the bottom line is that some crazy shit has happened to us and you weren't there (well, maybe you were and don't remember). this blog will help you put the puzzle pieces back together. if i am not writing about some crazy story/blatant lie, i will most likely be ranting about the good and bad things in life - things i like, things i don't like. please see Exhibit A for some examples.

Exhibit A

i like the beach. i like blondes. i don't like country music. i don't like chick flicks (unless it's Love Actually or unless i am making out with you).

regardless... this will hopefully make you laugh. if i offend you in any way, i apologize. in the event i DO actually offend someone, leave me a comment or just shoot me an email. like a healthy and upbeat high school debate class, i will take your concerns into consideration, followed by posting your upset emails and then poking fun at them. i apologize in advance for possibly double offending you. it's getting late some i'm going to bed. goodnight to you all.

Would their 80s hair styles stand up against Rihanna, and everything else that is smoking up the screen these days? Bring their sequins back!

Slow hand...easy touch...naw.

The always-on generation don't want nona dat. But, I would go to see them in concert. I'm an outlier, sure, and yes, the average person (oh man, 53% of the world's population is 29 and under) would not favor them - wait - 47% are still OK. 47% of the world are 30 and up. And they remember the Pointer Sisters.

Well, I'm not saying that all of that 53% are oblivious of PS (pointer sisters). PS was popular during their eras, and yes, the light rock channels still play their music. If you're lucky, "I'm so excited" will play at a wedding - and just recently - Hugh Grant did his whole little diddy to "Jump" in Love Actually. Greatest scene ever.

and if you want more, more, more!

I know, I know, I know..

he's so shy...

my favorite song as a child, the neutron dance..

Don't you wanna do the neutron dance?

My reaction to the movie had nothing to do with the film itself. My wife, so eager to watch it for a third time (first time with me), prefaced our viewing with enough hype to make Batman blush.

Sunday: Baby Mama is soooo funny, I can’t wait to watch it this week. Wait, where are you going?

Monday: Can you put Baby Mama on my iPod when it comes in? I need something funnier to carry around in my purse than a half-eaten bagel.

Tuesday: Netflix shipped Baby Mama today, aren’t you excited?

Wednesday: I can’t believe how funny Baby Mama is, it’s a lot funnier than that Dr. Strangelove movie you keep trying to get me to watch. That’s not even in color.

Thursday: Baby Mama came in! Let’s watch it immediately; it’s such a better movie than Love Actually.

(I made that last one up. No woman would ever say that.)

Set against these impossibly high standards, I don’t think I could even enjoy a wife-hyped Star Wars sequel.

Tina Fey plays Kate, a career woman who wants a baby but whose only option is through surrogate mother and bottom-feeder Angie (Amy Poehler). When the two have to share living space, the movie plays more like the Odd Couple than Baby Boom.

While Kate and Angie spar over gum stuck under the coffee table and the status of Red Bull as a health drink, the movie is saddled with sub-plots (love interest Greg Kinnear’s fruit smoothie store) that detract from what could’ve been a Lemmon-Matthau-style comedy.

The Fey-Poehler team will better be remembered in the annals of comedy for their SNL turn as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton than for their feature film pairing. Baby Mama’s strength and problem lies in it’s stars’ ability to lift the movie. Without Fey and Poehler, this would’ve been a groan-inducing chick flick, but I’m curious to see what Fey could’ve done with the movie if she had written and directed it. Many movies has great scenes that stand out from more lackluster ones. Baby Mama takes this a level further and offers standout lines among non-funny ones.

The movie’s star turn comes in the form of Steve Martin, seen here with a white ponytail, a earthy-Zen demeanor and lines like, “I was running barefoot at the Toronto airport when I found this: (presents a seashell).”

Having to watch Martin in a starring role lately (like his turns in the Cheaper by the Dozen movies and Bringing Down the House) makes me wish I were undergoing advanced dental work, or have to sit through Lovers on the Bridge again.

My wife belongs to the Church of Latter Day Martin, admiring The Pink Panther, while I am more a Martin Fundamentalist, seeing the apex of his work in The Jerk and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Martin’s stellar work as an author not withstanding, the forthcoming Pink Panther 2 seems to signal more of the same rather than a turn back towards the “King Tut” and Wild and Crazy Guy personas that originally made him famous.

