.

Lets watch a chick flick, instead

Watching a movie on a Friday or Saturday night with the boys is pretty tricky, sometimes complicated. Some guys need, for fear of looking gay, a third guy in the mix (... Marco ahemm). Have you ever seen a Filipino gay couple? It's not in our genes. Now two white guys, then thats a different story. Marco called me one Friday 'what's up tonight' he inquisitively inquired. Somehow that lonesome night, Poker was not discernible in his voice... 'Uhmm i dunno we should go to the movies, something normal' i replied apprehensively (... fearing rejection?? lol). To my surprise he said sure 'but only if a third person comes along' he said in addition. 'Yes i don't wanna date you either' i retorted. So after some phone tagging with Kris we all agreed to watch Spielberg's Munich. When we arrived at the box office Kris advertently changed his mind for the comedy Fun with Dick & Jane. Kris drove so i couldn't say much. I looked at Marco for some support but he put his hands up in surrender. I'll never go to the movies with them again.

As a visceral comparison. Its like going out on a hot date with a hot chick. Of course you take her to a romantic gourmet restaurant only to find out they're fully booked for the evening so you end up at Islands in Burbank.

Anyway i like going to the movies with the movie already decided beforehand. Its not like a bar where you decide what drink to consume when you get there or buying groceries at Ralphs. Movies is Starbucks, you don't see someone going 'uhmm uhmmm i want a, uhmm actually what is the difference between a mocha and uhmm'... you already know what you want when you get there. Everything is premeditated down to the freeway route, it's mapquested or itinerarized if you will. When it comes to movies nothing is random or arbitrary.

I've got going to the movies down to an art. For instance last Friday a friend and i wanted to see The Inside Man. Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, wow what a duo, right? However, Friday was opening night for the movie which i'm very particular with. Because who cares if you saw it opening night or a couple of weeks later? Plus i don't like standing in line. Hence i didn't buy tickets online. Since we were also having dinner in which the venue was still undecided by dinner time a contingency movie was a must. You know in case the lines to the Inside Man extended to the next block or we don't make it on time.

Well low and behold we didn't make it on time thanks to the slow service at the restaurant. The decided contingent movie was Failure to Launch. It was that or wait another hour for The Inside Man (... midnight) which wasn't such a bad idea since there's bars nearby but knowing i had two possible playoff games early the next morning, the chick flick seemed ideal.

I saw previews of the said movie before but if you'd mentioned the name i'd thought it a NASA term for space launch gone bad or something. Sure sure it made sense with the movie's premise but for the purposes of not mis-leading viewers such as myself who was coaxed into seeing such films they could have entitled it something more chick-flick like. Like 'Dating at 37 years old and living with your parents' ... sounds rather rudimentary but so did 'The 40 year old Virgin' , right?

But anyway the movie was quite funny and somehow romantic. This was your typical guy gets girl type of romantic comedy with the usual funny haha moments and moral-dating-life lessons. Even though the guy Matthew Mcconaughey lives with his parents he wasn't the typical can't-afford-to-move-out-can't-get-date goofy low self-esteem dorky sort of guy. He had a good job and was charmingly funny, only he had a commitment problem with women and keeps dumping them using his parents as the platform. His parents on the other hand adores him dearly but feels that he's overstayed his welcome and plots a way to make him move out by hiring a professional. This is where Sara Jesicca Parker the least-sluttiest of the Sex and the city girls comes in. She specializes in coaxing older men who still live with their parents by making them fall in-love with her showing them the way out of their parents home in the process... Very cool movie i must say. Just make sure you see it with a girl for crissakes.

Posted by: Marc Gabay
Sunday, March 26, 2006