Love Notes: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

Romantic Moment #1

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

So I reviewed this adorable movie last year as part of my series Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans. I put it on for background noise and became completely sucked in.

So Laura Jean has had some big changes. Her best friend Josh (who she was secretly in love with) started dating her older sister Margo; it is the start of junior year and Margo is heading off to college to Scotland; Laura is feeling a little lost as she is losing her other best friend and the one she has (Josh)…well it is even more awkward now that he isn’t dating her sister than when he was.

Everything seems normal, lonely, but normal until one day Peter Kavinsky approaches her out of the blue stating that nothing will ever happen between them.

Laura Jean is confused until she realized he got his letter!

You see every time Laura Jean has fallen in love with a boy she would write them a love letter, but she never sends them. She addresses it, seals it, and stashes it in her closet. She has fallen in love with five guys, so far:

• Kenny from camp
• John Ambrose McClaren from Model U. N.
• Peter Kavinsky in 7th Grade
• Lucas after Homecoming
• Josh Sanderson, best friend turned sister’s boyfriend

She is horrified the letters were sent out but even more so that Josh will be getting one-oh no!

That’s not good.

Peter’s girlfriend, Genevieve, dumped him for a college guy, and in order to get her back-he approaches Laura Jean about pretending to be his new girlfriend, as him dating Laura Jean will piss her off. Laura Jean isn’t interested, but then Peter points out that if they are “dating”, then Josh won’t believe the letter is how Laura Jean feels now-and no awkward conversations will have to be done with Josh or Margo. Laura Jean agrees after they come up with a series of rules.

The two start “dating” and really enjoying each other’s company. Everything is going great until Laura Jean falls in love with her fake boyfriend. Will everything turn out okay?

***Spolier Alert***

Most Romantic Moment: I Wrote You Love Letters

So when Laura Jean and Peter are negotiating thier “dating contract” he negotiates writing her a love note every day. Genevieve always wanted him to that and he never did, so he knows it will get her super angry and jealous.

It works as Peter gives Laura Jean one every day and often in front of Genevieve. Laura Jean figures they are nothing, or might even be blank, never reading them but throwing them away.

I’m done

Later after she and Peter have been “dating”, and she falls hard for him, they break up after a video of them kissing goes online and he spends the night with Genevieve “talking” to her. All night?

Peter says nothing happened, but Laura is not buying it.

However, Laura is heartbroken over it.

One day while she is sharing how she feels with Josh, her sister reveals that she saved the love notes, and Laura Jean is surprised to see that Peter really wrote her a love note every day.

I totally didn’t see that coming as what teenage boy would right love letters? I thought they would be blank too. But no, he wrote amazing love letters!

I love it!

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a love letter!

For more on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, go to Non-Austen Films for Austen Fans: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

For more love letters, go to You Were Right, Let’s Get Married: Psycho (1960)

For more “fake relationships”, go to Even Though You Are Only Using Me and Made Me Look Like a Jerk, I Only Care About Helping You: Picture Perfect (1997)

President of the “I Don’t Like Raoul Fanclub”

So I really don’t like Raoul from The Phantom of the Opera.

I love the book The Phantom of the Opera.

But for me it is all about the Phantom, Erik

And one character I really do not like is Raoul.

Hate him

Now I’m going off the Raul in the book, I know they changed his character for the play, but I don’t really give a care about that. I like to stick with the original source material.

Raul is a pansy. I’m totally throwing that out there. He is a little wimp. He was raised by his aunts and older brother who catered to his every whim and never made him have to work for anything. Therefore he comes off a lot of time as sounding like a naive and silly little boy.

NO You Don’t

He and Christine knew each other as children, which I don’t think is a good idea to try and base a relationship on. I mean people change, they become different people. You can’t just walk into someone’s life and be like “I love you” outta nowhere like that.

