adamkemp
Posts 54
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6/1/2007 7:13 AM
posted awhile ago
Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
This week on Filmspotting #163... tying in with "Knocked Up"... Scott Tobias and I count down our Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies -- including films such as Say Anything, The Lady Eve and Harold & Maude. What would have made your top 5?
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JohnSteed
Posts 2
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6/1/2007 12:24 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
in no particular order: - Romancing the Stone Strangely enough this was the first movie that came to my mind. The movie is far from being "perfect". But back in 1984 Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have been a great example of opposite attraction. The soldier of fortune meets the girl from the big city - Harold & Maude Probably THE opposites attract movie. - King Kong Back in 1933 there definitely was some chemistry between Fay Wray and the big monkey. This could be the mother of all opposites attract movies...... - Mask The tender love between disfigured Eric Stoltz and (blind) Laura Dern in this 1985 drama brought tears to my eyes. (And it had Cher and Sam Elliot in it...) - Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes The ape-man Tarzan meets Victorian Miss Jane Porter. In 1984 the future looked bright for actor Christoper Lambert
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Risselada
Posts 1219
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6/1/2007 2:40 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
I think As Good As It Gets goes in this direction in many different parts of this movie.
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joem18b
Posts 550
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6/1/2007 9:29 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
Some more movies containing couples opposite in some respect:
Pretty Woman
Roman Holiday
My Fair Lady
The Godfather
Manhattan
Talladega Nights
Swamp Thing
The King and I
The Graduate
The Crying Game
All of Me
Underworld
Princess Diaries
Five Easy Pieces
City Lights
Big
Jungle Fever
The Mother
Oedipus: the Movie
Grosse Pointe Blank
The New World
Sunset Blvd
Medea
Bridges of Madison County
Chinatown
Splash
Cinderella
Edward & Mrs. Simpson
Shrek
Beauty and the Beast
Superman
Mannequin
You've Got Mail
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Any Doris Day/Rock Hudson movie
The Odd Couple - If there is a romantic vibe hiding in there...
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cactus_jack
Posts 4
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6/2/2007 5:59 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
I agree with Annie Hall and Say Anything, my other 3 would be: Midnight Cowboy - Ratso and Joe were total opposites and both looked out for each other and became best of friends. Of Mice and Men - The characters of Lenny and George are polar opposites and have been the inspiration of a lot of stories (especially if you watched Looney Tunes) Sixteen Candles - The legendary Jake Ryan becomes tired of his super hot, selfish girlfriend for not as hot, but caring Sam
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walktheearth
Posts 26
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6/2/2007 7:43 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
My top opposites attract movie is Groundhogs Day. It put a new twist on an old (and highly over-used) technique of time travel. It was a romantic comedy that was both romantic and funny. Much like Knocked Up, men and women find it entertaining. Also In the Heat of the Night is a great opposites attract movie. Although Sidney Poitier, and Rod Steiger were not in a romantic situation (that truly would be the ULTIMATE opposites attract film) they were at odds in the beginning and then formed a reluctant relationship towards the end. Speaking of Sidney Poitier, how did Guess Who’s Coming to Diner not make the list? The entire premise of the movie is the relationship differences and how they are viewed by society.
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joem18b
Posts 550
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6/2/2007 10:17 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is in my list just above. I thought about putting in a disclaimer that I personally didn't think the couple were so opposite - Spencer Tracy did, and he was wrong. So technically in that respect it's not an opposites-attract couple. But I let it pass. And didn't list Guess Who, the Bernie Mac remake. But did list Jungle Fever. Hey, Cactus_Jack. Are you thinking that in Midnight Cowboy and Of Mice and Men, there was some romance vibe between the protaginists, or just adding a couple of examples of real opposites in a non-romantic situation?
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Risselada
Posts 1219
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6/4/2007 2:18 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
 walktheearth: My top opposites attract movie is Groundhogs Day. It put a new twist on an old (and highly over-used) technique of time travel. It was a romantic comedy that was both romantic and funny.
Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies. But were they really so opposite by the time he had changed enough to start making the romance work?
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joem18b
Posts 550
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6/4/2007 5:21 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
Since romantic fiction mostly relies on conflict to move the plot, the protagonists usually start off on opposite sides of some fence or other. But in good fiction the characters change and evolve. So I was asking myself the same thing: when are the protagnists as opposite at the end as they are at the beginning? In Groundhog Day, they start out opposite and end up the same, because Bill Murray grows through his experiences.
In the podcast list, I'd say that in Say Anything, they end up the same, whereas in Anne Hall and Harold and Maude they don't. My memory is too lousy to evaluate every movie in the list.
Five where the man and woman remain or end up opposites:
1. The Way We Were
2. Klute
3. Bonnie and Clyde
4. Mail Order Wife
5. Venus
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Risselada
Posts 1219
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6/6/2007 12:34 PM
posted awhile ago
Re: Top 5 Opposites Attract Movies
joem18b: 3. Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde were opposites? I thought from my memory they were two peas in a pod, soulmates. I am probably totally forgetting large portions of this movie though. I do remember loving it though.
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