WEIRDLAND: Romantic Comedies & Eligible Actors

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Romantic Comedies & Eligible Actors


"(500) Days of Summer" is an anomaly in the modern romantic comedy world. The film is completely through the perspective of a male going through a break up and accurately portrays it too. The main criticism of this film, and this film has received quite a backlash since its debut, is the fact that Zooey Deschanel’s character seems to follow the trope of the manic pixie dream girl in which the romantic interest is cute, quirky and changes the male’s previously brooding and depressed male protagonist. But, that is ignoring the complexity of this film. Like I said, this is through the male perspective after a break up.


Except for about a scene or two, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character is always in the scene. He is seeing Summer through his eyes thus the disjointed chronology. During a breakup, you reflect upon your relationship and it starts in cycles. You see all the things that were perfect about this woman. Then all the things that went wrong and so on and so forth. This is the first film that shows that in my memory and the fact that they do not get together at the end is invariably satisfying as, like most relationships with a little distance to them, they did not belong together. It does not succumb to a deus ex machina ending and shoehorns in a happy ending, just that he moves on. Source: whatculture.com


Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel: If you watched (500) Days of Summer, you are acutely aware of how cute co-stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be as a couple. Just because they couldn't make it onscreen doesn't mean they wouldn't be completely compatible in real life, especially since the two have been buds for a decade. I mean, c'mon, look at their over-the-top adorable homeade video cover of Nancy Wilson's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" — they may swear they are just friends, but that's how many of the best marriages start out.


Emmy Rossum and Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004) directed by Roland Emmerich

Jake Gyllenhaal is handsome, smart and— by all accounts — a total catch, yet the 32-year-old actor can't seem to find a partner with staying power. What's up with that? We thought we heard wedding bells in the air during his and Reese Witherspoon's long courtship, but alas, she broke things off and moved on with her now husband, Jim Toth. Similarly, 26-year-old Emmy Rossum is known as one of Tinseltown's most charming talents, but she has been unlucky in love since her marriage to music executive Justin Siegel ended in 2010. Are we hopeless romantics to believe two total sweethearts such as these could finally give each other the happily-ever-after they so deserve? Source: www.sheknows.com


5. '40 Days, 40 Nights' (2002)
Remember when Josh Hartnett was, like, the next big thing? Sure you don't, but this comedic vehicle had the "Pearl Harbor" hunk gallantly giving up sex (including self abuse) for the entirety of lent, leaving him frustrated and frenzied when he falls in love with the dizzyingly attractive Shannyn Sossamon. They manage to get around his purity pledge through clever use of flower petals, which takes them to new romantic heights.


1. 'When Harry Met Sally' (1989)
Perhaps the most famous of all sexless sex scenes involves Meg Ryan teaching Billy Crystal a thing or two about the theatricality of the fairer sex in the sack. Proving a point of how easy it is to fake a BIG O, Ryan sets down her pastrami sandwich and builds to a thunderous, earth-shaking climax… then, without batting an eye, has a dainty bite of potato salad. For those of you wanting to know, yes, the pastrami at Katz's Delicatessen is that good. Source: www.nextmovie.com

No comments :