I say "I Do" to 'The Proposal'

Hollywood does it again. As big of a cynic as I am in my real romantic life, I am blindly optimistic when it comes to love on the big screen. It's been a long time since I have seen a RomCom in theaters. In fact, the last one I remember is 'Serendipity' which almost doesn't count b/c it was during my "I heart John Cussack" phase. Don't laugh. He had a great run.

Pause to review my JC experience:

1) Early-mid 90s: I didn't live the 80s until the 90s so 'Better Off Dead', 'One Crazy Summer', and 'Say Anything' is an underrated trio of decade dominance imo. (You can even throw in the great Disney pic 'Journey of Natty Gann' which I loved as a sheltered 7 year old).

2) Con Air in 1997 was fun when I was 18 and before TNT decided to run it every weekend for the next decade

3) Didn't see 'Gross Pointe Blank' ('97) until 1998 when it came out on video. Great pic.

4)Being John Malkovich 1999. Classic.

5) High Fidelity 2000. An ALL-TIME fav.

After a run like that, you're telling me I'm missing 'Serendipity' in 2001? Hell no. In fact I enjoyed it very much. I even tried to talk myself into liking 'America's Sweethearts' and 'Runaway Jury'. "He's still got it!" I would argue. Then 'The Ice Harvest' put me on life support, and 'Must Love Dogs' pulled the plug. But my 2001 love was a very very real thing. I don't regret you JC. You helped make me the man I am today.

In a shocking turn of events, I started a blog and switched to something completely off-topic. I swear, I don't do this on purpose. You know this if we've have ever had a personal conversation. Back to the point.

I love the movies, and I love going to the movies. However, my theater priorities are as follows:

1 - Big Budget action movies. Think 'Transformers' or 'Iron Man'. Some movies are just made for the big screen. Seeing 'The Matrix' on opening day was one of my favorite movie experiences ever. 12 months later on HBO just wouldn't have been the same.

2 - Adult Comedy on opening weekend. Think Sandler or Farell in their heyday, or 'The Hangover' currently. Some suck, but when you are the first one to see 'Old School' and you can laugh your ass off in a crowded theater and then relive the jokes for the next 3 weeks, it is totally worth it.

3 - The Oscar films. Love seeing as many or all of the relevant Oscar films in theaters. In 2007 I rocked; I saw them all on my own when they came out and it was great. Last year I sucked; I saw 'Slumdog Millionaire' the day of the Oscars, and didn't catch 'Benjamin Button' until video.

4 - Others. Think 'Garden State' or 'The Weatherman'. It's hit or miss, but you try to be on the first wave of something unique. I missed the former, and swung and missed with the latter, but it's a fun game. I scored with 'Sideways' on opening weekend, but that ended up in the the Oscar group anyways.

5 - Random indie at the Naro. Think 'Waking Life'. Got to support the little guys.

Of course many of those fall through the cracks leaving very little time for RomComs. The RomCom theater experience is for daters, and I am not a fan of the movie date:

A) First dates are for finding reasons NOT to see the person again. Sitting in a movie does not help you find out how annoying, shallow, or dumb a girl is. Give me 20 minutes and a $4 cup of coffee, and I know if I'll ever see that girl again.

B) Girlfriends have to (and hopefully like to) see movies from the previously discussed list. I love the RomComs themselves, but we can see them on video without missing anything.

There are so many movies I want to see in theaters but don't have time for. I just can't waste a theater day on a movie that really doesn't need to be on the big screen or experienced in a crowd.

After seeing 'The Proposal', I may need to rethink the movie date. It was at the end of a 'day hang', so lest I talk this poor girl's ear off any longer, the movies seemed like a good capper. I had heard bad things about 'Transformers 2' and good things about 'The Proposal' so I figured, what the hay? Lets try it.

The theater was pretty full, mostly couples around my age, so that was a good start. Always good to be in the right demo for a positive theater experience. It also helped that this particular movie was actually funny. I laughed a lot. In fact, I always love it when I can laugh more than I am supposed to, and the people around me join in. Maybe they are laughing "at" me, but whatever. It's still a fun vibe.

***Spoiler Alert***

You know what? I totally bought the movie. 2 people that hate each other absolutely CAN fall in love in three days as long as the experience is quirky and unpredictable enough. Lifelong emotional damage can be wiped away in 72 hours as long as there is a wacky but endearing grandmother involved. Bonus points if she can pull off the fake heart attack. A father-son bond that can never be broken will be forged. I am not being sarcastic. I wish I had a wacky but endearing grandmother. I would probably be married with three kids right now if I did.

I love the movies because they are fun. This movie was more fun being at the theater, laughing with random people, and seeing it before I heard much about it. I am an optimist in all but love, but when I am at the movies I believe again. So bravo Hollywood. Even if it was just for 2 hours, you made a believer out of me. Now I just need to find someone I really hate...