My deep dark secret.

Hi. My name is Citizen Reader, and I'm...a chickflickaholic.

You heard me. I'm addicted to Chick Flicks. Yes, I know that I abhor sentimentality. No, I do not read Nicholas Sparks novels*. But yet...you can bet if a chick flick comes out, I'll be watching it. I don't go see them in the theater or anything. But I do pick them up at the library by the armfuls and slink home to watch them whenever Mr. CR isn't around and can't ridicule me.

So when Mr. CR wasn't around this weekend I watched the movie P.S. I Love You. And you know what? I enjoyed the hell out of it. Let's examine what this movie had going for it:

1. Gerard Butler.** (Frankly, you could stop right there and have enough to go on and rent this movie. But there's MORE!)

2. I have a little crush on Hilary Swank. I also like her because she regularly cuts all of her hair off, which is not usually acceptable in Hollywood's leading ladies. She's also likable on-screen, and I don't hear much about her off-screen, which I appreciate. 3. A FABO supporting cast, including Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick Jr., Kathy Bates, and Gina Gershon (whom I normally don't enjoy but she did a nice job here.) 4. Beautiful shots of Manhattan. and 5. Actually, some really good lines, and more than a few very funny moments. I particularly enjoyed this exchange between Swank and Connick Jr.:

Connick: I shouldn't have said that. I have a syndrome.
Swank: Rudeness is a syndrome?
Connick: It is now. They have pills for it and everything.
Swank: They have pills for rudeness?
Connick: Yes. And yet they can't figure out the Middle East. Huh.

I don't know why that tickled me. It just did. All in all it was exactly what I needed in a chick flick: funny moments, interspersed with moments of looking at Gerard Butler. Check, and check. Sure, it was twenty minutes too long (to be perfect, in my opinion, chick flicks must clock in at no longer than 90 minutes) but I can overlook that just this once.

God, is this a half-assed review or what? I should outline the plot, I guess, although, if you'll forgive my saying so, plot is never really the point of chick flicks. Hilary (Holly) and Gerard (Gerry) are married, he dies young of a brain tumor, and leaves her letters from beyond the grave to help her get on with her life. In between letter deliveries their love story is told in flashbacks.

In other news: last week we also watched Run Fatboy Run, which I desperately wanted to see. It turned out to be average, and frankly, if you watch the trailer below, you can spare yourself watching the whole movie. You'll have seen the majority of the funny parts. I like Simon Pegg, but I LOVE Dylan Moran. If you share my opinion, skip this movie and watch Moran's comedy specials online instead. Hilarious stuff.

*I may have a problem, but I do draw the line at Nicholas Sparks movies as well. Also? Let me spare you some chick flick pain: 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden? Boy, was that movie a piece of shit. Heigl's a no-talent ass clown,*** in my opinion.

**Gerard Butler also starred in the British film Dear Frankie, a great chick flick classic.

***Thanks to another classic film, Office Space, for this phrase.

Comments

[Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)]

I love chick flicks too. I always like to pretend I'm too sophisticated for them, but I'm not. My sister drove out to visit me this weekend and we went to see High School Musical 3, which is probably even less acceptable than a chick flick. But, I do love them :)

[laura]

Oh, had I but read this before I watched 27 Dresses the other day--although it didn't actually bother me that much. But my standards are very, very low.

[Brandon]

I don't watch chick flicks, but I have nothing against them. I once dated a girl who loved chick flicks, and we would always trade off picking the movies when we went out. I mean, I like romantic comedies sometimes--"Wedding Crashers" is one of my favorite movies ("Ma! THE MEATLOAF!"), and I love "There's Something About Mary." Classics.

I just finished a book called "Fear of Flying." You should read it. I bet you'd get a kick out of it. Then you'll know what a zipless fuck is.

[Citizen Reader]

Kim,
Yeah, sometimes you just have to throw sophistication out the window. Preferably out your car window, as you drive to the theater to see a chick flick. :)

Laura,
Well, Marsden was a cutie pie, I'll say that for 27 Dresses. But again--way too long. Or maybe even 90 minutes would be too long when Katherine Heigl's involved.

[Citizen Reader]

Brandon, dearest Brandon,
I appreciate your group spirit but I don't know that "There's Something about Mary" counts as a chick flick. If anything, I think that and "Wedding Crashers" should be a subset of their own: "Vaguely romantic movies that girls have a shot in hell at dragging their boyfriends to." But I still give you an A for effort.

"Fear of Flying" as in Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying"? Mmmmm....I don't know. I think my willingness to live without knowing the term "zipless fuck" is probably what sends me running to the ol' chick flicks in the first place.

[Sarah]

Two of my favoritest CFs from VCR days are "When Harry Met Sally" and "While You Were Sleeping".

[Citizen Reader]

Sarah,
Oh, no doubt, When Harry is a classic. Great music, too. And I have to check out "While You Were Sleeping" from the library once a year--definitely a sweet movie and I've always liked both Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. Damn. Now I'm in the mood for it. Guess I'll be going to the library later!