The Mister said we should have date night, and I said yes we should, and so I called his parents, because they’re HIS parents, and set it up.
It did occur to me to take the children to my in-laws at o’dark-thirty, but it was noon when we gleefully departed.
We went to see Aloha.
We love movies. We don’t go to movies so much as we watch movies, but we love movies. Generally, we love the same movies, although I admit The Mister loves more movies than I do, or more movies he likes are aired with more frequency, or somethin. Gawd, how that man loves Braveheart. I think he’s watched all the action movies, all the westerns, and all the horror flicks. But before you peg him, lemme tell you he loves romances and he will watch The Notebook every single time it’s on.
“Aww, Jeez, again?!” I ask.
“What? Baby, it’s so good!”
“Yes, it’s very good, but it’s also torture. No one should watch this more than once a year, if only for the dehydration concerns,” I say.
Sure, we love some blockbusters, of course we do, but we’re also fans of less popular films, even ones that bomb at the box office. Big Fish, Enchanted April, The Way, The Astronaut’s Wife, Liberty Heights, Better Off Dead, Office Space — all movies we love despite their lowly statuses.
And Elizabethtown. Oh do we love Elizabethtown. We’ve probably watched that movie ninety-kajillion times and when we’re not watching it, seldom a day passes without listening to music from its soundtrack.
My love for Elizabethtown is large, y’all.
Big Love.
So, when the critics said Aloha was as bad as Elizabethtown, we were like, “HURRAH!” Some critics even said Aloha is Elizabethtown in another setting. Someone said Cameron Crowe can only do the same film over and over, and I was all, “Well, perhaps as much as anyone, since everyone has a style and there are only so many types of conflict…” Is Fast Times at Ridgemont High like Vanilla Sky? And then I wondered if that critic had ever taken a narrative media class, and what made him a critic…
Anyway, we liked Aloha, but it was no Elizabethtown. It was cute. Yes, the editing was abrupt, absolutely. Did it scream Cameron Crowe? Yes.
I’d watch it again. I wouldn’t buy it and watch it over and over, but it was not a bad film.
I saw it took some flak for casting Emma Stone and not a more Hawaiian looking woman, but then I thought about some of the surprising palettes of real people in my own life, and decided that was a battle with no end. A person can be one-fourth anything and look like anything but.
We were not disappointed, because sharing popcorn and kisses in the dark is always a good time.
joeyfullystated 
Glad date night went well!
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Sounds like a fun evening. And, thanks so much for the movie review (I’d read negative review on Aloha last week, but I like Crowe films). I’ll probably give it a go now, and I’m definitely watching Elizabethtown–TONIGHT. It looks fantastic! Thanks a bunch for the tip. 🙂
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Oh I hope you like it! 😀
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Can’t wait to watch it! 🙂
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And there is never a minute wasted looking at Bradley Cooper, ever.
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Right?!?
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“Two Dollars! I want my two dollars!” OMG, that insane paper boy! How I loved that. Anyway, I’ve never even heard of Elizabethtown. Sorry, but do I redeem myself with an intense admiration for Lindsey Buckingham? Joey? Hello?
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Haha!
Yes, “Two dollars!” — great campy flick!
I hope one day you’ll submit yourself to Elizabethtown, and of course you’re redeemed by admiring Linsdey Buckingham!
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Glad to hear it was worth seeing. I’ll probably check it out when I need an escape.
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I like the idea of date night. It has been a while since I have experienced anything like it. I don’t really watch new movies. Ironically I am watching “Big Trouble in Little China” alone while I am writing this. Glad you had a good date night. I am a Romantic deep down. I hope the popcorn was good.
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You know I believe in date night. I though Aloha had a certain appeal, and may go to it myself between Marvel blockbusters.
