Thursday, February 5, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks: Romantic Comedies



Oh, you know that one scene where the guy talks to his goofy friend who, despite being an imbecile, helps him realize he is in love with the girl. The problem is she's about to leave town for good due to that new job she just got hired for in like ten seconds. He rushes off to the train station/bus station/airport and overcomes some wacky obstacle on the way only to catch her just as she is boarding the train/bus/airplane and publicly professes his love for her and...well, you know the rest. That's right, boys and girls, this week's theme for the Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves is romantic comedies. I've seen more of them than I care to admit and have not enjoyed the vast majority of them. I actually thought about sitting this week out of this little exercise because, um, rom-coms. But alas, I've decided to put my own spin on them and soldier on. You should do the same. Just head over to Wanderer's site and joining this little weekly excursion, As for me, I'll just give you this week's picks, Chronologically, of course.

Natural Born Killers
(1994)
Please do not tell me you didn't know this was a comedy. It falls squarely in the realm of social satire. Our good friends at google define satire as "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." If that doesn't describe this movie, nothing does. Director Oliver Stone takes square aim at our out-of-control infatuation with and coverage of celebrities. Sadly, with the advent of social media and the 24 hour news cycle, the movie has become even more relevant than it was twenty years ago. And yes, at its core is a whirlwind romance. It so happens that the couple in question, Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette) start life together by killing her abusive parents and pretty much murdering anyone else in their path. When they find themselves separated, just like the couple in your favorite rom-com, they will do anything to get back together. Anything.


The Wood
(1999)
We spend most of our time with a trio of boyhood pals on the day one of them is about to get married. Unfortunately, the groom to be has gotten cold feet and gone missing and it is up to his two buddies to get him to the church on time. The romance is that of one of the buddies, Mike (Omar Epps as an adult, Sean Jones as a teen) and Alicia (Sanaa Lathan/Malinda Williams), his first crush. It's a very fun movie told in lots of flashbacks to the mid-late 1980s and a talented cast bringing it to us. Aside from Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan, we have Taye Diggs, Tamala Jones, and the very underrated Richard T. Jones. Shortly before the Tyler Perry-ization of black American cinema, this little gem came along helped paved the way for Mr. Madea, for better or worse, by showing there is money to be made in movies featuring African-American characters. It didn't set the world on fire, but it had a $6 million budget and earned $25 million at the box office.


Warm Bodies
(2013)
Take Romeo and Juliet, make it funny, start with Romeo already being dead, and you will have Warm Bodies. By dead, I mean he is a somewhat coherent zombie who goes by R (Nicholas Hoult). Much like the events of Shakespeare's classic, he falls in love the very instant he sees Julie (Teresa Palmer). She doesn't feel the same way, with her being alive and all, but needs him for survival. We follow them as he tries to get her back to safety. It's wickedly funny and fully understands the absurdity of its own premise. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best of all the movies based on YA novels that have come out in recent years. Yes, The Hunger Games included.


28 comments:

  1. While I don't think of NBK as a comedy, I'll go along with it. It is quite funny but also cool as I think it's the last great movie Oliver Stone has made.

    I'm also with you on The Wood and Warm Bodies.

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    1. NBK certainly not a traditional comedy, but I think it is one. Besides, like you said it is quite hilarious. Glad you like these choices.

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  2. The balcony scene in Warm Bodies is HILARIOUS. There's a lot of little things that movie does that are really smart that I quite liked. Also: Analeigh Tipton. LOVE. HER.

    Also love that you chose Natural Born Killers for this, because it totally counts, just not in the ways anyone would expect.

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    1. I laughed all the way through Warm Bodies, far more than my teenage kids. And yeah, NBK counts. Thanks.

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  3. I haven't seen your other two choices, but I really liked Warm Bodies. I actually liked the movie better than the book. It may not have starred big names, but Nicolas Hoult and Teresa Palmer makes it work.

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    1. They totally make it work. Hoult does a particularly nice job. He breathes so much life into a character who is actually dead.

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  4. Nice! Natural Born Killers strikes again. I agree. It is a comedy...of the super dark, satirical kind. And The Wood!!!!! I loved that movie. Haven't seen it in years. Great picks!

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    1. Thanks. NBK is certainly a dark as night comedy. The Wood is a fun movie I somehow find myself watching once or twice a year because it's a film the wife and I can agree on.

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  5. There's definitely some funny aspects of Natural Born Killers. I agree with you that it works here. Warm Bodies was great. I wasn't expecting much out of that, but I ended up really enjoying it. I haven't seen The Wood. Nice picks!

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    1. I went into WB expecting a lame rip-off of the already lame Twilight and received quite the nice surprise.

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  6. Warm Bodies is a lot of fun though it is not based on a YA novel - this according to the author. Still it was marketed as YA book in some countries due to the increasing popularity of the genre/category. So it seems the your best YA adaptation spot is still empty...now I'm curious what you'll pick for the YA theme in March, that is if you join in that week.

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    1. Interesting. Thanks for that bit of info. Yeah, I've no idea what I'll do that week.

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  7. You win! You win the whole week for the NBK choice! Brilliant!

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  8. LOVE LOVE LOVE Natural Born Killers. The chemistry between Lewis and Harrelson is amazing and the film doesn't feel outdated at all, it's actually something so unique that feels like it's always gonna be ahead of its time.

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    1. Glad to see the love for NBK. I rewatched it a few weeks ago and it blows me away how timely it still is.

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  9. Natural Born Killers is the ultimate Rohrshach test of a film.
    It's whatever you want it to be. There are no wrong answers.

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    1. That is very true. It defies easy categorization. And it does so effortlessly.

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  10. Natural Born Killers has been on my to watch list for awhile. I really need to get on it.
    I was really bummed over Warm Bodies. I had never read the book, but I was expecting it to be better. I know a lot of the fans of the book were spamming the IMDb boards about their disappointment with some of the lost details. I remember some people were calling it the next Twilight, ahha.

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    1. Sorry you didn't like Warm Bodies. I thought it was awesome. If it matters, I despise Twilight. I found WB so much smarter and more fun.

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    2. No, it was better than Twilight. I just remember some of the fans saying they would be the next fictional "it" couple. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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    3. Hope not. Much as I like it, I'm good with just one.

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  11. Ahah, inspired choice there w/ NBK! I thought Warm Bodies was pretty good considering I'm generally not into zombie flicks.

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    1. Thanks. Not a huge zombie guy, myself, but WB was very well done.

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  12. Great choices this week, Wendell. The only title I've seen is Natural Born Killers, gotta admit I was a little shocked when I saw it used for today's theme but I definitely agree with you it fits. I was never interested in seeing Warm Bodies, to me it seems like a movie only fans of Twilight would like

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    1. Thanks. I love NBK and hate most conventional rom-coms so it only made sense to pick it. I only watched WB because my daughters wanted to see it. Wasn't expecting much, but was very pleasantly surprised. And I hate Twilight.

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  13. Natural Born Killers! Now that is a bold choice. I literally laughed out loud when I saw this. Unquestionably a satire -- otherwise it makes no sense. And kind of darkly funny, too. Well played ... well played. I agree with Andrew; you deserve to win the whole week for this one. ;-)

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    1. Why thank you very much. All awards, real and fictitious are excepted, eagerly and gracefully.

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