Another metaphor for love
Liking a television show is not unlike falling in love. Sometimes, all the right ingredients are there, but there’s just no spark, no sickly-sweet sensation in the pit of your stomach that screams “YES!” Take me and Battlestar Galactica. On paper, it would seem I would be a prime candidate to get all fangirl over BG. I’ve been a Trekker since the age of seven (true story), when I saw Star Trek: The Next Generation’s brilliant pilot Encounter at Farpoint for the first time. I love well-written characters, convoluted plots and escapism. All the elements of Battlestar, right? Well, yeah, but it did absolutely nothing for me. You know there’s that saying that strangers are friends or lovers you just haven’t met? Well, it was sorta like that for me and BG. I saw commercials for it, but it was never on at any sane time, and I would’ve continued in my ignorant state had it not been for one of my friends (a rabid BG fan) literally shoving the DVD into my hands one day and saying, “Watch this, you’ll love it.” I did not. I was bored after the first ten minutes of the pilot. See, some shows – or strangers – are just things or people are dislikes you just haven’t figured out you dislike yet. I never knew I didn’t like liver until I tasted it. Same thing for Battlestar. Didn’t really hate, just did not want to watch it ever again. No spark, no love. And that long, long, long explanation was meant to segue smoothly into this thought: there are reasons I love Supernatural, but just like plain, old regular love, the sum is greater than the parts. There’s no logic to falling in love. Oh, scientists say it’s something about genes and upbringing and whatnot, but when it really boils down to it, they’re as clueless as the rest of us as to why you can be matched up with someone who seems absolutely perfect for you, who fits all your criteria, and you still end up not falling for them. So, in conclusion, I can list out all the reasons I adore Supernatural, but really, it’s just what is. It’s a gut reaction I have no empirically-based explanation for. I love this show, and barring any major faux pas à la Prue’s death on Charmed (ugh), I’m gonna continue loving this rip-roaring, sexy, scary hour of television. I just shot through five episodes in a row (oh my God! Mystery Spot! Why, Eric Kripke, why, why would you sign off on such anguish?) and I cannot wait for the rest of the season.
Final thought: I love you, Dean Winchester.
Feeling romantic? DVD time!
I haven't updated in awhile, but I couldn't let Valentine's - a listacular holiday if there ever was one - pass by without adding my own contribution. And here's one that has another purpose: to prove I shouldn't be known as the girl who is constantly "Gunning Down Romance" (see appropriate Darren Hayes song). I've decided to compile a list of my favorite romantic movies. This list is ever-evolving, because I, and a large number of the viewing public, are suckers for a good romance. Or romance in general, because really, aside from one or two clever variations, aren't all romantic movies essentially the same?
Note: I am not in anyway affiliated with any of these movies and I'm not getting money for endorsing or reviewing them. But I wouldn't be adverse to it...
1. Music From Another Room
A brilliant movie, and probably a bit unknown, a casual viewer might dismiss it as nothing more than a Jude Law vehicle, but it is most definitely not. Although one of the minor reasons I like this movie is because the female lead is named "Anna", the major reason is simply that it's a good solid romance. Danny, aged five, witnesses and assists in the birth of Anna (see movie to understand) and upon her arrival, announces to all that "I'm going to marry her." Fast forward twenty-five years and an older Danny has just returned to his American hometown after living overseas in England, with the results being a) picking up a cute British accent and b) turning into Jude Law. He seems to have forgotten all about his childhood proposal, but the universe has other plans. Within minutes of setting foot back on American soil, he finds out he's jobless (for now at least), he's dumped by his girlfriend (a shrewish woman who tells him that he was too literal in taking her "I love you" at face value) and to top it off, the only housing he can find is above bakery that wants him to do deliveries. He's not crazy about the idea, but hey, why the heck not, since he's waiting on a job anyway? To cut a long story short (but not by much), it's this job that leads him back into the life of Anna Swan, the girl he swore to marry at age five. She's now older and the one in charge of keeping her kooky family in line. She's also engaged to another man. But this is a romantic movie after all, and in the end, it all works out, but in between, you're treated to a superb little film with clever characters, witty one-liners and good solid all-around sweetness. I've watched this movie innumerable times and each time, I find something new to love. Definitely a movie to check out.
Memorable scene: At the end, Anna follows Danny to the train station just as he's about to leave for Atlanta. She flips a coin and says that if it's heads, they were meant to be. The coin is flipped and falls by Danny's feet - he steps on it and without even looking, he says, "It's heads." And did I mention the scene features Truly, Madly, Deeply, sung by pre-solo fame Darren Hayes? Swoon.
