Day 19: She's All That

Day 19: She’s All That

Oh dear. Here we have a movie that I can’t believe I’m going to say this but I prefer the film that makes fun of it to the actual movie. I think I’ve seen Not Another Teen Movie more times than She’s All That and it’s a little more fun. Sorry, but it is. But there are some redeemable moments, lets check them off shall we in my checklist:

• Giddy: There are some lines that are so bad, they actually make me laugh and get a little giddy and of course we do have choreographed dance scene that I don’t need an explanation as to why its there to be happy that it is!

• Lie: Oh we’ve got several, we’ve got the bet that he can make her prom queen in 2 weeks, we’ve got Freddy lying to his dad about being accepted to school, The blond kid (who was much better at this character in Pleasantville) is pretending to like her too and lots of other small ones to get us through this movie.
  
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: “Am I bet, am I f*cking bet?!”, but as for Freddy Prince, I really don’t think he has it in is bag of acting tricks to pull one off.
  
  
• Dance Sequence: Though the choreographer is trying so hard to bring back the thriller dance moves in a sexy, hip, 90’s way and not quite making it, it still makes me happy. I’m that weirdo who can’t help but get all blissful over many people doing the same moves.
  
  
• Wedding: Nope, and its not like TEEN romantic comedies can’t pull them off! Just look at Sixteen Candles!
  
  
• Rewatchable: I’ll catch Not Another Teen Movie next time it’s on Comedy Central.
  
  
• Love: Oh how sweet, we have the I made a bet, but got to know you, saw you take off your glasses and cut your hair and finally see you as hot and then decide you’re my new best friend after only 2 weeks and I’m in love with you kind of love.
  
  
• Fantasy: I’m officially 34 years old. Any movie about teenagers living it up is a fantasy world for me.
  
  
• Journey of the main character: I think Freddy is supposed to be having some kind of journey, but he really doesn’t have a clue how to show me, and the girl in this movie only has to doll herself up like Sandy in Grease to get a man. So that’s not much of a journey either. But don’t we love to watch the transformation? Hmm?
  
  
• Body Count: Nope. There really really REALLY could have been some!
  
  
• Music Montages: Yes, with all the hip songs when this movie was first made. J
  
  
• Strong Female: She runs the house, she wears what she wants, she doesn’t care to fit in with the vipers that are popular. That’s strong! Especially for a teenager.

Day 18: Love Actually

Day 18: Love Actually

As the opening credits started to roll and I realized what film I was in for today, I was half ready to stop it and pick another, not wanting to get all weepy in front of my coworkers. But it is MY Birthday, so I thought, maybe they’ll forgive me (and they did). This is a beautiful movie and one that has a very sentimental connection to me. This movie shall always remind me of my dear friend who was taken away from this short life just a few months after my wedding. He sang the “All You Need Is Love” song at my wedding, inspired by this movie.
I can’t think of a more perfect way of reminding me, on this day, the greatest gift I have received in my life and that is all the many shades of love. I have love and friendship in abundance (Facebook alone, my god, I’m overwhelmed)! This movie is that beautiful reminder that love is everywhere and the only thing worth fighting for. Also, bonus, me and my coworkers danced along with Hugh Grant to “Jump for my love” and I feel younger already!
So, as the cutest boy ever says in this movie “Let’s go get the shit kicked out of us by love” and lets check off Love Actually shall we?

• Giddy: Oh yes, almost every moment of this movie!
• Lie: Not one big lie, no, lots of little ones among all the many different stories.
• Big Emotional Outburst: Yes several And Oh My GOD don’t you just love the end where all these people are realizing that they can no longer be without the ones they love and they have to rush to their neighborhood, their country, their front door, and their work just to tell them!? I had a big emotional outburst just watching the end of this movie!
• Dance Sequence: Hugh Grant… NICE!!!
• Wedding: Yes, opening credits, with by far the most beautiful wedding end ever (but Nick, sweet Nick did such a close second for us at my wedding).
• Rewatchable: I honestly didn’t think I could handle seeing this movie again, but once I got past the wedding scene I started to swim in the gooey heartwarming joy that comes from following these different love stories. So YES, I will be able to watch this again! YAY!
• Love: We have every kind here: destiny, love from afar, speechless love, love worth the risk, love that is strained, LOVE LOVE LOVE!
• Fantasy: Well, I think we have a major one with the British boy who goes to America in search of hot chicks and runs into 4 super model women too poor to own pajamas and more than one bed? Yeah! That’s for you boys! My coworkers and I actually all debated this point today, and we all came to the agreement that the end of this movie is one giant fantasy too
• Journey of the Main Character: All the characters are going through their own journey in this film.. and uh, I want to get back to eating my Birthday cake so I don’t have enough time to talk about them all. Just see this movie!
• Body Count: 1 – Liam Neeson’s wife.
• Music Montages: Another fantastic soundtrack and great montages
• Strong Female: Yes, several – again – cake is calling, can not extrapolate.

