The Princess Bride

Year of Release:  1987
Director:  Rob Reiner
Screenplay:  William Goldman, based on the book The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Starring:  Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, Peter Falk
Running Time:  94 minutes
Genre:  Fantasy, adventure, comedy

In the magical land of Florin, young farmhand Westley (Elwes) must battle villains and magic to rescue his true love, Princess Buttercup (Wright), from the evil Prince Humperdink (Guest).

This is a genuinely magical film, which works as a fairy-tale and as a spoof of fairy tales.  It's funny throughout and full of endlessly quotable dialogue ("Hello.  My name is Inigo Montaya.  You killed my father.  Prepare to die.").  It features great action, particularly the impressive dueling sequences.  It also has great, funny performances, including cameos from a number of well-known comedians (such as Mel Smith, Peter Cook, Billy Crystal and Carol Kane).  The film also has a fun post-modern element with the story being framed as a fairy-tale that a grandfather (Falk) is reading to his ill grandson (Savage) who would rather be playing videogames.  The movie balances it's various elements perfectly with the comedy working along with the romance and the fantasy adventure, and none of them drowning out the others.   Even for people who don't like fairy-tales, like the grandson, it's almost impossible not to get swept up in this hilarious magical adventure that is just as much fin for adults as it is for children.

Robin Wright and Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride

Melinda and Melinda

Year of Release:  2004
Director:  Woody Allen
Screenplay:  Woody Allen
Starring:  Radha Mitchell, Chloe Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Amanda Peet, Wallace Shawn
Running Time: 95 minutes
Genre:  Comedy drama

In a Manhattan diner, four friends discuss whether life is essentially comic or tragic.  To illustrate their points two playwrights take a simple premise (an emotionally fragile woman, Melinda (Mitchell), disrupts a dinner party) and tell their own versions of what happens to her. One version plays as a tragedy, and the other as a light romantic comedy.

It is an interesting premise, the problem is that the tone is very jarring throughout, most of the film is taken up with recounting Melinda's story interweaving the two versions moving from bleak drama to frothy comedy.  Some of the film is pretty repetitive, we see the same events play out in two different versions.  Radha Mitchell plays Melinda in both stories, with Chloe Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller and Chiwetel Ejiofor starring in the tragic story, and Will Ferrell and Amanda Peet starring in the comedy version (which also features Steve Carell in a small role as Ferrell's friend).  The performances are good for the most part, with Mitchell in particular giving a stunning performance in the central role, although Will Ferrell's performance seems to consist mainly of him doing a Woody Allen impression.  The film feels very much like a filmed play at times, it has a fairly small cast of characters and is almost entirely dialogue driven, however the tragic storyline has muted colours and a slightly dull, slightly overcast look to it, while the comic sequences are bright, vibrant and sunlit.
While this is far from Woody Allen's best films, it still has it's moments.

Will Ferrell and Radha Mitchell in Melinda and Melinda.