Lots on my mind, but one post at a time

[deckardcanine]

In the last week, I saw two movies back to back that I never expected to have a plot similarity: Stardust and Swing Time. In both, a man takes on a very difficult task in order to get a woman to marry him. A short way into the journey, he bumps into another woman who at first is annoyed at him, but they develop crushes on each other. Eventually he decides to marry her instead. Fortunately, the original would-be fiancée has another love of her own, so no hard feelings.

The overall structure is okay by me, but... what if the writers dared to allow both women jealousy? No easy way out of that one. Sure, the engagement wasn't definite, but she was counting on you, dude. You do what you promised and say, "Wait, never mind"? Few real women could walk away feeling so dignified.

I realize that both movies are at least partly comedies and appropriately lauded. Still, I might enjoy a less fluffy variant.

Comments

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

That's one of the fundamental traits of the old-school musicals, no hard feelings at the end. They were basically pure feel-good flicks, maybe a bump or two that's easily resolved by the film's end. I sort of liked the change that came in the later years, like West Side Story, where not everything's sunshine and rainbows when the curtain comes down. But at least I never felt nauseous after watching one of the oldies.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Your last sentence brings to mind a classic Woody Allen line about sex and death.

Anyway, yes, Swing Time surpasses Top Hat in the feel-good department. Why else would the characters be laughing so friggin' hard near the end? And what other kind of movie has a man seeming so content to bless the wedding of the woman he thought was his fiancee but laughed him off?

That reminds me: Any romantic comedy I write will not have the man lure his love interest out of a wedding at the last second, except maybe if it's an arranged marriage (and even then, I may favor a Graduate-like sense of doubt that they did well). Why do writers never switch the genders in that scenario, anyway? The only man I recall being lured out of a wedding was in A Night at the Roxbury, for nonromantic reasons.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

I was intrigued by the resolution of a similar situation in "Corpse Bride". For the last half of the movie, I pondered how they were going to resolve it.

They cheated, sort of.

===|==============/ Level Head

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Say, do you think I'd like that movie? I've been avoiding it because of the whole necrophilia deal, but maybe it's not as gross as I fear.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

The music was not as good as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in my opinon (I really like that music), but I enjoyed the movie.

If anything, it's less "gross" than "Nightmare".

You'll see what I mean about resolving the problem, and the curious ending. That's all I'll say about it.

===|==============/ Level Head

[tabeal.livejournal.com]

What Stardust and Swing time are the same(pratically), I've been jipped!