I think you all could tell from previous days on this that I wasn’t looking forward to my birthday, but I have been filled with love and well wishes today and I can’t thank you all enough!

Day 17: You've Got Mail

Day 17: You’ve Got Mail

Oh now I get it… Sneaky dear friend… Sneaky! My best friend who created this project for me put smack dab in the middle of these 31 days the trilogy we have often debated about and I believe was the reason I even asked him for Romantic Comedies as a present in the first place. Watching Meg and Tom over and over again is one of the simplest joys in life, or well, my life at least.

Completing the Meg and Tom trilogy we have You’ve Got Mail. This movie grew on me. I have no idea why I didn’t like it in the theatres but I didn’t. And now I do! Somehow, the older I get, the more I can relate to having both a luddite side and a titillated by the latest technology side. I haven’t seen the original this movie is based on. I’ll have to check that out once this project is complete. But, what I once saw as “eh”, I must now admit is the strongest of the trilogy of Meg and Tom. So here is how You’ve Got Mail checks off on my list:

• Giddy: So there is this moment where she’s ranting about something awful he did, as she does (as I do) and he covers her mouth ever so gently and stops her from saying something nasty: That moment makes me weak in the knees.
• Lie: Tom and Meg are lying to their partners sort of, but the big lie is Tom knows his online partner is Meg and she doesn’t know.
• Big Emotional Outburst: eh… there’s a couple of almost scenes… and let’s be honest, that last scene- ouch – as a romantic I love it, she sees him, she says she hoped it was him, they kiss. But as an actor, that scene SUCKS! I’ve never seen a stiffer reading of “Don’t Cry ShopGirl, Don’t Cry” in my life. But eh hem, you guys don’t care about my acting criticisms, you are here for my ROMANTIC critique… or here to laugh at me… either way… back to the point… there are not that many emotional outbursts.
• Dance Sequence: Again… no… what do Tom and Meg not dance? Honestly I actually can’t think of a scene in a movie where Meg danced… hmmmm…
• Wedding: No.. and maybe that’s why I didn’t initially like this movie. But I’ve really come to appreciate how Meg is dressed in this film, like an adult little girl, I like it so much. It’s sweet.
• Rewatchable: Yes actually, but I didn’t think so way back when it first came out. I’m happy to report, this could be on in the background on a Saturday while I rearrange my closet, happy to know that love is working itself out while I organize.
• Love: Once again we have the destiny love. I love this kind of love.
• Fantasy: Lets talk about a fantasy not yet discussed here but quite evident in most of the Romantic Comedy movies: The “it’s okay” break up. We have a movie where the gal or the guy are with the it-should-be-right- but- really- the- wrong person and before they can run off and fall in love with the right one they must break it off. And every time in these fantastical RC’s, the wrong one practically says THANK YOU for not ruining my life. Now we, here in reality land know that this is absolutely false, that even if the person maybe 20 years down the line might think that, they sure as hell are not going to take it so lightly in the moment. Have any of us had this kind of break up? Seriously? People do not get over it that easy and usually, if you are doing the breaking up, chances are the person you are dumping thought everything was pretty okay (cause if they didn’t – they would have dumped you) and is now really heartbroken. But in the wonderful world of Romantic Comedy’s this is as painless ripping off a bandaid, and as forgotten the moment it is done. I think my favorite breakup of all time is Meg and Greg breaking up and laughing out loud about how they should love each other but just don’t. Ahh… lovely fantasy!
• Journey of the main character: Having just recently uprooted my life and moved to NY (a romantic destination) and now struggling to redefine myself, I can really relate to the journey she is going on. She loses her job that has till that point defined her. She fights like hell for it, but that is futile and ultimately she must learn to find her own way without the comfort of what is familiar.
• Body Count: None. I’ll forgive them because in the first of the trilogy there was a mass genocide of an entire island… so you really can’t go any further than that.
• Music Montages: Yes, there are some. And some lovely pics of NYC throughout. This movie says I LOVE YOU NEW YORK. It shows all of the good, all the beautiful.
• Strong Female: Trying to come out of her mothers shadow and define herself, but in that cute, sweet, not too threatening Meg way!

