The Back-Up Plan, part 9 - SPOILERS

[wpgrace]

In sum: for Alex's big screen debut, this was a winner for him and his career. He got to show a different side of himself to us, and it introduces him to an entire new group of people.

Yeah, BabyGirl. I was knocked OUT by how different, once again, his Stan is from all the other characters he's played. The gorgeous, handsome, sexy, ripped, demi-god really IS an actor. Love to see him proving that once again. ( PGal... you are always right on this point, Girlfriend.)

And hell yeah, BabyGirl. He was totally made for the big screen. I've never seen him so beautiful. Close ups, head shots on a 12 foot tall screen... dude can do it and look even more gorgeous.

And you did not mention The Voice. The Voice was so there. It did a great job.

[Fleur de Lisa]

Grace--love ya, baby. Always have, always will!
I purposely left out commenting about 'the voice', b/c whenever I think about it, I need to change parts of my clothing.

My socks.
I can't help it, my feet get cold

More about the voice: after the movie, my BFF and I came back to my place (cue the Barry White music), where I entertained her with several dvr'd Alex interviews. She had never heard him speak in his native accent. I was floored. I have NOT been a good friend to this woman by keeping her from his smooth-toned Aussieness. It was interesting, b/c she was truly thrown by listening to him speak in an Australian accent. She said that it was hard for her to wrap her head around that b/c she identifies his voice as being American. And here I was in the movie, noting when his accent would slip through!

What gets to me regarding his acting/facial expressions? How the man can look at someone and you see the love in his eyes. We all recall that from ML, but he has it in spades in BUP. And the scene where he gets teary-eyed? I needed to be held back from jumping through the screen to 'comfort' him.

I am notoriously picky and critical when it comes to movies, to the point of being a real snob about it sometimes, so forgive me please for not being perhaps as enthusiastic as some of you are. But his performance was stellar and I couldn't be prouder of that beautiful, talented, star-on-the-rise, man. I guaranfriggintee you that Hollywood will take notice of him in this flick.

dsr, snookums--you hit the nail on the head with the relationship progression. That is where I thought the movie was uneven.

A question for those of you who regularly see romantic comedies:
How does BUP compare to the ones you've seen in that genre? I am genuinely curious to know the answer.

[wpgrace]

Yeah, I don't generally go to movies, romcoms or otherwise, so cannot answer that question...
But I have another...

What did you WEAR to the movie, girls????

[darkstarrising]

Can't help with the rom com question too much, ma Fleur, but they tend to be formulaic - guy and girl meet, they start to fall for each other, something gets in the way, they get something out of the way - happy ending.

What contributes to their success is the chemistry between the two love interests, the appeal of their characters and just how credible the story is (in rom coms, there is a lot of latitude for 'reality').

The one that stand out for me is "When Harry Met Sally". The chemistry was there, the characters were funny and there were memorable moments ("I'll have what she's having"). But what made it a little different (at least then) was that the main characters tried to be just friends for so long, each in denial of what they were really feeling.

BUP has the chemistry. Stan and Zoe are appealing, and imperfect. As for reality - again, it's tough when so much time (9 months is crammed into 90 minutes).

One thing I had to laugh at....Alex didn't get much romantic time as Mick with Beth, with Mick being too wary of getting too close. The hottest scene in Moonlight was when Mick fed from Beth, and the kisses were either really quick and cute or restrained. We saw a bit more heat between Mick and Coraline, but still too little.

Stan, however, is a passionate character, very physical, although very tender at moments. When Stan kisses Zoe, there is nothing restrained about it. There were a couple of occasions where he just about launched himself at her.....now I understand why Alex made the comment about 'getting on with it, then apologizing profusely.'

And yeah, the out takes at the end were worth hanging around for.

What did I wear, grace? Nice jeans and nice top...

[Fleur de Lisa]

DSR--you are sooooo correct. He was incredibly affectionate and passionate in this film, and I enjoyed that like crazy! How many times can a woman swoon while watching a movie? I think I went way over the limit.

grace--I wore the wrong shoes. Cute as hell, but my toes were exposed and were frozen through most of the movie. I generally don't get too dressed up for a movie, unless we are going out to eat dinner at a really nice place before or after. Today: Just some dark washed jeans and the aforementioned shoes.

And there were only about 20 people at our showing, although that could've been b/c it was at 1pm.

OH! I know what I meant to say, while at lunch prior to the film, there was a booth with about 5 ladies next to us, and they were trying to determine which movie to see. I heard one say that she didn't think she wanted to 'waste her money on a film that only got 1 1/2 stars'

I stabbed her with a fork.
Accidently.

[wpgrace]

I didn't dress up for the movie, but I went fully aware I was representin'. I wore tight dark jeans, a Ralph Lauren cashmere grey sweater, and white and navy Keds. Cause I thought Alex would appreciate the Keds. And I wore enough eye makeup to satisfy my usual homage to Cleo.

I did not want anyone who asked me why I was there, and to be told I came for Alex, to think I looked shabby.

And Fleur! You stabbed that lady? I'm glad you stabbed her.

ETA: Just read my darlin' Dark's post... and omg yes. The passion from Stan. I would talk about it, but I'd have trouble breathing again. God love him...

[Fleur de Lisa]

Never shabby--that's my motto.
And apparently I went topless to see BUP! I neglected to mention what I was wearing on the top half of the bod: A black vee neck Banana Republic shirt with a red and black Lucky Brand peace hoodie over it. White House/Black Market dark jeans. With peace sign earrings. And watch. And necklace.
But they are small pieces of jewelry--nothing tacky.

Never tacky--that's my other motto!

I'm all about the peace.
I contemplated wearing something cheese-y to honor Stan's chosen profession, but just couldn't pull it off.

