The last first date I was on was a drink at a chain restaurant followed by Willy Wonka at the movie theater, and I just got engaged to that woman, so the way I see it there’s nothing wrong with a movie.
I don’t see anything too bad about dinner. Food is easy to talk about and having common interests in food is a good thing.
Why didn’t you like it?
Couldn’t make the dissonant tones of the movie come together. I can recognize that what I am supposed to be seeing is a triumph of the human spirit, that it’s a story of a poor guy and his son making the best of a horrible situation. I can see this, logically. But what it feels like to me is watching a guy dance to his grave.
I saw that movie alone in the theater, and I’m glad I didn’t go with someone else because I was crying my eyes out by the end of that movie (between crying with tears of laughter too, I might add). I’ve never quite seen any other movie with such a bittersweet combination of comedy and tragedy. Absolutely brilliant movie.
I remember when it came out and people struggled with this. I talked to a guy at work who said something ridiculous like, “Think how fucked up that kid is going to be when he gets older and discovers his father has told him all those lies.” As soon as my work friend said this he realized how silly it was and said as much, but the movie still didn’t sit right with him, even though he couldn’t articulate his thoughts as well as you did in this post. It’s having such ghastly material pushed up next to slapstick that does that to you, I think. I actually enjoyed it, but can’t really remember much of it now.
Film/plays are bad for early dates. You don’t get to talk enough.
Now, if you have been going out for a while and want to seal the deal… a date movie can be good.
Oddly enough Juno was the last movie that was my most successful “date” movie.
…unless, of course, it is 1986, and you are 16 years old and going on a first date with a 15 year old Catholic school girl (not relevant, but fun to note anyway) and it has already been firmly established by both parties that the showing of “Top Gun”" will be attending will not be seen by either of you because you will have your tongues down each other’s throats…then and only then is going to the movies a good date idea.
Nah, that just sets up unrealistic expectations in both parties - you aren’t a buff stallion, she doesn’t have gazoombas the size of cantaloupes - so you both wind up disappointed. You gotta find something which lowers expectations!
70s porn!
1870s porn!
Watch the videos you shot with your last girlfriend.
With regards to movies on first couple of days: No big deal. Gives you something relatively cheap to do and something (else) to talk about afterwards. Shared experiences when dating are A Good Thing.
With regards to this particular movie (500): Probably not for the first couple of dates because ti may remind one of both parties of a previous relationship that may or may not be recent. It may also cause a party to think about that previous person, which despite all of the flaws, may look better than this new person you have.
It shouldn’t be a problem for a decent-length relationship, although my girlfriend asked afterwards, jokingly she said, “would you go through all that to get me back”
On the other hand it gives you a basis for talk which can then lead onto other things and help people to open up.
Quaaludes can do this too!
I watched Annie Hall yesterday because of this thread. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is my favorite romantic comedy of all time, so when Annie Hall came up in the same sentence early in this thread, I had to add it to my netflix queue.
I really enjoyed it. Great movie, though I do wonder what the movie gained by going back and forth in the timeline in their relationship so much. In other movies, it’s easier to see a clear narrative purpose as to why certain events are shown before others even if they didn’t happen chronologically. In this movie, it just seemed like we were jumping back and forth to earlier and later in their relationship willy nilly, with no real purpose.
It all worked well for me though. What really sells the movie to me is the ending, which was very sweet in a way. It’s not exactly happy, but it takes a larger view of things, and it made me feel good about the whole series of events.
What I found strange though is that after I watched movie, I checked it’s Netflix user reviews, and it is absolutely filled with people complaining about how they couldn’t get into the movie because why would someone as pretty as Annie Hall go out with the ugly neurotic loser played by Woody Allen? I’ve noticed this same concern brought up a lot lately with Judd Apatow movies too. I’m curious: Was this a big complaint back when Annie Hall was released? Does anyone remember? Did anyone complain at the time that the premise of the entire movie was flawed because someone as pretty as Diane Keaton wouldn’t be going out with Woody Allen’s character in the first place? Or is this a complaint that’s a product of modern times that we live in now?
So people believe that good looking women don’t date ugly guys? Gene Simmons!
No, that’s a common criticism. I remember that some magazine in the 70s (I think) had a list of celebrities women find attractive. Woody Allen was on it and people flipped out.
You should watch Manhattan next, by the way.
I am required to say that these two WA movies are excellent date movies.
It is now at the top of my queue. Thanks!