Day 16: Sleepless in Seattle

Well now we've come to one of the great classics! I'm surprised to say its been a long time since I've seen this movie. I can't really say why, other than its probably the same reason I haven't seen When Harry Met Sally in a very long time: I saw this movie so much, I actually got a little sick of it. But I think time and my bad memory have helped me to place this back on the shelf of rewatchable RC's. I get weepy when I see this movie. I don't know anyone who doesn't like this movie. I don't think I want to... here we go, how the lovely, perfect Sleepless in Seattle checks off on my list:

• Giddy: From the moment she starts to listen to him on the radio till she meets him on top of the Empire State Building (which, my husband, knowing my deep deep love for these gigantic romantic moments chose the same place to pop the question to me... he gets double points for that one!).
  
• Lie: Well.... she's keeping the truth from her fiance. That's sort of one. Can't say I think that there is really that much lying going on. I don't care, do you?
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: Tom and his kid, and Meg has some major breakdowns on her own, but when they finally meet, really meet, it's the calmest scene ever. Its like a big deep breath in and out and ahhhhhhh... finally we have found the one that fits.
  
• Dance Sequence: Nope. I think that we could have used one actually. But the music is fantastic!
  
• Wedding: Nope... but we do have a lovely wedding dress! Which she rips. Because its a sign. I love the SIGNS in this movie!
  
• Rewatchable: Yes.. We covered that.
  
• Love: Here we have the destiny love! Actually what I really love about this movie is that there are more than one kind. That we are allowed to love more than one person in our life and that each one though different is not less special. But this love, this wonderful Meg/Tom love is that destiny love. The kind you know of from the moment you hear their voice, and though they spend the majority of the movie trying to talk some sense into themselves, the fact is, it can not be denied.
  
• Fantasy: Destiny love, trips across the country all on a hunch from hearing a voice or reading a letter that this person might be right for you...
  
• Journey of the main character: The whole movie is in that gigantic stage of doubt until the end when it all suddenly becomes so clear.
  
• Body Count: His first wife.
  
• Music Montages: Some great ones
  
• Strong Female: Hrmm.. she's not my strongest female. Meg usually isn't in her films. Maybe that's why she is universally loved, she's never really too strong and never really a total wimp either. She's the just right goldilocks. I'm a militant feminist so I tend to like my women a bit more dominant but you can't help but love Meg! And we do have a funny Rosie to bring in a bit more of the stronger side.
  

PS: To Laura who asked about my job, my boss kicks ass- and I know how to hit pause and act professional for the customers. ;)

Day 15: Joe Versus The Volcano

Day 15: Joe Versus The Volcano

John Patrick Shanley is in my books a genius. Mix in my favorite queen and king of romantic comedies, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, a silly plot and the worst puppet shark I’ve ever seen (except the Goonies octopus – which I saw- which you probably didn’t, but if you go back and rent it you can see it in the deleted scenes and no why that scene should never see the light of day) and you have yourself a PERFECT MOVIE!
I think this might be a bit hard for me to write about as this, like Goonies, is such a childhood favorite I can’t possibly talk about this like a normal human being. Well, I think I have shown myself already to be pretty abnormal so what the heck right? I love LOVE This Movie! And I don’t care if I’m the only one on the planet who does (actually I think I may have one or two others in my boat but judging by the rolled eyes of my coworkers, I know I am at least in a minority here). Yes this movie is CHEESY! Yes this movie has some horrible special affects. Yes this movie has Meg Ryan in 2 baaaad wigs. But this movie has some incredible music, lots of visually and symbolically beautiful scenes, a great sense of humor and one of the best moral lessons ever: Get a Second Opinion on a Brain Cloud Diagnosis. Look, like my duck blanket and my puppy, this is a piece of my heart that you can have your own opinions about all you want, but I LOVE THEM and that’s all there is to it! Here’s how Joe Versus the Volcano checks off on my list:

