Monday, 12/16

I’m a guy, and I like it. Is it THAT big of a surprise?

My second favorite movie of the decade is “Love, Actually”, a movie that kind of flopped when it came out in theaters but has now taken on a second life as a modern-day holiday classic (in this regard, it resembles “It’s a Wonderful Life”, something I’ll discuss in a bit). Anyway, because of the film's evergreen status this time of the year there are a slew of articles released about it, many of which deal with the same topic--

Did you know guys like “Love, Actually”?

Speaking as a guy, just let me say this--yes, some of us DO like “Love, Actually”. In fact, some of us LOVE “Love, Actually”, and I’m not quite sure why all these writers are surprised. I mean, sure, it doesn’t have any explosions, farts, or fights, and it’s filled with heart and humor, but that doesn’t mean guys don’t like it. In fact, I’ve always been a fan of Richard Curtis, the guy who wrote and directed the film, if only because his movies DO have heart & humor, and conspicuously lack explosions and farts, and when he does include fights, they’re usually between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, and usually they’re hilarious.

So there.

Another of my favorite articles on the movie is one that asked people which of the nine subplots they liked best (for those of you who haven’t seen the movie, [and shame on you, by the way, if you haven’t], the movie juggles nine inter-related subplots in the 5 weeks leading up to Christmas), and that’s almost like asking someone which of their nine kids or puppies or classic cars or whatever they like best. I don’t know that I could pick my absolute favorite, although I will admit that I have a fondness for both the Hugh Grant and the Colin Firth story lines. The one that always gets to me, though, is the plot with Keira Knightly and the guy in love with her. Once again, I don’t wanna spoil it for anyone who’s never seen it, but if you aren’t in some way affected after watching that plot line, you’d better check to see if you have a pulse.

So there you go. I’m a guy, and I love “Love, Actually”. Think they’ll write an article about me, now??

8-)

*****

Okay, I mentioned how “Love, Actually” has pretty much followed the arc of “It’s a Wonderful Life” by being a box office failure at first, only to then become a beloved holiday classic. Well, that reminds me I need to check on something. A couple of years ago, there were plans afoot to make a sequel to “Wonderful Life”, in which the ghost of George Bailey’s youngest kid, Zazu, comes back to haunt George’s bratty grandson by showing him how much better the world would’ve been if he was never born.

Why, oh why, oh why? That sounds like it’s full of holiday cheer, doesn’t it? Why would anyone even think of something like that? And if it ever comes to fruition and they ever have the gall to make the film, what’s next--a sequel to “The Wizard of Oz” in which Dorothy’s granddaughter skips out of rehab to join a doomsday cult, or something?

I’ve been joking on the air all year about how the movie business has run out of ideas. Guess I wasn’t that far off, was I?

*****

Finally, at the risk of making this a little too long, I wanna make sure I wish my favorite father-in-law in the whole world a happy birthday today!  That's right; it's daily blog reader Floyd in Reese's birthday today, and it's one of those big, milestone birthdays to boot.  So happy birthday to my "other" dad.  Hope you have a great day! 

(jim@wmqt.com)