Day 6: Down With Love

Day 6: Down With Love

YAY! Down With Love! I love this movie! It’s witty, it’s funny, it’s tongue and cheek, it’s feminist, and it’s cheesy romantic at its best! I don’t think you can watch a Ewan McGreggor without getting a little weak in the knees and Renee Zellwegger is delightful in almost all the RC’s she’s in (maybe I love her a bit too much, she really reminds me of myself – especially in the Bridget Jones movies)! Here is just how very much Down With Love checks off on my list:

• Giddy: Oh Yes! Ewan smarmy and adorable, Renee trying so hard to be strong, those hilarious split screen scenes and the over the top non stop sexual innuendos! I’m doing my happy dance!
• Lie: Oh hell yes – so I’ve never really got this straight but I think it turns out that Barbara Novak is really some girl named Nancy who was one of Catcher Block’s secretaries and the whole movie is an elaborate ruse to get him to fall in love with her.
• Big Emotional Outburst: Well, yes several- classic one is Barbara’s editor punching Catcher in the face.
• Dance Sequence: Oh yes! We have a lovely montage of dates and dancing is in this as well as during the credits! BONUS!
• Wedding: Hmmm.. well as that is the ONLY fashion missing from this movie, I forgive them. We have women in so many different outfits that I hardly noticed we were missing a wedding dress.
• Rewatchable: I have this movie on my dvr- I dvr’d it when I first moved in to my apartment and watch it all the time. Before that, I had it on VHS- oh yes- it’s another one of those- ones I wore out. And unlike most of my RC’s, this one I can actually get my husband to watch with me. I think it is because it’s a callback to the Cary Grant days and he (like most men) want to be Cary Grant. I’m glad to now finally have it on DVD so I can delete it on my DVR and make room for future Mad Men and Glee episodes. Thanks Jason!
• Love: Yes! Yes! And I’d also like to praise the WONDERFUL side characters of this film: Sara Paulson and David Hyde Pierce. Priceless, hysterical, and doubling the whammy of gooey love! And hilarious lines from them like “At the risk of sounding like my mother, just keep perfectly still and let him get it over with”.
• Fantasy: Again- NYC apartments, fantastic careers, beautiful costumes, endless nights out on the town, I could go on but I think you catch my drift
• Journey of the Main Character: Ah my favorite kind – they fall in love and it changes everything about them. Classic line from Catcher Block: I don’t want to have sex, I just want to be married!
• Body Count: ok- I am well aware that this is the one part of the check list I am constantly not checking but still keep on here. But when you have such great classics as Princess Bride, The Mexican, A Life Less Ordinary, and Four Weddings and a Funeral how can I not love a little death in my RC?
• Music Montage: Yes! Mmm lovely!
• Strong Female: Yes! I’m doing another feminist flip for this great comedy that is all about the battle of the sexes. This film actually makes fun of one of my main theories about why girls these days are stupidly trying to deny being feminists. They are afraid that men won’t love them if they come out and say they are feminists and deserve equality. But let me catch myself now from getting onto my soap box about the virtues of feminism, equality and the need for self love and come back to the point: This movie sweetly shows us how we can have it all- career, love and self respect. It just does so in a very funny way.

Day 5: Definitely Maybe

Day 5: Definitely Maybe

Hrmm. Definitely Maybe… Maybe I would like this one but I just can’t seem to sit all the way through it. I first heard about this movie back when I had just moved to NYC and we had free premium cable channels and I had no job. So I watched HBO and Showtime everyday. And this movie was inevitably on at some point at least twice a week. I never caught the beginning and I often didn’t stay through the end. It just didn’t have that great cheesy line or gigantic romantic gesture to make me seek it out, sit down and watch all the way through.

