I've gotta pump the breaks on those posts with all of the feelings and over-sharing in them. I mean, the last one had a makeshift poem in it. I try not to censor myself, but I feel like if I show you all of my cards there won't be any surprises left. So let me dive into something else I really enjoy (outside of me), movies:
I was reading an article on Jezebel about rom-coms. The thing is, some of my favorite movies are romantic comedies. Not so much because I'm all about meet-cutes and manic pixie dream girls and Ryan Gosling kissing in the rain, but because they contain the two things that really make life awesome: laughter and love.
I wrote about being on an older movie kick for a while and Marty was one of the first movies I watched in that kick. The first time I saw it, I thought, "holy shit, this is when the game changed." Between that movie and On The Waterfront, acting went from being this big, over-the-top production of *ACTORS* acting hardcore to actors being people. Less is more.
Also, strange fact? Marty was a TV movie 3 years before it was remade into a feature film for the theaters Weird, huh? Imagine a Lifetime movie being put out in theaters in a few years. I'm sure Jennifer Love Hewitt would appreciate that.
Anyways, The beginning of Marty shows Ernest Borgnine (sorry, I had to share this), who plays a mid-30s butcher that lives with his mother, behind the counter hacking up meats. Little, old Italian ladies come in and in their heavily accented English, go, "Marty, whatsa matta wit you? Your brother, he's justa married, why you no getta married, huh?" He stumbles over his words over and over and over trying to explain, "well no Mrs. Vinizzi I..." And then again, another little, old Italian lady comes in and says, "Marty, whatsa matta wit you? Your brother, he's justa married, why you no getta married, huh?" and he says, "I'm sorry Mrs. Delvecchio, I know, can I get you some nice capicola?" At that moment in the movie I think, "wow, this guy is so sweet and genuine and I really hope he finds happiness." I was in. I've watched it probably 10 times. A lot of the other characters are pretty flat and one-note, but Ernest Borgnine just nails it: cutting meat in a deli, healf-heartedly explaining to his customers that, "yes mother-figure I'd love to make you happy by getting married, but now isn't the time."
I won't ruin the movie, because it's only 90 minutes or so and it's very sweet and genuine. There's moments with his friends and family where you can see the ambition and hope in his eyes and you meet the people he finds special, but you can see why he won an Oscar for his performance. He's like the brother you want to make sure is ok, you know? If you have AMC or Netflix or Amazon Prime, give it a look.
One of the movies I enjoy immensely (it might actually be my favorite) is The Apartment. Mainly because I love Jack Lemmon. A couple things: 1) I played Felix in a high school production of The Odd Couple. It was wrestling season, so I was a light, tight 165 pounds. I nailed it. 2) if I had to identify myself with any characters it would be C.C. Baxter from The Apartment and Dwayne Wayne from A Different World. I know, kinda weird. 3) Every time Jack Lemmon started a scene, before the director yelled "action!" he'd whisper to himself, "It's magic time!" I love that enthusiasm.
The movie is very Billy-Wilder-Comedy, but like a bunch of movies, it has heart when you really don't expect it too. Honestly, watch all of Billy Wilder's movies up to "Irma La Douce" His last 5 are just embarrassing. It's hard to be prolific forever.
Basic plot: Jack Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a young assistant at a major insurance agency. He wants to get promoted, so he loans out his apartment to senior staffers so they can bring their mistresses out and about and bed them down. He falls for Miss Kubelik, an elevator operator (yeah, I know!) played by Shirley Maclaine, who is charming and smart and pretty. She's one of those ladies who would call herself a "brassy dame" and you would nod in agreement. Miss Kubelik is in a relationship with Baxter's boss, played by Fred MacMurray (you should also watch Double Indemnity). It has heart and moments of sweetness. The ending kind of makes you smile because a lot of the movie makes you frustrated that so much could happen to two people who really don't deserve it but get themselves in a horrible situation.
There's a crossover moment where you can tell the generation is shifting from Fred MacMurray's old, uptight *ACTORLY* presence, to Jack Lemmon being an ambitious young guy who was an ambitious young actor. He seems like he can't hide his enthusiasm. It works so well here, just in the same way that it failed in "Days of Wine and Roses." Shirley MacLaine brings a sweet, sad energy as the girl-next-door who makes poor decisions not because she's dumb but because she's trusting and overly optimistic. She doesn't come in for the first 20 minutes, and I'd bet her dialogue isn't that big in the scheme of the whole movie, but you feel for the lady and you know that she's better than the hand she's been dealt.
Overall, I think these remind me that romantic comedies can be great. They don't have to be a cookie-cutter mad lib where you put Kate Hudson + Matthew McConaughey + emotional detachment + a lost weekend + alcohol - clothes + sharing a secret = they fall in love and I'm supposed to laugh when they make cookies to Katrina and The Waves' "Walking on Sunshine." I know that's for certain people, but so is cheeze whizz. I love stories that have characters I can read into, that have stakes, that have motivations beyond working for "the best magazine in New York City!"
Every few years there's an attempt to make a great romantic comedy and I think, "nah, Juno isn't it." Not that I hate that movie, it's just very stylized. Much like greatness, you'll know it when you see it.
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