Hello readers. My name is Rose Matafeo, and I love romantic comedies.
Now, I understand that in my first ever blog post here on Flicks, this may not be the wisest thing to admit to. You people obviously have taste, not only in movies but the finer things in life. You probably enjoy reading Camus while drinking fine wines and cutting rich cheeses with tiny knives specially designed for cutting cheese. However, there is no better way to start the intimate blogger/reader relationship than with sharing some secrets, so I thought it best to start with this one.
There are some genuinely enjoyable, dare I say good, romantic comedy films. Nora Ephron kind of nailed it early on in the late 80s and 90s with When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless In Seattle, with the sub-par You’ve Got Mail officially marking the end to the golden Ephron years of the rom-com. I still think that the classic Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan rom-com combo was used best in Joe Versus The Volcano, but I’m getting distracted. The point is, they aren’t all bad. And even when they’re really bad, you sometimes can’t help but watch.
One Fine Day
The year 1996 was a special one for many reasons; the chess computer Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov for the first time ever, while The Halifax Regional Municipality in Novia Scotia, Canada was created. These are all exciting things that happened in 1996 according to the year’s Wikipedia article. A notable exclusion from this list was the release of One Fine Day.
One Fine Day is about one not-so-fine-day (Ha! IRONY) in the life of two busy single parents in New York played by Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. Both parents have somehow managed to make their children miss a class field trip, so they’re stuck with them for the day. Classic.
To be quite honest, there isn’t much else I remember about this film, because it is genuinely quite bad. The one thing I do remember about this film however, was how back in the early 2000s, TV2 would occasionally do these Sunday nights where viewers would text in and vote for which film they wanted to see. I can remember them doing this about three times when I was a kid, and without fail, every single time the two options would Men In Black and One Fine Day.
I hear you say ‘Rose, well of course Men in Black would win every time, because it’s a totally radical movie! Remember the talking dog alien? He was hilarious!’ Well imaginary reader, you are wrong. This movie won the battle two out of the three times it ever happened, for no other reason than the only people who owned actual mobile phones at that time were probably big Michelle Pfeiffer fans.
It’s Complicated
Now, it’s hard to put this on my list for best-worst romantic comedies, because I’m actually pretty obsessed with this movie. It’s honestly something I’m not proud of, but hey, ‘When in Rome! ‘– Ron Burgundy
Writer and director Nancy Meyers is to romantic comedies what Steven Spielberg is to normal good movies. She has figured her shit OUT.To borrow a phrase from her first blockbuster hit (I apologise in advance for this terrible joke) – she has really figured out What Woman Want! Which is apparently films about middle class woman who work in a bakery/successful newspaper/advertising agency, or all of the above. For those who you who haven’t seen It’s Complicated, basically Meryl Streep’s character has been divorced from Alec Baldwin’s character for ten years (something she manages to mention in the movie about five thousand times) but they end up schtupping. Hilarity/romance ensues. I think the worst thing about it all is Steve Martin’s old shiny face. The idea of him finally getting old and closer to death makes me all depressed and more aware of my own mortality.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs
I found myself way too excited last week when I saw that this movie was going to be played on television. Everyone knows that when a movie you like is on TV, its appeal increases by roughly 1000%. It doesn’t matter if you own in on VHS, DVD and Bluray, or even if you’ve seen it a hundred times already, it’s the rule; your favourite movies are always be so much better when you’re watching them at an inferior visual quality with ad breaks in between because it’s ON TV. This rule further applies to awful romantic comedies on TV, because you aren’t actively participating in the film. You are merely a helpless bystander being subjected to this terrible thing that you end up spending two hours of your life watching.
Now the truth about The Truth About Cats and Dogs is that it isn’t great. Janeane Garofalo disowned it after she saw the finished product, claiming that originally it was going to be an independent film with no happy ending before the studios got their hands on it, chucked Uma Thurman in the mix, slapped on a terrible soundtrack and added the happiest of happy endings involving a dog and some roller skates. However, this did not stop me from pouring a glass of red wine, opening up the most depressing can of creamed rice for dinner and enjoying every minute of it.
I think its appeal lies in the fact that Janeane Garofalo plays the lead, instead of the classic best friend character who is nine times out of ten, a brunette. Unlike most other female leads in these types of films, Janeane Garofalo is genuinely a person who a 15 year old me idolized and could identify with. She was living fictional proof that sarcasm and self-deprecation not only made you awesome, but it didn’t stop you from getting the guy to fall for you as well! Which is all we really need to fulfill the emptiness of our lives, right girls? AMIRITE LADIES???? AM I RIGHT?? GIRL POWER! Is this thing on?
So on that bleak note, I’m out.
Be yourself,
Rose
[Ed’s note: Rose’s original blog contained material that may have caused offence and has since been removed]
