The Writer's Poke

Another Hugh Grant rom com that is better than my low expectations going in predicted. Sometimes I'll buy an actor's 4-pack and then let it sit on the coffee table DVD pile unwatched for months. I just didn't have much motivation to watch this collection, but Two Weeks Notice (2002) was pretty good, so now I'm in. No, I don't think this one was quite as good, but it does have its moments.  I might be one of the few people to notice, too, that Jason Antoon is in the trilogy of Grant movies directed by Marc Lawrence. Antoon has bit parts, and I'm wondering if he was cast simply for his creepy bug eyes. And who is this director, Marc Lawrence? He did a trio of Hugh Grant films in the early 2000s, but other than that, what's his actual full-time job? I only ask because he's only directed a few other films beyond the three with Grant.  Roger Ebert didn't do a full review for this one, but he was likely still recovering from having his jaw removed in 2006....

"Romantic films are the comfort food of the movies." -- Roger Ebert According to Letterboxd, Drama is my favorite genre of movies. What continues to surprise me, however, is how many Romances I watch -- the number of comedies and the number of romances I watch run neck and neck for my second favorite genre. Maybe what Ebert said about "Two Weeks Notice" -- and romantic films more generally -- explains why I watch them. More than just about any other genre, I know to expect. And part of the payoff is the happy ending. When a rom com works, the ending feels valid and natural. When it doesn't, well, then it feels like a toddler trying to force a square block into a circular hole. In this film, I feel like the ending is okay, but the premise getting there is a bit beyond belief. Lucy (Sandra Bullock) is a crunchy-granola community activist. George (Hugh Grant) is a good-looking developer who rubs shoulders with Donald Trump -- and probably shares his values. Lucy ac...

If you've watched this movie, I bet you remember Wilson. You remember the time Chuck (Tom Hanks) spends stranded on the island. That's probably 2/3s of the film, and we see Chuck as he learns how to sustain himself, how he learns how to open coconuts and use the blade of an ice skate as a cutting tool and mirror. How he has to knock out his own infected tooth with a rock and the skate's blade. We also don't visually see but learn how he's able to spearfish and use math to plan his escape the tide that surrounds the island.  But I'm convinced that without the frame of the movie -- the beginning 20 minutes, but especially the ending 20 minutes, this film wouldn't be nearly as good as it is. I've been watching a lot of rom coms lately, and this is not a rom com, although it does have elements of romance, for sure.  Kelly (Helen Hunt) never gave up believing that Chuck was alive. That said, four years pass, and she has to live her life. That means she got ma...

This is a romance, a musical, and a war/propaganda film. In other words, it has a lot of boxes to check off.  Beautifully shot in technicolor, I kind of understand why some people write, "Who cares if there's a plot? It's beautiful."  Kind of understand, but sorry... a film still needs to be good.  One of the first problems with the plot, I guess, is that Rosalind (Rita Hayworth) can do better. Or to put it another way, she can have any man she wants. Paul (Lee Bowman) tries to make a quick move on her, and she sees it happening and calls him on it.  Which isn't to say that she shouldn't give him a second chance, but what exactly do they have in common? And, the second problem with films like this: They've known each other for a minute, and she's going to marry him and give up her dancing career just like that? Huh?  Tommy (Marc Platt) is in love with Rosalind, too. But not only does he not say anything to her, but he essentially never shows it in any ...

Since this movie has such a low Letterboxd and IMDb rating, I avoided watching it for a while... but guess what? It honestly isn't that bad for a Karate Kid movie. I would still rank the original movie a smidge higher, because it has the original movie mystique going for it; that said, I have to admit I'd rather see Mr. Miyagi working with Julie (Hilary Swank) than Daniel (Ralph Macchio). She's just a better actor.  Getting Mr. Miyagi to Boston is a bit of a plot stretch. He somehow convinces Julie's grandmother to fly out to California for a house swap. I mean, maybe she was at her wits end with Julie, but it's funny, because we once she leaves for Mr. Miyagi's place out West, we never see or hear from her again.  Michael Ironside (as Dugan) is a perfect replacement for Kreese (Michael Kove). He's the leader of some sort of student patrol group at the school. (Listen to his first speech. He could easily be the prototype for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeset...

The third in the Doris Day/Rock Hudson/ Tony Randall trilogy, and I'm surprised to find out, the best of the three.  I'd like to know more about Doris Day's hair. In this film, sometimes it looks like her normal hair, and sometimes it looks three times the size. It sort of reminds of NFL football player helmets -- the standard helmet versus the special helmet some players wear to protect their heads from concussions.  But in all seriousness, I'm guessing that Day wore wigs for at least some of the scenes in this film, but if she did and didn't wear them for all scenes, I'm just left confused. Why did she have to wear wigs in some of the scenes? And why did they have to be so big? Meanwhile, Tony Randall has a little bit better part here. In the first two films, he's a rich friend of Rock Hudson, and he goes to a psychiatrist. That's really all we know about him. In this film, he's a lawyer and neighbor, and he's got a drinking problem. He's m...

Because Pillow Talk (1959) exists, this movie should never have been made. Do I like Rock Hudson and Doris Day together on screen? Sure I do. Do I like the sex comedy plot of two people who hate each other but somehow, through convoluted circumstances, end up falling in love because the man pretends to be someone else? Yeah, that's fun.  But at least in Pillow Talk, the Rock Hudson character starts falling in love with the Doris Day character. In Lover Come Back, Jerry (Hudson) is still the womanizing guy that will do whatever to get whatever he wants. He does not, however, begin falling for Carol (Day). He's just tricking her until she finally finds out who he is.  That's the biggest difference between the two films. And yet, Jerry and Carol STILL end up married. But the marriage is one that happens simply because they end up accidently drunk on Jerry's VIP mints. Carol doesn't magically fall in love with the real Jerry. In fact, she wants to immediately annul the ...