Plus for a Mr. I love you so much, he sure doesn’t trust Christine Daaé. After she is spirited away by the Phantom (her own choice), Raul goes searching for her trying to find her. He goes to her old music teacher and companion Madame Valérius. She tells him that Christine has gone off with her music teacher, to study. At least that’s what she assumes, as she doesn’t even know where Christine is. And instead of Raul waiting to hear her side of the story or trusting her, he immediately thinks that she’s a slut.

“Oh what a miserable, little, insignificant, silly young man was M. le Vicomte de Chagny! thought Raoul furiously. And she, what a bold and d***able sly creature!” (pg. 87)

He’s just as bad as Christian in Moulin Rouge. I mean, yeah it doesn’t look good for her, but still when you truly love someone you trust and give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially someone who has never given you a reason to doubt. Jeez! Jerk!

He then decides he is going to go out on the town and prove that he doesn’t need her and can do better. What a loser. Why would anyone want this guy?

I mean he is sooooo full of himself. Christine asks him to meet her at the ball and he does. She tries to tell him what is up, but he keeps interrupting her and going on about her infidelities. She decides to leave as he is being a blockhead.

Raul follows her and overhears her pitying Erik, the Phantom. She keeps saying poor Erik over and over. And you know what Raul does? He keeps going on about himself and how he’s the victim.

“Why was she pitying Erik when Raoul was so unhappy?” (pg. 97)

I don’t think the two are in actual “Love”, I always believed that they were playing at it. Mostly because they are so young and that Raul doesn’t really know what romantic love consists of.

“They kissed like a despairing brother and sister who has been smitten with a common loss and who meet to mourn a dead parent.” (pg. 108)

That does not sound like love to me.

This is how it ends in my mind.

For more on The Phantom of the Opera, go to Le Fantôme de l’Opéra

For more book-filled posts, go to Book Club Picks: The Secret Of Chimneys

Even Though You Are Only Using Me and Made Me Look Like a Jerk, I Only Care About Helping You: Picture Perfect (1997)

Romantic Moment #12

Picture Perfect (1997)

So I started watching this movie one day because I thought it was a different film. I enjoyed it, except for one thing: Jennifer Aniston’s clothes. They are ATROCIOUS. I don’t know who picked them out, but they are ugly. Anyways…

Kate (Jennifer Aniston) is having issues at work. She keeps getting passed over as she isn’t “stable”. She doesn’t own a house, a car, isn’t married, and has no children. Pretty much she has nothing tying her to the company and keeping her from stealing clients; so they will never give her the big accounts.

Not sure about what to do next, her best friend Darcy actually makes the move for her. She takes a picture of Kate at a friend’s wedding, posed with the guy, Nick (Jay Mohr), who won the garter (as she won the bouquet), and tells everyone that he is Kate’s fiancé.

Not good

Now “stable”, Kate lands a promotion, great office, and the attention of the office hunk, Sam (Kevin Bacon). Kate sends herself flowers, goes “house hunting”, etc. But everything comes to a head when Nick becomes a national hero when he saves a girl from a fire. Everyone wants to meet him; so she calls him up and has him come to a big night to pretend to be her fiancé, coming up with a plan for them to “break up.”

However, things do not go well as Nick is actually a really great and nice guy; one who refuses to break up with her as he likes her and wants to date her.

Will everything turn out the way Kate wishes? Or will this just be a giant flop?

Most Romantic Moment: Even Though You Were Mean, And Everyone Hates Me; I Still Want to Help You

So this moment comes after the big dinner that Kate’s work is putting on. Nick has charmed everybody and been a total dreamboat. However, Kate keeps trying to bring up ways to start a breakup and “end” it, but nothing works as Nick rolls with every punch.

Hmmm…

So in the end Kate lays it on super thick that he’s cheating on her, breaking her heart, crying hysterically; the whole works. Everyone thinks he is a jerk and he not only gets slapped, and wine thrown in his face; but stuck with a very expensive check, and left to stay in the apartment alone as his “fake fiancé” is ditching him for her “lover,” Sam.

