Liberal Arts (2012)

A Liberal Arts Education Solves All Your Problems

2 years after writing and directing Happythankyoumoreplease, Josh Radnor delivers yet again a witty and efficient romance tale. This time, it is narrated to a college background. The plot focuses on the reality following a Liberal Arts education and the complex attraction between a 35-year-old and a college freshman. Radnor chooses to explore a fascinating classical-music-mixtape-themed epistolary relationship. This is especially cute in this day and age. It strikes me as a beautiful modern ode to Dangerous Liaisons. And it's really enjoyable to witness actual handwritten human interactions in a recent movie. The whole cast is magnificent and works very well with each other. Allison Janney is her usual fantastic self, Elizabeth Olsen is a gem, Richard Jenkins is funny, and it is nice to see Elizabeth Reaser as well as Kate Burton for a little while. Even Zac Efron - and I never thought I'd say this - plays his uncommon part with no misstep. Josh Radnor knows how to pick his soundtrack which is a flawless combination of classical music and indie rock. The storyline surprises me as it doesn't turn out to be your typical Rom Com. Liberal Arts is a very good silver-screen moment that combines a high-quality college story and a surprisingly non-mushy and unusual romance. 

1 reason to watch: it is unusually unpredictable for a Rom Com

No Strings Attached (2011)

Breaking News

 Long-Term Non-Affectionate Sex Relationships Are Myths.

Who Would Have Thought?

I have refused to watch No Strings Attached for a long time until I finally gave in last week. I really didn't understand why Natalie Portman would choose such a pointless role right after she scored the Academy Award for Best Actress in Black Swan. I felt like it was an insult to her fans and her talent. Then again, she's the one reading the screenplays and choosing her movies. Add this to the fact that I am not a fan of Ashton Kutcher or Hollywoodian Rom-Coms and you get why I did not watch it. But last week I needed a light movie to watch and after reviewing Frances Ha and Black Swan and figuring out that Greta Gerwig and Natalie Portman were both in No Strings Attached, I thought "what the hell, let's watch this." After all, only idiots don't change their minds. This movie is a typical textbook romantic blockbuster. It covers all the symptoms. Attractive and successful leading duo in total love denial, nice friends you can't help but feel sorry for, and a happy ending that you see coming from miles away. You see it coming even before it begins as the trailer already gives too much. There is one thing I liked about the movie though; the plot goes against convention and reverses typical Rom-Com roles in presenting the man as the helpless romantic who wants to settle down and the woman as the player who only wants to use him for sex. This movie fits Kutcher or Jake Johnson but I expect much more from Portman and Gerwig. I can only hope this won't happen again in their career. No Strings Attached is an entertaining comedy with funny lines but it won't make history.

1 reason to watch it: Natalie Portman & Greta Gerwig are in it. That's something, I suppose.

1 reason NOT to watch it: it won't make your day.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

A Rom Porn Com

Zack and Miri are lifelong friends and roommates. After running out of money to pay their bills, they come up with the next easiest way to make big bucks: direct a porno. As it turns out, having sex on camera with your best friend might not be the most platonic thing to do. Written and directed by Kevin Smith, Zack and Miri is not your usual rom com. In fact, it is one of the greatest recent romantic comedies. Smith's questionable taste in terms of humor is to be expected when you know his previous work. But it is hilarious, and 100% quotable. Each line makes me burst out laughing. The 2 main actors (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) form an unlikely pair but their chemistry is blindingly obvious. I am so pleased that Smith's lifelong sidekick, Jason Mewes, is a guest star in Zack and Miri's adult entertainment production. It may sound like a vulgar and pervy movie with a unique titillating purpose to you. But it is so much more. Yes, Zack and Miri is vulgar but under the layer of epic porn spoof names and other curse words, it really is all about love. 

1 reason to watch: you know you want it, you little minx perv!

L'Arnacoeur (Heartbreaker - 2010)

Licence to Love

Alex, his sister and brother-in-law break up couples for a living. Their only rule is to operate only if the girl to save is unhappy whether she knows it or not. When Alex is hired to break up Juliette and Jonathan who apparently love each other, he has no choice but to accept in order to pay back his debt. He only has 10 days to break them up before their wedding. L'Arnacoeur is an entertaining movie. But it's a rom com so you obviously know from the start what will happen. There is no twist or surprise but I find it quite entertaining. It is not the plot of the decade but the cast meets my expectations. Hollywood blockbusters have nothing on this French production. It keeps its promise. I think it's a challenge to get an arthouse rom com if you also want to rock the box office. As an indie-enthusiast, I'd rather pick the underground love story nobody knows over the popular sparkly one. But L'Arnacoeur committed to selling tickets. It features 2 popular and glamorous French actors (Romain Duris & Vanessa Paradis), funny supporting roles, and displays over-the-top luxury: the perfect cocktail to attract crowds to the movies.

