You’ve Got Mail (1998) VHS Movie Review

by AnalogJonesTOFNovember 29, 2018

You’ve Got Mail (1998) VHS Movie Review

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You’ve Got Mail was released into theaters on December 18, 1998, on a budget of $65 million and made $250.8 million at the box office.

Directed by Nora Ephron who also directed When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993).

Nora Ephron also produced this film and co-wrote the screenplay with her sister Delia Ephron. This movie is based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László.

You’ve Got Mail Cast
Tom Hanks as Joe Fox
Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly
Parker Posey as Patricia Eden
Jean Stapleton as Birdie Conrad
Greg Kinnear as Frank Navasky
Steve Zahn as George Pappas
Heather Burns as Christina Plutzker
Dave Chappelle as Kevin Jackson

You’ve Got Mail VHS Trailers
You’ve Got Mail Soundtrack promo

You’ve Got Mail Plot
Before the movie begins, we are treated to an astonishing 90’s opening credits of dial-up internet sounds and early 3D rendering that made my heart swell with joy. Kathleen Kelly is involved with Frank Navasky, a leftist newspaper writer for The New York Observer who is always in search of an opportunity to write for the underdog. While Frank is devoted to his typewriter, Kathleen prefers her laptop and logging into her AOL email account. Using the screen name “Shopgirl,” she reads an email from “NY152”, the screen name of Joe Fox, whom she first met in an “over-30s” chatroom. As her voice narrates her reading of the email, she reveals the boundaries of the online relationship: no specifics, including no names, career or class information, or family connections. These opening scenes are an overload of 90’s sounds from the internet loading to the AOL robot voice of “You’ve Got Mail.”

Joe belongs to the Fox family that runs Fox Books a chain of mega-bookstores. Kathleen runs the independent bookstore The Shop Around The Corner that her mother ran before her. The two are shown passing each other on their separate ways to work, revealing that they visit the same neighborhoods in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Joe arrives at work, supervising the opening of a new Fox Books in New York City with the help of his best friend, branch manager Kevin. Kathleen and her three store assistants, George, Aunt Birdie, and Christina, open up her small shop that morning.

Following a day with his 11-year-old aunt Annabel and 4-year-old half-brother Matthew, Joe enters Kathleen’s store to let his younger relatives experience story time. Joe and Kathleen have a conversation that shows Kathleen’s fears about the Fox Books store opening around the corner. He withholds his last name and makes a sharp exit with the children. At a publishing party for New York book business people later that week, Joe and Kathleen meet again where Kathleen discovers Joe’s true identity. She accuses him of deception and spying, while he responds by disparaging her bookstore.

The Shop Around the Corner slowly goes out of business. Kathleen enters Fox Books to discover the store is friendly and relaxed yet without the same dedication to or knowledge of children’s books as her shop. Her employees move on: Christina goes job hunting, George gets a job at the children’s department at the Fox Books store, and Birdie retires.

When the two finally decide to meet, Joe discovers with whom he has been corresponding. At first, he chooses not to meet her but then joins her without revealing his online identity, leading them to argue once more. Joe later resumes the messages, apologizes, and promises to tell her why he stood her up eventually.

After both quietly break up with their significant others, Joe realizes his feelings towards Kathleen and begins building a face-to-face relationship, still keeping his online identity a secret. He plans a meeting between his online persona and her, but just before she is to meet her online friend, Joe reveals his feelings for her. When she is waiting for “NY152” at the meeting spot, she sees Joe and his dog, realizing he was “NY152” the whole time.

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Retroactive Thinking: 10 Years of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs

by SaintmortAugust 22, 2013

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to write. However for years it was only movies I had an interest in. I would watch TV all day and plan out sequels to my favorite movies. My desire to write anything other than a movie was nonexistent. I hated school reports, wasn’t a fan of books and had no interest in writing for newspapers or doing reviews. Until the summer of 2005.

I graduated high school in 2004. Like most college freshmen I didn’t know what the future held for me, and like most college freshmen I befriended the most important people in my life that year. It was during my freshmen year of college I became good friends with a casual acquaintance Jeff.

Jeff was a quiet guy who went to art school and read like a fucking machine. When I say a quiet guy I literally mean that the first time Jeff and I had a conversation was in March (we began hanging out in October). Jeff was the person who first told me about Chuck Klosterman (and specifically the book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs). Being the amazing sales person he is I remember how he convinced me to read the book. We sat in a 24 hour diner, he was smoking his cigarette and Say Anything… came up. In the middle of the conversation he said “You should read Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. The first chapter the dude swears that Say Anything… is the reason he’s single.”

That was good enough for me. However when I got to the bookstore they didn’t have any copies of it, they did have Klosterman’s newest book Killing Yourself To Live. I ordered a copy of Sex, Drugs and purchased Killing Yourself in the meantime. I loved the book and almost immediately upon finishing it the book store called me informing me my copy of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs had arrived.

Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs became the first book I read twice in a 3 month period. I read that book over the summer. That fall semester I discovered my pop culture textbook was Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs.

