Episode 139 - Simply Irresistible

[Let'sAllGoToTheWindow! 75]

Also, they touched on it in the ep, but I totally thought the jerk chef at the end who also got pinched by the crab was going to either eat him (hey, this movie could have gone there. Then she could've learned she was talented all along without crabs!... Right?) or chase the crab around the kitchen only to be foiled at every turn alá "Little Mermaid".

 

When the camera panned down during the final dinner to show the jerk chef eating a dish next to the crab, I was sure he boiled that little twerp and was about to dig in to the horror of SMG. But nope, instead of pulling off an amazing 3rd act twist or taking advantage of some sure fire slapstick, the film makes them best buddies. I was a little annoyed but... Oh, who can stay made at little guy?

He wears lettuce as a hat and finally got SMG laid?!

Whatta Baddass!

[Cameron H. 23786]

I found SMG's character to be incredibly judgmental in this movie. In regard to Paul's point about a "chef's costume," when she first meets Tom at the desolate Farmer's Market, and she stands before him in her gold lamé tank top like she didn't have time to changed after a long night at the club, she has the nerve--nay, the gall!--to question Tom's credentials as a restauranteur by telling him that he's "not dressed like a chef." Seriously, SMG?!? Who are you to be giving criticism on proper chef attire?

 

Then, when Tom and his girlfriend show up at his restaurant, she goes on and on about what a horrible person she must be and how she isn't right for him. Um, might I remind you that he's the one openly flirting with a woman he's just met in front of his current girlfriend...Sure, Amanda Peet might not have made the best first impression, but make no mistake, he's the asshole! You might want to reserve some of that righteous judgement for him.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I found SMG's character to be incredibly judgmental in this movie. This is in regard to Paul's point about a chef's costume, when she meets Tom at the desolate Farmer's Market, and she stands before him in her gold lamé tank top like she didn't have time to changed after a long night at the club, she has the nerve--nay, the gall!--to question Tom's credentials as a restauranteur by telling him that he's "not dressed like a chef." Seriously SMG--who are you to be giving criticism on proper chef attire?

 

Then, when Tom and his girlfriend show up at his restaurant, she goes on and on about what a horrible person she must be and how she isn't right for him. Um, might I remind you that he's the one openly flirting with a woman he's just met in front of his current girlfriend...Sure, Amanda Peat might not have made the first best first impression, but make no mistake, he's the asshole! You might want to reserve some of that righteous judgement for him.

Oh Cameron you stole my "this week in feminism in shitty movies" topic right out of my mouth!

 

She had said maybe all of three words to Amanda Peet's character and then immediately started going into how she "hates girls like her." Pray tell Miss SMG, what kind of girl is she? Do you even know who the fuck she is? Or are you just as shallow as you claim this guy to be for dating her in the first place. What if she turned out to be an activist who just was really confused as to why they weren't in the right spot that they told the cab driver to be, and then had to watch as this stranger and her new boyfriend flirt right in front of her! That would make you look like an asshole! Honestly even if she wasn't an activist (seriously who was she? was she a model?) SMG still looks like an asshole for throwing a fellow woman under the bus just because she wanted her boyfriend.

 

This is the kind of shit that puts it into society that women should always be competing with each other for the attention of men and that just doesn't fly with me.

[tomspanks 9039]

Also, I had a real problem with the idea of having a restaurant in a clothing retailer. Tom says at a press conference ( ? ) that people will have the opportunity to enjoy a fine dining experience followed by free run of the store after they've eaten. First of all, I don't like the idea of people who have just eaten pawing at a bunch of clothes, but stranger still, is who the hell wants to shop for clothes after having just eaten?

 

"Gee-I'm nice and bloated now, guess I'll go try on some pants..."

 

Wouldn't you go clothes shopping and then go eat???

I don't think it's that unusual to have restaurants in retail stores. In NYC, there are nice restaurants in Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor. I've gone to Bloomingdale's just to get the frozen yogurt.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Oh Cameron you stole my "this week in feminism in shitty movies" topic right out of my mouth!

 

She had said maybe all of three words to Amanda Peet's character and then immediately started going into how she "hates girls like her." Pray tell Miss SMG, what kind of girl is she? Do you even know who the fuck she is? Or are you just as shallow as you claim this guy to be for dating her in the first place. What if she turned out to be an activist who just was really confused as to why they weren't in the right spot that they told the cab driver to be, and then had to watch as this stranger and her new boyfriend flirt right in front of her! That would make you look like an asshole! Honestly even if she wasn't an activist (seriously who was she? was she a model?) SMG still looks like an asshole for throwing a fellow woman under the bus just because she wanted her boyfriend.

 

This is the kind of shit that puts it into society that women should always be competing with each other for the attention of men and that just doesn't fly with me.

My "this week in feminism" contribution was going to be about how utterly 90s it is for a woman to trick a man into loving her with one of the only things they can clearly do well (according to 90s pop culture): cooking!

[FisterRoboto 7499]

See there's a restaurant attached to a mall here that my mom and I like to do brunch at sometimes and then we'll run to a few shops afterwards.

 

They may really just be banking on the female demographic to keep that place running.

Don't lie. You're talking about the cafe at Target, aren't you?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Don't lie. You're talking about the cafe at Target, aren't you?

Stop spying on me! Jesus!

[Jamie Power 224]

I really feel like June was getting to this when they were talking about culinary hygiene but never really got to it. Not only does SMG not wear a hairnet, but when she is fretting about cooking for Tom and his girlfriend, she pulls out a big hunk of raw chicken with her bare hands, and as her anxiety grows, she repeatedly runs her nasty fingers through her hair. Gross!

