Day 30: He's Just Not That In To You

3 years into my relationship with my boyfriend and living together, my mother's best friend was watching Oprah. She saw the episode where they talked about this revolutionary book called "He's Just Not That In To You" and my mother's best friend went out, bought the book, tabbed the chapter titled "He won't marry you" and mailed it to me. But, my boyfriend opened the mail that day, when it arrived. Thus a huge argument came about. And to this day, my now husband has a very strained relationship with my mother's best friend. But who knows, maybe the books arrival is what shamed him in to finally popping the question. Or maybe it's what made him take another year to actually do so. But I did actually flip through the book and all it did was make me feel insulted and worst of all - powerless. I mean, I just had to sit around and wait for a guy to be in to me?! What the hell?! Why is it always one sided?
That personal bitterness aside, this is a great movie (which I still can't convince my husband to watch with me)! This movie is... not at all like the book! It has so many great moments! And it is not one sided! I love so many parts of this movie! The entire end, when everyone is hooking up, or not hooking up and learning about themselves, I'm just weeping! So here is how He's Just Not That In To You checks off:

• Giddy: Every scene has a moment, but to narrow down to a few: The 2 ladies talking about having never been dumped but really they had been, the 7 different technologies monologue by Drew, the lashing out but then cleaning up your own mess scene, the oh so terrible phone messages Ginnifer leaves, and my all time favorite gooey moment (whenever it happens in a movie , and it happens a lot in RCs) the stopping the babbling with a kiss!
• Lie: There is some lying and cheating going on
• Big Emotional Outburst: They all get their moments but Jennifer Connelly's is by far the best, cause they keep the camera rolling after she breaks stuff to show her going back to pick it up. Yep, at some point through the tears, you still gotta do that!
• Dance Sequence: Small one at a wedding. Non romantic though. Oh well.
• Wedding: Yes!!!!
  
• Rewatchable: Yes, but this one probably never around my husband.
• Love: All different kinds. My personal favorite story to follow is Jennifer Aniston and Ben Afleck's (cause that's the one I relate to the most - gee I wonder why).
  
• Fantasy: Some LOVELY apartments, some great jobs, some fantastic romantic gestures.
  
• Journey of the Main Character: Despite this star studded film (the film of Jennifers actually) Gennifer, I think, is the one we're following (she seems to be the one the writers are most like) and though everyone has their own little journey in this movie, their is nothing better then learning you are an exception to a rule. :)
• Body Count: almost lost Jennifer's dad... but no.
• Music Montages: Yep
• Strong Female: This book was written to slap insecure women in the face and tell them to get over stressing over guys not wanting them. The movie is a much milder version of that. The women in this movie seem to have moments of strength and moments of insecurity and weakness.
  

Day 29: Serendipity

I will admit it. I'm a believer in signs too. I'm THAT hopeless romantic, yes. Figure 8s for luck, hearts for love, feathers for taking flight and now X's (which I haven't yet figured out what they mean- but I see them all the time). This movie encourages me to continue my belief in signs and fate (and maybe that is not a good thing but I'd rather a life full of wonder, wouldn't you?).

I can't believe this, but I only have seen, till last night, bits and pieces of this movie and I think I must have been in a bad mood when I saw them because I had no interest in tracking this movie down till now. But OH MY GOD - I bounced up and down with joy watching this movie last night! I got the girly giggles that only a really good RC can do. And now, Serendipity checks off on my list:

• Giddy: The definition alone of the title of this movie: A fortunate accident; "They should make pills for this"; both scenes in the skate park in Central Park, Selling a 700 purple suit just to get a name; the engagement ring not fitting; and oh my so many others, I can't possibly write it all down!
  
• Lie: Well, they are "keeping the truth" from their partners that their true love is someone they met just once, but um... no I am not really going to count that. There is the lie that Kate tells to her friend and fiance to go to NYC with alternative motives.
  