[librarian_7]

No worries, ma fleur...my whole wardrobe is pretty cheesy, so I think we have that covered.

(And Lucky Brand? Cool!)

Lucky

[Fleur de Lisa]

No worries, ma fleur...my whole wardrobe is pretty cheesy, so I think we have that covered.

(And Lucky Brand? Cool!)

Lucky

Are you from Wisconsin? --the cheese capital of the country, for those of you not in the know!
I doubt your wardrobe is cheesy, lucky, and if it is, that is the ONLY thing cheesy about you.
As I mentioned earlier about being picky about movies, I am that much more particular about clothes and the like.
And I only admire and obsess over the very best actors....hence my fascination with The Back-Up Plan star (I just love typing that out!!!)

(Love Lucky stuff--their jewelry is great, too---the watch I mentioned is from their line)

[Lilly]

Disclaimers: I very rarely get to the movies anymore -- at least to see anything that isn't animated or produced by Disney. I'm not very critical about the movies I see because I'm usually so glad to be seeing any movie I can pretty much forgive a multitude of sins. I can almost always find something to like about what I see.


That being said, I went to see the 7pm show at the mall in a new 13-theater cineplex with stadium seating. There were 107 people there, about 20 of them men, with a range of ages there from teens to senior citizens. It seemed to me, as incredible as this sounds, that an awful lot of the people in attendance hadn't seen many of the promos. Their reactions were spontaneous, authentic and for the most part enthusiastic. On the way out of the theater, I did hear two 50-something men commiserating that they should have gone to see something else, but their wives didn't look particularly unhappy. Go figure.

As for the movie itself, I pretty much agree with everything that grace, Fleur and dsr have said. Seeing Alex up on that big screen was just glorious. I'm not a fan of rom-coms and I never would have seen this film if Alex hadn't been in it, but I did really enjoy it. I'm completely baffled by intensely negative reviews. Lukewarm, I could understand -- maybe -- but in my book this was definitely worth the price of admission.

[darkstarrising]

That's good to know, Lilly....that's a fairly large audience and many probably weren't there for the same reason we were. If they found it enjoyable, without already being passionate Alex fans, perhaps they are now.

[Fleur de Lisa]

Disclaimers: I very rarely get to the movies anymore -- at least to see anything that isn't animated or produced by Disney. I'm not very critical about the movies I see because I'm usually so glad to be seeing any movie I can pretty much forgive a multitude of sins. I can almost always find something to like about what I see.


That being said, I went to see the 7pm show at the mall in a new 13-theater cineplex with stadium seating. There were 107 people there, about 20 of them men, with a range of ages there from teens to senior citizens. It seemed to me, as incredible as this sounds, that an awful lot of the people in attendance hadn't seen many of the promos. Their reactions were spontaneous, authentic and for the most part enthusiastic. On the way out of the theater, I did hear two 50-something men commiserating that they should have gone to see something else, but their wives didn't look particularly unhappy. Go figure.

As for the movie itself, I pretty much agree with everything that grace, Fleur and dsr have said. Seeing Alex up on that big screen was just glorious. I'm not a fan of rom-coms and I never would have seen this film if Alex hadn't been in it, but I did really enjoy it. I'm completely baffled by intensely negative reviews. Lukewarm, I could understand -- maybe -- but in my book this was definitely worth the price of admission.

I completely agree with your 'lukewarm review' assessment. Honestly, the only review I read was in our paper and the guy didn't hate the film, didn't point out any glaringly bad things, just focused more on JLo and how he's tired of her "cutsie" type characterizations in her movies and her poor choice of roles in her last few films. I still can't understand why he gave it only 1 1/2 stars, b/c based on the review, it didn't seem to be that bad.

These types of movies are never Oscar winners, they are enjoyable, escapist films. Yes, some are better than others, but this film did have heart and quite a few laugh out loud moments.

Was the theatre a large one, lilly? I am trying to figure out if the 107 people in the audience constitues a fully packed room or not---I gave our showing a break, because it was early afternoon, but I am curious as to the amount of people going to the evening showings.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that BUP gets some respectable numbers. I would LOVE for it to win the box office this week-end. I still don't know what's up against it, as far as new releases go.

[librarian_7]

Are you from Wisconsin? --the cheese capital of the country, for those of you not in the know!
I doubt your wardrobe is cheesy, lucky, and if it is, that is the ONLY thing cheesy about you.

Lucky loves Fleur!

Lucky

[Lilly]

Was the theatre a large one, lilly? I am trying to figure out if the 107 people in the audience constitues a fully packed room or not---I gave our showing a break, because it was early afternoon, but I am curious as to the amount of people going to the evening showings.

Fleur, I'd say that the theater was more than half full with most of the empty seats being in the level area at the very front of the theater (the first 8 rows or so). I was really quite surprised to see how full it was compared to other movies I'd seen there.

[Fleur de Lisa]

Was the theatre a large one, lilly? I am trying to figure out if the 107 people in the audience constitues a fully packed room or not---I gave our showing a break, because it was early afternoon, but I am curious as to the amount of people going to the evening showings.

Fleur, I'd say that the theater was more than half full with most of the empty seats being in the level area at the very front of the theater (the first 8 rows or so). I was really quite surprised to see how full it was compared to other movies I'd seen there.

That is great news! I imagine Saturday's showings will have even larger numbers. The only other movie I can recall opening this week-end is "The Losers", starring dead Denny (see how smart some of you are to figure out who he is!) And is that stupid looking "Kick Ass" movie new? (yeah, I gave that a break)These seem like the only 2 that would offer up any type of competition for box office. I doubt that "Oceans" has the same target audience!

And lucky, my little cheese puff--right back at ya!