Word Theatre on Valentine's Day

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When I think of Valentine's Day, I usually imagine a bunch of Chicago hoods getting machine-gunned to death back in 1929. But this year is different. Partly because I'm in a great relationship groove (God has smiled down), and partly because there's a stand-out Valentine's Day Word Theatre event happening on Thursday, 2.14 at Social (formerly the Hollywood Athletic Club) that will be refreshingly free of the usual trite, mawkish sentiments that tend to coagulate on this romantic holiday.

It's called "Hot Flicks: Love Scenes from the Silver Screen." The performers will be Richard Schiff, Illeana Douglas, Chris Gorham, Amanda Seyfried (star of the forthcoming Mamma Mia!), the great Donal Logue (Zodiac, The Tao of Steve), Christina Pickles, Kali Rocha, Michael Rodgers, Toni Trucks, and Raviv Ullman.

I've been to Word Theatre events before and know something about the experience. It's like seeing a first-rate play without the acts or the scenery or the makeup or the blackouts or the tight seating. And with gifted actors, a classy clientele, excellent hors d'oeuvres and (if you're so inclined) booze.

Good love-scene movie dialogue is hard to come by. Mainly because filmmakers don't tend to believe in it. Moments of longing, hunger, unrequited love, tenderness or spiritual affinity between characters tend to sink in more deeply when expressed non-verbally. Through the eyes, for the most part, or sometimes with a gesture that isn't meant to be seen. Like Ward Bond happening to notice the wife of John Wayne's brother gently stroking the Duke's Civil War uniform in John Ford's The Searchers. Or Heath Ledger pressing his face into Jake Gyllenhaal's tattered shirt during a private moment near the end of Brokeback Mountain.

But affecting I-care-about-you dialogue happens nonetheless. My personal favorite is this passage from Jerry Maguire. (Notice that I didn't include "you complete me" or "you had me at hello.") I'm also a big fan of "you make me want to be a better man" from As Good As It Gets.

I've also always liked the dialogue between Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in David Lean's Brief Encounter. I'm told this will be included in the 2.14 program.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 7, 2008 at 12:05 PM

comment #1

Rich S. says ...

"the great Donal Logue (Zodiac, The Tao of Steve)"

Notice you somehow managed to miss Grounded for Life in there. Wonder why that is.

Newsflash: Kirsten Dunst has checked into rehab. Better get on that.

Oh, and congrats on the new love in your life. I'm interesting to see how this affects your normally curmudgeonly posts.

Posted by Rich S. at February 7, 2008 2:02 PM

comment #2

PastePotPete says ...

"When I think of Valentine's Day, I usually imagine a bunch of Chicago hoods getting machine-gunned to death back in 1929."

Ha! Classic Wells line.

Posted by PastePotPete at February 7, 2008 2:11 PM

comment #3

christian says ...

"interesting to see how this affects your normally curmudgeonly posts."

Seems to have had little benevolent effects at all based on the stream on reader insults. Hopefully he'll soon bask in the glow of regular sex and emotional contact.

Posted by christian at February 7, 2008 2:17 PM

comment #4

BurmaShave says ...

Wells has a girlfriend and believes in God? What the fuck?

Posted by BurmaShave at February 7, 2008 2:34 PM

comment #5

christian says ...

The two are not unrelated.

Posted by christian at February 7, 2008 2:35 PM

comment #6

Dan Revill says ...

Burma my thoughts exactly.
Christian, good point. Hahaha.

And am I the only one who sees the HTML is screwed up? Wells close your code!

Posted by Dan Revill at February 7, 2008 2:37 PM

comment #7

MarkVH says ...

The romantic movie line I've been partial to over the last couple of years since I first saw it is Errol Flynn's last line to Olivia de Havilland in They Died With Their Boots On. Flynn (playing George Custer, no less) is saying goodbye to his wife and going off to what he knows is probably his fatal battle at Little Big Horn. The line in question is uttered when he leans in to kiss her for the last time and says "Walking through life with you [beat] has been a very gracious thing."

Beautiful, understated, and delivered pitch-perfectly. Flynn was a much better actor than he was given credit for. Plus, has the added dimension of being in the last scene the two of them ever played together (after eight films). Great stuff.

Posted by MarkVH at February 7, 2008 2:45 PM

comment #8

Breedlove says ...

Crowe and Brooks are The Shit. I would love to see them each hit one out of the park ASAP.

Posted by Breedlove at February 7, 2008 2:59 PM

comment #9

p.Vice says ...

Burma -- I think by "God" Jeffrey was referring to the U.S. Postal Service, who recently delivered a discreetly wrapped, rather large package to Wells not so long ago.