• Giddy: Every damn scene!
• Lie: Lloyde Bridges and Robert Stack both convince Tom Hanks that he has a brain cloud and is going to die anyway so why not jump into a giant Volcano. That’s one big lie!
• Big Emotional Outburst: I can’t tell you how many times I have seen the scene at the top of the volcano with Meg and Tom professing their love, but I never get sick of it!
• Dance Sequence: The lonely, awkward Tom dances to Buddy Holly on top of the floating luggage. Sigh – I dance the same way at home alone.
• Wedding: Yes, on top of the volcano with the soon to be extinct Waponi Woo’s.
• Rewatchable: Well, lets put it this way, if I can say the lines as they’re saying them though every scene, yeah we got a rewatchable. I think there are maybe 3 movies that I can say that’s true about and this is one of them.
• Love: I would like to believe this one falls under the category of love at first site. Mmmmm… can you hear it? My heart is melting just a little.
• Fantasy: We have a brain cloud, a rich man who swoops in and gives you a gigantic spending spree before you are to die, an ocean voyage, a typhoon, a Hawaiian like island, a volcano and love that keeps you afloat (along with great luggage).
• Journey of the main character: The rediscovery that life is beautiful is a wonderful tale that I love having told to me. We all get bogged down in jobs that suck, stressful situations, and life can for a while look bleak and bland and then suddenly you get a wake up call to all the beauty and abundance there is in this world that is out there for you. Like Joe says “Dear God, thank you for my life, I forgot how big it all is”.
• Body Count: And here we have not only 3 shipmates on the Tweedle Dee but an entire ISLAND! That’s right folks, this Romantic Comedy has mass genocide in it!
• Music Montages: Dom Dom Dom Dom Dom bee doo bee Dom Dom Dom Dom Dom, Dom bee doo bee dom – wa wa wa wa wa… ur… I mean – Buddy Holly during the fishing scene.
• Strong Female: She says it her self folks when he asks her if she believes in God and she says “I believe in myself, I have confidence in myself”.

Day 14: 27 Dresses

Day 14: 27 Dresses

I feel like a kid in a candy store with a pocketful of cash! 27 Dresses is the closest I’m going to come to living out my dream of having 100 weddings! And though, I would probably tell my fellow actors that the costume designer has gone overboard here (blatant bad taste in the bridesmaids dresses and why does Ms. Heigl always have to be in flower prints?), I admit to you dear reader, I LOVE almost every scene in this movie! Weddings, Weddings, Weddings and all the best parts about them (and humiliating – I’ve held 2 wedding dresses while my lovely lady friends peed, been there and oh can I relate!). Once again we have great side characters (well except the sister – who I don’t know if this is a personal grudge or not – but I HATE her- she is one the worst actresses I’ve ever seen and she makes me feel as if I’ve lost brain cells just watching her try and act). But this is one, I don’t care about the plot or the characters at all, just give me more DRESSES! YES!!! Oh and we have so many great embarrassing moments too! By the end of this movie, I’m like that kid drunk on sugar, I’m laying back, half giggling, half shocked I ate all that and pretty sure a stomach ache is around the corner. Here is how 27 Dresses checks off on my list:
• Giddy: Oh hell yeah! We have lots to be giddy about! The dresses, the weddings, the moment she realizes the one she wants and leaps onto a boat to crash another wedding and publicly declare it, the singing at the bar, the dresses, pretty much every line out of the mouth of her best friend (Judy Greer) such as “Are you kidding, the only reason to wear this monstrous dress is to have some drunken groomsman rip it to shreds with his teeth”, Katherine Heigl saying in that oh so pained way “I feel like I just found out my favorite love song was written about a sandwich”, James Marsden saying “Get over here”, and did I mention the dresses?
• Lie: Well, the terrible actress sister is lying her boobies off, then there’s Mr. Marsden sort of lying that he’s not Ms. Heigl’s favorite journalist, and Ms. Heigl’s been hiding the whole time how in love she is with her boss.
• Big Emotional Outburst: Oh yes!
• Dance Sequence: Besides all the wedding dances (my FAVORITE) we also have the Benny and the Jets song and dance. I have to admit, until this movie, I never thought of this as a song to sing at the top of your lungs on top of a bar. Now the theme to Greatest American Hero… yes of course… but Benny and the Jets? Well… they pull it off.
• Wedding: YES! SO MANY I LOST COUNT!!!!!
• Rewatchable: Yes. YES! YES! (I’m saying it in the When Harry Met Sally way – and you’re saying as you read this “I’ll have what she’s having”)
• Love: Ah let me point out another of my favorite myths that are ultimate truths in the RC world: The kiss tells everything (Hitch actually makes fun of this point). Here once again, the absolute right guy for her is all wrong and we know because they kiss and there is no spark. The wrong guy for her is actually the right one. I love this simple way at looking at life. I really wish it was that simple!
• Fantasy: Well once again, we’re in NYC with FABULOUS huge apartments in Dumbo, we have great jobs for eco friendly companies, we have all these really expensive weddings, and a man who gives FLOWERS all the time! Which, I have to tell you this: as me and my co-workers are all crowded around my computer watching this movie, we all equally start complaining about how we never get flowers and how we all want them! And then I go home and for the first time I think in 8 years, my husband actually surprised me with FLOWERS! Whoa!
• Journey of the Main Character: She is weak, she is run over by everyone in this film, everybody takes advantage of her and she allows it for some inexplicable reason (actually she reminds me a lot of a cousin of mine) and all of a sudden she flips and starts to stand up for herself. I would too if I had a sister who ripped up our mothers wedding dress. I’m so glad I don’t have a sister! Especially one that is that bad of an actress!
• Body Count: Nope- but guess what I DON’T CARE CAUSE THIS MOVIE HAS A TON OF WEDDINGS IN IT!
• Music Montages: erm… I think so… I’m sorry I’m still high on all those weddings, I can’t remember.
• Strong Female: Well she starts on the path to becoming one…