After all, with lines like, “I’m going to reward you with five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact,” who needs bit parts?

Seven Circles of Cinema: Fifth, in the Keep the Bun in the Oven section

やや女性向けの映画です。

複数のストーリーが多少のつながりを持って展開されます。

現実的なものから，そうでないものまで，いろいろです。

特段，面白いとまでは思いませんでした。

MUSIC:

Katy Perry- love her style and her music. For people who love fun tunes and outgoing lyrics

Listen To: Hot N Cold

Taylor Swift- seems like a sweet girl with great lyrics. For people who like Pop/Country and a girl with a good image.

Listen To: Love Story

Lady Gaga- fun music and crazy style. For people who love club music.

Listen to: Just Dance

Jason Mraz- every song is so unique. Sometimes he raps, others he croons. Love him. For people who want a mixture of Jack Johnson and John Mayer, with a hint of his on uniqueness.

Listen to: entire new album, especially Butterfly, If It Kills Me, I'm Yours, Love for a Child

MOVIES:

Devil Wears Prada- Never gets old. I love Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt!

Dark Knight- RIP Heath :(

Love Actually- GREAT love movie. Great plot, too. And great British cast!

Paris, Je t'Aime- Short vignettes about love in Paris. Some are in French with subtitles, others in English.

DYING TO SEE:

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist- seems like a Superbad type movie. Who can resist Michael Cera??

The Express- a lot like Remember the Titans... hopefully not just another  sports movie

Confessions of a Shopaholic- similar to The Devil Wears Prada. Loved the books. Hope this meets its standards!

Ghost Town- seems like Just Like Heaven. Very funny!

New York, I Love You: See Paris, Je t'Aime. Short vignettes about love in New York.

Sam: I know I should be thinking about Mum all the time, and I am. But the truth is I'm in love and I was before she died, and there's nothing I can do about it.
Daniel: Aren't you a bit young to be in love?
Sam: No.
Daniel: Oh, well, okay, right. Well, I mean, I'm a little relieved.
Sam: Why?
Daniel: Well, because I thought it would be something worse.
Sam: Worse than the total agony of being in love?
Daniel: Oh. No, you're right. Yeah, total agony.

Instead of permitting bitterness and anger to eat you alive, it's probably wiser to forgive yourself. Because in doing so, it becomes easier to forgive the subject of your agony. 'Letting go' is easier said than done but you know what they say; time is the best form of medicine.. I've found that to be true!

Hubby has been on a pleasure cruise in South Korea. HA! Okay, he's really been working his ass off in a design factory in South Korea, but that is neither here nor there -- actually I suppose it's THERE, dammit! We have done our best but communications have been sparse and we've been relying on good old email to get us through. Let me tell you how phone sex over email works though. KIDDING. I can only imagine it would be a very slow process.

So, since I am traveling to exotic Rolla, MO next week for a recruitment fair, Hubby is going to meet me in Kansas City for the weekend. Come 4:30 Friday afternoon the Burgets will reunite. Watch out, KC. Last time we met in KC we got engaged later that evening. I don't think ole Hubby can top that one though. He'll get bonus kisses if he does.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.   I know you think I only like this because a certain actor is in it, and you're wrong!   All wrong!    I mean, sure, that helps...but come on.   There's more to it than that!

It's the overlapping story of a whole bunch of folks living in London and their various stories involving love set around Christmas time.   Cue the "awwww"s right about now.    There's the Prime Minister and his secretary; his sister and her husband; a man who has lost his wife to cancer and his stepson, who is in love; stand-ins on an adult film; a jilted writer and his housekeeper, neither of whom speak each other's languages; a past-his-prime rock star and his manager; two office workers with problems of their own; a happy couple with a friend who loves the bride thrown into the mix, and so on and so forth.   All stories flow in and out of each other surprisingly well.   Some are very well done and others are just...so typically Hollywood romantic that I can't get quite involved in them.

Love Actually has its problems.   Like all romantic comedies, at some point I find myself spacing a bit.  What makes me like Love Actually is the variety.   Even though the idea of 8 million people having their own stories shoved into one movie gets very overloaded very quickly, the variety is really, really nice, especially because I can fast-forward past the ones I don't care for.

I've never pinned down exactly why I don't like romantic comedies, but I think part of it is that things like this don't particularly appeal to me as "romantic" or make me sigh, in the slightest.

