Sorry for the delay putting today’s comic on the site this morning. I stayed up late working on it before having to get up early this morning to take Henry into surgery and I didn’t have time to write the blog.
Don’t worry. Henry is fine. They just put tubes in his ears to help drain his chronic ear infections. They also removed his adenoids to help lessen the blockage he experiences when he gets a cold.
It’s amazing how fast the whole thing goes down. We took him in at 6:30 this morning and we were out of there by 8:30. It takes more time to get him processed, admitted and discharged than it does to perform the surgery!
At any rate, we’re home now. Henry is sitting next to me as I type this. He’s eaten his second banana. He’s a trooper.
As far as the comic goes, I’m pretty happy with it. Clearly, I’m not a woman, but I think the strip has some funny things to say about women. If I’m wrong, tell me in the comments. I invite your criticism!
I’m sorry, but Bride Wars looks like the very worst of every terrible chick flick cliche on the books. But what I think I find most insulting about it is how clearly it telegraphs it’s ending.
In case you don’t know the plot, two friends get engaged and book their weddings at The Plaza Hotel in New York. A clerical error results in their weddings being booked on the same day thus forcing one of the brides to abandon their dream wedding.
I think you would have to be pretty blind not to see the ending to this thing a mile off. Can you say “double wedding?” It’s the only way the at-war former best friends can reconcile their differences.
To their credit, the screenwriters address the obviousness of this when one of the character mentions a double wedding to Kate Hudson’s character. “A double wedding? No! What are we – 40 year-old twins?” she barks. I’d like to think that they found a more creative solution, but I don’t see that in the cards.
What if the screenwriters did something completely revolutionary for a chick flick and abstained from the happy ending. What if one of the brides has her wedding at The Plaza, the other doesn’t and the friendship is irrevocably broken? They never speak again… CREDITS! What if the grooms left them at the alter to teach them a lesson about their superficial ways? What if the grooms marry each other in Massachusetts?
But no one ever listens to my ideas…
What do you think about Bride Wars ? Do you think it will be as bad as I’ve predicted or do you think there is an appreciative demographic for the film? If it is a chick flick that caterers to all that is catty and superficial about women, is that any worse than a film like Punisher: War Zone which appeals to the nihilistic and violent nature of men? Are these films two sides of the same “lowest common denominator” coin?
Please keep in mind that I went to Punisher: War Zone on opening weekend like a dolt, so I’m fully willing to turn a critical eye on myself.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below! Otherwise, I’ll see you here on Monday! Have a great weekend!
No, I've decided not to support movies that perpetrate negative stereotypes of women.
Tsh! That is SO true! C'mere, girlfriend. Give me a hug!
Sanctimonious phoney!
Sycophantic loser!
Tom, I can relate to the ear tube thing, my son had it done when he was 18months old and it was the best thing for him. No more ear infections and he started talking much more clearly. Which is a blessing and a curse. A word of advice, when they start coming out in a year or so, be careful to keep his ears clean, sometimes the tubes get caught and can lead to some bleeding, especially when he’s sleeping. Nothing freaks a mom out more than going to wake her baby and finding dried blood on his pillow and ear.
I don’t know what the ending will be, but your guess sounds plausible. However, one thing I disagree is your commment: “…completely revolutionary for a chick flick and abstained from the happy ending”. I don’t think it’s revolutionary because other chick flicks have done it before. The Break Up is one that comes to mind. (Hope that isn’t a spoiler) And I, too, would like to see more movies that break the cliche.
I’m totally going with my friend, but we’re going because it looks so terrible–I fully expect the 100% chick-flick “everything ends up hunky-dory and they remain best friends 4-ever!” ending. Hehe.
Kryron- I’m not sure that I’d consider The Break Up a chick flick really, hell it isn’t even a romantic comedy, seeing as there isn’t a lot in the way of romance, more of a dramady about a relationship I’d say, then again maybe I’m just splitting hairs here.
Anyway, yeah, Bride Wars looks to be the worst kind of movie, insipid, by the book, and completely insulting, not only to it’s target audience but anyone else who getting dragged into the theater. It really makes me wonder why studios seem to think all movie going women are just desperate, lonley people who only want to see happy little fairy tales, there hasn’t been a real, well made romantic comedy out of Hollywood for years.
bishopx – Henry actually had tubes once before for about a year, actually. They fell out the first week of December. We knew, because he got an ear infection right away. His peditrician put him on antibiotics, but as soon as he would finish one round, he’d get another infection. He had three back-to-back in a month before his ENT said he’d put he tubes back in and check the adenoids.