• Big emotional outburst: I love that she runs in to the Waldorf ready to break up the wedding screaming STOP - but there is no wedding there.
  
• Dance Sequence: Okay not really but hilarious dancing from John Corbett with his new age band.
  
• Wedding: Well, though we don't get to see it, there is the ALMOST wedding at the Waldorf Astoria. WHOA! See fantasy for the rest of this rant.
  
• Rewatchable: Yes! Oh yes! Living in NYC, this is going to become a "Saturday afternoon Staple"
  
• Love: The Fated kind (and this is why I love RC's! In reality, I'm not quite the believer in fated love. I have believed for a long time that you can have several Mr. Rights in your life, and much of love depends on timing. But being the hopeless romantic I am, I WANT to believe in fated love, and a really good RC like this helps me live out that fantasy for 2 hours).
  
• Fantasy: Oh we have several great fantasies! First off, what artist can possibly afford the apartment the french guy does in this movie, also we never really find out how John Cusack makes so much money to afford a great apartment and a 700 purple suit and a WALDORF ASTORIA WEDDING! My God! Inexplicably rich people! Mmm! Love it! Also, again Fated Love - great fantasy!
  
• Journey of the Main Character: Both of them meet, move on to other parts of their lives and in one weekend decide that they have to seek each other out again.
  
• Body Count: erg. no.
  
• Music Montages: yes I think so.
  
• Strong Female: Yes, Kate is strong and a great individual.

One slightly bad note, I forgot to mention this about Picture Perfect too but what is it with the whore outfits? Was it just the 90's? I mean Jennifer in Picture Perfect in almost every scene is in an outfit I don't think even hookers would wear and then yes, she's hot in it but come on Kate, that ice skating rink scene is um... whoa, that skirt is um... NON EXISTENT!

Day 28: Picture Perfect

Huh. I actually had never seen this movie. Or maybe I did and I forgot. It's meh... I don't know why, I guess it's just I don't really see the love. But technically, it has many of the things I love in my RC cocktail, so lets check it off shall we?

• Giddy: erm... um... wait there's gotta be something here... it's not like this movie is awful or even a drama, it's just sort of meh...
  
• Lie: Okay so she is lying to her company saying that she has a fiance, a guy that she met once at a wedding. And then she hires him to come be her fiance and break up with her.
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: She confesses right before her big presentation to her coworkers and then runs out to find Jay at a wedding and interupt the wedding to tell him she likes him.
  
• Dance Sequence: They mention the bunny hop... but one is never actually done.
  
• Wedding: 2! Yay! Pretty!
  
• Rewatchable: Maybe I'll watch this again to see if it was just my mood from a stressful work week or if it really isn't giddy worthy.
  
• Love: She thinks she's in love with a guy who only wants her if she's unavailable but realizes she's in love with the guy she's made up to be her fiance.
  
• Fantasy: it takes place in NYC with all those big apartments. And because she's engaged, she gets a bigger office and gets to sleep with the man she likes.
  
• Journey of the Main Character: She starts to dress nicer, and realizes the guy she likes is a jerk...
  
• Body Count: no.
  
• Music Montages: yes.
  
• Strong Female: I will give this movie that - Jennifer Aniston is playing a woman who starts off doing anything to get to be a successful marketing executive and learns that she doesn't want that success unless it based on her work and not her lies. Very nice. And she goes after the guy.
  

Day 27: Four Christmases

My father has been quoting for the last 20 years Christmas Vacation. It's not Christmas at our house unless my Dad has said "Shitters Full". This past Thanksgiving, I rented this movie for the family. We LOVED it! And finally, I think my Dad will have something else to quote. This is more comedy than romance but I don't mind! I really don't! Laughed and Laughed at Reese and Vince's misery! Here is how Four Chistmases checks off:

• Giddy: The opening seen where Vince flings off his glasses and takes control...mmmm... also we have the fantastic Mary and Joseph play, practically every house they visit has a moment that has me laughing out loud and giddy happy.
  
