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“Bride Wars” First Thing Women Want
Jan 14th
First Thing Women Want
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
BRIDE WARS is a silly chick flick that is NOT a romantic comedy, just a comedy.
However, the only people laughing in the audience when I attended were women, and some of them were laughing hysterically. (No pun intended.)
Starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, the story is about two best friends from childhood for the past 20 years who have been inseparable ever since they saw a wedding together at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
So, all their lives they have dreamed and planned to have their own weddings at the Plaza and that each of them would be the maid of honor for the other one.
And then the complications ensue.
They both get engaged at about the same time, and so they meet together with Marion St. Claire, the most sought-after wedding planner in Manhattan, played by Candice Bergen.
Earlier, they had criticized a wedding, one of them saying, “It ain’t June,” and the other one adding, “And it ain’t the Plaza.”
So, they settle on two of the only three available dates in June, which is 3-1/2 months away, and here is where the complications ensue.
Marion’s assistant mistakenly books them both on the same date, and let the forced comedy for women begin.
I know what you’re thinking: “Are there any men in this movie?”
Yes, there are. Two fiances, a brother, and an assistant, but except for the assistant, the men are so nondescript that you can’t even tall them apart, and they have almost no role in the story.
And any men in the audience will start losing interest when the two women start fighting with each other. You see, guys would just split the check down the middle, have two separate weddings, order pizzas, and turn on the ball game.
Now, men would ask what is so funny about two brides fighting. Or sympathetic about their making up?
But then the movie isn’t over when you think it’s over. We get an added scene that is a ho-hum setup for a sequel.
BRIDE WARS is a chick flick times 2 that is apparently all about the first thing women want, which in the end might not be anything more than leading to a sequel that would be a chick flick times 4 about the second thing women want and named BABY WARS.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Bride Wars – Movie Trailer
Jan 9th
A clerical error tests the lifelong friendship of two brides-to-be by scheduling their respective weddings at the famed Plaza Hotel on the exact same date in this romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. Ever since they were little girls, Liv (Hudson) and Emma (Hathaway) have bonded over planning their weddings down to the very last detail. Now, both in their mid-twenties, Liv and Emma have each found the men they want to spend the rest of their lives with. But while most of the details regarding their respective weddings don’t overlap, the one thing that both Liv and Emma have always dreamt of is holding their ceremony at the legendary Plaza Hotel — New Your City’s ultimate bridal destination. Unfortunately, a simple clerical error has scheduled both of their weddings on the exact same date, at the exact same place. As a high-powered lawyer who’s used to getting her way, Liv simply isn’t willing to settle for anything less than perfection. And though simple schoolteacher Emma has always placed the needs of others above her own, the prospect of making any sacrifices on her big day brings out her inner bridezilla in ways that shock her unsuspecting friends and family. There was a time when Liv and Emma would have done anything for each other, but now that the two best friends are at odds over who will get their dream wedding and who will have to settle for second best, the lacy gloves are off and it’s all-out war.
“Milk” Poignant and Frightening
Dec 18th
Poignant and Frightening
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
MILK is the Gus Van Sant film about the political career of Harvey Bernard Milk, who in 1977 was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and was credited with being the first openly gay elected official in U.S. history.
Tragically, a year later when he was only 48, Harvey was shot and killed along with Mayor George Moscone in City Hall by Dan White, a former city supervisor who had resigned his position, but wanted his job back and took out his frustration on the mayor and Harvey.
Sean Penn plays Harvey, and he is just absolutely great in the role. Expect him to win a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Josh Brolin plays Dan White, and he could easily win a nomination for Best Supporting Actor, himself.
The film begins in November 1978 and uses the conceit of showing Harvey dictating into a tape recorder and commenting on the events that we then see in flashback as the film progresses.
In 1970 Harvey meets Scott Smith, played by James Franco, in New York City. It is Harvey’s 40th birthday, and he confesses, “Forty years old, and I haven’t done a thing that I’m proud of.”
Two years later they move to San Francisco together and open a camera store on Castro Street, the Number 1 destination for gays at that time. Harvey says that the police hated the gays, and the gays hated them right back.
Harvey became known as The Mayor of Castro Street, but he says that he might have invented that title for himself.
He decides to run for a real office, but he loses the election, being told that he is too old to be a hippie. In 1975 Harvey runs again, cleaning up his hippie appearance so that he looks like the successful businessman he was. He loses again.
Harvey’s personal life suffers, but he gains new friends as well as loyal supporters who finally help him win a seat on the Board of Supervisors in 1977.
Dan White also wins a seat, and Harvey forms an unlikely alliance with the former policeman and fireman on a number of causes they support. You could almost say that they even became friends.
And then all hell breaks loose.
MILK is poignant, enlightening, engrossing, and frightening, but mostly frightening in light of the recent current events.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”