Thursday, February 11, 2021

Thursday Movie Picks: Romance Tropes Edition -Friends to Lovers

I'm struggling with romance movies. I know there are a ton out there but my mind draws a blank. I also know there are more romance films where they start out hating each other before true love blooms, you know that, 5 years later they are divorcing. Wandering through the Shelves has made me put my thinking cap on so let's see what I came up with.

1. GIGI-1958

I do love this film which is one of the last great musicals starring the enchanting Leslie Caron as Gigi. She is a sweet, fun girl who is friends with Gaston, a bachelor...a filthy rich bachelor who goes out with many girls who all vie to be his next mistress. He comes to visit Gigi and her grandmother( played so well by the enchanting Hermione Gingold) because it provides a respite from the arduous duties of a rich playboy. He has a good friend  and Uncle in bon vivant Maurice Chevalier ( who was a real curmudgeon in real life) who thanks heaven for little girls because they grow up. He is not a psycho nutbar like Weinstein  but is just an old man in love with love through women. One of the best scenes is his duet with Gigi's grandmother whom he had a great romance with many years ago. When Gigi grows into being a beautiful woman, the playboy realizes he has someone special. He realizes he loves her but she does not want to be some mistress. Will love triumph?

2. TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA-1970


Now, you may not think this works but I think it does - a romance Western with a twist. Clint Eastwood plays a man, who seemed to come right from a Sergio Leone Western, who comes across a woman about to be gang raped by a group of thugs. The thugs are dealt with by Clint and his handy gun and Clint finds out the woman( Shirley MacLaine in a great role) is a nun and soon he is reluctantly helping her get back to the Mexican revolutionaries who are trying to overthrow the French control. They become friends and help each other get out of a few predicaments. He is surprised that she has some unique habits( sorry) like a penchant for cigars and alcohol. They make a good team especially when they get to her town and the group she is helping. This is very funny, has some good surprises and the music is fun( the music was used in the 2nd Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey Jnr) which was written by the great Ennio Morricone.

3. CLUELESS-1995

I really didn't think I would like this movie until I was sick and had to stay in bed. Maybe it was the fever but I found this Emma adaptation a nice movie with more depth that I was not expecting. Alicia Silverthorne plays Cher who is a rich Beverly Hills teen who is very popular and knows how to speak Valley Girl ( anyone remember that...grody to the max!). She wants a better grade so she becomes a matchmaker  to 2 teachers and is happy with the result. Her ex-step brother helps her dad, the lawyer, and Cher and ex-bro, Josh, spar but rely on one another as they get to know more about the other. She helps an awkward nerd become a popular girl but things get out of hand making Cher doubt herself. Who knew her ex-step bro would be the one she relies on most. Yeah, it's kind of icky because he is an ex-step brother but it seems to work.

So what are your 3 choices?

36 comments:

  1. Hi, Birgit!

    As-if... whatever... I'm so sure! I'm so sure Clueless is the only one of these three films I have seen. Can you believe that Alicia Silverstone will age 45 this year? I enjoyed her TV series Miss Match in which she plays a matchmaker, same as in Clueless. I like Alicia's politics more than her acting.

    Gigi was a big hit when I was age 8. In my humble opinion, they ruined the film with all that music, singing and dancing.

    (BA-DUM-BUMP)

    Was it Jethro Bodine who fancied himself as a cultured, cosmopolitan man of the world like that-there fella Morris Chevrolet?

    I don't like Westerns any more than musicals, and I also do not like Eastwood. I can only take Shirley M in small doses, and prefer her earlier films including Hot Spell (1958), The Apartment (1960) and The Children's Hour (1961). I remember Two Mules For Sister Sara turning up in a syndicated film package distributed to TV stations including the one where I worked in the 70s and 80s. I voiced promos for it.