My version of a romantic comedy would never get made, because it would involve that man (maybe, he could always be recast) holding a copy of Die Hard and Die Hard II and no silly sign.   My standards:  they are low...I think.

It's the less syrup-y stuff that gets me.   Like Bill Nighy as the aging rocker who insults everyone and everything live - on the radio, on TV, in his videos.   Or Emma Thompson, as Alan Rickman's poor, put-upon wife.

The scene where she realizes Alan Rickman is semi-cheating on her is so god-awfully sad that I don't even know where to start with it.   She gives herself a few minutes and then just soldiers on before getting a chance to confront Rickman's character.

As far as I'm convinced, this is what I picture in my head when I think of Bill Nighy.

Add in some nice random parts with Rowan Atkinson, who I am always shocked to see in speaking roles, and that is what makes me like Love Actually.   It's the sugar-coated stuff that kind of breaks me down a bit about the movie; if it weren't for that, Love Actually would be farther up the Great List of Movies That I Love.

For instance:

The whole story involving Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister standing up to the President of the United States for the love of a secretary is just so inhumanely boring to me.   I think it's mainly because I've never quite understood the mass appeal of Hugh Grant, who plays Hugh Grant in every movie.   It's worked out quite nicely for him but I just...don't get it.

Speaking of not getting it...

Colin Firth.

I really don't get it.

What in God's name is so heavenly about this man?   I mean, he's pretty ordinary to me, so I don't get the massive swoon-fests that happen in his name.   Plus, he's like the next coming of Hugh Grant to me, so ... meh.   The few movies he's been in that I've seen, it seems as though he's got Hugh Grant Syndrome and he's just playing himself.   Goodness.   Plus, I find the ending to his story so predictably "romantic" that I just kind of roll my eyes, move on and hit "fast forward".

Did you honestly think you'd make it all the way through without at least SOME mention of what is also one of my favorite stories of the movie?

Awww.   Neeson's storyline is decent, with an ending that doesn't feel like you're being bashed over the head with true love.   And his son is actually kinda adorable.

The movie needs to be trimmed.   There's at least one or two storylines in particular they could've thrown out completely.   As I understand it, the movie's heavily trimmed as it is, but it's LONG -- really long, and there's just so much stuff going on that sometimes it's hard to not necessarily keep up, but keep up caring about all the different stuff going on.

It's good...but it could have been significantly better.

I am extremely guilty.

My voice hurts.

This post is becoming too reminscent of an emo Live Journal post from highschool. I will keep this in mind for the future.

We gingen naar boven. Mijn hart nog steeds kloppend met elke trede die ik opliep. En hij liep achter me aan. Ik doe een lamp aan en sta in het midden van mijn kamer. Hij kijkt rond, ik ga zitten. Hij loopt naar me toe en kust me. De kriebels... hij gaat naast me zitten en zetten een film op. En onderwijl groeit mijn affectie. Ik wil hem hebben. Maar het blijft lief. Leuk. Spannend. De tijd verstrekt en de kriebels blijven. Toch komt er een eind aan en hij gaat. De deur uit, een kus en een meisje dat hem al mist voordat hij daadwerkelijk weg is.

A Richard Curtis film is, in this sense, comparatively well defined, to the point where the Curtis corpus becomes a near sole point of reference for an entire genre: the British Rom Com. It has a set of generic ingredients, which, if stirred and stewed in the right way, can produce subtle variations on a prize-winning dish.

What are these ingredients? Location is one. There are two carefully modulated places: London and a home counties, commuter-belt area vaguely outside London populated by Norman churches, thatched cottages, and sweeping estates (a sort of Daily Telegraph definition of the word ‘countryside’). But London is the main location, and a very particular kind of London - Sir Christopher Wren’s London, The Ritz, Downing Street, Notting Hill, South Bank; and somewhere tucked away behind these landmarks of the capital there are rows of Edwardian terraced ‘Habitat-chic’ housing.

But films are not just made of bricks, mortar, and passing land rovers. They have values. And the values of Curtis films are no less emphatic. They are proudly and purposefully liberal. The limelight may be occupied by a conventional handsome man struggling through the familiar fog of ‘peculiarly English’ male social ineptitude to join romantic forces with a glamorous American girl, but Curtis lets his peripheral characters cast an important shadow over the main narrative. He repeatedly gives popular screen time to physical and mental disability in a way that is inclusive and non-patronising. All films are effortlessly uncomfortable around sexism, racism, jingoism, and he takes pleasure in wacky, wayward characters ( which might, possibly, be construed as ‘cultural diversity’).

