Love Craptually.

Yesterday night I was really hungover (courtesy of a very entertaining bbq/pool/bonfire evening) and as per usual could not handle any films that were too intellectually demanding. I didn't want to watch somehting I had not seen before because I would not be able to fully appreciate it. This pathetic bracketing of reasoning resulted in a night in watching first and foremost Waterboy (perfect for the state of mind I was in). However, once this had finished I could not be arsed to look through DVD's to find something of a similar calibre. I saw Van Wilder was on, I started watching it. I didn't like it. SO i decided to change the channel, to my unending distress I proceeded to watch Love Actually. One thing I have learnt from being at university is that: if someone likes love actually they are either a.) a beard b.) an idiot c.) a cunt or all three. I simply don't get it. My least favourite thing about it is when people try and say it is clever because of how all the characters tie together. It isn't big or clever, it is simple and a child could write it. The links are all so simple and unsubtley displayed. Hugh Grant being Emma Thompsons brother and other characters being friends etc. So rubbish. It would have been better if there were no physical links between the characters but the suggestion being that despite all of their very different social/geographical backgrounds they are all tied together through 'love'. That would still be shit, but it would be better. Another thing people say in the defense of the film is that it's clever how all the characters come together at the end. IT IS NOT. They are all at the airport at the end of the film. whoop-dee doo basil, whoop-dee do. Well done Richard Curtis for this stroke of intellectual genius. Why didn't he have them all in different locaitons but draw visual parrallels with the mise-en-scene!? Again, that would have been shit. But it would have been better. Another thing I can never forgive this film for is ruining a very, very good song. When 'God Only Knows' comes in during the airport it is like someone ramming some emotional club down your throat and then trying to bludgeon you to death with it. I GET IT, PEOPLE ARE HAPPY TO SEE EACH OTHER. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. Well done. If you are looking for a film along a similar rom/com note. Go with some of these beauties- Annie Hall, Eternal Sunshine, Amelie, Manhattan, Brief Encounter (DOCTOR ZHIVAGO AND BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. A LEAN NIGHT.) and Sideways. (Look how much better Woody Allen is that Hugh Grant or Colin Firth. He's a cheeky Jew.) If you are looking for a film with the 'multi person interweaving narrative' vibe then I would hugely recommend Magnolia being one of my personal favourites with virtuoso performances from Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, John C. Riley and Julliane Moore. On a completely different note if you are a fan of Westerns (which I definitely am) then I would hugely recommend watching The Good, The Bad and The Weird. Coming straight outta' Korea this film is essentially a gigantic homage to the work of Leone. Actually, that isn't fair. It is alot more than that. It does have almost exactly the same plot as the Leone classic The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and has several set pieces in the film which directly reference scenes from the spaghetti western trilogy (a personal favourite being the scene where The Weird's hat is being repeatedly shot on the floor- just as Blondie's hat was shot by Van cleef's character in For a Few Dollars More). However the tone is quite different, less emphasis on the slow build up in tension found in the Leone Spaghetti Westerns and more of an emphasis on high octane action scenes and a large sprinkling of comedy. I was genuinelly laughing out loud a surprising amount. Kang ho-Song provides the comic relief in the form of 'The Weird'. Frankly his character steals the show, it is an absolute pleasure whenever he is in a scene. (the fact he is wearing a barbour improves his character tenfold.) I cannot actually picture someone not enjoying this film (actually I can. If you liked Love Actually you won't like it, as you have no grasp on what entertainment is or what art is.) A classic example of what I would dub 'popular art'-a film with anough artistic canon to keep the most discerning critic happy and enough entertaining set pieces to satisfy the most jaded of action/adventure fans. Well worth a look.