Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Continuing with my romantic comedy theme, I also spent time watching Did You Hear About the Morgans with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker this weekend. Unfortunately this movie wasn't very good at all. I was disappointed because I like Hugh Grant, but the main problem with this movie lies in the fact that he and Parker weren't really believable as a couple. There wasn't really any chemistry between them and I didn't believe that they were ever really a married couple. As a result you are not really invested in their story and by the end don't really care if they end up together. The plot itself is pretty weak. The busy New York ex-couple witnesses murder and they must soon be placed under the witness protection program, sending them to a small town in Wyoming. Here we are introduced to a multitude of stereotypical small town characters. They are all simple, gun toting republicans who directly contrast to the city couple. Most of the humor in the movie is supposed to come from the contrast between the Grant and Parker couple and the rest of the small town characters such as the married couple they live with. Parker is a member of PETA and a vegetarian, while the woman they live with loves to hunt and makes hearty them a hearty breakfast will sausage and bacon. This Manhattan couple is also alarmed by the clean air, nature, and stars in this small town. The whole theme of the city folk trying to deal with living in the small town has been done before and in this movie its not really effective. I could tell the scenes and lines that were supposed to be funny, but they didn't really work. I do appreciate the fact that Hugh Grant plays the same character in every movie as he just sits there being charming and makes sarcastic comments throughout every scene.

When In Rome

Last Night my friends and I had a girls night and went to see the new romantic comedy When in Rome with Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. This was a perfect movie to satisfy my chick flick craving as I had been experiencing withdrawal since the Proposal and the Ugly Truth came out over the summer. When in Rome is pretty much exactly what you would expect. It follows that chick flick movie pattern and you can guess the plot twists and the ending. It is one of those movies that you enjoy while you watch it, but a week later it is completely forgotten. I remember laughing during the movie, but even as I type this my memory of the details is pretty fuzzy, kind of like when you wake up and don't really remember the dream you just had. Although watching the movie in theaters completely enhances the experience for multiple reasons. First scenes automatically seem funnier when you hear everyone else laughing, especially because there is always that one woman with an insane laugh and thinks every scene is hysterical. Second, whenever there are those touching scenes between the two stars and the man says something really romantic, you get to hear the collective "awwwww" throughout the theatre. Third, you get to watch Josh Duhamel on a gigantic screen. And finally movie theatre candy is amazing.
Interestingly, the Kristen Bell character typifies the new type of woman seen throughout this romantic comedy genre. It seems that in most recent chick flicks there tends to be a theme of the modern uptight, workaholic woman who has a lot of difficulty in their love lives. This is a clear indicator in the time we live in as more and more women occupy the workforce and have begun to greatly value and focus on their career. Luckily in these movies, there is always a perfect guy just waiting to fall in love and sweep them off their feet. Overall I would recommend this movie if you are looking for a typical romantic comedy that makes you smile. In my opinion, this was far better than Did you Hear about the Morgans with Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant or Leap Year with Amy Adams. Basically if you are trying to determine a current chick flick to watch right now this would be the clear winner.

Introduction

The past few years I have really grown to love movies. When I was younger I used to mainly watch t.v. shows especially dramas where the story never ends and relationships are forever changing. In high school my love of television dramas began to fade as I grew tired of the fact that these stories never had a satisfying ending. When a t.v. series would inevitably come to an end, I was never satisfied with the ending the writers would piece together. The best ideas in television are always when the show starts, but after a couple of years the story fades, becomes boring, and you slowly watch the series die. The problem lies in the fact that the point behind a t.v. series is to make it last as long as possible and when it finally dies, an ending is kind of tacked on. As a result I lose interest in most shows quite quickly. There were only so many times I could watch Derek and Meredith get together and break up on Greys Anatomy before I lost completely interest. Movies, on the other hand, tell a complete, pre-mediated story and even if the ending is terrible, we reach a conclusion in a couple of hours.
I mainly stick to watching romantic comedies, although recently I have decided to expand my horizon and watch different genres as well as award winning movies I have never seen. This decision mainly resulted in the fact that I have sort of run out of chick flicks that I haven't seen as well as the fact that whenever people suggested movies I had no interest in seeing, I ended up loving them. For example, A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson was an amazing movie and I had never even thought of watching it until I finally gave into someone's suggestions a few months ago. Since then I have been watching movies whenever possible and continue to be fascinated with the way in which these different stories are told. The only genre I avoid is horror, but I am slowly confronting that fear and may even eventually blog about a scary movie or two. Although first I would have to stop watching these movies through my fingers as my hands cover my face.