Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Directed by Jonathan Demme
Starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, and Debra Winger

This has a lot of elements involved in your typical chick flick;

1) It's called, "Rachel Getting Married".
2) It stars Anne Hathaway.
3) It has chicks named Rachel in it, etc.

But, this isn't necessarily your typical chick flick. Anne Hathaway isn't Rachel and she isn't getting married. She is Rachel's little sister. And, she just got out of rehab.

Now, the drama involved is something that any reality television watching female would love. There are a whole lot of "look at me" scenes taking places in this movie between Rachel and Kimmy (Anne Hathaway). But, there is a little more weight to this then your average chick flick in that it was directed by Jonathan "Silence of the Lambs" Demme. Hmmm, now I've got you thinking ,don't I.

Something about Anne Hathaway makes me think that in real life she is just a little bit shy of bat-shit crazy. I can see it in her eyes. Most actresses are a little nuts, and Anne dials in Kimmy's craziness to perfection. By the end of the film she is no longer Anne Hathaway but a fully believable Kimmy. This was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination (she was beat by Kate Winslet in "The Reader"). She is almost as crazy as Helen Hunt in the following "After School Special";



The film is well directed, and well acted, although, some of the scenes did seem a little improvised. Scenes like, "Everyone get in this room and act". At times, it worked and felt real. Other times, you could almost see the actors staying in character.

For the first time in the history of CHICK FLICK and BEER I paired the film with wine. Selecting slowly and carefully I chose a Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile called Como Sur. It was smooth and fruity. Very easy to drink and very delicious. I slurped it slowly in to my mouth and let the varieties of fruit, strawberries and plum, slowly absorb into my mouth, slowly exciting my taste buds into slow pure ecstasy. It was a very slow process.

"Rachel Getting Married", is a great film for anyone who wants to see a marriage film that is different from your normal cookie-cutter chick flick. While these characters situations are more intense and dramatic than most, the tension between the characters more closely mirrors the reality of wedding/ family drama than say some thing like Anne Hathaway's 2009 disaster Bride Wars .

All I can say is, "Rachel, you are such a bitch. Everything is always about you!"



FORCE THE BOYFRIEND: 7 out of 10 (1 mean he'll hate it, 10 means he'll love it)

Watched if you liked...Anne Hathaway, Reality Television, Decent Movies

Chick Flick: 4 cartons of ice cream (out of 5)- maybe a 4 1/2?
Wine: 4 slow delicious mouthfuls (out of 5)

The Wedding Date (2005)

Starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney
Directed by Clare Kilner

GUEST BLOGGER: BRIAN P.

First I must say that I’m not the “chick flick” fan at all. I don’t ever remember faking to like these movies in an attempt to make myself seem sensitive or romantic. All I know about chick flicks is the effect they have on my wife;

• Usually, she has the courtesy to watch them in the bedroom so the main television is not taken up.
• These movies seem to make her crave lots of chocolate.
• Of course, she always cries at the endings.
• Then we have a 45 minute argument about how I’m not romantic….
• To which I get suckered into rubbing her feet or massaging her shoulders in an attempt to make myself seem somewhat useful.

So I sat down to watch this movie and to be honest I dreaded it. I opened up a Miller Light and pressed play. My wife was at work and my son went to go see a movie with grandma, so the conditions were perfect for this review. This is the first time I have ever watched a chick flick from start to finish all by myself.

The plot of the movie stems around a lonely Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) who has just received a wedding invitation from her sister in London. Kat has apparently learned that her ex-boyfriend, whom she still loves, is going to be the best man at this wedding. Kat decides to hire a male escort, to well, escort her to the wedding so she will appear to have moved on with her life, make the ex-boyfriend jealous, and then force him into happily ever after-ness.

The monkey wrench in this whole scheme is the dashing Dermot Mulroney (Nick) who is the hired escort. He seems to know what to say, how to dance. He is your typical man’s man and all they crud that a normal dude isn’t. I must also mention in here that this Film was directed by Clare Kilner, a woman… who apparently has mastered the art of the rump shot. There are a good three to four minutes of bare man ass in this film so be prepared.