Now Day 5 has finally been watched in its entirety two days off of my 31 day schedule and here is why: Wednesday night, after my dear friend Connie flew in, we thought we’d see what door number 5 held for us and we sat down to watch it but ended up talking, laughing and having a lot more fun than this film can provide so we turned it off and then of course there was New Years Eve (which at work that day, I forgot to bring the movie in and was berated by my coworkers who are now all eagerly waiting the next day’s film) and New Years Day to keep me even more entertained! What a wonderful way to ring in the new year, great friends, lots of laughter and tons of alcohol! So I got back into my project today and sat down to watch this film all the way through for the first time. And though it has great actors in it, all ones I really love in other films… it still lacks something. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s telling this story to his daughter and I’m not sure it is very appropriate especially when she asks what threesomes are. Maybe it’s the fact that there really are 3 love interests and all are hot and worthy but none of them feel like the angels are singing in the background “This is the ONE”. Maybe it’s the fact that there are some very real heavy moments that never really get resolved such as the daughter wanting to hear all this in the first place to try and keep her parents together because she can’t understand why they are getting a divorce. Ultimately unsatisfied but really looking forward to tomorrow’s film here is how Definitely Maybe checks off on my list:

• Giddy: Nope, no giddy moments. They almost have me when he’s practicing his proposal and he says “You’re the first person I want to see when I wake up in the morning and the last one I want to see when I go to bed at night” until I realize those lines are stolen from When Harry Met Sally. I don’t require too much originality in a RC but I did feel ripped off.
• Lie: I don’t think there is too much lying going on in this movie. Names changed… no lies. Boo!
• Big Emotional Outburst: You know the scene in a typical RC where they suddenly realize all they want and start running towards their goal at the end of the movie… that was there but it really didn’t feel like it.
• Dance Sequence: None. Boo on that too!
• Wedding: NONE!!! This is essential folks! You can not have a Romantic Comedy with out SOMEONE in a wedding dress!
• Rewatchable: Well, I’ve had it on in the background through lots times in my life here in NYC so… I guess but not really something I’d actively put in the dvd.
• Love: There are all kinds in this film. Again – best friend kind wins out but all three loves lacked a passion. He had more passion for Clinton than he did for any of the women he dated.
• Fantasy: 2 major ones: 1. (and my friend Connie is insisting I point this one out) No man would search all over as much as he does for this book of Jane Eyre that she lost and also actually find it 2. NYC apartment sizes. Yet again, we have a film that is saying that you can have almost no job, or work in a bookstore and still have an apartment that is HUGE! Okay this is one fantasy that might have to stop for the good of all people who move to NYC with hopes and dreams (like me). Because these apartments DO NOT EXIST! Trust me! I’ve been working for a real estate company for a few months now and I’m so sick of people complaining about the size vs. the price. It is NYC folks. This is the way it is. There are just too many people here and not enough room for them all so they can have really outrageous prices on closets. It’s the way of the world. And why I live in Jersey.
• Journey of the Main Character: So Ryan Renolds goes from wanting to be President to working for an ad agency. And he goes from loving his college sweetheart to loving other women and then back to loving her and then divorcing her and realizing he has always been in love with this other girl. Yes I guess that can all count as a journey of the main character but I really didn’t see the struggle. Maybe I was distracted. This movie couldn’t hold my attention. I don’t know why.
• Body Count: And FINALLY on Day 5 WE HAVE A WINNER! Kevin Kline’s great alcoholic character bites it. It is no Vizzini keeling over after laughing about how the 2 things you should never do are start a land war in Asia or make a bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line… but its my first death in 5 movies so I’m a little happy here.
• Music Montages: No! None! Nada! Zip! Zilch! Again- that’s what this movie is missing! Also, maybe I’m too old – but the music in this film they play it like we are supposed to have a nostalgic “ah remember when” moment and I’m thinking- well I have that song on my ipod- that’s practically NEW! It’s not like the 80’s music in 2 of the best Adam Sandler films – The Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates. Now those movies cause major music nostalgia.
• Strong Female: I guess all 3 of the women are semi strong. They all follow their own dreams first. They are all smart. I don’t know why I’m not shaking my feminist pom pom’s but for some reason I’m not. Maybe it’s because the movie was just so so for me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m starting it off right with all this romance to watch! I’m hoping I’ll end it by being in a few of these films myself! May we all get our dreams to come to true this year!

Day 4: 13 Going on 30

And here we are: 13 Going on 30. I feel like this most days. Awkward, unsure and quite confused how I got here so fast. But the 30s are fabulous and I wouldn't wish to go back to 13 ever! This is a perfect cleaning the house film. One you don't have to sit and watch all the way through, just stop the vacuum cleaner in time to watch the Thriller dance sequence and come back for the final kiss. Its comforting to have all those mistakes we've all made being played out by cuter, thinner people on in the background while you do the daily grind. Today I have a cold and so in between cleaning for the friend who is coming in town, sneezing, and stocking up on vitamins I watched this sweet movie.