2. 50 First Dates
Due to my brother, I am something of an Adam Sandler fan. I've watched most of his stuff, from the freshman Billy Madison to the oddly disjointed Punch-Drunk Love to the formulaic but amusing I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Of all his stuff, I love this the most. It definitely has something to do with Sandler's chemistry with Drew Barrymore, but the story itself is wonderful too. Lying lothario Henry Roth only dates tourists looking for a vacation fling in his native Hawaii, because at the end, he can fob them off with lame excuses (I'm gay, I'm married, I'm a secret agent etc.) and never have to worry about them again. He's planning a walrus-studying trip to Alaska, and he doesn't want to be tied down. Unexpectedly, he meets Barrymore's character, local art teacher Lucy Whitmore, in a diner and is immediately smitten. They have a great morning together and make plans to have breakfast again the next day. However, upon arrival, Lucy has no idea who Henry is and the diner's proprietor has to explain to him that due to a horrible car accident she had last year, she can't retain any new memories. Every morning, she wakes up thinking it's the day of the accident. Her father and brother sustain the illusion, allowing her to relive the same day over and over again. It means she can never have a normal relationship. It may sound like a dream situation for any playboy, but this is a romance and you have that important ingredient - love. Henry's head over heels for Lucy and he's determined to be with her. Hilarity and mushiness ensue (and trademark Sandler toilet humor) and it all works out in the end. If you've never seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you, but the ending is truly one of the most romantic in movie history, IMHO.
Memorable scene: Henry serenading Lucy with the self-penned Forgetful Lucy, which is along the lines of I Wanna Grow Old With You from that other Sandler/Barrymore pairing The Wedding Singer. The song ends with, "But I still love her so...And I'll never let her go...even though while I'm singing this song, she's wishing I had Jocko the Walrus's schlong. Forgetful Lucy, her lips are so damn juicy. How 'bout another first kiss?"
3. Two Weeks Notice
Hugh Grant, I think, is only good at playing one character - himself, but slightly more comically neurotic. Usually, this just annoys me and turns me off his stuff, but I absolutely love this movie and this seeming fault of his is perfect in the context of the plot. Grant plays George Wade, a slightly flaky, mildly neurotic (when compared with the female lead, Lucy, played by Sandra Bullock) playboy building magnate who keeps hiring ditzy airheads as his chief counsel. Enter Lucy, a Harvard-educated lawyer who constantly protests against companies such as the one owned by George. In fact, the film starts with her being arrested after lying under a Wade Corporation wrecking ball. She goes to George to get his help to stop the destruction of her beloved Coney Island community center and gets roped into working for him. She becomes his righthand woman and an indispensable part of his life. Of course, the viewer immediately knows, from the moment they meet, that they will fall in love - it's inevitable. What I like about this film that it's not about love at first sight, which I've always thought is just an urban legend anyway. The film shows the progression of George and Lucy's relationship, so that by the end, you know exactly why they're meant for each other and why the heck couldn't they see it? Plus, the two main characters are flawed and I love that as well; so many times, you get the cookie-cutter hero and heroine, without any depth, but these two - boy, they're swimming in idiosyncracies. Under stress, Lucy eats compulsively and George's life is strangely like "Monopoly". Sweet, but not too sweet, exactly how I like my romantic movies. Oh, and it kills me, but I just gloss over the title's grammatical error.
Memorable scene: (Warning: One of my absolute favorite scenes in a romantic movie.) Lucy has given her two weeks' notice and she and George are at a restaurant discussing her replacement. George is fishing ice cubes out of Lucy's water and plonking them into his own; she totally ignores this, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Their food arrives - they're identical salads. Immediately, George begins transporting things from his own plate onto hers and taking things off her plate and putting them onto his; she does the same, without looking. She's still reading from a folder to him when he stops. She looks and says, "The beets", gesturing at her plate. He takes the offending vegetables from her salad. The scene makes it very clear that this is something that they do very often, so much so that it's second nature. It's brief, but highly intimate and by far, one of the most romantic things I've ever seen.
