Movie #8 - BRIDESMAIDS!!

I have been absolutely dying to see Bridesmaids for ages..since it came out, basically.  But we don't get to the movies much these days; I think we see 2-3 movies in the theatre per year.  We could say that it's because we have kids, but we get out to do other things (go out to supper with friends, go to live theatre or music shows, go for runs, etc.).  I think it's that I (I have to stop speaking for both of us!!) don't care enough about movies any more to make them a priority.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I went to the movies all the time.  I had friends who worked in The Industry, and I had a friend who managed a movie theatre; combined that meant that I could (despite my remarkably low income) see a lot of movies.  My friends and I started a "Film Forum," kind of like a book group for movies, where we'd get together to watch Important Movies and then discuss them.

I was working at a film production company when I first read the script of Saving Private Ryan, and it was the most amazing screenplay I had ever read.  (And by then, I had read scores, if not hundreds of screenplays.)  So I was quite excited when the film came out, especially given the amazing cast that had been pulled together for it.  I went to see the movie with a wonderful friend, but we arrived a little late, and it was opening weekend, and we were at a very popular theatre, and it was PACKED.  We couldn't find two seats together, and I ended up sitting in the very front row, sort of slumped down in my seat and cracking my neck to look up at the screen.

Have you ever seen the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan? Imagine seeing it that close, forty feet high, with state of the art surround sound.  It was the most intensely uncomfortable movie experience of my life.

This is all a long way of trying to explain how I rationalize my deep fondness for the genre of films I like to call "Dumb Guy Movies."   Dumb Guy Movies don't give you a headache when you watch them.  Dumb Guy Movies don't make you weep uncontrollably.  Dumb Guy Movies make you laugh, and often have a very sweet / heart-warming element.

BUT!  Dumb Guy Movies can also be super racist & sexist & inappropriate (while still being, to my juvenile mind, pretty freaking funny).

So how awesome that women are embracing, nay, entering the field of Dumb Guy Movies!  Bridesmaids fit the form (or is it a formula?  Or both?): friend conflict, wacky batch of friends to help you learn something good about yourself, huge number of jokes about bodily fluids, etc.

I didn't laugh my ass off at Bridesmaids, but I did like it.  And, to be honest, part of the reason I love the others in the genre is that they get better with rewatching.  So I will add Bridesmaids to the list of "Always Stop and Watch" when it's on (but only on cable).