hard to imagine Cher acting, much less acting well, but this is a fantastic movie. It's so human, dealing with very real emotions in a very touching way. It's not sappy. People in the movie are not perfect and you don't get one of those impossible Hollywood endings. At the same time, the ending is totally believable. Nicholas Cage is great, as is Olympia Dukakis. This movie has staying power, unlike a lot of glossier movies that made bigger splashes. You'll remember it for years.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastico!
Review: This is probably the best romantic comedy ever made. Perfect casting, performances, wardrobe, & music. It is very deserving of best-picture award as is Cher's outstanding and memorable performance. An essential addition to your video collection.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: This is my 10th time screening this incredible movie and now I have the option of buying it in DVD. Bravo toCher and Norman Jewison and Ms. Dukakis

Rating:
Summary: Moonstruck is terrific
Review: Moonstruck is one of the best gems that's been on the screen---ever. Cher, Nick Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis all put in great performances in this Brooklyn romance, set in today's world, but timeless in it's tale of love. A true romantic comedy with some pricelss one liners in it. And all the time, the wonderful music of Puccini in the background. A must see. END

Rating:
Summary: Sophistication Under The Moonlight
Review: Yes dear viewer, Moonstruck provides the most sophisticated elements of a good movie could offer. A great story, excellent performers and the fabulous music of Puccini. END

Rating:
Summary: Moonstruck by Moonstruck
Review: "Moonstruck" is my favorite movie of all time! I just love Cher in this movie. I won't forget the first time I saw Cher's name in the opening credits to a movie (see Cher as nothing less than a lesbian mortuary beautician in "Silkwood"). I thought, "Cher!? Cher can't act!" She sure showed me though: Such an acting talent, and Loretta is incredibly likeable in "Moonstruck." What strikes me most about "Moonstruck," what I simply love, and what makes it such a fantastic story is all the themes running through this movie: Watch for dogs & wolves, great food, an obsession with death, forthright honesty, and that ever-present moonlit romance! My favorite scene: When Loretta is telling Pop she's getting married: "You did this once before it didn't work out." My favorite line: Pop at the dinner table: "I don't wanna talk about it!" Even though this movie is as perfect as they come, part of the fun of rewatching this so many times is musing about two things: Is Cher choking back an actress' laugh when she's coming out of the closet in the bedroom, right before "I should have taken a rock and killed myself years ago." And, is Pop's calling the engagement ring a "baby's ring" an actor's misquote that was left to be beautifully incorporated into the dialogue? Make a plate of spaghetti, grab an Italian soda, and get ready to just plain feel good watching "Moonstruck" again and again! Double 5 stars means get double copies!!!

Rating:
Summary: Why do men chase women?
Review: This is just one of the questions asked and answered in this little gem of a movie. (btw, the answer is "Maybe because they fear death." Both sweet and tart, it has just the right blend of humor, melancholy, and true love. Cher is at her best here as Loretta Castorini, a widow who falls in love with the younger brother of her fiance, Nicholas Case and Danny Aiello respectively--both equally amazing in these roles. Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia round out the case as Loretta's parents. Feodor Chaliapin Jr. is priceless as Loretta's dog-doting grandfather and catch John Mahoney before he became "Frasier"'s dad.

My favorite scene is the where Loretta first meets Johnny at the bakery. Nicholas Cage gives the funniest, saddest speech about his past. I know the whole scene by heart.

Rating:
Summary: Moonstruck (1987)
Review: Ever since her incredible debut with Sonny Bono in 1965, Cher has been known to be one of the mos successful female musical acts known to the world. Cher has had a hugely successful career in music; she was well-known with Sonny, but it was her solo career that seemed more successful. But Cher wasn't about to be successful in just the music business; Cher wanted to be successful as an actress as well. Cher has starred in a wide load of movies, such as 'Chastity', where she played the title role, 'Silkwood', where she played Dolly Pelliker, 'Mask', where she played Florence 'Rusty' Dennis, 'Suspect', where she played Kathleen Riley, 'The Witches Of Eastwick', where she played Alexandra Medford, etc. But it was her role as Loretta Castorini in the romantic comedy, 'Moonstruck' that made her another one of today's best actresses.

