...and man-dates and man-caves. All these are treated with some wit and insight in the film I LOVE YOU MAN. I’ll make the obvious point that the movie could easily have been better, even funnier, by not being needlessly gross. Still, it captures pretty well the sheer awkwardness of male friendship in our time, and marriage and same-sex friendship are reconciled nicely at the end. We get to see a dog named Anwar Sadat who really does look like Anwar Sadat. And we learn that most real men think CHOCOLAT is stupid, but sometimes find themselves stuck with calling it delightful. I LOVE YOU MAN isn’t a great or even all that edifying a movie, but it’s certainly more enjoyable than all those academy award nominees I sat through.
THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD is also worth seeing. Apparently it’s based loosely on the life of the Amazing Kreskin who appeared so often on Johnny Carson. This movie has the charm of and is sort of like MY FAVORITE YEAR (with Peter O’Toole), but "mentalist" Buck Howard (played with expert quirkiness by John Malkovich) is much less dashing, certainly more vain, but finally more noble and responsible than the alcoholic English actor played by O’Toole. THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD portrays its small-time hero as he would want to be portrayed--as a classy (okay, ambiguously classy) gentleman with a real talent, and, being a sort of period piece, it’s certainly not needlessly gross.
During this period of severe recession, anxiety about our futures, and uncertainty about whether President Obama is in over his pay grade, the film industry appears to be flourishing.
Ah, well, Hollywood's Golden Age took place during two world wars and a depression. Right now, the artists who make good movies and the patrons who watch them either need an escape from these harsh and boring realities, need a reminder that despite the problems things could be worse, need an opportunity to think about bigger questions now and then, or just need a good laugh, scare, or cry. I think times of uncertainty or great for getting the film industry to flourish.
I too thought of My Favorite Year when watching Buck Howard. But really, is it ever legit to say that Chocolat is delightful?
Chocolate is a great food, if the Mars corporation had more of its way it would have weighed it as a factor in its manliness index along with salted nuts. Chocolate was also quite a manly beverage historically consumed by the Mayans before war and ritual sacrifice, albeit it was more bitter and watery...and well I prefer snickers(R)...the europeans to include the french do have some delicious "chocolat"...but it is considered somewhat effiminate to have too much of a taste for european chocolates...then again real men don't care that much and still think easter bunnies are delicious...call it chocolate or chocolat it is still delicious...but then again I am always like a kid in a candy store...chocolate covered ants, scorpions, peanuts, spiders...just about anything is made more tasty and palatably exotic by chocolate...strawberries, cherries...you know you want to play in that chocolate fountain in the buffet line...dark chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate chip cookies...Le Chocolat c'est magnifique...coments faut dire "delightful"? delicieux(delicious)...deluminait ne marche pas...Illuminait?
Le chocolat c'est la joi de vivre.
Chocolate is the joy of life...the chocolat c'est etre un bons vivant...
Such a perversion these French make of manly bloody/bitter Mayan chocolat! With milk and processed sugar...and TRUFFLES!
In california they even sell chocolate weed brownies(other places too, but there Uncle Sam and the state gets a cut of the revenue)...those hippies combine two ingredients of death dealing...what the Manly Mayans drank to go to war...and what the proud Assasins(Hashish eaters) took to steal themselves for the kill.
It is also reported that chocolate is an aphrodisiac not unlike the movie chocolat...the truth of both claims affecting by turn the delightfulness of the product.
Nevertheless those who find in chocolat the most delightfulness and voice it, risk bringing a return to its Mayan roots among grumpier men...watching chocolat on first man-date is no good...playing in the chocolate fountain...lol...two straight men not yet close friends should stay away from chocolate altogether...it is too sexual of a food...maybe a chocolate flavored micro-beer? Stick with Budlight...any american larger...some darker beers...Jack Daniels...no tequilla, if tequilla no Patron, vodka is fine..Yagger Bombs work...you can buy whatever you want if you are buying the same drink for a girl and it looks like a mistake...even chocolate micro-beer.
Lest you forget . . . chocolate has many benefits.