This film isn't one I'd pay to rent, usually I catch it on TV and will watch it while I do something else. The good thing about that is, every time you see it, there is a scene you missed the time before so it is like getting to watch a slightly used, slightly new movie. Yay! And here is how Jennifer Garner in 13 going on 30 stacks up to my list:

• Giddy: The dance sequence does it for me. I'm actually jealous I never really learned that dance!
  
• Lies: She actually doesn't lie too much, she's trying to tell people she's only 13, just no one believes her.
  
• Big emotional outburst: Jennifer does try and stop a wedding and shes quite passionate on the remaking of the magazine. Those count in my book. Its no Harry telling Sally on New Years Eve that he can't live without her but it'll do for today.
  
• Dance Sequence: Oh hell yes! Best scene in the movie - THRILLER - THRILLER NIGHT. Is this even more nostalgic for me because MJ is dead? Hmmm?
  
• Wedding: We have 2 folks! His prep to marry a pretty sweet hottie and then the end him marrying his best friend. AAWWWWWWWWW! So yes- as no RC is complete without a wedding dress this one lives up nicely!
  
• Rewatchable: Now that I know I'm going to have a lovely collection of great RC's when I'm done with this project, I may have this put at the back of the pile. Something I'll pop in a couple years down the road when I've forgotten what its all about. And I will forget. Hell I forget what I ate for breakfast and have a 2nd breakfast (which explains a lot about my weight).
  
• Love: This is the best friend love kind and its slow to come in the film. Though I admire the best friend love - I always feel a little let down on the passion side.
  
• Fantasy: Well she uses wishing dust to turn herself to 30 and be everything she imagined: rich, skinny, head of a magazine and popular. So yeah, I'd say we've got one hell of a fantasy going on. I got to get me some of that dust! I want to win the lottery!
  
• Journey of the Main Character: Okay so because she is still 13 in her mind, the journey here is only of realizing she has it pretty great at 13 and realizing that the man she loves was her best friend.
  
• Body Count: None. Dammit! Somebody really should have killed that blond bitch "friend"
  
• Music Montage: Yes and the music in this film is like a warm blanket of memories. I love the music. I being a soundtrack queen will probably go buy this one on Itunes next time I get some extra cash.
  
• Strong Female: Mmm.. are any of us strong at 13? She makes some bold choices and she has spunk and passion - 2 things I wish didn't fall off as you get older but they just do. But she's not the strongest I've seen. And she took his last name! That is a check in the box of anti-strong female in my book!
  

Day 3: The Proposal

Ah lovely! The Proposal! This film, I just recently rented one day and loved it so much that the next weekend I rented it again. This is a common problem for me which is why I'd asked my best friend to make me RC's in the first place. I hate wasting money! But truth be known, isn't it worth it? Spending 6 bucks for watching a great RC?

This is a sweet film. One that I probably wouldn't say is in my top 10, but definitely a keeper. I love Sandra, she's the uptight girl next door perfection. But what really makes this movie a gem is Ryan Renolds. Now, my husband hates him. He's cocky and pretty boyish. But he has such great one liners you can't help but love him. And in the position of servitude as he is in this film...you just sort of don't see the arrogance he usually portrays. And here is how The Proposal hits my checklist:

• Giddy: Well, this movie doesn't make me all over giddy but it does have some great moments like: "Marry me, cause I'd like to date you" and "Your allergic to the full spectrum of human emotions", not to mention the kisses, the running into each other nude and the male stripper.
• Lies: Oh yes, there is the big lie that the whole movie hinges on - they are lying to the government and their family to get married just so she can stay in the country (though why she would when Canada has free health care I don't know).
  
