Is John Mellencamp dating Meg Ryan?

After last week’s report that John Mellencamp and fashion model Elaine Irwin were separating after 18 years of marriage, PEOPLE Magazine is reporting that the singer has found a new love….actress Meg Ryan. A source tells the publication that the two have been dating for seven weeks.

Meg Ryan was married to actor Dennis Quaid and divorced after ten years of marriage in 2001.

Hanging Up (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: Columbia Pictures
CAST: Starring Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow and Walter Matthau
DIRECTED BY: Diane Keaton
PRODUCED BY: Laurence Mark and Nora Ephron
RATING: Rated PG-13
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0162983
TYPE OF MOVIE: Drama, comedy
DURATION: 95 minutes

When Eve (Meg Ryan) isn’t being pulled in a million directions by her own life, she’s being sucked into lengthy phone conversations with her cranky father (Walter Matthau), or her two sisters, successful magazine entrepreneur Georgia (Diane Keaton) and career-challenged Maddy (Lisa Kudrow).  As the family becomes more and more dependent on Eve, transforming her into the human switchboard that connects them all together, Eve discovers that the ties that bind can also be the ties that gag!  Her revelation doesn’t sit well with her sisters, though, forcing Eve to realize that sometimes to be heard, you just have to, well, hang up!

From the novel by acclaimed writer Delia Ephron, producers Laurence Mark (Jerry Maguire) and Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail), and director Diane Keaton comes Hanging Up.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Deleted sequence
• Outake Gag Reel
• Isolated Music Score
• HBO First Look: Getting Connected, the Making of Hanging Up
• Talented Files: Diane Keaton, Meg Ryan, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau, Delia Ephron and Nora Ephron
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find.

DVD REVIEW:

Whenever I find out that Nora and Delia Ephron’s name is connected to a movie and it stars either Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks or Billie Crystal…I’m definitely going to watch it!

I’ve always found their movies “When Harry Met Sally”, “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail” to be magical but although this one starred Meg Ryan and was definitely not a romantic love comedy, I figured that…what the heck…  I’m sure it’s going to be good but is this movie more geared to women?  Will I even care for it?

First, this movie is either…you love it or hate it.  It is a story about three sisters and their cranky father who is getting old, tends to drink a lot and when the people you love start to lose their memory.  Many people have people like this in their personal lives and can related with the three sisters.  Trying to have your own life, raise a family, staying close with your family and watching over your parent.  You see the character Eve (Meg Ryan) evolve.

Although I enjoyed the movie, it was short and I felt there were holes.  For one, they included a deleted sequence in the movie which I felt should have not been cut.  In fact, when you watch the HBO First Look on the making of “Hanging Up” which comes with the DVD, they show a lot of the sequence that was later cut in the movie.  I did like the casting of the three women.  Each are different in character but aren’t all siblings.  Meg Ryan was very good, Lisa Kudrow was almost like her “Friends” character and Diane Keaton still has it

As for the DVD, the audio is more dialogue but you can hear the girls speak clearly.  The colors are very nice and I like the use of the red, white and black colors.  The color coordination with the clothes of the women and so forth.  The special features are good….but where’s the commentary.  You can tell the girls had so much fun…just watch the gag reel!  But I wish there was a director’s commentary included with the DVD.

All in all, the movie is very touching, not as powerful compared to the other Ephron related movies but nevertheless I enjoyed it. 

THE MOVIE:  B-
THE DVD EXTRAS:  B-
THE DVD OVERALL:  B-

When Harry Met Sally (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: CASTLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT
CAST: Starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby and more.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Rob Reiner
PRODUCED BY: Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman
RATING: Rated R
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098635
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Romance
DURATION: 1 Hr., 36 minutes

“Brimming over with style, intelligence and flashing wit” (Rolling Stone), this “splendid and irresistible” (Los Angeles Times) film from director Rob Reiner (The American President) is one of the best-loved romantic comedies of all time.  Featuring dazzling performances from Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, exceptional music from Harry Connick Jr., and an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally is an “Explosively funny” (Newsweek) commentary on friendships, courtships – and other hardships – of the modern age.

Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman?  That’s what Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) debate during their trip from Chicago to New York.  And eleven years later, they’re still no closer to finding the answer.  Will these two best friends ever accept that they’re meant for each other…or will they continue to deny the attraction that’s existed since the first moment When Harry Met Sally?

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
• Commentary by director Rob Reiner
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Newly produced 35-minute “Making Of” documentary featuring interviews with Rob Reiner, Nora Ephron, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal
• 7 minutes of never-before-seen footage
• Music video by Harry Connick, Jr.
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of.