Back to movies… Not to dogpile on Kryon, but I don’t know if I would consider The Break Up a romantic comedy, either. That’s a weird movie. It promises a break up IN the title. If it didn’t deliver, it would be somewhat disengenuous.
These days, romantic comedies seem to center around woman who “can have it all!’ and I think it’s symptomatic of what Sex in the City left behind. Look at Baby Mama, 27 Dresses and the upcoming Confessions of a Shopohoic for proof.
I used to hate Meg Ryan movies because I thought they were cloying and unrealistic. These days I would gladly accept French Kiss or Addicted to Love over the materialistic crap rom-com audiences are being fed these days.
I honestly haven’t seen that much about this movie, but I guess I’m going to see it this weekend because I have a friend who’s engaged that is dying to see it, and so there’s a group of us that are getting dragged along. Which I think right there is the target demographic; women who are getting ready for their own weddings. It’s not supposed to be groundbreaking or even meaningful; just some cheap laughs at how ridiculous people can be. I think your comparison to The Punisher: War Zone and other unapologetically violent movies targeted at men is an apt one.
I’m with Ceredonia. I plan to see it just to see it! I want to know if the “spoiled” ending is going to be all “Seven Brides For Seven Brothers”, or if they’re going to go all “LOST” on us and throw a curve ball that’s so far from the batter it’s in Churchill, Manitoba.
Granted, I’ll most likely be disappointed with an inane Hollywood ending, but it just might be worth it to see the Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway on-screen girl-fight (which has been seriously lacking in films. Honestly, people – girls are not always lovey-dovey friends!!)
It’s good that Henry’s getting tubes in his ears this early. I had to get them when I was 8 years old, and “never forgave my parents for it”…
Now I hate to simply advertise other people’s reviews, but over at Ain’t it Cool News, Massawyrm’s review is 100% in tune with pretty much everything you’re saying here. In a nutshell, he calls it “Mean Girls for the ladies that found that film a little too cerebral.”
As far as the Punisher: War Zone comparison goes, that was a film that made me ashamed to count myself among the male gender. One can only hope that Bride Wars does the same for the ladies.
I heard that Bride Wars isn’t too good. And about the tubes, my oldest brother had to have some when he was a kid. I’m glad that it’s nothing life threatening. Keep up the good work. And remember that a possible “Goth Jared” appearance would be very nice to see when Underworld: Rise of the Lycans comes out.
it wasn’t too bad. your predicted ending was wrong, it goes in a different direction not entirely brought up earlier in the story. the movie wasn’t as funny as i hoped. why couldn’t they have a double wedding?
p.s. my ears hurt something awful and these drops aren’t working!
Ha Ha! You are right on with your commentary on these type of movies!
Yeah, Cami got roped into going to Bride Wars with some girlfriends last night, so I heard about the ending. But I still knew there would be some kind of reconciliation. I wish I had shared my second prediction about what happens a year later. Cami and I had talked about it before she went and it turns out I was right.
Cami didn’t much like the movie. She thought it was pretty humorless. She also said she thought Kate Hudson looked old against Anne Hathaway.
Ouch, sorry to hear about Henry’s ear infections. I had tubes put in when I was a baby and my adenoids taken out when I was around eight. Despite this, I STILL suffered chronic ear infections (at least one a year) until I was about twelve. Hopefully things go better on Henry’s end.
As for Bride Wars, I have to agree with what most have been saying that it really does look like a brainless chick flick. I mean, how many wedding jokes can you possibly come up with? And definitely agreeing with Cami that Hudson looks old next to Hathaway. For my money, I’d lay it on a combination of the heavy eyeliner and the bangs.
This is exactly why I avoid romcoms; they are now so obvious you can work out the whole film from the title. And another thing- the last time an actress in a romcom looked remotely like anyone you see on the street was Janeane Garofalo in ‘The Truth about Cats and Dogs’; now they all look like clones of the same Hollywood twiglet, with hair colour the only differentiation. Now get off my lawn, bloody kids…