Mr. Seven Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 (edited) You know, despite what many on here think, I have a heart and thus can appreciate a good rom-com from time to time. Take Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist for example, a film I expected to despise as it had Michael Cera doing his usual awkward schtick and a female lead who just so apathetically cool like that hateful cunt from Juno, mix in some stock characters (gay best friend, drunk best friend, hot ex-girlfriend) and layer in a hip soundtrack and you have all the ingredients for a film that should have made my blood boil. However, I was completely won over by it and found it irresistably sweet and funny. Â So in the spirit of things and inspired by JLM's love for such a genre, I, after having it come highly reccommended, decided to check out He's Just Not That Into You, having been promised that it was really quite an "intelligent" and "funny" and "realistic" rom-com. Well, if it's realistic it certainly paints a depressing picture of modern dating. As for intelligent and funny? Not at all. The characters are essentially archetypes, and they comprise the most hateful collection of people since the cunts from Cloverfield forced you to root for the monster. And there's just so many of them. Â We have Ginnifer Goodwin, who is so unbelievably cute that you can almost forgive her character's blatant retardation. Almost. She's utterly gorgeous yet has trouble meeting men and can't play it cool so scares them away. This starts on her first date with extremely irritating Michael J. Fox-alike Kevin Connolly (smug ginger from Entourage) who is so unimpressed by her awkwardness that he calls his kind-of-ex Scarlett Johansson after the date, only to get knocked back by her because she's just met a REALLY HOT BUT MARRIED GUY (Bradley Cooper, the most smug character in a film filled with smug characters) in a grocery store and of course wants to fuck him immediately. He's married to Jennifer Connolly (who plays the most shrewish, annoying wife of all time) and is friends with Ben Affleck, who has been going out with Jennifer Aniston for seven years, but won't marry her. Connolly is also friends with Justin Long, who comes into contact with Goodwin and proceeds to give her advice about men, as he knows how to play the game, and will almost certainly never end up ensnared by love to the point where he loses his cool but gets the girl he's been giving advice to. No, that certainly won't happen. Â Point is, they're all connected yo, and as they go about their business (which seems to comprise of complaining about men an awful lot, seriously the women in this film are either jealous, needy, whiny or just stupid, and the men are all driven by their cock, it's a battle of the sexes that does no side any favours) for two looooong hours, we see break-ups, infidelity, shocking twists, a heart attack, ostentatiously gay men and interspersing narration from "real" people telling us how it is in the big bad dating world. Oh and Drew Barrymore is in it too. She can't meet men because she's addicted to social networking and finds the whole thing too complicated, but she's her usual hippy-dippy self and will of course end up with one of the main characters before it's all said and done. Â In the acting stakes, I think Scarlett Johansson just edges out Jennifer Connolly in the "holy shit they really can't act, can they?" department. ScarJo has quite the set of tits on her, but that's really about it. Connolly plays yet another sucks-the-life-out-of-proceedings bitch who has you pretty much understanding why her husband is fucking around. Nobody really stands out. Justin Long is fun, but a little too smug for his own good. Â The bottom line is that the characters are much too unlikeable (the only ones you might feel anything for are Justin Long, because he's Justin Long, and Ginnifer Goodwin because she's utterly beautiful, but their characters run too close to being dickheads that it's tough to care when they finally hook up) and there's little in the way of humour. The whole thing feels like a lecture on how to play the game, issued by beautiful people with rocks for brains. The last thing you'll want to do after this film is tell that girl you like how you feel, because it seems to be designed to turn men against women and vice-versa, despite being marketed as a fun, upbeat and smart comedy for the SATC generation. It's none of these things, and the SATC generation can go fuck itself. Â JLM! Have you seen this? Edited June 26, 2009 by Mr. Seven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted June 26, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 I haven't. It's on the list along with "The Women". And now "Nick and Norah's infinite playlist". It sounds heartwarming. Â More immediately, a friend has kindly bought me "Serving Sara" starring Chandler Matthew Perry and Liz Hurley. It was received somewhat poorly on release: Â Reception As of August 2007, the film had score of 18 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 26 reviews, indicating "extreme dislike or disgust." On Rotten Tomatoes, 5% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 103 reviews (5 "fresh", 98 "rotten"). Â Oh my. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Nick And Norah is heartwarming, I assure you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesTyler Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 I'm so stunned by that I may have to give Nick & Norah a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 You won't regret it. I wish Norah was real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted June 26, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Mark Mothersbaugh did the soundtrack. Win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 It's actually largely a very good soundtrack. Not only are The National on there but "Very Loud" by Shout Out Louds, which is a fucking AMAZING song, is on it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Justice Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Mr. Seven. Could I ask what are your top 10 favourite films are (or top 5 if that's easier)? Just to satisfy my curiosity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Er, currently, in no real order, and right off the top of my head:  Fight Club Glengarry Glen Ross Grosse Point Blank Blade Runner Oldboy Metropolis The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Se7en 12 Angry Men A Clockwork Orange  Three Brad Pitt movies in the top ten!  Honourable mentions to: Akira, Pan's Labyrinth, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, La Haine, American Psycho, The Godfather, City Of God, The Third Man, Miller's Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy and lots more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Justice Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Er, currently, in no real order, and right off the top of my head: Fight Club Glengarry Glen Ross Grosse Point Blank Blade Runner Oldboy Metropolis The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford Se7en 12 Angry Men A Clockwork Orange  Three Brad Pitt movies in the top ten!  Honourable mentions to: Akira, Pan's Labyrinth, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, La Haine, American Psycho, The Godfather, City Of God, The Third Man, Miller's Crossing, The Hudsucker Proxy and lots more...  Based on how much praise you throw at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang I thought that would have made your top 10. Interesting list though, I've seen 6 of the 10 and all are very good films.  The reason I ask is because I need some new films to watch and everything I've seen recently has been utter shite. I respect your opinion when it comes to films, so based on your list I now have at least 4 to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tequila_Boy Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Nick And Norah is heartwarming, I assure you.  ...your sooooooooooo gay  Jokes.  How about a hug now?  BBFL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of Hamptons Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 I watched 12 Rounds last night and was very surprised, I really enjoyed it. John Cena's acting is actually quite good. Well done WWE Studios. Â Yep.. Its not a bad film, shame the plot is Die Hard 3 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) I watched Transformers 2 last night and thought it was very disappointing. I remember the first movie being alright, although the fight scenes were poor and looked like an incomprehensible mess. This one doesn't suffer from that as much, but it overdoes the lowest common denominator comedy (dogs humping, the mum taking weed, etc.) and the effects, and the plot and dialogue are just bad. Then the climax seems to last forever. I seriously can't think of many films that drag that much towards the end. Â The only saving grace is that Megan Fox is ungodly hot. Edited June 27, 2009 by Vice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted June 27, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted June 27, 2009 I watched Transformers 2 last night and thought it was very disappointing. I remember the first movie being alright, although the fight scenes were poor and looked like an incomprehensible mess. This one doesn't suffer from that as much, but it overdoes the lowest common denominator comedy (dogs humping, the mum taking weed, etc.) and the effects, and the plot and dialogue are just bad. Then the climax seems to last forever. I seriously can't think of many films that drag that much towards the end. The only saving grace is that Megan Fox is ungodly hot.  My mate said it's 2 hours and 40 minutes and there's a half an hour sequence of a game of hide and seek in the desert. No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This thread scares me Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 The boy in the stripped pajamas Fascinating to watch. Â ..not a film rather the 7 year old across the street from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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