DVD REVIEW:

This has to be one of my favorite movies of all time.  It’s a movie that I got many friends hooked on.  It’s a modern love story although not as realistic as some may hope (note: Even in the special features both Reiner and Ephron comment on this), this movie is awesome!

It’s a DVD that many of us have waited for a long time and now it’s finally here.  With a gorgeous video transfer and the music very well done, aside from the beautiful story, what people will want to know is “what does the DVD come with?”

The DVD comes with 7 deleted scenes from the movie which were very interesting to watch.  Not sure why Rob Reiner cut a few of them out but nevertheless really fun to watch footage.  The golden apple of the DVD for special features is the “Making-of” documentary with the cast and crew.  Absolutely a must see!   Also included is the theatrical trailers for this movie and two other Reiner movies and like the video, the cool Harry Connick Jr. music video of “It had to be you”.

A highly recommended DVD for romance movie fans!

THE MOVIE:  A+
THE DVD EXTRAS:  A
THE DVD OVERALL:  A

You’ve Got Mail (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

CAST: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Jean Stapleton
DIRECTED BY: Nora Ephron
WRITTEN BY: Nora Ephron
RATING: PG
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL:http://us.imdb.com/Title?0128853
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Romance
DURATION: 119 minutes

The underlying narrative is an even more old-fashioned romantic pas de deux that is casually hooked to a newfangled device. The script, cowritten by the director and her sister, Delia Ephron, updates and relocates the Ernst Lubitsch classic, The Shop Around the Corner, to contemporary Manhattan, where Joe Fox (Hanks) is a cheerfully rapacious merchant whose chain of book superstores is gobbling up smaller, more specialized shops such as the children’s bookstore owned by Kathleen Kelly (Ryan). Their lives run in close parallel in the same idealized neighborhood, yet they first meet anonymously, online, where they gradually nurture a warm, even intimate correspondence. As they begin to wonder whether this e-mail flirtation might lead them to be soul mates, however, they meet and clash over their colliding business fortunes. (IMDB)

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Commentary by director Nora Ephron and producer Lauren Shuler-Donner
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Musical score on alternate audio track
• Behind-the-scenes documentary: “HBO First Look: A Conversation with Nora Ephron”
• Interactive map tour “Discover New York’s Upper West Side”
• Widescreen anamorphic format

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S):

Comparison feature:
Press Skip while watching the HBO documentary to see a feature that compares various scenes with the two prior movie versions of the story, The Shop Around The Corner and In The Good Old Summertime.

Hidden interviews:
Advance to the following sections of the disc to view various interviews:

Title 57, Chapter 1
Title 58, Chapter 1
Title 59, Chapter 1
Title 60, Chapter 1

DVD REVIEW:

Nora Ephron scores again with another romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan.  First, “When Harry Met Sally” which she wrote and then “Sleepless in Seattle” and now we have “You’ve Got Mail”.  A romantic comedy about people who meet via e-mail.

The movie came out at the right time in the theaters because the talk then was about internet romance and what better than to take the movie “The Shop Around The corner”, “In the Goold Old Summertime” and add the Internet twist.  It worked!

The DVD is also beautiful with good colors and the audio is typical for a dialogue movie.  The DVD has quite a commentary, isolated score, a documentary and an interactive map.

If you enjoyed the movie, I highly recommend buying this DVD!

THE MOVIE: B+
THE DVD EXTRAS: A-
THE DVD OVERALL: A-

ANASTASIA (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: TriStar Pictures, Centropolis Entertainment
CAST: The following voice actors in the movie included top names such as Meg Ryan, Hank Azaria, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Angela Lansbury, Kelsey Grammer and more.
DIRECTED BY: Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
RATING: G
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118617
TYPE OF TV SHOW: Animation, Family, Music

Based on a true story and brought to life with stunning animation and the voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Hank Azaria, Christopher Lloyd and Angela Lansbury, “Anastasia” is an epic tale of breathtaking action and intrigue certain to captivate the entire family.

A spellbinding mix of adventure, comedy, romance and music, this acclaimed animated spectacular tells the thrilling story of the lost Russian princess Anastasia and her incredible quest to find her true identity.

When the shadow of revolution falls across Russia, the royal family’s youngest daughter barely escapes with her life.  Years later, Anastasia and a band of heroic companions must battle the evil Rasputin, his sidekick Bartok the bat and a host of ghostly minions in a headlong race to reach Paris, reclaim her rightful destiny….and solve the greatest mystery of the 20th Century.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Animated, Widescreen
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Pan & Scan Format has Aspect Ratio 1.48:1
• Documentary: Anastasia: A Magical Journey (27 min.)
• Making-Of Featurette (7 min.)
• Interactive Puzzle
• Two Sing-Alongs
• Full-screen and widescreen letterbox formats

KNOWN DVD SECRET:  None that I know of at this time.