    In my mind, Clueless ushered in the era of Britney Spears and girly films with multiple female lead characters all changing clothes as many times as humanly possible. In 1996 co-star Stacey Dash took her character Dionne to the Clueless TV series which lasted two seasons. Sadly Brittany Murphy, another Clueless star who went over to the TV series, died at age 32 a few days before Christmas 2009.

    Thank you, dear friend BB, and enjoy the rest of your week!

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    1. Gigi was a play that made Audrey Hepburn famous before she got famous on the big screen. Ouch to the Western! Yes, this would be a film you would not like but I think you would if you could give it a chance. So you like Ennio Morricone’s music? This music was used to great effect in the 2nd Sherlock Holmes film with Robert DowneyJnr. Clueless is fun even though I know groddy to the Max is fromthe 80s.

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  2. I ended up really liking Clueless as well.
    There's always the classic When Harry Met Sally.

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    1. I expected this film to be everywhere so I didn't choose it for this reason but it’s not.

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  3. Hi Birgit - love these ... especially the quirky Two Mules for Sister Sara ... great choices and as Alex says ... there's always Harry or Sally - whichever you chose! All the best - Hilary

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  4. Yeah, I am not much for romance in movies or books, so my only thought was When Harry met Sally. I did see Clueless, I think. And loved Gigi, but mostly because I could ogle Louis Jourdan.

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  5. Nice out of the main picks!!

    I'm not as enamored of Gigi as you. It's got lovely songs, a fabulous production and costume design, adorable couple Hermione Gingold & Chevalier as well as Leslie Caron but....it's the whole grooming Gigi to be a whore thing that puts a rather sorted spin on the picture.

    Funnily enough I thought of Emma (though I didn't use it) almost right away but never of Clueless. It's a great choice though, humorous and sweet with Alicia Silverstone irresistible in the lead.

    Love the out of left field choice of Two Mules for Sister Sara! It's been years since the last time I watched it but Clint and Shirley have a wonderful spiky chemistry in that oddball flick.

    I also poked around for some less than immediate picks, the first is probably not too out there but I think the other two are.

    The Wedding Singer (1998)-Nice guy Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer at a small hall in 80’s New Jersey who is about to marry Linda (Angela Featherstone) when he meets server Julia (Drew Barrymore) who has just started at the venue. Julia is engaged to Glenn (Matthew Glave) and they strike up a friendship over that mutual fact. But when Linda dumps Robbie on the eve of their wedding he falls apart and Julia trying to help him get back on his feet asks Robbie to help plan her upcoming nuptials. As they work on the plans Robbie realizes that not only is Glenn an enormous tool but that he's falling for Julia who subconsciously is doing the same. Will they realize their true feelings in time? Probably Sandler’s sweetest, least abrasive film packed wall to wall with fun 80’s music and fashions.

    The Full Monty (1997)-When hard times fall on an English town a group of men on the dole including Gaz (Robert Carlyle), Dave (Mark Addy), Lomper (Steve Huison) and Guy (Hugo Speer) form a male strip revue. Out of desperation to pull in crowds they promise to go “the full Monty”. Though they run into many hurdles, some comic and others serious, eventually they prevail, along the way buddies Lomper & Guy realize they’ve fallen for each other and end up a couple.

    Hands Across the Table (1935)-Manicurist Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) works at a swanky hotel hunting for a rich husband. She thinks she’s found a plum pigeon in Theodore Drew III (Fred MacMurray), since he comes from a prominent family but finds out he’s as broke as she is since the stock market crash. They become friends though and decide to help each other in their gold digging. Regi meets wealthy hotel guest Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy), who falls for her while Ted is waiting for Vivian Snowden (Astrid Allwyn) the heiress he has on the hook to return from Bermuda so he can hop back on the gravy train. All seems smooth sailing but as feelings between Regi and Theodore develop, their careful plans start to change.

