Why is being sexless so trendy? Oh, let's blame Samantha. The Observer blamed the rise of Facebook and the fact that we live in public on the fact that young people are no longer terribly interested in sex, Erica Jong claims that young women place more emphasis on monogamy and motherhood.
As the world awaits the film release of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 2, we investigate the stars' real-live heartthrobs.
Are 'No Strings Attached' and 'Friends With Benefits' the same movie? I know, I know—your first reaction is probably the one that I had. "This is old news! We already know these movies are dealing with the same best-friends-sleep-together-then-fall-in-love story." But neither of us is as awesome as The Blind Film Critic, who mashed up the two trailers to show that even the perspective shots are the exact same. (OK, so he probably didn't make it himself, but he had someone combine the trailers to show the truth.)
If I hear one more person describe Bridesmaids as "the female version of The Hangover," I'm going to Kristen Wiig out. Why do we have to label a movie that's hilarious in its own right as the female version of something else? Well, actually I know why. Because a lot of comedies starring women aren't exactly thought of as "funny." And a lot of wedding-related movies are cheesier than they are clever and witty. Bridesmaids is a long overdue exception. Despite its title and premise, it's not really about a wedding, either. We don't even really meet the groom. The movie is about two best friends growing in different directions. Annie (Kristen Wiig) is stuck in a dead-end job after the bakery she opened—and the boyfriend who helped her run it—both go out of business. Her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) has always been her cheerleader and confidante. But their relationship changes when Lillian gets engaged and asks Annie to be the maid of honor.
This is God's perfect movie. (OK, maybe it's Kristen Wiig and Judd Apatow's perfect movie, but whatever.) Amelia and I laughed from the opening credits to the closing credits, when she turned to me and said, "I would watch that all over again right now!" And we both would have. You could see “Bridesmaids” on date night, you could see it on girls' night, or you could see it with your parents (if an extended, gross-out scene about food poisoning and diarrhea is something you can stomach next to your parents).
They say a girl's first love is her horse. Maybe that's true—if she's lucky enough to have one. In American culture, horses have long symbolized adventure and a return to nature in an increasingly industrialized world. It's no wonder that My Little Pony and its ilk are still popular today. The Kentucky Derby wouldn't have the same appeal if there were cars instead of horses racing around Churchill Downs. In literature and film, horses serve their riders in multiple ways. The beautiful animals are strong and often wild, but in need of love and care.
You've heard of star-crossed love, but what about time-crossed love? In the ABC Family Movie My Future Boyfriend, a writer meets a man who just might be The One, except for one little problem: He's a time traveler from the 32nd century. The story begins when two futuristic explorers unearth buried treasure from what was once the Pacific Ocean. One container includes a large amount of cash and a romance novel titled Forbidden Love by someone named Elizabeth Barrett (Sara Rue). P-A-X-497/341 (Barry Watson), known as Pax for the rest of the movie, starts rifling through the artifacts. As he flips through the book, he sees foreign words—love, passion, and sex—that pique his curiosity. He asks an elder scientist called Bob (Fred Willard) about their meaning and doesn't get any answers. Just like poverty, violence, and first names, love has been removed from this future society.
The version of Jane Eyre in theaters now reminds me of why so many people love Charlotte Bronte's love story. Jane (Mia Wasikowska) is the ultimate Plain Jane, with hat hair, dingy dresses and a stoic face. She's bright and good, but life deals her some very hard knocks. All in all, the latest adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic makes for good cinema. But is it a date movie?
I've never thought the idea of The One was very fair or mathematically feasible. If each of us had one perfect love out of the billions of people on Earth, what are the odds he or she would ever be found? The sci-fi romance thriller The Adjustment Bureau explores these ideas with style, action, and some intense on-screen chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.
Going into Hall Pass, the latest Farrelly brothers comedy, I was prepared for gross-out humor, full-frontal nudity, and some new sexual slang. And I got it. But the same men responsible for Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary also offer some interesting insight into long-term relationships. I'm not saying they've earned YourTango Expert status, but there's some food for thought in that soup of gags and groans.
Movie lovers everywhere were saddened this week by the death of beloved comic actor Leslie Nielsen, whose signature snowy hair and deadpan delivery made him an icon. Tributes to the funnyman have cropped up across the internet, and we've had a blast revisiting his amazing spoofs and parodies. Weirdly, the Naked Gun and other Leslie Nielsen movies offered great love advice.
