Day 18: Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl w/ Bianca and Ryan Gosling

Gosling, day 3. By the third movie, I started to wonder if the Gos had some weird accent he turns on and off. I know Canadians have some lingo going on, but his accent sounds like it’s confused. It just depends on the movie, I guess.  At least in this romantic film, he doesn’t play the natural charmer. Thank goodness,  I was about to roll my eyes if he started to swoon one more random girl he just immediately knew was his soul mate. We can’t be all that lucky, buddy.

This project has been going on now for more than two weeks now. I can’t honestly thank everybody enough for the support. Aside from the actual movie watching, I’ve been really interested in the way people have responded to this. I mentioned in an earlier post that it seemed like men started to pick movies that showcased love at a grander scale. Now, I seem to find more men wanting to participate in this project with me. You may call “chick flicks” a guilty pleasure for some guys, that’s fine. However, I think it’s really starting to show me a side of the male

Day 17: Blue Valentine

Blue Valentine w/ the Gos & Michelle Williams

In continuing with Gosling week, I’m seeing the Gos in Blue Valentine. Basically the complete opposite of The Notebook. It’s as if Noah and Allie said deuces after they got married. The reality of this movie is that it’s the marriage of most adults I know. It’s loveless, sad and asking to watch a train wreck. That’s the scariest part of being married. How do you know that one person is worth committing a lifetime for? When did “I do” became a death sentence for most couples. I thought the point of marriage was to be able to solidify the love you have into a piece of paper. When does it start getting complicated? It seems like routine and children just usurp itself into the marriage and then it becomes dull. With divorce rates at an all-time high, what’s the point of marriage? I think that’s one of my fears, to start out so in love and then have your world fall apart. How do you keep passion going when you’re against all odds?

Day 16: The Notebook

The Notebook w/ Ryan Gosling & Rachel McAdams

I watched it. I sobbed. I sobbed in the beginning, in the middle, and of course, the end.

I wanted to hate rewatching the Notebook. Mostly because I knew exactly how’d I feel once the credits started to roll. I knew this movie like the back of my hand. The damn Notebook changed any implication I had of love. I don’t care what anyone says, once you’ve been “notebooked,” you’re fucked.  When this movie came out, I thought every man should be a Noah. Basically, I had set myself up for failure. My exboyfriend probably hated me for a good chunk of time because I asked him why he wasn’t dangling from a ferris wheel to grab my attention. I mean, like it’s hard?

Does anyone still do grand gestures of love? *Crickets. Over the years, I’ve had to readapt my concept of what a man should mean to me. Honestly, it felt like I lowered my own standards just to fill the criteria. But now I realize, I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t have to. I’m not saying every man should go to the lengths Noah did for Allie, that’s crazy talk. But I do believe everyone should feel unconditional love. The kind of love that makes you feel crazy in a good way. The feeling where you literally would do anything for them, no matter how ridiculous or crazy it is. One of my favorite blogs, Girls are the New Boys, described what type of love she wanted. I completely and utterly agreed.

Day 15: Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. w/ Ryan Gosling & Steve Carrell

I’ve decided. This is going to be Ryan Gosling week. This is dedicated to a special Occupy Gosling protester, Kaity. For her love transcends these movies. Hah! Anyways, Gosling is a very hot human being. A very, very, hot human being. His presence in all these romance films just amplify his entire being. I know I don’t have to explain his hotness. I first fell in love with this hottie when I saw his scrawny self in Remember the Titans. Since then, he bulked up, picked up some swag and made us “caw” in the Notebook.

But in case you don’t get enough of the Gos, here’s a couple of stalking opportunities for you. Here. And here. Oh, and one more time.

I should’ve known I was hooked when the opening sequence played John Legend. Gosling can say “let’s get outta here,” as much as he wants. Playah, playah. Of course, it all stems from being ridiculously hurt. Is that why some guys are jerks? Because a girl broke their heart first? So in return, they decide to hurt everyone else after them. Sure, logical, completely makes sense. NOT.  I’ve heard this from several guys. Trust is lost apparently within the female species so they decide to wreak havoc emotionally. As for women? Either they get extremely slutty or we build our walls so high, no amount of testosterone can break it down.  We undoubtedly become Bitter Betties. I wonder if there’s a middle ground to these emotional monsters…sorry, I just got distracted by the Gos’s pecs.

The start.

The Challenge: to watch a movie about love everyday, for 143 days.

143 movies, 143 days.

The Challenger:  Isidora Torres, a San Jose State University senior, a cynic and a former Michael Cera lover. Someone who probably has had their name misspelled more times than she can count and has been placed in numerous Spanish-speaking classes throughout her childhood. Isidora was inspired by Lawrence Dai and his crazy project, seen here.

Criteria: the movie can be literally anything – B-list romantic comedies, blockbusters, indies – as long as the storyline involves love. Sadly, my friends have made it clear this included the Twilight series (please help me).  The manner in which I chose to watch these movies is at my discretion. This isn’t supposed to be some awesome review/critque of  romantic films, but rather what I put in perspective after watching these films and aligning them with past and present experiences. I can allow myself to multitask but I will devote as much of my attention as I can to each film.

So you’re thinking why do this? Does this girl have an exponentially crazy amount of time? It’s safe to she has no friends, huh? Does she just want to ruthlessly diminish any ounce of hope? She doesn’t like Ryan Gosling? The answer to all these questions is it depends on the day.

Simply put, I’d like to think of myself as part of an ongoing process of being a recovering hopeless romantic. By the age of 21, I’m completely more cynical about the prospect of love. I thought during these years, I would just frivolously put my heart on the line and somehow, magically it would all work itself out. That has yet to happen and obviously, I’m very aware that I have all the time in the world. But I can’t help but feel that a lot of my warped perception of love derived from movies. Obviously, I’ve taken into account that my concept of love is built on several factors, but I do know I can contribute a large portion of it to movies. From Cinderella to The Notebook, they’ve all managed to influence this absurd notion of what I think love is. Let’s be clear, I’m not bitter or devoid of feelings.  And now you ask, what is my notion of love? I can no longer define it because it just doesn’t seem applicable to this day and age. So many games, so many devices. I mean what’s a girl to do? Obviously, Facebook stalk till I get an answer or stare at my phone and once you finally text back, won’t text you back for another five hours. Amiright?

So, I take this challenge in the hopes of not only rewatching some of my favorites but watching some new ones while learning a little more about myself and this crazy little thing we call love.