movie buff

Just Like Heaven

Director: Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday)

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo

Prelude: Supernatural romance is an inexhaustible subject for story lines, as it involves the two most basic elements of life: love and death. Just Like Heaven feels like a comedic, lightweight version of Ghost (1984), which starred Demi Moore in her prime and is deemed by many to be one of the most romantic movies of all time.

The story: Witherspoon plays a workaholic who is left in a coma after a car accident. Her spirit lingers in her apartment, which is rented out to a heartbroken alcoholic (Ruffalo). Their mutual dislike for each other mutates into love after they realise what they have missed out in life.

The star: Witherspoon entered the spotlight at 15 when she starred in the 1991 coming-of-age film The Man in the Moon. The wife of actor Ryan Phillippe (White Squall, I Know What You Did Last Summer) and the mother of two children, she is best known for her sorority queen role in Legally Blonde (2001).

Why bother? Sweet and occasionally funny, Just Like Heaven is a nice movie for killing time.

Lawrence of Arabia

Director: David Lean

Starring: Peter O'Toole, Alex Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins

Prelude: The movie is based on the real-life story of T.E. Lawrence, a mysterious, desert-loving Briton famous for helping Arab tribes revolt against the Turks during the first world war. An expert in Arabian culture and politics, he was in favour of Arab independence after the war. He died in 1935 in a motorcycle accident.

The film: Lean's 1962 grand epic won seven Oscar awards, including best director, best picture and best colour cinematography. Without a single significant female character, it is the perhaps one of the most masculine films in movie history. The film, in its original version, is being screened as a re-release.

The star: Lawrence of Arabia was O'Toole's first big break. He went on to star in a series of screen classics, including William Wyler's How To Steal A Million (1966) with Audrey Hepburn, and Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. During his illustrious career, he was nominated for the best actor Oscar award seven times but failed to win once - a record in movie history.

Why bother? Your parents may have the DVD of this splendid movie, but watching its poetic images of the desert on the big screen is a worthwhile experience.