It’s two days before Valentines Day, so if you’re planning to have any plans at all that involves going outside, you better get to it! Unfortunately for this week’s theme of Thursday Movie Picks (hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves), none of these characters get a happy ending with their chosen loved ones, as these feelings are either ignored, not reciprocated, or rejected. The only words I can tell them are ‘move on, and you’ll find someone out there’. It’s generic advice, but given the right time, I think anybody could find love. Here are my picks this week:
The first entry this week is the one with the most gruesome ending. After Amy’s follow up plans fall through, she calls Desi for help. Desi who is only devoted, nay obsessed with Amy, does everything he can to help to a point of imprisoning Amy within his clutches. Amy uses Desi’s adoration and (I guess in his point of view) love to get what she wants, but had began to counter-act when Desi’s devotion was getting to her in a way she didn’t like. Amy wasn’t going to reciprocate his love, but he has failed to see her rejection through and through. If you haven’t seen Gone Girl, I recommend you to, it’s a thought provoking subject that could probably get you to arguing and debating about certain things.
This is kind of a cheat since technically Summer said she and Tom weren’t in a relationship in 500 Days of Summer. It was Tom who fell in love with her, and I don’t think she loved Tom at all. I think she loved their time together, and how they can be quirky with each other, but when she got tired, she started to drop Tom like a hot potato. Tom could have been a great lover, he also seemed to be pretty devoted and into Summer (though not in the creepy Desi-like way). Sadly, she does not feel the same about him.
The best friend is in love with the best friend ploy, Pretty in Pink isn’t privy to the similarities with other romantic comedies, but it does show the devotion Duckie has to Andie. Unfortunately for him, his best friend has her sights set on Blaine, in which their difference in social status plays the obstacle between them being together. I did like how this ended, although I think it was supposed to end up differently. Unlike the first two entries where there was a finite solution to their loves woes, I don’t think Duckie is ever going to get pass being friends with Andie.
I also picked 500 Days of Summer, and oh, Gone Girl is there! I loved to view it as an unrequited love, 'cause Amy Dunne never really loves anyone but herself, right?
ReplyDeleteYes! I don't think Amy has the capability to love others, but she certainly knows she has a way with people.
DeleteI haven't seen Gone Girl, but have read it so I think you have a great pick with Gone Girl. Desi was always devoted and obsessed with Amy and she used that devotion to get whatever she wants. You kinda feel sorry for him until he got very creepy later on.
ReplyDeleteI think it was the creepy factor that had finally got to Amy, that she basically ran into another prison and needed a way out permanently.
DeleteExcellent call with Gone Girl! When I was reading that book, I never felt bad for Desi, then the final scene with him happened, and I was just like "damn." I have (500) on my list as well, and I'm seeing a lot of Pretty in Pink. Great choices!
ReplyDeleteI felt bad for Desi at the final scene, but then that was such a great scene and testifies so much about Amy's character.
DeletePretty in Pink!!!!! I just love Duckie...such a great character.
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally love that you were for Gone Girl.
And (500) Days of Summer is a popular one for this theme :-D
Duckie is a great character, and in this theme's case, found him a great example of a friend who's completely in the friend zone.
DeleteYAY someone else picked Pretty In Pink! Duckie and Andie were the first people to spring to mind upon seeing the phrase "Unrequited Love". I think it's so interesting that originally, the two of them ended up together - but test audiences didn't like it!!
ReplyDeleteLOL at the inclusion of Gone Girl - poor Desi, all he wanted was for Amy to love him! You could also argue unrequited love between Amy and Nick if you wanted to - one way at the beginning of their relationship, and the opposite way by the end.
The Amy and Nick angle does work, but I don't think Amy did love Nick in the end. He said what she wanted to hear, and though she went back, it was for herself rather than she developed any feelings for Nick.
DeleteAh, but see, I think she does. She wouldn't go back to him JUST because he "learned his lesson," she would only go back if there was something in it for her. I think it was made a bit clearer in the book, but when she sees him give that interview on TV, she thought he really meant what he was saying. Granted, this could have been because of her emotional state at the time, but regardless of that, she totally falls for him (possibly again, possibly for the first time) in that moment. That's both why she goes back to him and why she twists them both in knots in order to stay together. But plenty of other interpretations work, too, which is one of the great things about Gone Girl.
DeleteI haven't seen Pretty in Pink, but the others are great. I actually did a similar post last year on valentine's day, my picks were... Olive and Ned from Pushing Daisies, Charlie and George from A Single Man, and Fiona and Charles from Four Weddings and a Funeral.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just realised that in all my picks it's the women who suffer. Hmm.
I've only seen A Single Man from your choices, and while Charlie did love George, I think she already knows that he wouldn't reciprocate what she felt for him.
DeleteYes of course she did - he was gay! But I never had into consideration whether the one who loves knows or not if the other person loves him/her back - I just took it as loving someone who doesn't love you back!
DeleteYes, I knew that. I apologize if my response came off as something else. I was just merely stating a thought about the movie.
DeleteWonderful picks, esp. 500 Days of Summer. Poor JGL, I mean who could resist THAT face? It's been ages since I saw Pretty in Pink but yeah, definitely belongs on this list!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I felt bad for JGL's character, though he does get his happy ending.
DeleteLove the inclusion of Gone Girl, though I think that neither Desi nor Amy nor Nick really could experience love - Desi did LOVE to rescue women however and Amy played him like a fool in a glorious fashion
ReplyDeleteAmy certainly know her effects on people and how to work them, and she did know how to handle Desi and Nick in manners that would have them around her finger.
Delete500 Days was okay, JGL was very good but I'm not a fan of Deschanel and she put a pall over it for me. Just watched Gone Girl this week and it's an excellent pick. NPH's character was deeply creepy but I still had to feel bad for the poor bastard. Pretty in Pink!! Haven't thought about it in years, I liked it but the ending drove me crazy. Was she crazy or just blind? Still an enjoyable film.
ReplyDeleteDuckie was really friend-zoned in the movie. I liked how things ended, though I would want to see how they'd end it with Duckie getting the girl.
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ReplyDeleteI don't think Desi allowed himself to be used by Amy. On the contrary, he loved it when Amy's attention was on him. I think he was oblivious to the hold Amy has over him, especially when Amy knows what to do to hit the right notes.
DeleteYes! Pretty in Pink. I almost did that one myself. 500 Days of Summer is an irresistible pick here. Gone Girl is one that actually crossed my mind as well, but I used it a couple weeks ago and wanted to go lighter with mine.
ReplyDeleteI saw a lot of 500 Days of Summer with this theme, it was that memorable.
DeleteI love all three of these choices! Ah, poor Desi. Granted, he was emotionally unbalanced and a bit creepy, but nobody deserves such a grim fate.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly didn't deserve what happened to him, but the execution of the scene was perfect.
DeleteGreat picks, no argument that (500) Days of Summer deserves a place on this list - Joseph Gordon-Levitt definitely gave one of his best performances in that flick. I haven't seen Gone Girl yet, but it's on my watch list after all the recommendations I've received. I also chose Pretty in Pink for this week's theme, Jon Cryer and Molly Ringwald's characters were the first to come to mind when I first thought of unrequited love.
ReplyDeleteJGL was great in 500 Days of Summer, it's one of my favorite movies of his. Gone Girl is amazing, and I hope you get to see it soon.
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