• Lie: They lie to their families every year saying they are going to do charity work in some foreign country so they aren't forced to spend the holidays with their horrible families. They get caught in the lie in the very beginning and then must face the consequences.
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: So many!
  
• Dance Sequence: I was laughing too hard to really count, but I don't think so.
  
• Wedding: nope.
  
• Rewatchable: Yes!
  
• Love: This is the kind of love a lot of us start out with I think, common views, common likes, adventurous and fun and then it takes those really trying moments to see what will endure.
  
• Fantasy: The fantasy here lies before the timeline of the movie. The fact that for years they have been going on fantastic vacations instead of being with their families is a GREAT Fantasy (no Mom, if you read this, I'm not talking about you! I love you and of course I want to spend the holidays with you, I'm talking about the REST of the family).
  
• Journey of the Main Character: Reese is great in realizing that her views, her needs are changing (I really sympathize as of late) and has the courage to speak up about it, and walk away from the comfort of what she has in search of it.
  
• Body Count: no, but there are a lot of close calls!
  
• Music Montages: again, laughing too much to remember
  
• Strong Female: Reese- see Journey of the Main Character. Yes! I think that qualifies as strong!
  

Day 26: Sweet Home Alabama

Ah Sweet Home Alabama. Being a girl from the South as well, I can relate to the embarrassment and nostalgia of going home. And though, I think I'd choose McDreamy rich boy and the NY life over going back to the South (the warm weather just isn't enough enticement to deal with rednecks), I can fall into the charm of this movie just as easily as the next gal. Here is how Sweet Home Alabama checks off on my list:

• Giddy: Oh my God! The Tiffany Proposal!I started weeping! "Pick One"! Yes Please!You have great lines like "Honey just cause I talk slow doesn't mean I'm stupid" and "People need a passport to come down here" and "You can have roots and wings".
  
• Lie: Reese lies to Patrick and well all of NY society about her past.
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: She punches her almost Mother In Law and screams "Nobody talks to my Mama like that". Oh boy! We also have her running after her first husband and a horrible drunk scene in the bar.
  
• Dance Sequence: There is some 2 steppin
  
• Wedding: Yes, and its beautiful!
  
• Rewatchable: This in another I've seen several times half way through to the end on TV and am glad to now own. I'll watch that proposal scene over and over!
  
• Love: Here's a girl who may change but her roots stayed the same and that is where her heart lies.
  
• Fantasy: The TIFFANY PROPOSAL! Also, the folks in Alabama being fine with the guy who is gay.
  
• Journey of the Main Character: Reese had made a name for herself in NY while Josh worked to do the same back in Alabama and this movie is about them meeting back up after they have become the people they thought they wanted to be.
  
• Body Count: I know they don't really die, but I'm gonna go ahead and count the reenactment of the Civil War. Cause its a great scene!
  
• Music Montages: I would like to praise the credits music montage with pictures at the end of the movie, it wraps it all up in a nice package, shows everyone being happy eventually and makes me feel the world is safe and well again. I love that! Knocked Up had one too!
  
• Strong Female: Reese runs away from her home and her husband, starts her own designer clothing line, becomes a huge success in NYC. But she throws it all away to go back home and be with that husband and live through his success (as we find out by the pictures music montage during the credits).
  