But one of the main demons is arrogance. Or to put it the other way around, one of the main virtues is modesty, or humility, which furnishes a repeatedly high-standard - if stock-in-trade - brand of self-deprecating humour. This is one of the core facets of all the films: the humour is edifying, improving; it has something of the Church of England about it (even Curtis’ atheism, derived from the problem that an omnibenevolent creator God would surely not tolerate suffering in his creatures, is - like a lot of liberal atheism in England - peculiarly C of E).

Much of the humour in the films comes by making mischief with the central characters, subjecting them to ritual humiliation or simply making them look silly. There is an implication that coping with this kind of silliness, incongruity, and humiliation is nearly a duty, a behavioural corollary of which is self-deprecation. The conflict in the stories of each film turns on a moral defensiveness that flares up in the face of a less self-effacing (or more arrogant) weltanschaung. It maybe unfair, but this defensiveness seems to be progressively taking a more prominent role (the title ‘Love Actually’, could just as easily be read as a statement equivalent to a line drawn in the sand - ‘Not all that sixties claptrap about love?’ said the obscurantist father spooning out the marmalade. ‘Yes, love actually,’ replied his recalcitrant but slightly flighty daughter).

In this sense, Curtis’ humour is not irreverent and anarchic but an expression of firmly held, albeit moderate, beliefs. This particular genre of filmmaking is the pulpit for a set of values including love, compassion, kindness, charity, open-mindedness, and it is at the vanguard of a whole cultural - largely well-spoken and female - group who have grown up to scrutinise the moral integrity of foodstuffs and use their spare pocket money to start outreach companies.

So, there is a setting (London with a bit of posh greenery around the edges), a moral universe (‘All you need is love and there but for the grace of God go I’), and there is crucially a basic faith that this moral universe will stand up in the face of all challenges, that the relationship, in spite of all obstacles, will work out, that love will conquer all - that the ‘Good’ will out. In other words the films end ‘happily’, in a way that is not too dissimilar to the Hollywood dream factory.

Like Hollywood happy-ending films, Curtis uses all the considerable draw of glamour, style, sex, and celebrity to bring to the fore the moral universe of his world - his very ‘English’ world. Curtis has created stars out of his films. When asking, ‘What are the core components of a Richard Curtis film?’ you almost certainly have to answer ‘Hugh Grant’. But Grant is a strange creature in cinematic terms - he is a British movie star. Not a character actor, or even a thesp (both of which England produces in abundance). He is a screen presence in his own right, inhabiting permanently an archetypal role: the good-humoured, modest English gentleman. He is an English John Wayne. The lead roles in all his films are taken by equally glamorous characters, strictly non-representative of the British population. And, as noted, glamorous characters live and operate in glamorous places - like the finer parts of London. You could say that by choosing locations in the UK very selectively, inhabiting them with beautiful cut-glass actors and actresses (for the lead roles) and wrapping around them a progressive, familial and romantic narrative, Curtis has created a popular English aesthetic through which to deliver a popular - idealised - ethos.

To bring it back to amino acids, Curtis has created an entire British mythology, sexy, sumptuous, gentle and funny, idealistic, fantastically unreal but recurrently and infectiously watchable.

One of the words emblazoned on the banners of Curtis’ detractors is ‘cynicism’. If you were to start from the premise that films should depict reality, presumably you also start with an assumption that there is an easily objectified reality waiting out there to be filmed. The vast array of social realities that exist in England, (many, if not most of which, are wildly inconsistent with the paragon of Great Britishness sold to the world through Richard Curtis films) gives many people good ground to think cynically about his oeuvre. But do any of them have a unique claim to a definition of social reality? Arguably as soon as you stick a camera in front of something, you embark on a strange process of reality distortion regardless of the context. Curtis’ skill is that he distorts it in such an engaging and successful way.

Curtis’ films aren’t real; they are fantasies with a singular vision but it shows a canny and unique sensitivity that he has managed to create something that speaks so popularly to the UK and also abroad, and which also creates - I repeat - a whole mythology around British identity.

