After seeing this movie, there are two things I wish for:

1. The ability to successfully break into song and dance (successfully) anywhere I want
2. That Daniel Day-Lewis (DDL) finally says “I know, I’m the sh*t” when people praise his acting skills

Both of those happening would make me really happy.

I’m a sucker for a good musical. Song and dance? Bring it on. I love singing about my feelings. So I capitalized on my stepmom’s secret DDL crush and dragged her and my dad out to see this movie last week. And as a big Rob Marshall fan, I was ready to be ridiculously jealous of the fashion, scenery and musical talent.

So let’s take a closer look.

Movie: Nine

Rating: PG-13

Release date: December 25, 2009

Everyday Adventures’ grade: B-

Summary: Guido (DDL) is an Italian director with a lot of problems. He has a movie that’s about to start shooting with no script and he’s having trouble juggling all the women in his life, including his wife (Marian Cotillard), mistress (Penelope Cruz), costume designer (Judi Dench) and muse (Nicole Kidman).

My thoughts: Sweet lord I wanted to really love this movie and for the most part I did but I think I fell victim to some early reviews, which were mixed.

The high points: DDL amazing as always and Rob Marshall’s direction, use of space and light were visually stunning. I love the location scenes in Italy, which made me want a mini sports car and cigarette right away, and Marian Cotillard was really great. Her musical numbers were strong and she looked every bit as tortured as she meant to and should have been. Guido is a total cad. I even found myself saying out loud “good God he slept with her too???!”

And now the bad, I was just…underwhelmed. The musical numbers didn’t feel like a fit with the plot points in which they appeared nor did they feel natural. Kate Hudson was gorgeous but had such a minor role, she wasn’t really necessary in the film at all, same with Fergie, who had the strongest song and best choreography for , “Be Italian.” Fergie, Sophia Loren and Kate Hudson were not really relevant to the larger storyline and are each on screen for about…20 minutes. And usually when I see musicals, I can pick a few really catchy songs that will come out of it and outside of Fergies, none really wow’ed me.

As I heard in early reviews, the story is weak and it is. DDL does such a great job of playing this cad of a guy but the crowded cast and random musical numbers makes the story hard to really grasp on to before it implodes and you don’t know if the movie is actually done.

Still, the look is good, music is great and Penelope Cruz shows me again why she does “crazy” so well. I don’t think this will really win anything of importance at the Golden Globes or Oscars but if it had a pared down cast and stronger story, I think it would have been better.

Okay, time for me to go practice my jazz hands. What’s your favorite musical?

I love Victorian period movies. LOVE THEM. Why? Because I love the romance, the clandestine meetings, letters, longing looks and of course the necessary dance sequence where the characters struggle to contain their love, which culminates shortly thereafter in a wooded setting with kisses and asking for permission to marry.

I eat that sh*t up. With a spoon. I swoon and almost throw myself on my back, scratching around because it’s so d*mn cute.

And while I hate Emily Blunt for being so gorgeous, talented and mostly for being engaged to the man of my dreams in real life, I was intrigued by the movie’s trailer. And fortunately, it came out in Milwaukee on Christmas Day so I could skip over for a showing and bask in the pageantry.

Movie: The Young Victoria

Rating: PG

Release date: December 18, 2009 (limited)

Everyday Adventures’ grade: A+

Summary: Victoria (Emily Blunt) is the future Queen of England who is kept “protected” by her mother (Miranda Richardson) and advisors. And Victoria is feeling like she’s trapped in a prison, just waiting for word about when she will become queen. And she is trapped. She has to be escorted down the stairs at all times and her food has to be “taste tested” first. Contemporary books and music are banned too. The movie generally follows the first few years of her reign and the romance she has with husband Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) from Germany. Fortunately, the movie doesn’t weigh as heavily on the political piece of this (unlike Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth movies) but the romance between Albert and Victoria, which is entertaining enough on it’s own.

My thoughts: I absolutely f*cking love this movie. It was above and beyond my expectations and so far is one of my favorite movies of the latter half of the year. Despite my hate toward Emily Blunt for taking my man, she was amazing in this role with a great mix of vulnerability, insecurity and young love. Much like Carey Milligen in An Education, she just wears all of her emotions on her sleeve when it comes to Prince Albert and you suddenly wish you received passionate declarations of love via letter and now, I wish I had someone to just write a letter to! Rupert Friend is great as Albert and the chemistry between him and Emily is just spot-on. The costumes are amazing (hello couture!) and the scenes of Windsor castle and the then newly built Buckingham Palace are jaw dropping. Miranda Richardson does well as Victoria’s mother who meant well by her daughter but took bad advice along the way and Jim Broadbent, in a smaller role, is memorable too. I laughed, cried and just left with this warm and fuzzy feeling.

Seriously though, this movie belongs to Emily Blunt in just a really great performance. I would definitely see it again and encourage you to check it out as well.

Reader note: This is my first movie review on my little blog so please let me know if you want me to continue or have any requests of other information to include. I’m still learning as I go with this.