• Big emotional outburst: We've got a couple here and they are pretty good!
• Dance Sequence: Again, not any group dancing but the male stripper and Gammy mother earth dancing are sooo great you almost want to join in (well maybe not you, but me... and I'm writing this thing darn it!).
• Wedding: YES! And it's pretty! Barns don't really look that good! Seriously! Ah the magic of movies.
• Rewatchable: Yes. Oh this is a great I'm- home -sick- lying- on- the- couch- sniffling- and- drinking- tea kind o film. And unlike some films (Something about Mary, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin, oh I could go on) you won't need to run to vomit from some gross scene.
  
• Love: Oh the sweetest kind: The I hate you, I love you kind!
  
• Fantasy: Oh yes, cause so many great RC's have the "secretly" rich man who is humble and good looking. Yes there are so many of THOSE kind of men running around out there.
• Journey of the Main Character: Well once again I'm not sure the male lead, Mr. Reynolds had all that much of one but Sandra's character did. And they used the good ol plot devise of taking the Big City gal (or sometimes guy) out of the evil concrete jungle to a remote quaint town (this one being Alaska) where they can finally see the real virtues life has to offer: that Power and Money are not what is important but Love and Family are. Mmm.. doesn't that make you feel good?
  
• Body Count: We almost lose a cute little puppy to an eagle but no... no body count.
• Music Montage: I don't think there is one... oh my gosh! That's what this film is missing!
• Strong Female: Oh yes! Yet again- She proposes! That is awesome! AAAAANNNDDD she is HIS boss! Oh yeah! Power to the girls!
  

Day 2: Runaway Bride

Oh my god, I'm doing a little jig! The second movie in my project is Runaway Bride (which by the way I knew in the first 2 notes of the opening credits)! This is THE Romantic Comedy. I had a VHS of this and watched it so much that I wore out the tape. This is one of the ones I hold up as a standard for all other RC's to live up to! It has (almost) everything. Oh the cheesy love, oh the "I hate you, I love you, I hate you, I love you", oh the great comic side characters, oh the WEDDINGS! Not to mention, this is truly a feminist film! No wait - really - it is! This is ultimately a great lesson to women to learn about themselves and love themselves first. This film warns us not to wrap ourselves up in someone else so much that we have no identity of our own. It insists that love will wait for us to be ready for it.

I just love love LOVE this movie. That darn Julia Roberts and Richard Gere- their charm and chemistry just make a gal like me all warm and fuzzy! Mmmm mmmm that first kiss- that should be super awkward seeings how it is done in front of the man she is supposed to be marrying, is so hot you can't help but forgive them! And here's my list and how this film stacks up:

• Giddy: Oh yes! Yes Yes Yes! My heart goes all a flutter and I giggle uncontrollably every time I hear lines like: "I guarantee there are going to be hard times and I guarantee there will be a time when one or both of us want out of this thing but I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine I'll regret it for the rest of my life because I know in my heart your the only one for me". Other moments that make me giddy: Duckbill platypus, "Did I not just see you", that first kiss, "I like his tight butt - Well I do!"
  
• Lies: Well she's lying pretty darn good to herself through the majority of the movie. Oh yes, sufficient lies I'd say.
• Big emotional outburst: Oh yes - several
• Dance sequence: A bit of a slow dance at the end to Miles Davis - but that doesn't count in my book - so no... no there is no big dance number
• Wedding: Oh yes, we get not one lovely wedding but 5! Yes 5 different wedding dresses! I'm so jealous!
  
• Rewatchable: I think I've already covered that this is- yes. And I will be watching this one again - very soon- maybe next Saturday while I'm cleaning the house.
  
• Love: Oohhh Yes!
• Fantasy: Well - most of us can't afford 1 wedding let alone 5 and I don't know anyone in NYC with that incredible an apartment (especially on a writers salary)...sooo yeah I'd say there is a lot of good fantasy here.
  
• Journey of the main character: The best part is that she goes from knowing nothing about herself to discovering who she truly is!
  
• Body count: well... no, no body count - unless you count all the grooms she leaves at the alter and well that's stretching it.

* I'm adding 2 new things to the list that I think should be included from here on out:

• Music Montages: No respectable romantic comedy is without a music montage to quickly let us know of the passage of time, of growth and change. And how awesome this one is! We learn of Julia's struggle to define herself and Richard's struggle to live without the love of his life. This is not the best (the best being Notting Hill's famous montage that goes through the seasons and includes all the side characters) but its good!
  