1 reason to watch: the Dirty Dancing trump that Alex whips out

Le Nom des Gens (The Names of Love - 2010)

Make Love, Not War

Le Nom des Gens is a committed French Rom Com by Michel Leclerc. Baya (Sara Forestier) has an uncommon way to convert 'fascists' to her ideology: she has sex with them. She also has a free and broad definition of fascism. When she meets Arthur (Jacques Gamblin), a hung-up moderate left-wing partisan, it changes them both. I vote in favor of this off-the-wall staging and witty screenplay. The latter, written by Leclerc and Baya Kasmi, won the César Award. The César Awards are the French equivalent to the Academy Awards with 2 minor differences. 1/ You choke from laughter and excitement in front of the Oscars while you choke from a senile boredom stroke in front of the Césars. 2/ Everyone in the filmmaking industry dreams of having an Oscar even if only for its esthetics properties while the César is the ugliest  trophy of the industry. And there are. a. lot. (End of my aside). Sara Forestier won the French version of the Oscar for Best Actress but unlike the general opinion, I find her uber-hysterical in her ways and her character is not as subtle as it could have been when it comes to her ideology. On the other hand, Jacques Gamblin, her counterpart, is one of the finest French actors on the market and it's always a pleasure to watch him evolve in a movie. This one is no exception. Le Nom des Gens goes to war with common beliefs and prejudice. Witty humor and self-mockery are its weapons of choice. I really enjoy that this movie deals with contemporary issues. You get a glimpse of France's cultural core through its melting pot and war wounds. You laugh a lot as the plot mixes politics, sex, and immigration. The rare staging juggles oldschool and regular footage and combines past and present facts and characters. Two thumbs up to this creative comedy! (watch it here!)

1 reason to watch: off-the-wall screenplay alert!

Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)

"Hardly Dickensian, Y'Know What I'm Sayin'?"

I do like my NYC common folk stories with a passion. Why you ask? Because I can relate to those characters. They aspire to something else, something greater than their current routine. They make bad decisions that they know they'll regret. It's the dawn of their lives. They're excited and scared by their dreams and surroundings. Happythankyoumoreplease is a witty comedy about thirty-something New-Yorkers with  just the right amount of oddness. It combines several things I enjoy in a movie: a rad soundtrack, New York City, common people, witty humor, simple plot. Happythankyoumoreplease is almost real life. It's as far as you can get from Sex & The City but still residing in Manhattan. It's fresh, young, full of promises and hope. It may not be the movie of the century but certainly a nice directorial and writing debut for Josh Radnor and a relaxing movie session. It won the Audience Award at the 26th Sundance Film Festival. And I believe you can always trust Sundance. 

1 reason to watch: spend a good time with those characters because they are like you

Ex-girlfriends (2012)

Only 2 nuts for Poe's first feature film

Noble Lies and Failed Relationships.

Don't expect a typical Hollywood happy ending or a passionate love story out of this Alexander Poe movie. It is an endearing and basic indie movie about what failed relationships are made of. If you have an hour to kill and you don't feel so good about yourself, you might like to know that you're not alone. Lost in Graham's thoughts for an hour or so makes you feel like you're this lonely New York student yourself. Poe's characters are as real and miserable as anyone else: they're juggling with 'noble' lies, burning memorabilia from their exes, getting cheated on, and they stay pretty positive about it. So far, a good start for Poe and his first feature film: I'd like to see what he has to offer in the next few years. It's also the occasion to see Jennifer Carpenter in another role than the foulmouthed detective sister of the infamous serial killer Dexter that she's been royally mastering for 8 years. Kate (Jennifer's alias in this movie) has trouble getting rid of the foulmouthed side of Deb (Jennifer's alias in Dexter) which is a bit disappointing. We would have liked to see her trying on another register even though her curse words are instant classics that we cannot get enough of. Ex-Girlfriends is a movie worth going through especially if you are tired of seeing Mr. Handsome dating Mrs. Successful. It is a short relaxing unpretentious movie that will make you smile and then move on.