I was flipping through the channels last night, looking for something that both my young girls and I could watch, and I landed near the beginning of Dirty Dancing.

I haven’t watched it for awhile, but of course, I remember seeing it and being pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it when it first came out.

But that was twenty years ago, and in looking back, I could never believe that a character who looked like Patrick Swayze did would ever fall for a character named Baby, who looked as odd as Jennifer Gray does.

But, damn, if the movie was better than I remembered it being! And as a storyteller, and a romantic one at that (plus just coming off the horror of watching Failure to Launch), I was ready to tear it apart.

The thing is, I bought into it. The chemistry between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray was so hot and so believable…and him falling for her actually worked for me. It made sense the way it was portrayed, and rang true that he needed someone like Baby (ugh, I can barely type that name) after being used by all the pampered, rich women.

The dance scenes were awesome, even to this critical watcher. I wanted to fan myself during the “Sylvia and Mickey” scene. Whew.

Interestingly enough, that particular scene wasn’t intended to be filmed; it was a warmup scene for Patrick and Jennifer–they were just goofing around. But it turned out so well that the director kept it in. Thank goodness.

Same with the giggling scene, where he trailed his fingers along the inside of her arm down alongside her breast and she keeps laughing–that, too, was an accident that they kept in. Patrick was as frustrated in real life as he appears in that scene.

I must say it was a pleasure to watch a bare-chested Patrick Swayze dance like he was dancing. Reminded me again why I love good shoulders on a guy!

I definitely recommend watching this movie–especially if you haven’t seen it in awhile and think it’s way too cheesy to see. It is, but it’s good cheese–like Brie or Camembert, as opposed to Processed Cheese Food. Or that Party Cheese you squirt from a can.

Even though I can barely stand to watch Jennifer Gray and the strange way she moves her mouth when she talks (like she just left the dentist and her mouth’s still numb) and her beady little eyes, Patrick more than makes up for it. And of course, the late, great Jerry Orbach plays Baby’s father perfectly.

Seeing it last night more than made up for the disaster of Failure to Launch from earlier this week.

(And by the way…I think that line “Nobody puts Baby in the corner” is the most ridiculous line in the movie…and I’m not alone. So did Patrick Swayze. And he had to actually speak it! Poor guy.)

At last! A title for my erotic Phantom of the Opera book.

It’s taken us months to come up with something that works, and finally we’ve arrived at:
Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of The Phantom of the Opera.

The book will be released August 2007 in trade paperback, and I’ll be writing under the name Colette Gale.

Woohoo! Can’t wait to see what they do with the cover.

So, I’m a Sarah Jessica Parker fan, for the most part (except for those pig-like squealy noises she makes when she’s startled or excited), and I think Matthew McConaughey’s nice to look at (I particularly liked him as eye candy in Sahara), thus I figured Failure to Launch would be a fun romantic comedy with a good-looking guy to admire.

Wrong.

I can’t remember when I sat through a worse movie. The dialogue was horrible. The story line even worse.

I mean, giving CPR to a mockingbird? Being bit by a dolphin and then being dragged around in the ocean? An aging Terry Bradshaw naked??

And even Matthew Mc (who I’m still not sure isn’t gay) came across as a kind of oily, insincere guy in all of his scenes with the girl. I mean, he takes his dates out on yachts that aren’t his, and pretends they are. More than once.

There was no chemistry between SJP and MMc at all. There was no way I believed they were falling in love.

And the ending, with the “intervention” and all the video monitors…give me a break.

I was so disappointed. I didn’t expect When Harry Met Sally… or 50 First Dates, or anything along those lines. But I certainly didn’t expect it to be as bad as it was.

Were there any redeeming factors, you ask? Well, I thought Zooey Deschanel’s part as SJP’s quirky, blunt roommate was kind of cute (except for the mockingbird CPR), and since I loved him in National Treasure, I was pleased to see Justin Bartha playing Zooey’s love interest and requisite computer geek. I thought Bradley Cooper looked as slimy as ever (he was best in Alias, in my opinion.)

So, no, not too many redeeming factors.

Did anyone like that movie? What’s one of the worst movies you’ve seen recently?

Decided to post the answers in the comments section of the quiz itself. Saves room and keeps the blog looking a little neater, eh?

After seeing Pirates/Dead Man’s Chest and reading my Top Ten Reasons Cap’n Jack won’t Get the Girl, Diana wrote:

But can I just RANT for a moment, having finally seen this film today? WHY DID THEY TURN WILL INTO A PUSSY?

Dude, what was up at the end when he was like, “elizabeth, I shall help you find the man you’ve been cheating on me with!”

No, Will! Don’t!

And then Mary wrote:

As for Will, I think he’s feeling as betrayed by Jack as by Liz.

So.

Has Will been emasculated, converted from Hero-Material into a pansy? A disposable third-corner-of-a-love-triangle?

Or is it a case of true luuuurve….whatever she wants, he’ll get for her (even if it kills him to do it) ’cause he wants her to be happy?

Or (and this gets my vote) does Will want to pull Captain Jack out of the belly of the Kraken so he can kick his ass for trying to steal his girl and sending him off as a sacrifice to Davy Jones?