    By the way Birgit, wasn't sure if you saw that I did go and look at your post about the five films and the desert island and listed my picks as well that you mentioned last week. I'd love to hear what you think of them!! :-)

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    1. Late here again but I hope you read it and will go back and see your choices. The Wedding Singer is a great choice and one I can watch over and over despite Adam Sandler. I almost went with The Full Monty because of their relationship but hope to use it somewhere else..one day:). I haven’t seen this Carole Lombard film and will look for it as I love her. Fred MacMurray is one Actor I never could warm to and not sure what it is about him even though I do love some of the films he has been in. You think of Gigi the way I think of Grease but the difference is Gigi wants to be more than just a slut where Olivia decides to go against everything she believes in just to keep that dolt. I. Glad you like my other 2 pics.

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  6. Gigi is one I've always wanted to watch. I'll get to that some day. Clueless is classic but I don't care too much for it. lol.

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    1. I do like Gigi and hope you see it one day. I put Clueless in with 13 Going on 30...films I didn’t give much to but enjoyed it much to my surprise.

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  7. I liked Clueless, though it’s not usually my kind of thing. I saw Gigi when I eas probably too young to know what was really going on.

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    1. Same here about Clueless and saw it when nothing else was on and was surprised I liked it. Gigi is endearing.

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  8. I have not seen the western, but I do love the other two. Gigi is one of my all time favorites. And I saw Clueless in the theater just because it was an Emma adaptation. (Valley girl is an '80s accent. By the '90s, it was out of favor, although Cher's speech was similar.)

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    1. Glad you liked Gigi which is so good. Yeah, I know it is Valley Girl from the 80s that became famous due to a horrible song but their style of talking reminded me of Valley Girl and both came from California.

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  9. Loved 2 Mules for Sister Sara.
    Stay safe. Be well.

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  10. Hi Birgit! I've only seen Clueless on your list and I enjoyed it. I picked the Jane Austen movie that Clueless was inspired by :)

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    1. Emma is quite good and I saw the one with Paltrow in the title role.

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  11. Haven't seen any of your picks. Well, that's not entirely true. I've probably seen all of Clueless, just not in order. I've always caught bits and pieces, here and there.

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    1. Hahahaaaa...I love how you watched Clueless which says a lot about the movie. I do like it even though it’s mindless.

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  12. You've got some good ones in your line up. I've seen all three, but it's been a very very long time ago.

    I've seen so many with this theme, but as usual memory is not clear. One recent film that I've seen that might fit this is Downsizing (2017) with Matt Damon. In the film he befriends an amputee cleaning woman and they fall in love over time.

    I know I've seen others and some recently, but you know how it goes sometimes.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. I have to look up Downsizing which sounds good...at least, interesting.

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  13. Those 3 movies are among my favorite romances. Shirley MacLaine is a hoot in that movie. I didn't think I would like Clueless either when I first sat down to watch it.

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  14. Why can't filthy rich bachelors fall in love with a 61-year-old woman and her two dogs? I've seen Gigi and Clueless and like them very much. My choices: My Man Godfrey, Sleepless In Seattle, An Affair To Remember.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. I didn't pay any attention to "Friends to Lovers." I've forgotten how to read, or my ability is selective. Now I have to choose again: 13 Going On 30, Forrest Gump, An Affair to Remember

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  15. I've seen all three and LOVE Two Mules, including the music. First one that came to mind is Father Goose. How about Two Week's Notice and Moonstruck? My husband and I detested each other on sight. 😆 We've been together almost 50 years now!

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  16. Great picks, Birgit! I hadn't heard of Two Mules for Sister Sara before. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. I love Clueless!

    Some Kind of Wonderful is my favorite in this vein.

    There's the Harry Potter series: Ron and Hermione.

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  18. I haven't seen Clueless, and if you hadn't written about it I don't think I would even consider it. Gigi is a good film though. Think I need tor rewatch it sometime as I only remember bits. Happy Valentine's Day. Hugs-Erika

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  19. I wasn't a huge fan of Clueless but I really want to see Gigi.

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  20. Clueless grew on me too. Didn't think I'd like it.

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  22. Cluelss was funny and cute and so very 90s which I love.

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