4. You've Got Mail
I've watched Sleepless in Seattle and Joe vs. The Volcano, but this by far, is the most romantic Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks romcom. Aside from the fact that New York is totally misconstrued and come on, what are the chances of meeting someone you actually know by chance online, it's a great film. It's such a quaint little movie, which I think is a tremendous feat with the powerhouses of Ryan and Hanks and a setting like New York. In brief, Hanks and Ryan play feuding bookstore owners - the former is Joe Fox, third generation megastore millionaire behind Fox Books and the latter, Kathleen Kelly, the proprietor of the charming and charmingly named The Shop Around the Corner (the name of another movie that inspired this one). When a Fox superstore opens just around the corner from the Shop, Kathleen's business (which is pretty much what she lives for) is doomed. That's real life - where both Joe and Kathleen are free to hate each other because a) he's putting her out of business and b) they're both already in committed relationships. In cyberspace though, Shopgirl and NY152 (their handles) are free to flirt, fraternize and fall in love. Of course, you know their cyberlife will soon become their real life, and getting to that point is not only romantic, but enjoyable. What's really great about this movie is that it's not mushy, even though there's plenty of room for mush. Both the characters are very believable, pretty well fleshed out (this is a romantic comedy, after all) and you genuinely like them together. Their relationship is credible - who doesn't have that pair of friends whose love is tangible but they don't feel the need to fawn all over each other?
Memorable scene: I love the entire movie, so every scene is really quite memorable to me. I think the greatest scene however, the one that always gets an audible "ah" from me happens towards the end of the movie. Kathleen and Joe are now in a sort of uneasy friendship. As Kathleen prepares to meet her internet suitor, Joe gives her this hypothetical scenario: if they'd just met, not been at odds with other, then he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from asking for her number and calling her up and asking her out for coffee or drinks..."for as long as we both shall live".
5. Down With Love
This is a great movie because it's done so very tongue in cheek that you can't help but laugh. The premise is pure 60s sex comedy, in the vein of the old Doris Day/Rock Hudson pairings. Renee Zellweger plays Barbara Novak, an angelic-looking Maine farmer's daughter who's written a book entitled (you guessed it) Down With Love. The book tells women that until they can enjoy sex a la carte like men, they'll never get ahead in the workforce. In short, it encourages women to have sex for fun - and not for a misguided notion like love. Enter the epitome of the sex a la carte man, Catcher Block, "ladies' man, man's man, man about town", star journalist of Know Magazine (the magazine for men in the know), who snubs Barbara everytime they're meant to have an interview. Too bad for Catcher, Barbara's faithful editor Vicki Hiller manages to get the book promoted on the Ed Sullivan show with the help of none other than Judy Garland and Down With Love catapults to the top of the bestseller list. Soon, every woman in the world is Down with Love - which leaves playboy Catcher in a bit of tight spot, because the first thing every Down with Love girl has to do is swear off men! So what does he do? He decides to go undercover as sweet-enough-to-cause-a-t oothache Major Zip Martin, newly returned astronaut and all-around nice guy and expose Barbara as yet another romance-loving female. At least, that's the plan. Watch out for the hilarious ending.
Memorable scene: Can't give it away, but let's call it the "twist". Everything just goes ooey afterwards.
6. Secretary
This movie is prefaced with your standard "adult content, viewer discretion" disclaimer, so you might wonder how it can be romantic. That would take a whole essay to explain, so I won't; I'll just tell you to watch it. The premise seems the antithesis of a romantic movie - Lee Holloway has just been released from an institute catering to the mentally unstable. Her problem? She enjoys inflicting pain on herself, i.e. she gets a bit too friendly with sharp objects. She's not too sure she can readjust to life on the outside, but by golly, she's sure going to try and her first step is finding gainful employment. She winds up as the secretary of Boss from Hell Edward Gray, whose office sports a permanent "Secretary Wanted" sign. No matter the task, Lee doggedly attempts it, much to the confusion of Mr. Gray. Turns out he enjoys dishing out pain and soon, they're caught up in a sadomasochistic relationship that would be sexual harrassment elsewhere. Ironically, being involved with Mr. Gray allows Lee to blossom in a non-cutting-herself kind of way and it's beautiful not just to watch the love between the two leads, but Lee coming into her own as an adult. A wonderful, complex, (dare I say?) sweet movie - hate it or love it, it's still a masterpiece.
Memorable scene: After three days spent sitting on a chair, palms flat on a desk, refusing to move or eat - simply because Mr. Gray ordered her to - Lee is close to death, but still determined to prove her brand of love. Suddenly, through the throngs of family members, curious public and media hounds, Mr. Gray swoops in and scoops her up and whisks her away for a dreamy session of lovemaking.
