Boyfriends in the News Update!

Ba-BAM.  I totally called this:  Bradley Cooper named 2011’s Sexiest Man Alive.

Well, okay, so I didn’t LITERALLY call it.  I didn’t flat-out say, “Look out, 2011!”  But deep down, you guys knew I knew, right?  We all knew, right?  Since Alias, we have known, right?  Since THIS, we have known.

Right.

Also, did you guys hear Richard Armitage is going to be playing Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit?  Because he is.  HE IS!  Wait, what’s that you said?  “Who’s Thorin Oakenshield?”

Pfft, he’s son of Thráin, son of Thrór!  Duh.  God.

AND, lastly, ex-Boyfriend of the Week Jason Segel (schmooperoo!) opens this weekend in the new Muppets movie, The Muppets.  Please, Jason Segel AND Dr. Bunsen Honeydew?  In the same movie?  You may want to put 911 on speed dial.  Because of the SWOONAGE.  (Also, is it just me John Hodgman and Bunsen Honeydew totally “separated at birth”?)

All these updates are just to say:  I haven’t forgotten about the Boyfriends, I swear.  Just been a busy year.  Hoping to have a new write-up posted soon, and maybe one more before January (plus my recap of favorite books and films from 2011).  And then we’ll see how things go in 2012.

MOVIE: Bad Teacher (2011)

Okay, okay, YES, it’s stupid.  And it has a gross fart/poop joke.  AND (gah!) it includes a lengthy scene featuring Justin Timberlake dry-humping Cameron Diaz from behind, which, quite frankly, is something I never need to see EVER AGAIN.

However, I laughed out loud, and loudly, and more than once.  I keep trying to hate Cameron Diaz and I just can’t do it.  Her upper arms are phenomenal!  And her smile just makes me happy, even though it’s borderline Heath-Ledger‘s-Joker.

Plus, ex-Boyfriend of the Week Jason Segel!  And future Boyfriend of the Week Eric Stonestreet (the big guy from Modern Family)!  So much to love right there.  Especially Jason Segel as a sharp, sarcastic, pudgily-adorable gym teacher with no upper body strength whatsoever.

It’s fun, ya dig?  The rest just don’t mattah.  After an emotionally challenging Friday, spending my Saturday afternoon with this flick and a friend (who is a teacher and I’m sure was taking notes) was exactly the fixer-upper I needed.  For that alone, I give it all the stars in the world.  Sure, it’s a one-joke schtick.  But you know what?  It’s a pretty funny joke.

Recommended!  If you’re in the mood for a dumb comedy, and you have to choose between Hangover 2 and this one, pick this one.  Nothing to disappoint you here — no expectations.  Just plain ol’ stupid fun.  Perfect.

[Prequeue it at Netflix | View trailer]

Genre: Comedy
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins, Dave Allen, Eric Stonestreet

MOVIE: Knocked Up (2007)

Yesterday was my sixth wedding anniversary (congrats to us!). Since we’ve been so busy and exhausted lately, my husband and I decided to stay in, cook a great dinner, and watch a movie together. The dinner was cioppino, and my contribution to its greatness was to stay as far away from the kitchen as possible (my husband is the chef in our relationship — yes, I did choose my spouse well!). And the movie was Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up, which I’d heard was the funniest movie of the summer.

Must’ve been a really dry summer. . . is all I’m sayin’.

Okay, okay, okay, that’s a bit harsh. We did find ourselves laughing out loud a lot while watching this film (about a gorgeous E! reporter (Katherine Heigl) who has a one-night stand with a schlubb (Seth Rogan) and gets, you guessed it, knocked up). In particular, every scene that featured Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd playing off each other was absolutely riotous, and the Cirque du Soleil scene alone made us both laugh so hard we scared the cat out of the room.

But, the rest of the movie was. . . kind of too “sweet” for our tastes. It’s funny and sweet, so, yeah, it’s essentially a romantic comedy, which, as most of you know, is not my usual favorite genre. But I’d seen Apatow’s Forty Year Old Virgin and had loved it (also funny and sweet, but in a better balance, somehow), and I was expecting to laugh my butt off for this one too. Instead found myself kind of wishing I was watching it alone so I could fast-forward through some of the cheesier scenes, and I also had a hard time believing in the relationship that developed between the two main characters. I never felt like they had any chemistry and, frankly, I was kind of sorry to see them end up together, which is not really how you’re supposed to feel at the end of a romantic comedy, you know?

Anyway, if you love “sweet” romantic comedies, you’ll probably absolutely adore this one. We enjoyed it (and had fun especially with the Freeks and Geeks reunion of Rogan, Segel, and a nearly unrecognizable Starr) and laughed a lot, but we’ll will probably never feel the urge to see it again. This contrasts strongly with the comedy we saw on our honeymoon six years ago — Zoolander — which we still watch all the time and quote incessantly to each other (“What is this? A center for ANTS?!”). Next year, we’ll have to do a better job at pickin’ the movie!

[Netflix me | Buy me]

Genre: Romantic comedy

Cast: Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Leslie Mann, Harold Ramis, Alan Tudyk