Back to the subject of renting DVD’s, my choices have normally been carefully researched ones that may not enjoy the best ratings but have something in them that makes me say, ‘Hey, that’s worth a watch’! Up until my last rental, I used to swear by the Rotten Tomatoes website to help me make important decisions about which movie to rent, but this last rental has not only got me biased against everyone in it, but also this website which seemed to recommend this abhorrent movie pretty highly. I went out of way to gloat about how good its ratings were and now all I can do is look sheepishly at those fingers poking fun at my DVD-hunting skills (which I sort of pride myself on).
Call me insane, but when I rent a movie, I expect a thriller, a drama, a romantic comedy, a documentary, a period movie, etc. etc. etc. Not that I define a movie by these norms necessarily but I know how to categorize a film broadly. 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' however made me feel like I had called the wrong movie library. Actually, I felt like I had called some kind of helpline for ‘Save the Penis’. The characters and who they are in real life is of no consequence. Nor is the story, the cinematography, the direction, blah blah blah. The movie is crap, refined.
The unnecessary show of male body parts throughout had me wanting to throw up. What is the world coming to? Is this supposed to be funny? I tried to amuse myself with the thought that the writer of this movie is it’s lead actor and he’s the one flapping his body parts even before the drop of a hat, but no, it’s still just disgusting. Apparently, its funny or something that the ‘hot chics’ get to keep their pants and tops on and it’s the men doing the dance in their birthday suits, but I have a reality check for all those idiots out there who seemed to think the idea was cool. Women’s body parts are actually aesthetically pleasing. Men’s? NOT. And I don’t care if I sound like chauvinist. If you didn’t want to show off the women, you shouldn’t have… More power to you. But did we have to go through this? And how has this movie been successful? The lead actor is an eye sore. The blonde playing Sarah Marshall is an eye sore. Her boyfriend is an eye sore with an accent. And the cute brunette from ‘The 70’s Show’… What was she thinking? This movie was not funny, even if I were to shut my eyes or fast forward the gross bits.
All in all, I have lost my faith in Rotten Tomatoes. And the DVD search process just got harder. NO PUN INTENDED.
On a more pleasant note, my memories of the 90’s music era were recently revived and so were my chic flick loving hormones. 'Definitely, Maybe' is a sweet movie about a soon-to-be-divorced guy played by Ryan Reynolds (now him I’d like to see again) who has been given the difficult task of explaining to his daughter, played by the adorable Abigail Breslin how he met her mother and his soon to be ex-wife. We go through three of his major relationships as he tries to explain to his adorable little one the complexities of life and love. The three ladies are a mix of lovely and average but I'm going to sideline them here. How this movie will end is obvious from the start and not the point. I liked the way the story progressed through the 90’s, sprinkled with the music that I once thought was oh so cool or oh so cute. Everyday People, by Arrested Development, Connected, by Stereo MC's, Save The Best For Last (OK so shoot me, I used to like it) by Vanessa Williams and of course, Come As You Are, by Nirvana (a heart-warming ode to a gifted and revolutionary musician, Kurt Cobain). This is not a fabulous piece of cinema but it's witty, it's charming, and it touched a chord. Call me conservative, but this is what I expect a romantic comedy to be. No flashing involved. Instead, we see the lives of 4 people unfold in context to one another’s, each different, each searching, each trying to feel that thing called love, often side-stepping it for their careers, their beliefs and what have you. Oh and Bill Clinton is thrown is for some good effect... What would the 90's be without him, right? Rent, enjoy, sweet dreams...
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