DVD REVIEW:

I saw the trailer for this animated movie many times.  The thing is I don’t watch to many animated features in a theater and decided to hold off until this video went to video.

I know of the story of Anastasia and a tragic story it is.  When Mulan came out, I remember my professor of Asian studies complaining of how Disney is misinforming the public.  Is 20th Century Fox doing the same here?  Not really.  The thing is that no one knew the truth about Anastasia until recently during DNA tests.  With many people claiming to be Anastasia, the person many people thought was Anastasia and a person who survived ended up being a fake.  Anastasia’s tragic story can be read on many websites and you will read other websites of fake Anastasia’s still claiming they are the real person.  Are they?  Do you believe the DNA tests?  Whether you do or you don’t, I give this movie credit because not only is it a beautiful animation but an animation that captures your attention.

The staff who created this video did such a wonderful job and you can see their work through the extra’s on the DVD.  I truly commend them for their hard work.  Also, to the voice actor’s who did a wonderful job.  And last, to the people who wrote and somewhat involve with the music soundtrack.  Absolutely beautiful.

The video and the sound was really good.  In terms of child viewability, there are times when the dead Rasputin has limbs coming off and as a parent, it is your choice if you want them to watch it or not.  Nevertheless the movie is just plain awesome!

The extras…There are quite a few of them but they are long.  From the games, puzzles and trailers to the featurette and a special documentary hosted by Alliyah, this is one DVD that I have to highly recommend.

For a non-Disney animated film, this movie is definitely one of the best out there.  Highly recommended!

THE MOVIE:  A
THE DVD EXTRAS:  A
THE DVD OVERALL:  A

Sleepless in Seattle (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: TriStar Pictures
CAST: Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Rob Reiner, Bill Pullman, Rita Wilson, Rosie O’Donnell, David Hyde Pierce and more.
DIRECTED BY: Nora Ephron
PRODUCED BY: Gary Foster
RATING: Rated PG
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0108160
TYPE OF MOVIE: Comedy, Romance

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star in Nora Ephron’s wonderfully romantic comedy about two people drawn together by destiny.

Hank stars as Sam Baldwin, a widowed father who, thanks to the wiles of his worried son, becomes a reluctant guest on a radio call-in show.  He’s an instant hit with thousands of female listeners, who deluge his Seattle home with letters of comfort.  Meanwhile, inspired in equal parts by Sam’s story and by classic Hollywood romance, writer Annie Reed (Ryan) becomes convinced that it’s her destiny to meet Sam.  There are just two problems:  Annie’s engaged to someone else, and Sam doesn’t know – yet – that they’re made for each other.  Co-starring Rosie O’Donnell, Rita Wilson and Rob Reiner, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE is “absolutely enchanting-one of the year’s most completely enjoyable motion pictures” Michael Medved, Sneak Previews.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
• Commentary by director/co-writer Nora and co-writer Delia Ephron
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Featurette Love In The Movies
• Music Video: Celine Dion and Clive Griffin, When I Fall In Love
• Trailers for My Best Friend’s Wedding, It Could Happen To You, Philadelphia and Nothing in Common
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find.

DVD REVIEW:

I have been a fan of Ephron’s work and also of movies such as “When Harry Met Sally”, “You’ve Got Mail”…love stories.  I’m not sure how many times I have seen this movie but I love it.

The thing is I own the VHS copy and when the first DVD came out, “Widescreen Edition”, I was disappointed.  The reason is because it was just the movie and it was widescreen, that’s it?

Well, not too long ago, they released a second DVD.  The “Special Edition”.  Now, I’m happy because it’s widescreen and it has quite a few extras but it wasn’t in digital 5.1.  I know this is a dialogue movie but I watched many dialogue movies that still use 5.1.

Aside from that this is the right DVD to get, especially if you enjoy love stories.  I’m so happy to see the music video of “When I Fall in Love” by Celine Dion and Clive Griffin.  Also, there are a few theatrical trailers.  Also, they included subtitles from other three Asian countries (except Japanese…what’s up with that?)

The commentary was very interesting.  To hear Nora Ephron and her sister (the fourth writer in the movie) Delia discuss how certain things happen in the movie and especially how Tom Hanks did certain things to enhance a scene.  It shows how good and how true this actor is for his work.

I know there were several cut scenes but I wish they included them in the movie.  The featurette was interesting especially to see Adam Corolla and Dr. Drew of “Loveline” in it.

What it boils down to is it’s better than the VHS version if you love the movie and it’s definitely better than the previous DVD because it comes with more features.

If you enjoy love stories, this is one that will be a classic for romantics forever.

THE MOVIE:  A
THE DVD EXTRAS:  B+
THE DVD OVERALL:  A-