Fancy Things Friday: "About Time" I talked about this.

Welcome to Fancy Things Friday, where I talk about things on a Friday that I think are fancy!!

Excuse me whilst I take a moment to lol a little over my word play from today's title...

Oh lol lol lol lol lol. Lisa, you crack me up. 

Aaaand I'm done. 

This week, my fancy thing is going to be a movie, thus combining a Fancy Thing Friday with a Reviewing Shizzle post in one harmonious union that is accepted worldwide.  

Today, I will be discussing the awesomeness that is Richard Curtis' latest movie, About Time. 

Just take a moment to look at it and marvel. Because, if you have already seen this movie then it will bring back all the fond memories of why it completely rocked your world, and if you haven't, it will spark up the beginning of a love affair that will take you to completely new worlds beyond your wildest dreams. You are welcome world. 

About Time is an example of Curtis at his best. For those of you who don't know who he is by name, you should be more aware of his reputation...

Yes, that's right, I do have the complete collection of Richard Curtis rom coms just casually packed into my bag for instant use at any given moment... why? Don't you? 

So, for those of you who can't quite make out all the above DVDs, the list of his greats are:

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral

2. Notting Hill

3. Bridget Jones

4. Bridget Jones 2

5. Love Actually

He also did The Boat that Rocked, but I don't include it on the account of it not actually being in the same genre, although still fairly enjoyable, if not quite at the level Curtis is usually at. He is the writer of all of them (screenplay only for the Bridget Jones ones; I am aware that they were books first) and the Director of Love Actually and About Time. 

My reasons for loving About Time as much as I do are down to multiple reasons. The first one, and most important, is that Curtis has had a massive hiatus from movies recently, his last rom com being back in 2004. Me, being the hardcore Curtis fan that I am, struggled immensely with this. Also, I wasn't allowed to complain about it, because he was doing worthwhile things instead, like saving third worlds and shizzle. It left me in quite a moral quandry about the whole thing. 

So with the 9 year gap in which I had had to wait, you can imagine the anticipation and expectation that had been built into the lead up to About Time. I absolutely insisted that One-And-Only-Daniela make sure she had reserved time in her schedule for watching this movie, about 4 months prior to its release date and almost sprinted to the screen when the actual day of showing arrived. 

I will admit I was worried with my excitement over this. Such was my expectation of this movie by the time the opening credits started, that nothing short of perfect would manage to satisfy me... Somehow, in amongst all of that, Curtis delivered, and I came out of that movie with my jaw dropped and my emotions all over the place. For someone to actually achieve the impossible of meeting my ridiculously high standards for this film just proves how awesome it was. 

Now, I want to take a moment to address all the people who haven't seen this movie yet and have been encouraged so far by my review. You need to understand what is so amazing about this film in order to fully appreciate it. 

It is not an all out action movie. There will be no explosions or massive twists in the plot. What makes this film the masterpiece, in my opinion, that it is, is the subtle and beautiful traits that Curtis has, shining through the movie. 

It's a British Romantic Comedy, so please do expect a laid back tale with more focus on the relationships of the characters, above all else. If you are of that mind frame, you should be good to go in terms of enjoying the movie. 

My favourite thing about Richard Curtis and the way that he writes, is that he manages to find the subtle balance between a romantic movie that is full of beautiful and 'big gesture' moments, and the very real and exciting aspect of what real life relationships are about. 

About Time is about a man who finds out from his father that he can travel in time and how that then effects his life after he meets the woman who he ends up marrying and starting a family with. It's basically a much better version of The Time Traveller's Wife (the movie, not the book) and this is highlighted by the fact that they have cast Rachel McAdams as the wife character in this movie as well (she was also the wife in The Time Traveller's Wife). 

I'm pretty certain I've talked about this before, but in story telling there are two directions in which the writer can go in terms of their focus in the story. The story could be predominantly plot based, focusing on the twists and turns of the storyline throughout, which is generally the direction most action movies go, or it could be character based, focusing on the development of the characters within and their relationships with each other. Curtis is, by far, my favourite character based writer. Even when he writes a film with a plot about time travel, thus suggesting that it could easily become the focus of the movie, he still manages to formulate it so that it plays second to the relationships within. 

About Time's focus is predominantly about two relationships. One: The relationship between our main couple and their life together, and Two: The relationship between a man and his father. Both of these relationships are written and formulated in such a way that just thinking about them gives me shivers. 

In addition to the beauty that is Curtis' storytelling, we then have the actors who bring this story to life. Needless to say, given my fetish, I was first on board when I heard our main character would be played by a ginger man, and a beautiful example of one at that; Domhall Gleeson. Gleeson is fairly new to the movie scene, but everything I've seen him in so far, I've liked. You might recognise him predominantly as Bill Weasley in the last two Harry Potter movies. However, if you would like a really good example of how amazing he is, apart from the featured film that is, then get yourself a copy of Black Mirror, Season 2 Episode 1. You don't have to have watched any of the others, as they all stand alone on their own and have no connection to each other. However, if you want to, then please do, each episode is awesome, if not slightly disturbing and scary. They're each like one mini movie. Gleeson plays a character called Ash, he rocks in it, no more needs to be said. Just watch it and thank me later. 

Alongside Gleeson is Rachel McAdams, who completely redeems herself from the appalling Time Traveler's Wife movie with this. It felt to me that it was almost like her saying, "See? I can do a good movie about Time Travelling, let's forget that other one ever happened." And then there's the ever genius of Bill Nighy, who I love for reasons I cannot understand or comprehend. He's just awesome. He plays Gleeson's dad, and I can't even go into why that relationship is so perfect, except to say that it is and you need to find out for yourself the reasons by watching the movie right now.

All in all, it was my favourite movie of last year. One-And-Only-Daniela and I came out of that cinema and couldn't talk except to say "It was just..." "... I know" at each other for about an hour. Last weekend we watched it again on DVD for Valentines and the magic of the awesomeness was still very much there. 

I don't know where other countries outside of Britain are at in terms of the release of this movie, but if you are able to get yourself a copy of this movie, do it. Trust me on this one. 

... 

Usually I worry that I oversell a product so that it can never live up to the expectation I've now given you, but I'm not worried this time. Curtis can handle it. He's freakin' awesome. 

Peace out my lovelies.