• Strong Female: As a feminist, as a strong woman- I identify best with strong women characters and I look for them in my entertainment especially. Here, we have a great woman, cool, confident (at least on the outside) who makes the mistake of defining herself through men and learns to define herself on her own. She even proposes to him at the end (a trend I really wish would take off). One of the last lines of the movie which comes from the preacher who is marrying them is 'May your individuality strengthen your union". AND...she rides off on her own horse!
  

Day 1: 500 Days of Summer

So the first film up: 500 Days of Summer. I don't think this actually qualifies as a romantic comedy. It says so right in the beginning that this isn't a love story. And (spoiler alert- by the way I never care about hearing about the endings so I'm assuming neither do you) they don't end up together! At best, this is an homage to the relationships that make us who we are before we meet the one that completes us. Boo on that! I want my fantasy. This is a healthy dose of reality! Granted - it does have the unrealistic dance scene and over-dramatic outburst (two off the checklist of what makes Jenn happy when she watches a romantic comedy) but it does not leave me with the warm fuzzy feeling that all is right with the world. It is too real for my tastes.

It did get me thinking (it lacking so many of the qualities that make me giddy for RCs) what does qualify as a keeper in my heart... I've started a list below. As we go on this journey, I might add or have to admit that something actually should be deleted, and I would like to stress that all of this is purely MY taste and everyone probably has their own checklist (or most likely they are not so anal to have their check list but probably just say I liked it or eh I didn't like it so much). Here is my check list and how 500 Days scored:

• Giddy: not so much
• Silly lies: there were no lies actually - too much honesty to tell you the truth
• Big emotional outburst: Check- but it was to quit his job, not for the girl he loves
• Dance sequence: This is the best part of the movie, will probably watch this over and over again.
• Wedding: Some wedding happened but it was not very romantic and the situation makes it just sad.
• Rewatchable: Maybe, when I'm pining for a lost love to remind me it wasn't worth it.
• Love: This is NOT a LOVE STORY!!!!!
• Fantasy: This is NOT a good fantasy story!!!!
• Journey of the main character: actually to me he seemed the same, I know many would fight the whole movie is his arc but really - I didn't believe it. Maybe its because he didn't have roses in his hands.
• Body count: based on my first blog- I love movies with a body count - this is irrational I'm well aware but well... this one didn't have it.

The Gift

So my dear friend gave me a Christmas Present. As always, he gave me a present I asked for but with a twist of his own form of torture. I love him for that.

I asked for him to make me copies of as many romantic comedies he could think of. The reason? Its the only kind of film I can watch again and again and never really get tired of. Sure Schindler's List was wonderful but am I ever going to watch it again? No! Because it was heartbreaking. But a ridiculous comedy where two people fall in love is something I just can't get enough of. I get quite a lot of heartbreak in my real life. I don't need any more of it in my fantasy life.

And let me be clear: Romantic Comedies are pure fantasy. That is the point! Like porn, they have ridiculous plots, usually horrible acting and always there is the big payoff with the money shot (in RC's that is a cheesy over the top confession of love ended with a kiss). And like porn, they get me off! I'm giddy with the fantasy that love like that can exist: that all the money spent for a wedding is nothing compared to marrying the wrong man, that self discovery is as easy as bumping into the absolute wrong person for you who is actually the right person for you and that love is the only thing worth fighting for. Ever. The end.

So, my best friend obliged. With his own romantic comedy twist. He gave me 31 DVDs simply labeled day 1, day 2, and so on. I have to watch the movies in order (ones I'm sure I've already seen) and then blog on them. Here is the torture part. I've never really liked blogs. I never remember to go and read my friends blogs out there. And I really can't imagine why anyone would care to read mine. But this challenge does intrigue me. Maybe there are others out there that love romantic comedies like I do and want to share with me in this journey. If they can find me. Chances are, they are at home, with Pretty Woman playing in the background while cleaning their house and fantasizing of someone showing up with an umbrella as a sword and flowers and limo to their house instead of being on the Internet searching for fellow freaks like me.

But well, at least I'll have a lot of fun along the way. And right now, I'm not living up to my potential by actually being in these movies (my ultimate dream) so I'll dream away watching the other greats before me and telling you (whoever you are) about it. Here we go... Day 1 is.....