Now anyone after this would be unhappy, say they were finished, I didn’t sign up for this, etc. Does Nick? No! He continues to help her out. She comes home having broken up with Sam and accidentally been given a black eye when the door sticks. Immediately Nick goes and gets her something to heal it. He continues to care for her, and make her comfortable.

Then to extend that, when her mother calls (the two having a tumultuous relationship) he takes over that situation by talking to her and charming her; sparing Kate having to continue a bad day or lie to her mom.

What a sweetie!

Aw!

To start Romance is in the Air: Part V, go to I Did It for You: Edward Scissorhands (1990)

For the previous post, go to I Would Suffer Anything to Save You: Under Capricorn (1949)

For more on fake relationships, go to Being Friends is Good Enough: Catching Fire (2013)

Pizza Power

I love Pizza!

 

I mean how can you not, it is just an amazing creation. One of the best inventions ever!

I love Pizza

Every time is great for pizza, although I do have to admit that I think I order it more than I should.

I mean, when I eat it I think about how it is not the best thing in the world to be eating.

But hey, pizza fixes everything!

Yep!

I know I sound like a Ninja Turtle, but Pizza Power

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For more on pizza, go to Pink Elephants

For more on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, go to Episode III: Revenge of the My Favorite Movie Lines List

For more of my favorite songs, go to For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic

For more non-Austen films, go to Part VII: It Was Said One Night

For more of my favorite quotes, go to I’ll Be Alright Without You by Journey

For more on love triangles, go to Love Stinks

For more of my everyday musings, go to For All the Men Who Wonder What It’s Like or check out my tumblr

Being Friends is Good Enough: Catching Fire (2013)

Romantic Moment #4

Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

So I really loved this movie, I thought it was much better than the first one. The cinematography was better as it wasn’t so shaky and all over the place. I also thought they did a better job with Peeta. I loved him! Everyone I know is like Gale this and Gale that; now I know he’s hot, but Peeta is way better. Peeta is so adorable and sweet and loves Katniss soooo much. I’m totally on the Peeta train, I want my own! Peeta.

Anyways, I’m digressing. So Catching Fire takes place a year after Katniss and Peeta won the Hunger Games with their pretend love. Now they both have houses, money, food, etc; for them and their family. And the best thing of all, they never have to compete in the Hunger Games again. Katniss and Gale are having issues as Katniss is trying to deal with the trauma of the Games and her confusion for what she feels for Gale and Peeta, along with trying to care for her family. She and Peeta (who wants their relationship to be real); are doing tours at each district proclaiming how happy they are to have survived, honoring the those that died, saying how grateful they are to the capital, etc; that whole spiel. President Snow is unhappy with this, as they have sparking rebellions all over. He would like nothing better than to get rid of Katniss, but can’t outright kill her as it will cause a full on revolution. He decides that for the big anniversary of the Hunger Games they will pick from those who have won in the past, killing her in the process. Katniss and Peeta aren’t the only ones scared and angry to have to go back, as none of the others thought they would ever have to repeat the process. They have to make alliances and try to trust each other, but which of the teams?

Most Romantic Moment:

So the most romantic moment for me is when Peeta approaches Katniss about their whole fake relationship. They are on the train traveling and he tells her he can’t do this anymore. He can’t have them pretend to be together only to never talk or interact.

He needs more. He needs them to be friends.

Yep, you heard that right. Just be friends. Just friends. That’s all he asks. And this is coming from a guy who has had a crush on her forever! Who purposely burned bread and would get beat by his mom so he could “throw it away” so Katniss would have something to eat and feed her family. He only wanted her to be safe and would have done whatever he could to have her survive instead. When she started playing up the romance angle for the sponsers, he thought it was real. He thought she loved him.

And after all that, after the pain, the mistrust, having his dreams and heart throw through a shredder all he asks is for them to be friends. Yes, friends. He’s there for her through everything, When she has nightmares, and needs to be held through the night.

He’d die for her any day. He is just so amazing there are no words to describe how wonderful he is.

He just loves her sooo much that he puts all her needs before him. No pressure, no pushing, no anything; just trying to help her pull through.

He’s so romantic