Saturday 23 May 2009

My Favourite Screen Duets.

I'm English. I spell it 'favourites.' But a lot of my readers are American. And a lot of people I want to write for are American. So should I spell it 'favorites'..? Will American readers think me using a 'u' is weird? Will English people think I'm dumb or ruining the Queens language if I don't use the letter 'u'?. Or is it possible nobody cares and I've just wasted a valuable paragraph? Either way, I send this question out into the blogosphere. Perhaps I should just spell it in the way I prefer. What I mean is, spell it my favourite way. I mean favorite way. I mean. I don't know what I mean. Anyways, this isn't why I'm blogging.

I am blogging to share some of my fave (see what I did there) screen duets. I won't say movie duets, as they include a couple of TV duets too. These are moments that I have found pretty magic (apart from the Dawson's Creek one which I thought wasn't magic but was perhaps slightly better than normal.)

Chemistry is everything. For a perfect example of this take a look at Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant in 'Two Weeks Notice' - no chemistry at all. For another example, watch Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher in 'Duets,' the chemistry is incredible; especially when they're singing. What they captured in this scene with their duet of 'Try A Little Tenderness' is incredible. It's one of my all time top moments in any film, ever. I love it when I find those moments in the middle of forgotten, unimportant road movies... incredible. And you know it's incredible because they didn't cut this into a 20 second montage -- this was a three and a half minute song in the middle of a movie.



Okay, I'll get Dawson's Creek out of the way. It's pretty underwhelming compared to the 'Duets' clip, but then it's pretty overwhelming compared with Ben Affleck films. So we'll just call it whelming. This is in my list purely for the memories. The memories of watching the Creek. Those were the days. Here's Dawson and Joey treating us to a woeful rendition of 'Daydream Believer.'



I apologise for that. Things get only mildly better when you see that I'm about to involve Ashlee Simpson. Yes, I hate her by default too; but then she gave a pretty good turn in 'Undiscovered' - which is where this song is from. I'm not sure whether I like this song because I like the song or whether it's because I attach it to the film, which I really like. I realise that this is another middle-of-the-road type movie; but I really like it. It's about being an artist and it's about struggling and in particular the struggle to get somewhere with your talents and passions. I love how these two sing together, and I love it in the context of the movie.



I knew for sure that 'Into The Wild' was one of my all time favourite (going with English spelling now) films when I saw the beautiful Kristen Stewart sat with a guitar singing one of the greatest songs of all time 'Angel From Montgomery.' I completely fell in love with Kristen, and with the movie -- If any of you know a hot girl who will sing that song to me (who also happens to be attracted to anonymous film bloggers) then please get in touch.

This video has been removed from the blog post, as it is no longer on YouTube. 

So, I've already admitted I'm a bit of a Creek fan so I'll tell you also that I loved Ally McBeal. But I mean, really loved it. For me, Ally McBeal was perfect television. It captured my ideals, my weirdness and my hopes perfectly. I want to live in a world where I can become Barry White. Or a world where, if I let down my girlfriend (Kristen Stewart, of course) I make make up for it by doing what Larry (Robert Downey Jr) did in this scene; by getting a special guest to sing with him. And whilst this is meant to be a list with no particular order; I will say that this is my favorite. Or favourite. Or something.

This video has been removed from the blog post, as it is no longer on YouTube. 

Care to share?

5 comments:

  1. I think when you watch a not so good film and you kind of like it, it has everything to do with chemistry of the actors together, not just screen duets. And I watched Dawson's Creek for the first season and I had to stop because it progressively got melodramatic. And since we're talking TV - let's give it up for my team of Mulder and Scully of The X-Files.

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  2. Michael, I completely agree. That's a reason why I often ignore reviews and go for films where I like the cast. I love the film 'Beautiful Girls' - although many people who've seen it find it very average. But for me, the chemistry of the characters is perfect, and makes for a wonderful film.

    I loved the Creek. It was my guilty pleasure. I was the same age as the characters when it first aired; and my life was exactly the same, a wannabe filmmaker who always liked the girl-next-door types; I totally loved the show. Terrible I know!.

    Rita, I'm so glad you like the clip. When I first saw the film I remember that scene literally had me jumping around, it's just so exciting -- the way they sing together is amazing. I could watch that clip endlessly. In fact, I pretty much do. Make sure you get the film, it's a gem.

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  3. Some really good clips, I'll have to check the films out as I haven't seen them but they look really good.

    I used to LOVE Ally McBeal! Thanks for reminding me :)

    Ps: I'm a big fan of "Beautiful Girls", it's one of my favourite films of all time, the chemistry as you say was excellent, especially between Timothy Hutton and Natalie Portman, which when I first watched it freaked me out a little bit, but which also lends a considerable part of the films magic.

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  4. First of all, go with the English spelling. To a lot of American women, there's nothing hotter than a foreign dude. Showcase it buddy.

    Unfortunately I can't see videos on blogs at work. Bastards. But good post none the less.

    P.S. - I was a closet Creek fan.

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  5. The Duets one was my favorite.

    Oh, and about the spelling thing, "Jemaine: It doesn't matter what country someone's from, or what they look like, or the color of their skin. It doesn't matter what they smell like, or that they spell words slightly differently...some would say, more correctly."

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