Conclusion

Originally I intended this blog to be a movie review of various genres where I can talk about how each of these movie reflect society. I realize now that I primarily watch romantic comedies. This is of course no surprise to me because my mom raised me in front of these movies, but I thought I would expand my genre just a little bit. I did try a few new movies during this blog this semester, but as usual the movies I ended up watching every week were so called chick flicks.

I always complain that there are no good chick flicks in theaters right now. I now know that this is completely untrue. This whole semester I have found at least one romantic comedy to review every week. This blog did give me courage to try out the horror drama, which I did not like at all. I think that romantic comedies are kind of an addiction. They are an escape from my real every day life and for that I love them. I learned throughout this process that these movies are crucial to my life. I love every moment of watching the impossible stories and calling exactly what scene will follow next.

I didn't stick to the topic completely because I often just lapsed into reviews about the movie and my advice on whether or not to see the film. I did actually describe the female that was portrayed in each of these movies. I have noticed that older romantic comedies feature the stereotypical role of women as searching for marriage as there only means of support. This is true of my favorite Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn movies. What I love most about these is that women are in this stereotypical role, but they are very clever, funny, and smart. Now we see movies where our heroine is a real career woman. She is so focused on her job that she has a lot of difficulty in finding love. Luckily in each of these movies, she does find the man who is right for her. This is a reflection of how women have moved in society. Now we spend so much time getting successful careers that maybe we don't have time to date. Men can also me intimidated by the new role of woman so this movies reflect that fear of success. I have noticed that this is a common theme in new movies with the female being a neurotic control freak who still needs to be saved by her man. While I did not test multiple movies in my genre, I realized how much I love romantic comedies and how they truly reflect the role of women today.

Regardless I will always love this genre. It is such a silly and great escape that I can't help but love these movies. This blog helped me come to terms with the fact that these films will always have a place in my heart and no matter what genre I try, I will always come back to my first love of the romantic comedy genre.

Garden State

When I first saw this movie I completely hated it. I thought that it was weird, sad, and boring. I think my main problem was that I was expecting it to be a cheesy chick flick similar to the ones that I have blogged about all semester. This is definitely not your typical corny romantic comedy, but it is a love story that guys and girls like. So many of my friends love this movie and call it the only girly movie that guys like.

When Zach Braff wrote this movie he was already big for his role on scrubs, but after this movie he was seen as a movie star. However, lately I can't remember a recent movie that he has been on. People even loved the soundtrack to this movie and tons of copies were sold. Given the popularity of this movie and the fact that I still haven't met someone who doesn't like this movie, I decided for my last movie review of the semester to be on this chick flick that appeals to both sexes.

I have to admit that after seeing it again, I did begin to appreciate the story. I really like Braff's love interest played by Natalie Portman because she is so different than all of the other neurotic females we see in the movies today. Yes she is a bit odd with her pet funeral out back and pathological lies, but you can't help but like her. Portman and Braff have great chemistry in the movie as well, making it feel more authentic and likable. I guess this is the reason that it was so popular is because it is different. It is a nice story where we don't see all of the similar stunts and humor common to normal romantic comedies. It is refreshing that the woman in the movies isn't an uptight career woman who can't find a man because of being a workaholic perfectionist. If you notice this is a common trait in all of the modern romantic comedies that I have reviewed such as When in Rome, Leap Year, and even partly in The Back Up Plan. I'm glad I re-watched this movie six years after I saw and realized that maybe my movie tastes have evolved, even though I still really like those corny romantic comedies. It's kind of become an addiction.

Fever Pitch

For so many years I refused to see this movie because of its involvement with the Red Sox, but my friend finally convinced me to sit through it seeing as how it is the only chick flick I haven't seen. Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore play the leads with Barrymore as a successful business woman and Fallon as a high school teacher who is obsessed with the Boston Red Sox. The first half of the movie they fall in love, but when baseball season comes around their relationship begins to have problems as Fallon's character prioritizes his love of baseball above his lovely girlfriend. This could work out though because Barrymore has spent her life dedicated to her job so it might work out that they don't have enough time for each other. Despite this feeling, they begin to argue more and more as Fallon has to ditch Barrymore's work and family functions because he can't miss his Red Sox games. To be fair he has extremely good home seats to all of the games.

Eventually they break up and Fallon realizes that Barrymore was worth giving up his tickets for and decides to sell them. Barrymore likewise realizes that she is being selfish and rushes to tell him that he can't give up his tickets and that she loves him etc. Everything ends happily as expected and it really is a cute story about having to deal with a boyfriend and his sports. You can really insert whatever team and sport into the situation and you have an issue that comes up with different couples frequently. And you sympathize with the Fallon character because you realize that he should go to this important event to his girlfriend but at the same time he is missing the Yankee game.

The only thing wrong with the story was that the Red Sox were in it continually. Fallon's apartment is covered in Red Sox gear and this movie came out the year that they beat the Yankees for the World Series. I guess I felt better about watching it now that the Yankees won last year, but the ending of Fever Pitch is still painful as it shows their victory back in 2004. They had to change the ending when the movie was made because the ending relied on them losing as usual. It is also funny that there is a scene with Johnny Damon, who is now a Yankee.

