X and Y

Am wedding-ed and engagemented out. Yet somehow I ended up with two very different movies about relationships: one cynical but realistic, the other cheesy but funny.

I loved Conversations with Other Women. I guessed the not-so-secret plot twist about fifteen minutes in, but it didn't detract from the interaction between the two characters. Aaron Eckhardt and Helena Bonham Carter were great as two ex-flames who meet at a wedding years later, and end up having sex in the hotel room. Most of the movie is dialogue, just the two of them flirting and catching up. And the brilliant thing is, the entire film is in split-screen format, and half of the screen is always either a different angle of the same conversation or a flashback.

I also really loved Her Minor Thing. It was way, way better than The 40-Year-Old Virgin, with a similar plot (the main character is dating a TV anchor who reveals on live TV that she's a virgin. Hilarity ensues...) But maybe I only think it's better than The 40-Year-Old Virgin because it has a female protagonist. I am admittedly biased like that.

The movie was deliberately and delightfully campy. I first saw a review of it in a film festival; then more recently, with my failed please-use-birth-control scheme for my sister only just forming in my mind, saw it at my local indy video store. Which I guess is appropriate, given that the only thing flashing through my mind during the inevitable ending scene was "Aaaah! Please use protection!"

The supporting cast is great, too: Rachel Dratch, Kathy Griffin, Ivana Milisevic. And yowsa! Both Estella Warren and Christian Kane are hot!