Ben and Lauren

Before you run for the hills, as I know some of you are not reality TV fans, listen up. ABC Family, now called, Freeform is offering Ben & Lauren: Happily Ever After? on Tuesday night at 8PM.

I cannot recommend this, so obviously scripted, show to anyone who wants to check out reality TV offerings, unless you’re a diehard The Bachelor or The Bachelorette fan. Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell are so obviously in love, are so gorgeous a couple and have sdo much to offer each other, that I’ll eat my hat if any of the worries the show’s producers try to throw our way work out to be remotely “real.” If you are struggling for a definition of love or how a young couple should act, these two are the real deal.

Aside from watching fake drama, and knowing it, I can’t not watch. I never watch happily ever after the after shows or read such books, not just because they are labeled Chick Flicks or women’s fiction. As an example, on Hallmark last night, the Good Witch premiered its latest in the series. My wife and I agreed, it dragged. The plot was all too familiar, the romantic arc for the witch revolved around one line of dialogue at the end of the show, “I thought of you, last night.”

Okay, this will be my first bad review. I’m sure the show was fun for those steeped in the Witch’s lore. Call me a sap, but I like plots that revolve around happily ever afters (and many men do).

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KIo9XnQw1YFE0AeUr7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTExaW9lYTgwBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVklEQzEEZ3BvcwMyMg--?p=ben+%26+lauren%3A+happily+ever+after&vid=ac7294c0935b54a435b3ba443df4c693&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.Vfbbe6712157aaafc81394d43cd2e98a6%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D360%26w%3D480%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSEA15HmQAoI&tit=The+Bachelor%26%2339%3Bs+Ben+%26+Lauren+%26quot%3BHappily+Ever+After%26quot%3B+Preview&c=21&h=360&w=480&l=249&sigr=11bv94271&sigt=126ra1drs&sigi=132cekl4p&age=1476074533&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yfp-t-s&tt=b
Lauren and Ben, well, you are my guilty pleasure.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 3/3/2013

Pop quiz.

What three movies over the years have won the top five Oscars: Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay?

Hint: One of them was a romantic comedy, sometimes referred to (especially in this case, as a screwball comedy). Answers at bottom.

I want to talk about Romantic Comedies. They aren't usually nominated in any of those catagories. Take Sleepless In Seattle. It was nominated (did not win) for "best writing, screenplay written directly for the screen" & "best music, original song."

You've Got Mail - nada, but more about this some other time.

I've said this before (Aristotle turn over in your grave). Comedies are considered weak sisters to tragedies these days. Happily ever afters are not tragic, their life affiriming. What does that say about our society? Is the business male dominated? Is the more blood spilled the better? From one guy's prospective, it should be the other way around.

The only romantic comedy and the one of three films to win the top five Oscars: It Happened One Night, 1934, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Frank Capra (director), Robert Riskin (Best Writing, Adaptation).

I recently revisited this great movie and loved it once again. The U.S. National Film Registry selected the film for preservation by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." You don't have to know American history to appreciate this. My wife, from the Philippines loved it (even if it was in black and white). Like our writing, black type on a white page.

Here's a famous scene from the movie:

The ladies' POV: a scene known as the Walls of Jericho from It Happened One Night

The other two movies which won Best Movie/Actor/Actress/Director/Screenplay are:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)