Taking place in New York City in 1987, Cher playes Loretta Castorini, a lonely Italian widow, who is longing for her Prince Charming to sweep her up off her legs and get her out of her misery. Loretta goes to dinner with her best friend, Johnny Cammareri (played by Danny Aiello). Johnny surprisingly proposes to Loretta, and she happily accepts. Although Loretta likes Johnny a lot because he is her best friend, she knows for a fact that she does not love him. After dinner, Loretta drives Johnny to the airport, for he is flying to Sicilly to be by the side of his dying mother. Before he boards the plane, Johnny gives Loretta the number to his brother's place, and tells her to invite his brother to the wedding. The two lived their lives without seeing or speaking to each other for five years, due to an accident. Loretta assures Johnny that she'll do so and goes home to tell her mother and father, Rose and Cosmo Castorini (played by Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia). Loretta wakes up the next morning, with a phone call from Johnny, asking if Loretta had called his brother yet. Loretta informs Johnny that she'll do so when she hangs up with Johnny. She calles Johnny's brother, but his brother sounds very bitter about Johnny getting married first. Loretta walks down to where Johnny's brother works. Ronny Cammareri is Johnny's brother and he works in a little bread factory, who is still miserable after losing his hand in a bread chopper. He feels Johnny was responsible since, Ronny was using the chopper to chop up some bread for Johnny. Loretta takes Ronny back to his place and begins to explain the truth to Johnny's misery. But the two wind up sleeping together.

The next morning, Loretta wakes up the next morning only to find Ronny by her side and flips out. She realizes that what she did was wrong, for she is still engaged to Johnny. But Ronny finds himself having fallen madly in love with Loretta... literally. Ronny invites Loretta to the opera, telling her that he loves her dearly and loves the opera dearly. He then says that if he could be with the woman he loves for one more night and to spend the night with the woman he loves by attending a show he loves dearly, he would promise not to bother Loretta again. Loretta goes to the Met, where she meets up with Ronny. The two sit through the opera, very much enjoying the show. Loretta seemed to have enjoyed very much, until she finds her father with a woman and that woman is not her mother. Ronny and Loretta go back to Ronny's place. Loretta does not want to be unfaithful, since she has been unfaithful to Johnny already once. But she knows that she does not love Johnny, for she is madly in love with Ronny and, for the first time, really sees that Ronny is love with her. Will Loretta leave Johnny for Ronny, or will she stay with Johnny? Watch this classic romantic comedy and you'll find out.

Rating:
Summary: The Moon Shines Bright Over New York
Review: This movie was absolutely wonderful! It is not just a story of new love (with Cher and a fabulous Nicolas Cage), but also a tender tribute to "old timers" who manage to stay in love with each other (and romantic with each other) throughout the years.

Cher is good (she did win an Oscar), but the true stars of the movie are the supporting cast -- Vincent Gardenia and Olympia Dukakis as her parents, Danny Aiello as her already-henpecked fiance, Nic Cage (already mentioned above) -- and the countless smaller cast members as the New York people she meets everyday. Her aunt and uncle are especially sweet!

Being a native New Yorker, the people and the situations rang true, but the script is so good that it actually transends the New York setting. You could picture this story happening anywhere with any kind of people. And at the end, you sigh and smile at the wonder of it all. Isn't that what a good love story is all about?

Rating:
Summary: This DVD is not "Pan&Scan", however...
Review: Although the theatrical aspect ratio of this movie was 1.85:1, while the DVD aspect ratio is 4:3, this is not a "Pan&Scan" DVD. In other words, almost none of the original theatrical image has been removed for exhibition on a 4:3 television screen. The film negative aspect ratio was 1.37:1 (almost 4:3), and for theatrical exhibition, the image was "matted" (partially covered from the top down and bottom up) to produce a 1.85:1 image. For exhibition on a 4:3 television screen, the "mattes" have simply been removed. So the DVD exhibition actually shows 31.4 percent more image than the theatrical exhibition. The movie was likely filmed this way so that the theatrical image wouldn't be butchered on television by the "Pan&Scan" process, and because the filmmakers didn't foresee the current state of the home video market, where consumers prefer movies presented in their theatrical aspect ratio, rather than in a ratio in which the image will fill up their 4:3 television screen (if there is a difference). This DVD presents the movie in the aspect ratio in which the filmmakers wanted people to see it on a 4:3 television, but it does not present the movie in the aspect ratio in which the filmmakers wanted people to see it in a movie theater (for that, the DVD would have to present the movie in a "matted widescreen" format). If you're okay with that, enjoy!