Day 13: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Day 13: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Weee! I love this movie! I’m a sucker for films that are re-imaginings of classic themes (like 10 Things I hate about you is a spin off of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew). One of the reasons I love a good Romantic Comedy is because the plots are so predictable, and when you mix in a classic as well, it’s double the pleasure! I forced my poor guy best friend to see this film with me in the theatres – yes the THEATRES! And I loved it then. The good way to try and hook a man into seeing this one with you, is dangling the Michael Douglas carrot in front of them. And he is a riot in this film, with great lines like “Hows your Dick-tation”, “An ugly broad you have to take out behind a shed and shoot but any guy with a Johnson can still be cool” and “You made your bed, now you gotta bang every thing that crawls in it”.

Only on Day 13 and yeah I’m really starting to notice how all the same actors, do the same things, in the same movies with just different titles over and over again but I don’t care, because it just makes the slight variations of each film that much sweeter. And the chemistry between these actors is always different and this allows for multiple butterflies to go jumping in my stomach with each new kiss, each new profession of love.

I have dreamed since a small child that one day I would be one of these queens of RC land. And though, I may have to finally admit that I am no queen but always the side character (or keeping with the kingdom vernacular: The Jester), I can still take comfort in hoping to be in one of these films because no great RC is complete without the side characters. And in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, we have a slew of GREAT side characters. Of course we have Mr. Douglas, but the perfect Jewish Princess Lacey Chabert is a scene stealer as well, the fantastic Emma Stone who I can not say enough about, and then you have the yummy, ultra perfect, “designated wedding sex” Daniel Sunjata who does such a good job at being great you spend the whole movie wondering why the hell Jennifer Garner would even bother with a guy like Matthew McConaughey.

So here is how this great movie checks off on my list of necessities for a romantic comedy:

• Giddy: Oh yes, strangely Matthews extremely cheesy lines and sleezy acting makes me giddy, I don’t know why- look I know I’m weird. Why on earth do you think my friend made me make this blog about my obsession with RC’s? I’m weird and he wants to publicly laugh at it! Also, I went giddy over the lady tears scene, the “You gotta risk love” monologue, the wedding, the “Gay Pirate” line, the sexy dance scene… oh I could go on, I’ll sum up – MOST of this movie makes me Giddy!
• Lie: Well he’s been lying to himself for years by saying that “Power in a relationship lies with whomever cares the least” and striving to believe it. But other than that… we only have a small uncovering of his brother sleeping with one of the bridesmaids.
• Big Emotional Outburst: Oh my god, I LOVE the scene where he begs his future sister in law to risk love and go back to his brother.
• Dance Sequence: Once again, we have some lovely 80’s dancing and then we have a wonderful scene with Jennifer and Daniel (WHY didn’t she choose this guy?!).
• Wedding: YAY! We actually have 2! Both BEAUTIFUL! Both just lovely weddings – I wish mine was that nice!
• Rewatchable: Oh yes yes yes yes yes!
• Love: Well, though I really think she’s an idiot because the best guy for her is Daniel she loves Matthew because she sees him for what he “CAN” be instead of what he is. Ah that great kind of “I can CHANGE YOU” love… one of my favorite kinds which leads right into our next part of the check list:
• Fantasy: Well, anyone who believes in that “I can Change You” love is in fantasyland alone but we have 2 more WONDERFUL Fantasy treats: 1. VERY RICH UNCLE and VERY RICH PEOPLE all of them, must be nice! But at least the great thing about rich people in movies is we get to live in their world for 2 hours and see all the beauty they take for granted. And 2. The Ghosts! The chance to look back on your life and see it from a fresh angle and to see people talk about you when you are not around.
• Journey of the Main Character: Classic Dickens! In one night he discovers the error of his ways and vows to change it around.
• Body Count: As close as I can tell we have 4. Definitely the Uncle and the Parents. But they don’t really explain what happened to his first, I’m guessing she died as well.
• Music Montages: One of my favorites of all time! With a tongue n cheek style they have a great montage of the Wooing days.
• Strong Female: Subtly Jennifer Garner knows what she wants and doesn’t put up with crap. She’s is surrounded by a bunch of flimsy-ego chicks who are bit pathetic but she’s a beacon.