7. A Walk to Remember
The saddest movie on this list, but also one of the most beautiful. Mandy Moore is the oh-so innocent-it-can't-be-poss ible minister's daughter Jamie. Landon Carter is your resident bad boy. Through extremely contrived circumstances, they get thrown together, the world's most pathetic and confusing high school musical draws them even closer and sweet love ensues. I'm not going to ruin the movie for you but this one has a twist, a bittersweet one. The love story is beautiful, but it's also a story about standing up for what you believe in, whether that's the person you love or whatever, and I like that.
Memorable scene: Three components - balcony, the two leads, dancing to Someday We'll Know.
8. Kiss Me, Kate
Shakespeare was the man! He was writing romantic comedy before anyone even thought up the term. Kiss Me, Kate is a musical adaptation based on the Shakespearean play The Taming of the Shrew (my fave Shakespeare play) - but that's not where the summary ends. Kiss Me, Kate is actually a play within a movie. The movie itself centers around the two lead actors - formerly married Lilli Vanessi and Frederick Graham. They're set to star in Kiss Me, Kate - Cole Porter's musical adaptation based on the Shakespearean play The Taming of the Shrew. Wouldn't you know it - their lives oddly mirror the play! Frederick can't quite grasp that Lilli has moved on, in the form of a rich Texan cattle baron and does everything he can to win back his lady love. All the while of course, he's embroiled in a mob mix-up and lots of fun singing and dancing.
Memorable scene: Reminiscing about old times, the two leads break into "So in Love", a song just screaming for a duet.
9. Chasing Liberty
Another Mandy Moore movie you ask? Sorry, but it's not intentional, I swear. The plot is paper thin, and it has more loopholes than Swiss cheese, but come on! This is a movie, not reality! Anna (he he) is the only daughter of the President of the United States. At age 18 and on the cusp of becoming an adult, she craves a little freedom, a chance to explore the world without her pesky detail of Secret Service agents tagging along. On a trip to Prague, she manages to secure a deal from her father - if she can go one night without a whole fleet of the Service on her tail, and go to the Love Parade in Berlin, she'll be a good little President's daughter for well...she doesn't say, but I'm guessing the rest of her natural life. Or at least, the rest of her father's presidency. Of course, things don't quite pan out and suddenly, Anna's on the run with a hunky, dark, smoldering guy on a moped with a cute British accent and mysterious eyes. Hmm, mysterious...could be because he's actually Ben Calder, youngest Secret Service agent in Europe. When Anna decides she wants to go Bohemian, daddy dearest decides to give her a bit of guarded freedom and tells Calder to play along and go along as her undercover chaperone. That is, if he can keep the amorous Anna off him. At times utterly confusing, and other times, downright silly (some of the stuff Anna does would get you killed in real life), nevertheless, the leads are likeable and you like seeing them fall in love.
Memorable scene: Through a series of quirky events that could only be plausible in a romantic comedy, Ben and Anna are camped out in house of a kindly Venetian gondolier, posing as a broke, but very much in love newly-wed couple. Anna decides she's had her-ahem-girlish virtue long enough and is more than ready to dispense with it. Only, Ben's going to be out of a job (and "equipment") if he lays a finger on this VIP. What's a guy to do.
10. Drive Me Crazy
Guilty pleasure and the only really sappy teen movie you'll find on this list. Nicole Maris and Chase Hammond used to be neighbors and the best of friends. They're still neighbors, but far from friends. Nicole is a member of the hottest, most popular clique in school. And Chase? Let's just say he's a guy with attitude. They're polar opposites, but leave it up to the gods of teen romantic comedy to make sure they end up making googly eyes at each other. The premise? Nicole needs a prom date, fast and neighbor Chase just might fit the bill. Chase just got dumped by protest diva Dulcie and is feeling the burn; maybe it's be good for his ex to see him the arm of a not-so-PC chick. It's a classic case of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", only with a catchy soundtrack and because it's penned by that dork who does Dawson's Creek, good-looking extras with "real" problems (read: formerly fat and put-upon nerd). The more exposure they have to each other, they more they realize how perfect they are together - and it's kinda up to the audience to decide whether or not they were a couple before they went different teen cliche ways. Bikini scene, backstabbing friends, the jock, the sporting event and the obligatory prom - it's all in good fun.
Memorable scene: Nicole is at the prom planning committee meeting, daydreaming about Chase and gets yelled at by the populars for spazzing out. Unbeknownst to her, Chase is upstairs, doing the exact same thing. Romantic coincidence? I think not. Contrived romancticky goodness? Erm, can I have some more please?
Final thought: From The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde: "When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance." Happy Valentine's Day!