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Okay, you have some of our favorites in your list, we (my daughters and I) love “Big Fish.” We also like “Princess Bride,” which is a really good fairy tale, too. We enjoy “Eli;zabethtown,” and also will love “Aloha.” But youngest daughter and I want to beg you to try, “Love Actually,” which we see at least two times a year, along with “Pride and Prejudice.” We enjoy “Office Space” and laugh out loud at the guy who throws the computer out of the office. Also, the romantic possibilities and twists in the plot. We went to see, “Far From the Madding Crowd,” which I liked the first one due to Julie Christy. This is by Thomas Hardy and has a strong, independent woman who is chased by three men and this was in the 1800’s! Smiles, Robin
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Oh! We love Love Actually, too! LOVE! (Also have that soundtrack! haha!) Half of us like Pride & Prejudice — the Kiera Knightley version.
I will check out Far From the Maddening Crowd, as I have never seen anything about that movie!
Who doesn’t love The Princess Bride?!? People who do not like The Princess Bride should never read my blog! 🙂
Thanks for sharing so much — we could definitely talk movies!
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P.S. Your husband and you would love Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playlist.” I promise and the cast of extras who play family members is outstanding. It has quirky appeal! Smiles!
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Oh, love that one, too! Absolutely! (And the soundtrack! — do you sense a theme?)
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I was more disappointed that we didn’t get some more of those cool real Hawaiians living life their own way outta sight, Joey. Loved their authentic music, too. But I liked the movie, good enough.
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Elizabethtown was robbed of the positive attention it deserved! I’m glad you two like it and had a nice night out!
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Totally sweet.
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Awwwww how lovely! My poor husband loves movies in a way that I can’t relate to but he loves me anyway 😀 As of the past few years I’ve promised to attend more movies in theatre with him and now I read this and tell myself, “Angie, get yourself to the popcorn and kissing in the dark pronto!” Great post, Joey. I’ll keep you posted on when we get to a movie…and if we ever watch Elizabethtown 😀
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Sounds fun! Orlando Bloom 😍 My husband is the same about The Notebook, then will sob the last 20 minutes.
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Sobbing is inevitable here.
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I can watch Notebook any day! Love that movie! And Love Actually is another favorite… If you haven’t watched Billy Elliot, you guys would enjoy it. 😄
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HEY! Nice to see you! We love Love Actually. We are not fans of Billy Elliot, tho 😀
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Ah! For a moment I thought you were setting up date night with HIS parents. My bad 😛
“Yes, it’s very good, but it’s also torture. No one should watch this more than once a year, if only for the dehydration concerns,” I say. – I agree. I watched it once. And well… I like to think of it as something that happened to someone else.
Glad you enjoyed 🙂 I will be sure to check out some of the ones you have mentioned here.
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I’m so with you on the Notebook — I can’t put myself through that level of twisted-face-sobbing more than once every couple of years. It’s a great film, but my gosh — between the dehydration and the emotional assault, it’s draining!
I haven’t watched Elizabethtown, but it looks like a good film from the trailer. I’d definitely watch it, critics be dammed! I’ve stopped paying attention to the critics, everyone opinion’s different and I don’t see why one person’s opinion should be considered a more proper opinion to hold than the rest!
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Office Space may not have done great at the box office, but it is one of the funniest movies of all time, and did great on DVD and merchandising. Also, Better Off Dead is a favorite in my fsamily. TWO DOLLARS!!!!
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😀
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Oh my gosh, how did I miss Elizabethtown?!?!? The trailer looks like a WINNER!! Hub also loves Braveheart and I love Enchanted April and we both like popcorn and kissing 😀. Thanks for great info from your fun date.
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How lovely that you and the Mister got to have a date night, sounds like you had a great time. 🙂
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Just wanted to let you know that my husband and I watched Elizabethtown last night and LOVED it!!! We laughed so hard that we cried, and then we actually cried, too. What a lovely film. Thanks again for sharing. 🙂
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We also love movies. “The Notebook” is one of my tops fav’s. That moment when he’s rowing through the flamingos, and it starts raining, and then she turns round and says “Why didn’t you write” and all the rest of it. I’ve only seen the film about eight times so some of the details are a little foggy, but its pretty good isn’t it.
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Yes, it’s good, but I never enjoy the weeping at the end.
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