So anyway, as you may have predicted, (unless you are ______*) and I’m not even going to throw in a spoiler alert here because, seriously, if you haven’t figured out that Kat and Nick end up falling in love at the end, then you probably don’t have the attention span to read this review, or even watch the full movie. Let alone pick up on my overuse of the comma in that last sentence.

I do have to give props for the speed that this movie carries the plot. It literally jumps right into it. It is also a good first chick flick for the beginner like me. It hardly borders on romance or comedy. In fact, I don’t think I laughed once.

There are also two hot scenes worth mentioning. The first is a scene in which Nick is proving to Kat that he is a professional escort and knows how to tune into what people want him to be. He forces Kat up against a cab and makes her close her eyes. Then he tells Kat what she wants to hear about letting go, and moving on, while at the same time nearly kissing her. There is just something hot about a woman tossed up against a car.

The other hot scene is when Kat is drunk after the bachelorette party and goes to the ATM to withdraw some money. When she is getting out of the limo you can barley catch a glimpse of Debra Messing’s panties as she stumbles out of the limo. Just those subtle panty moments made it worth it. If you are paying attention I did say moments, which implies more than one panty moment, but you’ll have to rent it yourself to find the other.

All in all this was a good _____ _____* of a chick flick. The fast plot, harshly undeveloped characters, and double panty shots, makes this a good chick flick that a guy could actually get through without falling asleep.

Chick Flick- 4 bon-bon’s (out of 5)
Dvd- 2 panty scenes (out of 5)
Beer- 5 burps (out of 5)

Editor's Note:
*represents omissions or changes made by the editor in an attempt to not offend readers. Please enter your own appropriate descriptors.

Bride Wars (2009)

Starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway   
Directed by by Gary Winick

by Joshua Simpkins

The tagline for this film is, “Even best friends can’t share the same wedding day.” Sounds titillating. Did somebody say cat fight? Grrrrr. I definitely wouldn’t kick Anne Hathaway off the air mattress and Kate Hudson is a M.I.L.F. (MILF I’d Like To Be Friends With). Didn’t she have a couple kids with that skinny bearded dude from The Black Crowes? I quickly grab a Mich Light and press play. Time to see if Princess Diaries can take on Kurt Russell’s stepdaughter. Sounds like a cage match for the ages.

The concept is simple. Two best friends dream of having their wedding at the Plaza Hotel in June. Somehow, they get booked on the same day which means they can’t be each other’s maid of honor and insanity ensues. It gets crazy. Poor Anne gets sprayed bright orange and looks like one of the midgets from Willy Wonka. And, Kate’s hair gets her hair dyed blue a week before her wedding day. OMG! Watch out girlfriend!

For some reason, I could see this being more hilarious if it was about two guys fighting over their wedding dates. It could called “Groomfighter: Fists of Groom” and star Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. They’re Metro-Sexual Americans living in NYC and…Guess what? (In Sing Song Voice) They both want the Plaaazaa! Can you see Hugh Grant’s face when he realizes his hair is turned blue? Laugh Riot all the way!

I couldn’t help but root for Anne in this one…I mean come on Kate, you got a nice ass, but why don’t you get the f-ck outta here. Anne seems sweet at first and Kate’s character always gets what she wants. Pause. Gotta get another Mich Light…mmmm…dee-lish.

Hit Play…They arguing again…Is this movie still on?

Honestly, I don’t care how adorable (to annoying) Anne Hathaway can be or how Milfy Kate Hudson is, this flick just got…borrrrrinnnnng. But, in the end…I won’t tell you the end but I bet you can figure it out. (In Sing Song Voice again) Insanity. This movie had a lot of potential and went nowhere fast.

FORCE THE BOYFRIEND:  2 out of 10 (Skip it)

Beer Pairing Recommendation

Gotta go with a Mich Light on this one...or six

For more on this movie go to IMDB

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