Thursday, February 14, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks: Romantic Comedies


It's Thursday. That means it's time for Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. In keeping with the order of the day, she chose romantic comedies as this week's topic. That's cool, but let's be honest. We have some weird legends, even when it comes to love. Let's take today, Valentine's Day, for instance. It's a day to celebrate and show your love for others. I get that and it's all great, but what about all the death involved in the profession of our devotions to one another. We give flowers that won't survive the week, chocolates that won't make it through the day, and shiny balloons that, should they avoid being pricked or lost to the atmosphere, suffocate before us because their entire, short life is one constant exhale. Even the little naked dude gets in on it. Yes, I'm talking about Cupid. And I know he wears a diaper when he travels in some circles. Just think about what he does. To make us fall in love with someone he shoots us with an arrow. In the heart. You know what happens when you puncture your heart. Most of the time you die. So the only way to get us acting all lovey-dovey is to kill us off, then bring us back with a thirst for just one thing. At least, that's where my mind went. See...


Zombieland
(2009)
So, the zombie apocalypse is happening. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) is one of the few survivors and decides to try and make it from his apartment in Texas to Ohio to see if his parents are still alive. Along the way, he meets the macho Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson). They, in turn, meet Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Little Rock is just a little girl, so she's out of the equation. However, Wichita is just the right age and our hero falls head over heels. Will he be able to get the girl before they're eaten by zombies?


Life After Beth
(2014)
So, the zombie apocalypse is happening. In this case, it takes our hero a bit longer to catch on. Ya see, his girlfriend Beth (Aubrey Plaza) died and he's taking it pretty hard. He's taking it hard enough that he keeps visiting her parents well after the funeral. Well, whaddya know, one day while going there, he thinks he spots her through the window. Sure enough, he does. He's so happy to have his girl back, it doesn't really matter to him that she's a zombie...until it does. He's already got the girl. Will he be able to keep her without being eaten by her?


Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
(2015)
So, the zombie apocalypse is happening. Ben (Tye Sheridan) and his two bestest buddies, who are all in high school yet still cub scouts, are among the survivors. Another survivor is Denise (Sarah Dumont). She used to go to the school the guys currently attend, but now works as a stripper. More importantly, so is Kendall (Halston Sage), the girl Ben has had a crush on since forever. Will he be able to get the girl before they're eaten by zombies? (Full review)



23 comments:

  1. I haven't seen Life of Beth though I do like Aubrey Plaza a lot. Zombieland and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse are total inspired choices. I like your theme within a theme as I too went with a theme-within-a-theme approach to the rom-com plus I added a mix-tape to celebrate this overrated holiday.

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    1. I hope you get to check out Life After Beth. It's a really quirky, but fun movie.

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  2. OMG why didn't I think of Zombieland! Such a great and inventive pick!

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  3. My brother Lincoln and I turned 21 today 💛 💙 💜 ❤️

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  4. I love your theme! I never saw Scout's guide but I really liked Zomebieland and Life After Beth.

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  5. Yes! What an amazing twist on the theme! I love Zombieland - I really hope the sequel this year is decent.

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  6. haha LOVE this take on the theme! Zombieland is a lot of fun, and I've been meaning to watch Life After Beth since I like Aubrey Plaza.

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    1. She's a pretty perfect fit for Life After Beth. You should check it out.

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  7. Well that's an interesting if disturbing ghoulish theme within the theme Dell. I don't think I'm sorry to say I haven't seen any of these though with that cast, excepting Jesse Eisenberg, Zombieland is one I might consider one day.

    I also did a theme within the theme going with three from one of the masters of the genre-Cary Grant.

    The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)-Playboy artist Richard Nugent (Cary Grant) appears before Judge Margaret Turner (Myrna Loy) for fighting at a nightclub, after a stern warning she dismisses the charge. That same day, Nugent happens to lecture at a high school, where Margaret's teenage sister, Susan (Shirley Temple), falls head-over-heels for him. Things get complicated when Susan sneaks into and is found in his apartment. Back before Judge Turner she orders him to date Susan as a way of easing her attraction. It only gets crazier from there as Richard (now Dickie) embraces his rediscovered teenhood while finding himself attracted to Margaret and vice versa. Breezy comedy (which won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar) is Shirley’s best adult film with all three stars working at top speed.

    Indiscreet (1958)-Theatre star Anna Kalman (Ingrid Bergman) meets banker and diplomat Philip Adams (Cary Grant) when she’s visiting her sister and brother-in-law (Phyllis Calvert & Cecil Parker who steal every scene they’re in) in London. After a brief flirtation they fall in love but Philip is married and things seem hopeless until Anna discovers something that puts everything in a new light. Lush, charming comedy with Cary & Ingrid perfectly matched.

    Houseboat (1958)-Tom Winston (Cary Grant) is struggling to raise his three children on his own after his wife's death. He meets the charming and beautiful Cinzia Zaccardi (Sophia Loren) at a concert and hires her as a live-in nanny. Unbeknownst to Tom, Cinzia is actually a European socialite on the run from her domineering father (Harry Guardino) and has absolutely no experience with cooking, cleaning or raising children. The fiery Cinzia and staid Tom butt heads until they discover a shared attraction. Cary & Sophia were seriously involved (and almost married) during filming.

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    1. If you like the cast of Zombieland, minus Eisenberg, there's a bonus (I think) for you. It boasts a Bill Murray that's to die for. ;)

      My Cary Grant game is really weak. Haven't seen any of these.

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  8. I had a feeling you would go a different route:) I am not into zombies at all but I did like Zombieland and that is an inventive choice. I have not seen the other 2 and doubt I will. I thought you were going to pick this comedy that was out a few years ago about people trying to survive zombies. One girl meets a boy zombie and he falls for her and vice versa and he teaches her how to be a zombie to survive and she is trying to let her dad and other know he is not a bad guy...can't recall the name of it

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    1. Thanks! Scouts Guide is definitely in the vein of Zombieland. Life After Beth is quirky, millennial humor that happens to revolve around a zombie-human relationship. And the movie you're thinking of is Warm Bodies. I've used it for TMP a few times before so I avoided it.

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  9. I'm really excited they are making Zombieland sequel, Woody was hilarious in the first one!

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  10. I absolutely love your theme within theme! Zombieland is the only I've seen and I loved it. I've been meaning to watch Life After Beth but I had no idea there were zombies in it.

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    1. Thanks! Oh yeah, Beth is a zombie we get to see devolve throughout the movie, but it's always a comedy.

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  11. What a really cool theme within a theme. My first thought would have been Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

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    1. Thanks! That's a good one, too! It certainly qualifies.

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  12. Zombieland is fun, I should rewatch before the sequel arrives.

    Aubrey Plaza is weird but that's what I like about her, she killed it in the opening monologue at the recent 2019 Independent Spirit Awards.

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