Reviews and More

I do my best to keep up with interesting news relating to personal finance because I’m trying to turn that area of my life around. I want to get out of debt, control my spending, and start investing for a more secure financial future.

Towards that end, I’ve been reading some of the financial news articles over on the Lombard Direct website. One article I read dealt with car loans, and pointed out that some buyers might be better off getting a personal loan to pay for their auto rather than using the dealership’s financing program. Sometimes personal loans carry lower interest rates than the dealers offer, and that would obviously save you a lot of money during the course of the loan life. I have to admit that I never thought about that option, but will certainly keep it in mind the next time I’m ready to buy a new car.

Another article that I found useful dealt with the pros and cons of home improvement. This is a very important topic for me right now because my husband and I are considering several expensive renovation projects at the moment. But these improvements might result in only a minimal increase in the home’s value, which of course makes those projects less attractive from a financial standpoint.

Anyway, those are just two of the articles from the Lombard Direct website. I have to say that I really enjoy this new feature, and will definitely be checking back regularly for even more info!

I had watched the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance back when it first came out in 1997 or ‘98. The movie was a huge hit in Japan, and I really enjoyed the original. Therefore, I was looking forward to seeing the 2004 American version starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon — and I wasn’t disappointed!

Gere stars as an attorney named John Clark. Although he seems to have a good life (he loves his wife and daughter, and can put up with his job), we get the sense that something’s missing. Then one night as he’s riding the train home, he catches sight of a young woman (Lopez) in a dance studio and on a whim decides to visit the studio. He ends up signing up for a ballroom dance class.

For some reason, John doesn’t tell his family that he’s taking these dance classes. Indeed, at first he’s not even very interested in the lessons at all. He’s there because of the instructor, whose name, he learns, is Paulina. But she is understandably aloof, and prefers to keep her distance from the students.

Oh, and speaking of the students, there’s quite a motley crew in John’s class, including: the very overweight Vern (Omar Miller), who’s always talking about his beautiful fiance; Link (Stanley Tucci), the quirky guy who truly seems to have a passion for dance; the insecure Chic (Bobby Canavale), who finds it necessary to keep telling people that he’s not gay; and Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter), the wannabe glamour girl.

Anyway, at first John isn’t very interested in the dance lessons once he realizes he has no shot with Paulina. But he ends up staying mostly because Link (who works in the same office) convinces him to. John then turns out to be one of the best students in the class.

However, John’s home life starts to get a bit strained as his wife Beverly (Sarandon) wonders why he stays out late so often. John still doesn’t tell her about the dance lessons, which leads to a later confrontation when she eventually finds out. Of course, since this movie is billed as a romantic comedy, everything works out in the end.

Shall We Dance is, on the whole, a predictable film — and not just because it’s a remake, either. There are scenes that the entire audience knows have to be included in the film: the students finally bonding with each other; the big dance competition; the revelation that John is a good dancer, etc. Surprisingly, however, these obligatory scenes don’t detract from the movie at all. I was still able to enjoy it, and I think that mostly had to do with the actors. All of them were good, and Gere was particularly charming in this.

Overall, I thought Shall We Dance was a fun, lighthearted movie that provides viewers with a couple of good hours of entertainment. I give it 6.5 stars out of 10.

Despite his well-publicized drug problems and arrests, Robert Downey, Jr. has been one of my favorite actors for a long time now. I thought he was great in the 2000 film Wonder Boys, and also enjoyed his brief stint on Ally McBeal as Calista Flockhart’s love interest, Larry Paul. But I hadn’t seen him in anything recently, so I was glad to come across a copy of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang at the video store the other day.

I’d never heard of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang before, so I didn’t know what to expect. The film got off to a great start. Downey plays a man named Harry Lockhart, an ex-burglar who gets “discovered” in New York and moves to L.A. to become a movie star. He serves as the narrator of the movie, and talks directly to the audience, thereby marking Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang as one of those heavily stylized, “hip” movies that always remind me of Tarantino.

While in L.A., Harry meets up with a gay detective named Perry (played by Val Kilmer) who is supposed to give him “detective lessons” for a role in an upcoming film. Harry also reconnects with Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), a girl from his childhood that he’s always had a thing for. These three then get involved in a wild murder plot and must conduct their own investigation to find the killer before they get taken out as well.

At first, I thought the pacing of the movie was great. Things were happening, the dialog was snappy, and Harry was extremely likable as the narrator. But then it felt as though screenwriter/director Shane Black didn’t know where to draw the line as far as the unbelievable coincidences and conversational witticisms went. Nearly every scene had a bunch of punchlines, sight gags, etc. and it just became too exhausting to take it all in.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang had the potential to be an excellent film, but even the fantastic performances by the lead actors couldn’t save the overall product. It was too smart for its own good!

On that account, I give the film 6 stars out of 10.