Perhaps it was reading it a second time so quickly but it became a seasonal thing for me after that. I would read the book on an average of 3-4 times a year. It’s not a coincidence that I began writing for Geekscape that same year. Klosterman’s unique way of discussing pop culture suddenly sparked an interest of not just writing movies… but writing about movies (and music, and books, and celebrities, and serial killers, etc).

The influence of Klosterman’s style has affected most writer’s style. Just looking at some of my fellow Geekscape writers I can tell who has read Chuck’s books. He does an amazing job of convincing you to believe his opinions are absolute fact and his comedic delivery.

What I loved about this book and have continued to love about it is that regardless of if you agree with his opinions you tend to enjoy what you’ve read. I’ve disagreed with a lot of Chuck’s opinions, but I love journey of him explaining and trying to convince me. I don’t give two shits about Basketball or Soccer but I’ve read both essays multiple times and absolutely loved them each time.

It’s particularly difficult for me to discuss this book. There’s no story but I will say that there are at least 5 essays that I find myself constantly referring to and quoting it. For those who have never read this book I will use those 5 chapters in order to convince you it’s worth buying.

1. THIS IS EMO

This was the opening chapter that I spoke of earlier. In it Chuck discusses the fact that no one has ever experienced love. Nobody knows what love is, we only know what we think love is because of what movies and music have told us. He calls out John Cusack (for his character of Lloyd Dubler) and Coldplay (for their nonsense lyrics) specifically for distorting our ability to understand love. This essay inspired me to write a script about pop cultures effect on our idea of true love. Klosterman’s conclusion is that since songs and movies never show us the moments of a relationship where people are just hanging doing nothing romantic we feel like we’ve fallen out of love with someone when our relationships become regular and simple.

2. EVERY DOG MUST HAVE HIS EVERY DAY, EVERY DRUNK MUST HAVE HIS DRINK

In this essay Klosterman discusses how Billy Joel isn’t cool and that’s part of what makes him great. This essay made me realize that the most important albums and songs in Joel’s career are all built around an overwhelming element of sadness. Joel is a depressed everyman and the sadness shines in every song lyric. This essay convinced me to buy all of Billy Joel’s albums (beyond the greatest hits albums I had) and quickly made him one of the favorite artists. So Warning… reading this book might make you a Billy Joel fan

3. APPETITE FOR REPLICATION

There’s not a ton to discuss here. The Essay is just extremely fascinating. Klosterman tells us the time he went on “tour” with a Guns N Roses tribute band Paradise City. While Klosterman admires them for being able to look and sound like Guns N Roses what he’s most amazed with is how wreckless they are. At one point he even muses that this band cares more about Guns N Roses music than Axl Rose or Slash.

4. PORN

In that college class I had to write my final paper arguing if I agreed or disagreed with this particular essay. It’s hard to argue with Chuck’s logic for the most part. In this essay he deduces that since the most popular types of porn are amateur and that many of the stars of online porn aren’t beauty queens that women should be glad internet porn exists as it’s makes average beautiful again. To quote Klosterman “Now the girl-next-door could literally be the girl next door”.

5. THE AWE-INSPIRING BEAUTY OF TOM CRUISE’S SHATTER TROLL-LIKE FACE

If not for this chapter I’d have never discovered some of my favorite films. This chapter inspired me to check out Vanilla Sky and Waking Life. I have frequently found myself randomly reading this chapter (as well as the Billy Joel chapter). Perhaps it’s due to my love of music and film but I think it’s more than that. I like music but I love the songs of Billy Joel and while I like film, I love the movies he discusses in this chapter. There is something great about a well-written “what is reality film”. The best thing about a well made ‘What is Reality film?’ is revisiting them, finding pieces of the puzzle that you missed the first time around. I also find it really interesting that this essay only exists because of (a) a poor food choice and (b) an old Entertainment Weekly magazine in Chuck’s bathroom.

This is the hardest essay I’ve had to write since my Jim Henson article almost 5 years ago. The fact is that this book hasn’t just inspired me to write for websites, it’s inspired me to have an analytical approach to the world. I don’t simply watch a movie, read a book or listen to an album… regardless of how good or bad any of those things are, I dig deep to find the greater good… the message and the social importance.

Fuck you Chuck Klosterman… I can’t just shut off my brain anymore and enjoy something mindlessly because of you. I sincerely hate and appreciate you for it.

Take A Bite Out Of The New Trailer For ‘Warm Bodies’

by Shawn MaddenNovember 30, 2012

Check out a new trailer for the romantic zombie comedy Warm Bodies from director Jonathon Levine (50/50). The film stars Nicholas Hoult as a zombie named “R” who starts to act more human than zombie when he falls in love with Julie (Teresa Palmer). The first trailer focused more on the romantic aspect of the film, while this one seems to focus a little more on the action.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.

Warm Bodies hits theaters February 1st, 2013.

