Someone Like You

I think I may be one of the biggest fans of a good romantic comedy, in film or in a book.

Some years ago, maybe twenty years, two movies captured my attention, I think may have seen both of them back then at least 10 times each. Over the years I’ve continued to repeat one of them; ‘The Wedding Planner’. The other one is ‘Someone Like You’.

Both of these movies were released in 2001.

Someone Like You is about a lady who is dumbed by her boyfriend, she begins to study the male animal, finding reasons why they act the way they do. She zooms in on her womanizing roommate as a case study. What she doesn’t prepare for, is how things turn out in the end. I think seeing Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman in those roles also contributed to how much I loved the film.

Last year, I saw a preview of a film adaptation of Karen Kingsbury’s book, ‘Someone Like You’. I have not read the book and I am eager to. I am also eager to jump on the film. I fear I may not read it anymore if I see the film.

The film was released in April,2024. It goes by the same name as the book.

I hope I like it just as much as I liked the older one even though they are not alike. The later is a romance drama while the former is a romance comedy.

Pairs

George Clooney and Julia Roberts have always seemed like a beautiful pair for me.

My favourite Hollywood pair remains Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, I fell in love with the pair in the movie The Wedding Singer and then in  50 First Dates and then in Blended  but I really loved and enjoyed the humour and chemistry between Clooney and Roberts  in Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve.

As a movie lover, and especially a lover of period dramas, romcoms and the likes, one thing that draws me to a movie is the pairing of the hero and heroine.

Only a few days ago, I came across another poster with the names Clooney and Roberts smiling back at me. I didn’t hesitate to click on it.

I must admit that the movie didn’t stand out as much as I expected it to but I totally connected with the emotions and unspoken thoughts Clooney kept sending out in the movie. He played a divorced dad who had to work hand in hand with his ex-wife (Roberts) to prevent their daughter from getting married to a Bali local.

The pair who never seem to see eye to eye on any matter must learn to work together on this one thing they both agree on. Clooney’s character calls out to me as he seems to be a person who is in touch with his feelings and is also honest with himself as well.

Overall, this new movie ‘Ticket to Paradise’ is okay and can be viewed on a calm evening with friends or alone.

A few other pairs that drew me into a movie are:

  • Julia Roberts and Richards Gere – Pretty woman
  • Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut – The Brothers
  • Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield  – The Photograph

Some pairs didn’t sit well with me are:

  • Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds – The Proposal
  • Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry – Fools rush in

One on-screen pair I still can’t place in my head but totally love is the Renee Zellwerger and Collin Firth from Bridget Jones Diary, maybe the mix with Hugh Grant and then Patrick Dempsey just made my head spin.

Have you any on-screen pairs you love? Share them with me, I would love to know.

Good Old Things

When I was about 19 years old, my “cousin” Gosha, in a bid to bond and create a deeper relationship with her dad began making trips to the town where I lived. Her father, who for reasons best known to him back then, had moved from the city where his family lived to the town where we lived, had a small apartment, somewhat like a bachelors pad; and so Gosha always stayed with us for the duration of her visits.

Gosha was and is a conversationalist; she can talk and listen for hours. She also is an arguer. She had my sister all to herself when it came to arguing though, you can definitely count me out of that. How they enjoyed it and laughed while at it, I still wonder. I loved the conversations. We would talk and laugh so loud, I remember my dad shushing us around 2am one night.

During one of those conversations, we began talking about old movies and Gosha recommended one; Gone With The wind. She said it was a must watch. About a year later, when she came for another visit, she returned with a video cassette of the movie. We promised to see it but we never did because no longer had a video cassette player as the world had migrated to Video CDs.

About a year ago, 20 years later, I suddenly started to crave old movies; I began feeding this craving one movie after another. I started with ‘The Sound of Music’ 1965; you could see the excitement on my sons face when he heard me singing along with Maria and the von Trapp family singers.

Next, I saw ‘The Godfather I’ 1972, then ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ 1961 and then ‘Coming to America’ 1988. One afternoon, while driving home, wondering what old movie to see next, I remembered Gosha’s ‘Gone With The Wind’ 1939. I finally got to see it… 20 years later and It was worth it.

Gone with the Wind is a beautiful movie, it tells a tale of a spoilt but strong and determined lady who must face problems brought forth by The Civil War and her participation in The Reconstruction as well. It does not exclude her love affairs and how they all played out.

After Gone with the wind, I made a list of popular old movies that I had not seen yet and then I began viewing them one after the other. I have graded them with stars, just in case you want to give it a go as well.

  • Father of the Bride 1950 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Anastasia 1956 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Roman Holiday 1953 ⭐⭐
  • Casablanca 1942 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Mary Poppins 1964 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • It’s a Wonderful Life 1946 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • An Affair to Remember 1957 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • The Palm Beach Story 1942 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have got a few more I would like to see, but I have not made time for them yet.

  • It happened one night 1934
  • Chances 1931
  • 12 Angry Men 1957
  • Vertigo 1958
  • Double Identity 1944
  • Imitation of Life 1959
  • Sunset Boulevard 1950
  • The Apartment 1960

Also, in the memory of Olivia Newton John, I decided to watch Grease 1978.

Is there any good old movie you think I need to see?