Perhaps the frustrating thing about Richard Curtis is not that he depicts a popcorn view of England and its culture but that this view is the only one to have achieved a popular status. Which in turn begs the question, where are the imaginative powers of British cinema? Possibly in America. Or possibly in independent film, but will that ever speak to the same broad audience? If you compare Curtis with other myth makers, there are differences. American filmmakers, from John Ford to David Lynch, have mythologised America repeatedly, mainly through small-town communities rather than east-coast cosmopolitan aristocracies. Perhaps this means it only takes a filmmaker with a bit of popular imagination to turn the industrial streets of Middlesbrough or the bleak consumerist burp that is Basingstoke into something that popular artists don’t pass over with a polite cough.

It is a sad reflection on British culture if its only dreams take place in the imagination of Notting Hill.

Josh Pothen

3.5 stars out of 4

Love Actually is a shameless dive into romantic melodrama, but a somewhat intelligent one. It is a movie full of optimism and happiness, using clichés of scenes and scenarios to wring out as much happiness and optimism as possible. Watching the film, I was fully aware I was being emotionally manipulated, but I could not help but allow myself to be acted upon.

Having said that, I must admit to a nagging voice of reason in the back of my head whenever I watch these movies. It tells me that romantic attraction does not work the way it does in this film. That half (or more) of the couples in this movie are not really in love, but simply mutually infatuated. That almost all of them will end in fallouts, breakups and divorce. (Which is true). That I must grow up and accept the truth about attraction. But that’s the beauty of film—it allows us to pretend. All I can say is that it is just about the best possible film that could be made from this material. Were it the best, my voice would be silenced completely during the film. But more on that later.

Now, would it be worth it to describe the plot? There are ten different storylines running in tandem around Christmastime. The best of these are the more realistic ones, such as the Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson storyline of two elderly people in love who are growing more and more lukewarm towards each other as each week of Advent passes. Or the story of Bill Nighy as an aging rock star who is forced to record a terrible (to put it kindly) Christmas version of one of his hits because he has lost popularity, and then regains it by lampooning it and acting crassly on every media outlet he stars in. Or the story of Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister, whose love for an aide forces him to make some difficult decisions involving her as well as the President of the United States (in a cameo I will not reveal).

To go on would involve describing more storylines involving the blooming of love, as well as further English cameos. In fact, one of the film’s pleasures is seeing the wide array of English film stars in it, from Kiera Knightley to Laura Linney. Even Rowan Atkinson of “Mr. Bean” fame has a tremendous appearance which is funny on its own terms, but all the more funny if you are familiar with his work. (You can also spot Thomas the Tank Engine if you look carefully on one of the buses). But what’s particularly fun is that the storylines impact each other, driving each other forward. It’s the antics of Bill Nighy and Rowan Atkinson that allow the final scene in an airport to take place, for instance.

The film’s plotting is up to par, but unfortunately not all of its writing. I never bought the subplot about the English waiter who goes to Wisconsin looking for American girls who will treat him as a sex idol, or the overly contrived and sentimental dialogues between Liam Neeson and his son. The most egregious subplot is the one between Colin Firth and a Portuguese lady, who can't understand each other since they only speak and understand their own languages. Here is one scene where it lost even optimistic me: He’s writing a manuscript. She accidentally causes the pages to blow away into a lake. She runs over to the lake, and immediately strips to her underwear in front of him to jump in and save it. It gets better: She immediately swears, “F---, the water is cold” in Portuguese. He jumps in, and immediately says, “F---, the water’s cold” in English. This leads to a series of lines where he says something in English, and she then says the corresponding lines in Portuguese—all without using hand gestures or a English-Portuguese dictionary. Clearly not a scene with the same quality of writing as Bill Nighy's rocker gives a speech about drugs on national TV.

Consider Paul Haggis’s Crash, a film about chance and human interaction or Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, also about chance and happiness. Both of these films are more realistic, true, but the different storylines are all on the same level of writing. Better to have consistency throughout your stories so that the illusion of the movie does not become obvious. But at the end of the day, Love Actually is like eating a box of chocolates. Some aren't as good as others, but you have a big smile by the time you finish the last one.

The dialogue has mystified me for a while. The mystery still holds true, but a bit of it just faded away.

Perhaps, because I experienced a facet of the many meanings that the dialogue holds within.