Guilty Pleasure: In The Land of Women

by SaintmortFebruary 27, 2012

The first time I heard of In the Land of Women was from my best friend Jeff. He had randomly mentioned that he had seen it. Now he and all of our friends would go to the movies every weekend so I asked who he went with and he shamefully said ‘I went alone.’ Jeff was a very open O.C. fan so he saw it because he loved Adam Brody and was too embarrassed to tell anyone that he wanted to see it. He and I would rent and watch shit like Must Love Dogs and Elizabethtown without shame… but In the Land of Woman was too much for him to admit he wanted to see.

I can understand why though. The film was so poorly advertised that it looked like a bad romantic comedy along the lines of Sweet Home Alabama (except that movie made money). In reality, the film is a fun coming of age film with an awkward love story intermixed like Garden State or Chasing Amy.

The film follows two different people who end up in each other’s lives due to a series of random events. After his girlfriend Sophia leaves him, Carter Webb (Adam Brody) decides to take a break from LA and stay with his grandmother in Michigan for a bit. Meanwhile, Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan) has discovered a potentially cancerous lump on her breast and tells her daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) who doesn’t really react to it at all.

Sarah and Carter become friends and Sarah tries to convince Lucy to hang out with him sometime. Carter and Sarah become closer and closer and eventually share an awkward kiss. Shortly afterwards Lucy asks Carter out and they too share an awkward kiss. Carter backs away from the family as Sarah is angry at him for kissing Lucy. They work out their issues and Carter moves back to Los Angeles.

I love coming-of-age dramedies. In the Land of Women is a fantastic entry in this genre, filled with hilarious one liners and sincerely touching moments. Adam Brody is a fantastic actor with a genuine personality and has great delivery throughout. Kristen Stewart is better than you’d expect from her (without expecting much) and Meg Ryan is the most charming she’s been since the early 90s. Regardless of all of this, the movie has a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes and most people don’t even know it exists.

John Kasdan’s sophomore film The First Time is creating lots of buzz since it premiered at Sundance last month so I can only hope that the positive reviews will make people re-discover his delightful debut feature film.

Editor’s Fact for Matt Kelly: The movie opens and closes at the counter of the 101 Cafe, where I had your parents surprise you for your birthday this year. You’re welcome.

Guilty Pleasures: Just Friends

by SaintmortFebruary 9, 2012

Well, it’s February, a month we mostly connect with Valentine’s Day. So for the next few weeks I’ll be defending a few poorly reviewed rom-coms. This week’s romantic comedy was released in 2005 and currently holds a 42% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a familiar Christmas themed rom-com called Just Friends.

Just Friends tells the story of Chris Brander, a successful record producer living in Los Angeles. When he was in High School he was an overweight kid in love with his best friend Jamie. After an embarrassing graduation party, Chris moved from Jersey to Los Angeles and never came back. Until one day his plane to Paris is forced to land with his newest client (and former girlfriend) Samantha James. While in Jersey, he’s forced to face old demons. Once again Chris tries to get out of the friend zone, while Jamie starts to fall for the formerly geeky Dusty Dinkleman.

What makes Just Friends work is that almost every guy can relate to the friend-zone concept. Even the world’s biggest ladies man has experienced the pain of rejection at least once in their life. Ryan Reynolds is at his most believable in the beginning of the film as the overweight version of himself. He’s funny, pathetic and charming but none of it ever seems forced.

Amy Smart is as beautiful as ever in this film. While watching this I realized how rarely I’ve seen her in movies lately (outside of Crank 1 & 2 of course). It’s not hard to see how anyone could fall head over heels for her.

The film works best when it’s over the top. This mostly means anything involving Chris Klein’s performance of Dusty Dinkleman, the perfect boyfriend. Be it in the beginning when he’s attempting to perform a song but gets too nervous to get past the first few notes or later in the film when he’s playing Christmas carols like he’s Yngwie Maimsteen, he creates a much needed sense of surrealism to this film.

Anna Faris’ performance of Samantha James, the ex-girlfriend from hell, is a mix of hilarious, annoying and terrifying. A direct inspiration of pop-star train wrecks like Britney Spears, she represents the way we see the young pop-star who gets whatever they want. She’s obsessed with public opinion, things going her way and her ‘vegetarianism’.

But the real star of the movie comes from Chris Marquette’s brilliant performance of Mike, Chris’ younger brother. Mike is lovable and funny but still slightly evil, mostly thinking about himself and his desire to have sex.

All these elements build towards what you want the most out of a romantic comedy. You want likable characters, you want a happy ending, you want to relate to the movie and most importantly you want to laugh. Just Friends does all those things, it even kicks the movie off with one of the funniest openings in Rom-Com history.

Never has lip-syncing been so funny and so depressingly relatable (for me at least, but I refuse to believe I’m alone in this). At the end of the day, Rom-Com’s are almost always a black sheep with critics (not unlike slasher movies). If you hate romantic comedies, this movie won’t change your opinion, but if you’re a fan, you will love this film and probably be surprised by it.

When not watching shitty romantic comedies Matt Kelly is hosting the Saint Mort Show (this week’s episode features Mitch Donaberger, Kyle K and Sonal Shah of Scrubs Fame) as well as tweets and writes in his blog Pure Mattitude.