The Back-up Plan

Jennifer Lopez's movie came out this weekend where she plays a woman who becomes artifically inseminated because she has given up on the traditional root of finding love and then having kids. I mean what if it takes forever to find the love of her life and then it is too late to have kids? She decides to do it on her own, but after leaving the hospital she meets the love of her life and begins the traditional chick flick dating scenes. The problem: she does in fact become pregnant shortly after. Forty minutes into the movie she tells the leading man played by Alex O'Loughlin that she has become pregnant via sperm donor. They fight for a little while but he decides that the two dates he has had with her go so well that he will stick around and help her raise the baby. Oh yeah and in a few scenes they find out that there are twins. So he will help raise two babies that aren't really his.

This one is definitely a rental. Not a good use of money, but if there are no other decent chick flicks to watch then this one would do. It is better than some other movies that I have seen recently but the story is pretty bad. It is obviously not a good idea to start a relationship when you are pregnant. They fight a little throughout the movie but the fact that everything just works out perfectly is CRAZY. If that is the lesson you are supposed to learn then it is pretty bad. Also I do not know how Jennifer Lopez's character is still single at the beginning.

The main problem with the movie is that it wasn't that funny. I only laughed a couple of times, but the humor of the movie is kinda ruined by the concept that this guy goes on two dates with this woman and then decides to deal with her pregnancy and raise the babies. This is legitimately crazy. But It all works out because this is a movie.

The Celebrity Apprentice

This week I have taken a break from reviewing movies and decided to discuss my new favorite shows. I absolutely love reality tv so I watch all of the dumb shows like the bachelor, the Kardashians, and the Girls Next Door. I have been following the Celebrity Apprentice and it is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. First of all Donald Trump is so funny. He has one of the biggest egos and I love watching him talk about how successful he is at the beginning of each episode before he makes the "celebrities" do their task. This season includes Sharon Osborn, Cindy Lauper, a Victoria's Secret model, Brett Michaels, and the former governor Rod Blagojevich. Sadly Blagojevich was eliminated a couple of weeks ago, but the show is still entertaining. Blagojevich was particularly amusing because he was clearly doing the show to profess his innocence and somehow taint the jury pool before he goes on trial. We got to see scenes of him walking through New York City as people called him a disgrace while he would yell he was innocent. During the tasks he would sit in the corner on his phone with his lawyer about witnesses who are betraying him and if there was any tape of that. Just before I thought he couldn't get funnier, we got to learn that he doesn't know how to type, e-mail, and can barely use the computer. I really don't understand how that is possible when you are a governor but it was funny nonetheless.

The other cast of "celebrities" like Osborn, Michaels, and Lauper are extremely funny to watch. Cindy is clearly crazy and doesn't make sense half the time she is talking. Although she does manage to come up with brilliant slogans or ideas eventually on each task. If you like reality tv, then The Apprentice is right for you as it is filled with ego, drama, and comedy.

I used celebrity in quotes because these characters aren't exactly A list celebs. Luckily I could identify two or three, but the rest I had to figure out who they were.

Mad Men

I am taking a moment to shift my focus away from movies right now and talk about a show that I recently got hooked on and have been watching all week. Mad Men is about ad men in the 1960s and shows their struggles at work and home. The main character is Donald Draper, played by Jon Hamm. He is an extremely successful and talented ad executive with a perfect family and wife in the suburbs. However, he continues to cheat on his wife throughout the episodes with female clients and other acquaintances. A young ad man named Peter Campbell makes it clear that he wants Don's job and constantly competes with him. Campbell like the rest of the men on the show also cheats on his beloved wife.

I really like watching it because it is a cool representation of life in 1960s Manhattan. While the characters still maintain their perfect nuclear families, society is changing. Don's receptionist for example eventually works with the men to creates ads. The show also illustrates attitudes of racism, anti-semitism, and misogynistic views toward women. The ad men are also dealing with the crisis of their cigarette clients impending law suits and research that shows that smoking causes cancer. The men constantly smoke and drink throughout the episodes and are shown coughing in meetings from all of the smoking. Don's wife is talking to her pregnant friend in some of the episodes and the pregnant friend is smoking and drinking. It is a weird thing to watch. But it is interesting to see life in the 1960s re-created.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

As I have been unsatisfied with the current romantic comedy movies available, I decided to watch and oldie. This is another Marilyn Monroe classic in which she plays the same character she always does-the dumb blonde bombshell. Her brunette best friend is played by Jane Russell and as usual is the brains behind the duo. While Marilyn's character always gets them into amusing problems, Russell always has the solution.

The two women are showgirls but the majority of the film takes place on the boat when the set sail for France. A rich and unattractive man has fallen for Marilyn, but she claims to love him to the point where they are on their way to get married. His father absolutely hates the idea of his son marrying a gold digging idiot so he hires a private detective to watch the girls as they set sail to meet the son in France. While Marilyn's character is unapologetically materialistic, Russell searches for true love. As she falls in love with the detective (unknowing his true motives for being on the boat), Marilyn spends her time looking for diamonds to the point where she has an old man give her his wife's diamond tiara.

The best part of the movie is how the two women perfectly compliment and care for each other. Marilyn is always trying to convince Russell to marry rich, while Russell helps her blonde friend gain the approval of her father in law. The movie also features Monroe's famous rendition of Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend song and act. My favorite part of the movie is when Monroe finally confronts her disapproving father-in-law and explains that sure she became interested in the son for the money, but grew to love him. She then explains the reason he wanted her in the first place is for her looks and then he grew to love her. She asks him that if he had a daughter wouldn't he want her to marry a rich man and have all of the fine things in the world? The father's reaction is that he thought she was supposed to be stupid.