MR. JEALOUSY: Romance and junk...
Welcome back, you wayfaring strangers. Care for a big slice of movie-related pie? It’s fresh, hot, and hey, I’ll even throw in a scoop of wry wit a la mode. Just so you know, most of my metaphors involve food. Way it goes. Okay, so this is column number two (or three, depending on where you start counting) and this week, I believe I’ll take us down a different road. One populated not by bad-ass gangsters who talk fast and live dirty, but by bookishly sweet young men and women, who care deeply about love and have many interesting things to say on the subject. A path where the mood is light and airy and people shower regularly, doing they’re darndest to look cute as buttons (particularly Meg Ryan.). Yes, friends, the path of the romantic comedy!!!
Being male and in possession of a penis, I’m generally not allowed to make the following statement, but I think that for the betterment of this column, I will duck out from under the stifling cloud of machismo that surrounds me, as it does most men. The statement: I like romantic comedies. I know, I know… how wimpy. The thing is, I consider myself to be a pretty sensitive guy. I have true feelings of love and warmth and, on occasion, I cry at movies (granted most of the movies I cry at are sports related; i.e. BRIAN’S SONG or RUDY, but you get my point). These things don’t make me less of man. No, they make me MORE of a man because a woman can relate to me and, therefore find me as a suitable mate (I’m free for dinner, ladies!!!). Guys, that’s a good tip by the way, if you don’t have the athletic prowess of a Bo Jackson or the dashing good looks of a Ben Affleck, grab yourself a few “chick flicks” and start boning up on the mushy stuff. Works better than Barry White and a bottle of Blue Nun. (p.s. Avoid WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Trust me, I took a bullet for you on that one) Anyways, the movie of the week…
MR. JEALOUSY; a sweet natured but nonetheless biting and witty look at love and, obviously, jealousy. This comes to us from a writer/director who, I should point out, will be the subject of a future “special edition” article in this very column, Noah Baumbach. He happens to be one of my favorite autures, even though most people look at me with pained skepticism whenever I mention his name. Not real well known, Noah Baumbach. It hurts me to think that he remains a virtual phantom in Hollywood while that yahoo that directed THE CELL gets a three picture deal, but that’s not the issue. Baumbach’s most notable film was his first, KICKING AND SCREAMING, a critically well received and publicly well-ignored little film that should have been Baumbach’s big break. However, due to it’s lack of talking dogs and things blowing up, it became yet another art-house flop, albeit less so than MR. JEALOUSY.
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