Posted by p.Vice at February 7, 2008 3:04 PM

comment #10

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Amanda Seyfried and Kat Dennings are my official Hollywood crushes. Too bad so is Rachel Bilson and Jumper comes out that night...

Posted by MiraJeffAICN at February 7, 2008 3:13 PM

comment #11

Breedlove says ...

Great romantic moments: Aaron Eckhardt half-jokingly falling to his knees after he first meets Julia Roberts in 'Erin Brockovich,' the scene in 'Out of Sight' where they cut back and forth from the restaurant to the bedroom with the snow and the freeze frames and everything, or when Clooney waves at her from the elevator (Soderbergh: make something romantic again)...DDL kissing Michelle Pfeiffer's wrist in 'Age of Innocence, Dermot Mulroney suddenly reappearing when Julia Roberts thought she had missed him in the crowd in 'My Best Friend's Wedding,' a horribly disfigured Tom Cruise practicing saying 'Sophia' in front of the mirror in 'Vanilla Sky,' of course I Love You/I Know from 'The Empire Strikes Back'...Jeff's right, though, most of those aren't really dialogue. There's some great stuff in Punch Drunk Love, too. And the Jack/Shirley McClaine stuff in 'Terms of Endearment.' And I finally got around to seeing 'Once' a couple nights ago and it's simply one of the greatest romances I've ever seen. And Tony Hopkins withholding his diary from Emma Thomson in 'Remains of the Day.'

Posted by Breedlove at February 7, 2008 3:33 PM

comment #12

ArchiveGuy says ...

I guess we know where Jeff's mind is wandering, because the event is called HOT FLICKS (w/an F)...

Posted by ArchiveGuy at February 7, 2008 4:13 PM

comment #13

Intense Guy III says ...

"I Love You/I Know from The Empire Strikes Back"

YES!

Fredric March's return in The Best Years... is a classic. Aki KaurismÃ¯Â¿Â½kiÃ¯Â¿Â½s take on romance is a little quirky, but still very touching as well.

http://intenseguys.typepad.com/intense_guys/tender_moments/index.html

Posted by Intense Guy III at February 7, 2008 4:20 PM

comment #14

Dan Revill says ...

As great as the "I love you/I know" exchange in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is, I always liked this one just as much (copied from imdb.com, since I'm not up to re-typing it from memory):

Han Solo: Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help.
Princess Leia: Would you please stop calling me that?
Han Solo: Sure, Leia.
Princess Leia: You make it so difficult sometimes.
Han Solo: I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right.
Princess Leia: Occasionally, maybe... when you aren't acting like a scoundrel.
Han Solo: Scoundrel? Scoundrel? I like the sound of that.
Princess Leia: Stop that.
Han Solo: Stop what?
Princess Leia: Stop that. My hands are dirty.
Han Solo: My hands are dirty, too. What are you afraid of?
Princess Leia: Afraid?
Han Solo: You're trembling.
Princess Leia: I'm not trembling.
Han Solo: You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life.
Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.
Princess Leia: No, you're not. You're...

Posted by Dan Revill at February 8, 2008 12:50 AM

comment #15

DarthCorleone says ...

This even sounds cool. Maybe I'll go if tickets are still available.

The last scene of THE WINSLOW BOY. Yes, David Mamet's G-rated The Winslow Boy. Holy crap, is that swoon-worthy, butter-knees-inducing romantic dialogue between the oft-criticized Rebecca Pidgeon and Jeremy Northam. They're trapped in this repressive society where only the slightest overtures are socially acceptable, and then finally there's this acknowledged glimmer between them. The way that he just slightly trips over his words after being the barrister who is the model of decorum for the entire film is great.

Posted by DarthCorleone at February 8, 2008 10:13 AM

comment #16

Breedlove says ...

Darth, I know no one is reading this thread any more, but you're a genius. I forgot about that. perfect example. I absolutely love that movie, largely because of the absolutely fucking perfect line of dialogue that it ends on, which I can't even recall right now but is just so perfect that you go skipping out of the theater/living room.

Posted by Breedlove at February 8, 2008 11:49 AM

comment #17

DarthCorleone says ...

Breedlove>> No way in hell anyone is coming back to this thread now since it's not on the front page, but I went to this event last night and thought I'd give it a shot.

I don't know the last bit of THE WINSLOW BOY verbatim, but it goes something like this:

Northam asks Pidgeon if she insists on continuing with her futile efforts for women's suffrage.

She replies that of course she will, and somehow that ties into a quip about how little he knows about women.

He expresses disappointment with her foolishly progressive ways, and because of this she comments that she supposes she won't be seeing him ever again now that the court case is over.

He gets her right back by remarking to the contrary - how little she knows about men.

Posted by DarthCorleone at February 15, 2008 6:07 PM

comment #18