Thank you M&D.

A closed door of meaning opened wide!

I am mesmerized by love.  

Is love a reaction to some soft skin? Or is love just the realization that the person you're with cares enough about you to stick around and provide for you?  And most importantly, is love all you need?  I suppose you can live by that when you're a teenager and everything else you need is provided for you by your parents.  Love can be as exciting as you want it to be because the security comes from a different area of your life.  But I wonder, what can love not overcome?  Death?  Dukes and contracts?  The maharajah and all his wealth?

I find myself conducting experiments to see how far I can push the love I receive, to test its righteousness, its faithfulness.  Is there a breaking point to true love? And does one fall into true love in that movie-like way?  I wish every single one of my dates involved blonde bimbos trying to get my prom king, a battle with cancer, or a romantic moment in the middle of starlit road, but I've slowly become accustomed to Lord of the Ring and Jason Bourne marathons.

In truth, I do want the quintessential romantic relationship.  I want to be kissed in the rain and I want Hitch to send me a package with a walkie talkie in it rather than calling.  I just don't have the gumption to look for that guy, or to wait around long enough for him to find me.  Or maybe I don't give my guy enough credit.  Our love could certainly nourish the jejune and bring enlightenment to many.  But, at my age, I find myself constantly debating whether this is it or if I could be available for my Mr. Right to plop down next to me in a doctor's office and ask me if I'm the girl who played the retarded football player in a movie once.  Or if I'll end up marrying one adorable but bland boy when another is at my door, faking Christmas carols to trick the husband upstairs as he shows me a poster board that states, "To me, you are perfect."  Or am I too intoxicated by these movie moments to realize that love actually is much more simple?

My favorite idea of love came from the gentleman who plays Silent Bob.  He said he'd find love in an Iris.  It's a film term; a technique used to show an image in only one small, round area of the screen.  An Iris-In moves inward from all sides to leave only a small image on the screen, i.e. the love of my life.  I'd be walking down the sidewalk and suddenly, my eye, mind, soul, etc. would zero in on one person.  And all in the world would be set right.

I want to say I love him.  My boyfriend, of course.  I pretend my kisses speak for me as I gently graze his cheek, his nose, his ear.  My heart beating the mantra I'm chanting in my head: I love you, I love you, I love.  

And is it better to be loved or to love?  I've been in three relationships before this one, all lasting under a year.  Each of them have professed their love for me.  As far as I know, I have been loved.  However, I'm skeptical as to whether or not I have given true love in return.  My relationship usually ends after those three words are dropped at the doorstep of my heart.  I shut down, spinning inward and avoiding all confrontation.  But now, I embrace my own struggle with loving someone; I cherish it.  My life is no longer just about me.  I cannot wait for the day when my love and my lover's love fall into sync with one another, humming the tune to our heartbeats: I love you, I love you, I love.

I am discovering the strength of my love and look forward to the expansion that will surely come.  I'm not quite ready to allow the mystery of love and its definition in my life to be fully exposed, so I will love to the best of my ability and hope for love in return.

Fondly,

M

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game -- it's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be in time -- it's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be -- it's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

I Actually Love the entire soundtrack. - ha, get it? Actually Love, Love Actually. I kill me.

I bawled my eyes out during practically the whole film.

And suddenly realised something very important.

Yes, Mr B and I have problems relating to his ex-wife, his daughters and also some people have issues with the 13 year age gap between him and me.

But we do have a deep and sincere love for each other and when things get difficult or tense and stressful it helps to keep that in focus and not get all bothered about "stuff". As long as we both have our integrity and are able to communicate about what's important to us and not delve into immaterial issues I think we'll make it. It's when you lose sight of what's important that trouble comes along.

Focus.

I had two serious girlfriends... and then some other smattering of other women. -Will Hayes

Another aspect of this story and characterizations that stood apart from movies of this kind was the main male role wasn't emasculated into some wimpy guy searching for his feelings.  His most gut wrenching moments had more to do with his relationship with his daughter than anything.  It was touching in a way that was authentic and genuine.

• Ryan Reynolds as William Hayes
• Abigail Breslin as Maya Hayes
• Elizabeth Banks as Emily
• Rachel Weisz as Summer Hartley
• Kevin Kline as Hampton Roth
• Isla Fisher as April Hoffman