Day 25: The Wedding Planner

No I promise, I have not OD'd this time. I just felt sort of starved for these RC's and had to make up a weeks worth of being with out, and I swear this is my last one for the day and I will go directly to bed after writing this blog and read my cheesy romance novel (are you really surprised?- yeah I didn't think so- I'm girl in love with love). Plus, as I said before, I really needed a wedding! And I got one! The Wedding Planner! Yay! Again, another movie, I hadn't seen all the way through, just sort of caught it on tv when it was on. I had no idea of the beginning. Man that made a huge difference for me. It still didn't save my bad opinion of the secondary characters, particularly the 2 "italian" men, Rocco and Salvatore who have such odd accents it sounds more like they had strokes and are trying to speak through a half paralized mouth. Its sad. Also, I can't tell if her father Salvatore is gay or not. No one explains it. I'm very confused! And I'm sorry but every time I've seen Bridgette Wilson, ever since Billy Madison, I'm often staring at her wide set eyes and wondering if her mother drank through the pregnancy. And usually, I'm not a big Lopez fan. I know, I know, she's done quite a few of the RC movies but she's never quite done it for me. That said, this movie was still formulaic enough to put me in a nice happy mood afterwards. I can now go to bed with the covers pulled up, warm and fuzzy knowing true love won out. As it should. As it always does. SO here is how The Wedding Planner checks off on my list:

• Giddy: Oh well, we have all the things on this check list that make me giddy through this movie, dancing, weddings, lies, we also have the classic: saving the damsel in distress and lines so cheesy they make the goose pimples pop instantly on you, like "I know the curves of your face" and "You kinda stayed with me".
• Lie: Well they met, by him saving her, had a lovely first date and then had to hide all that as he was marrying the girl that Jennifer is doing the wedding planning for. Plus they are both lying to themselves that the ones they are with will eventually make them happy instead of each other.
  
• Big Emotional Outburst: There are a couple small ones.
  
• Dance Sequence: Oh yes, and NICE!
• Wedding: Yes! Yay! We have 5! And they are all beautiful in their own way. This movie actually romantisizes getting married at City Hall for me. If I had a booty like Lopez and a dress like that, City Hall would be a step up from Leisure World (where I was in fact eh hem married).
  
• Rewatchable: I've seen the middle of this movie to the end a dozen or so times. So yes, especially now that I can see it from the beginning again, I will do so!
• Love: Ah here we have the classic love at first saving. However, there is a line in here about how Timing is always off for these characters, how they always seem to be in love with someone who isn't in love with them. I would just like to take a moment to praise this movie for bringing out one of the aspects I truly believe is necessary for love. I believe we have many people we can love in our lives, but "the one" is nothing more than the timing being right for both of you.
• Fantasy: Mmm the weddings.
• Journey of the Main Character: Erk, I have a bit of a hard time pin pointing this one...
  
• Body Count: nope. Her mother died a while back but nope that doesn't really count.
• Music Montages: Somewhat
• Strong Female: Somewhat
  

Day 24: New In Town

Not a movie to help you forget the winter blues but heart warming all the same! I really like this movie. The go getting female (Renee) never has to be less strong in order to get the man and win the town. And the town, oh, true Mid-western sweetness! You-betcha! Here is how New In Town checks off on my list:

• Giddy: We have lots of great embarrasing moments like the stuck zipper, the nippin out, and the stuck in snow scene where she gets drunk. Rebuilding this company also makes me dance a little happy dance, I get those goose bumps of cheesy goodness when I see this plot device: The saving of a town. And we have great lines like "You're not so bad, when your unconscious".
  
• Lie: She comes to the town to fire half the workforce but does not tell anyone that till its too late.
• Big Emotional Outburst: I like that this one isn't for the love of the man but for the love of the town. Sort of sweet.
• Dance Sequence: Not really no.
• Wedding: Nope. Sigh, I could have used a wedding feast today.
• Rewatchable: Yep.
• Love: So there is the ever popular in my book I hate you right off but love you soon after love and then there is the love of the town.
  
• Fantasy: Saving that company from corporate is pretty fantastical.
  
• Journey of the Main Character: She goes from an almost Republican way of thinking to seeing the numbers as human beings and pushing herself and the town to reach their highest potential. Awe inspiring!
• Body Count: sigh, no.
• Music Montages: there are a couple, but my favorite is the one that starts with the food fight!
• Strong Female: By far the strongest of them all, at least so far. I love you Renee!