Holiday Link Dump

What have I been up to, over this holiday weekend?  Not making Vegas-sized bets on the ultimate numbers for Indy's opening, nor burning effigies of Hillary, but trying, as so often is my wont, to make order out of chaos.

I had all these links saved to blog about, before I went away, before my computer crashed and died upon my return. Now I'm suddenly an iMac dude, after 25 years of being PC Guy, and amidst the chaos of conversion, I'm awash in imported bookmarks but I can't get my mind around any of it while I'm trying to master my "Command" key.  So it's time for a kind of cyber desk-clearing -- here's a half dozen meant-for- Living-RomCom-post links you can do with what you will.

Guys Are the New Girls
Supporting the GMTA (Great Minds...) principle, my old friend Lisa Schwarzbaum has joined a small pack of us rom-com commentators (David Denby and me, we're like this) in noting how a current crop of male-driven romantic comedies featuring feminized men as their leads are saying "hello" to men and women alike in the date-movie demographic.  All I'll add to what Lisa has aptly addressed herein is my perennial query to my screenwriting and studio-producing peers: where are the powerful female players in this League of Sensitive Slacker Shlubs? Meanwhile:

That Female Audience You've Been Looking For?
...has simply been waiting for something they want to see, evidently: an already beloved female fab foursome continuing to be fabulous (How many f's can a 'fuddled writer alliterate? Stay tuned.)  Look for Sex in the City to do better than anyone believed business; seems character-driven ensemble rom-coms can kick butt, every once in a blue moon.



Chicks Behind the Flicks
Speaking of butts and kicks and continuing to flag wave for the feminine, aren't there indeed women in the industry who ought to know what a woman wants, when it comes to a movie?  Well, here in case you missed it is an educational discussion among some of the strongest females in town re: the strengths and limitations of gender in the movie biz.

Summer Makeout Madness
I'll admit to having missed this handy compendium, when it came out this past fall, but stumbled upon it recently when looking for "movie kiss" stills.  Closer examination explains the why of that -- Nerve in its infinite wisdom has narrowed its definition of what maketh a Date Movie: it's a movie that makes you want to make out, period. Given this guideline, there's a fairly wacky roster of idiosyncratic choices here, but also some gems of specific "this is the scene to see" picks.



Or Perhaps You'd Prefer a Cold Shower?
On the other hand, if you're in a misanthropic state of mind or merely single, you might find this list, a logical counter-weight to Nerve's, useful for those nights when the opposite of making out is what you're all about.

Made of Vegas
Finally, given that Living Rom Com likes to keep abreast of what's Now Playing in the Genre, however same-old it may be, I refer you to Janet, who's been capably covering the turf while I've been crossing the country and wrestling with computer chaos.  Glad someone's got their eye on the cineplex rom-com ball, given that most of America's busy with another kind of action movie just now --though I hear, come to think of it, that it features a fairly feisty female foil...

Comments

[E.C. Henry]

Sorry to hear about your computer, Billy. Never worked off a Mac before, but all the ads for them boast about how "easy" they are to use compared to a PC...

Tried all your links, first two I got "Website not found."

"Chicks in Flicks" worked and I loved reading the trascripts from the discussion Lynda Obst moderated between Nora Ephron, Ziskin, Callie, and all. Was suprised to read the praise these women lavished on Judd Aptow reguarding "Knocked-up." I thought Lynda Obst was all about being a cruisader for improving women's presence in the movies? If Judd is the embodyment of the macho-chick flick, I figured Lynda was his main counter having championed a couple of very sucessfull, chick-flicks... Wouldn't that be something IF Lynda and Judd worked on a movie together... I wonder what an Obst/Apatow movie would turn out to be?

LOVED what Laura Ziskin had to say. Everysince "Spider-man" came out, I've held her in very high regaurd. Anyway, the "Chicks in Flicks" article is dated 2007, but it's well worth the peruse.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

[mernitman]

EC - Thanks for the head's up re: the wonky links. They're up and running properly now if you want to take a look.

[Denise]

I am forcing myself to stop working (ok, I'm not actually working, I'm reading your blog) to say something that I've wanted to say for as long as I've been reading your blog.

Next to your writing, the thing I most enjoy about your blog are the illustrations you choose. They always so perfectly, ummm... illustrate your point. Not only that, I'm so impressed that you take the time to find and use them because in my limited experience blogging I found that searching for them and the whole process of posting them takes so much time I have no time to think about what to write!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your graphic talents!

[mernitman]

Denise: Working with these -- um, "borrowed" -- images is always the fun reward I allow myself after I finish a post; it's like the dessert I enjoy after the meal of writing. Your appreciation is an extra treat.

[Denise]

I guess that's why you're a writer and I'm not. I care more about the pictures!