 

So, not only is she apparently ignoring her mother's tried and true recipes, but she is also contaminating her customers' food--not to mention that her hair probably smells like rotten chicken. Is it really any wonder why her restaurant is closing down...

 

 

Weird poultry stuff is really becoming a trope in HDTGM.

 

Did anyone else, in the midst of all the crab discussion, start to find the sound of the word "crab" inherently hilarious? It was like the Gyooby situation all over again for me.

[Barry Lutz 6]

I knew I was on board for this when you could see fishing line moving the crab around.

http://imgur.com/BvLFLfN

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

Weird poultry stuff is really becoming a trope in HDTGM.

 

Did anyone else, in the midst of all the crab discussion, start to find the sound of the word "crab" inherently hilarious? It was like the Gyooby situation all over again for me.

I really want a supercut of June saying "Gyooby." I went back and listened to that episode recently, and it's never fails to make me laugh.

[MichaelMucci 3]

I saw LetsAllGoToTheWindow's title correction, but I left the 'Vanilla Frog' title as is 'cause it's funnier:)

[Let'sAllGoToTheWindow! 75]

No argument from me

[tomspanks 9039]

Was anyone else surprised that SMG abandons crab after cooking at Jonathan's? She gets into the crab and later we see French chef feeding crab. She clearly remembered to pack crab to go to Jonathan's, but she forgets about him because she's sad about Tom? Claws before bros, SMG.

 

Also, wouldn't it have been great if at the last scene where SMG & Tom dance, SMG slides crab across the floor and Aunt Stella catches him like Louise Guzman and Madam Serena? SMQ needs to find out if Tom really likes her for her or if he's under a spell.

[SlidePocket 707]

This film was also notable for being the last film Gene Siskel ever reviewed before his death a few weeks after its February 5, 1999 release. He gave it a thumbs down. In comparison, the last film that Siskel gave a thumbs up was She's All That, which happened to star SMG's longtime love Freddie Prinze Jr.

[Cameron H. 23786]

In regard to "Not Dan Aykroyd's" role in the movie, I initially thought he was a genii since he tells her his name is "Gene O'Reilly." I thought it was weird that this guy was being given full name treatment and the fact that he doesn't really hit the "O" very hard in "O'Reilly" it kind of comes out like "Genii, really." I also though this might be the case since SMG's character's name is "Amanda Shelton" which I thought was a play on the crab's shell and her sheltered lifestyle.

 

However, when questioned about why he's there, he tells her that he has come "from a very far distance" and only comes when the need is "absolutely necessary." I think this lends itself more to the idea that he's a literal angel come down from Heaven on a mission from her mother. What's weird though is that this "absolutely necessary" thing she has to do seems to have less to do with the restaurant, in which case I would assume divine intervention would have come a lot sooner, and more to do with her getting some hot greasy kitchen sex from Tom. When she first espies Tom at the market, "Not Dan Aykroyd" says something to the effect of "now you see what you're supposed to be looking for" not "Focus up! These crabs are going to make you a successful chef."

 

Finally, since Paul seemed to enjoy it last week......

 

 

FORUM GAME!!!!!

 

As stated above, Not Dan Aykroyd is there because it is, in his words, "absolutely necessary." I find it incredibly hard to believe that God would send a Heavenly envoy to Earth because it was "absolutely necessary" that SMG's restaurant stays open and that she bangs some douchebag. Obviously, there has to be a greater cosmic significance to it. Do they need to be together so SMG will give birth to the Messiah? Are we living in a post-9/11 world because we live in a reality where SMG refused to buy those crabs?

 

So, my challenge to the forum is this: Please explain why the events in this movie were 'absolutely necessary?' Butterfly Effect this shit out and write a scenario in which either a horrible event occurs or is averted by SMG getting/not getting those crabs?

 

 

 

Depending on popularity and participation, and because I think it's fun, I may try to come up with a different game for every episode going forward.

[carocal 0]

I saw this movie in the theater as well. It immediately reminded me of the 1992 Spanish language film "Like Water For Chocolate". Set in the world of magical realism, it follows a young Mexican girl, who is denied the right to marry by her mother and throws herself into her cooking. When she discovers her true love is to marry another, her emotions start to blend into her food. The movie gets deep into the emotions, as there are many deaths and serious consequences for the characters. I always thought the screen writer for Simply Irresistible, saw this movie and tried to make it her own. The crab, and the earrings, and the angel dude, we're just plot devices she shoehorned in, to make her movie stand apart. Like Water for Chocolate was a huge hit, and at the time, the biggest Spanish language film of all time. I recommend watching it,.

 

Came here to see if anyone had mentioned it yet, always thought Simply Irresistible was Hollywood's take on Like Water for Chocolate. But I'd forgotten that movie is in Spanish (!?), guess that's why more people aren't making the connection.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Oh Cameron you stole my "this week in feminism in shitty movies" topic right out of my mouth!

 

She had said maybe all of three words to Amanda Peet's character and then immediately started going into how she "hates girls like her." Pray tell Miss SMG, what kind of girl is she? Do you even know who the fuck she is? Or are you just as shallow as you claim this guy to be for dating her in the first place. What if she turned out to be an activist who just was really confused as to why they weren't in the right spot that they told the cab driver to be, and then had to watch as this stranger and her new boyfriend flirt right in front of her! That would make you look like an asshole! Honestly even if she wasn't an activist (seriously who was she? was she a model?) SMG still looks like an asshole for throwing a fellow woman under the bus just because she wanted her boyfriend.

 

This is the kind of shit that puts it into society that women should always be competing with each other for the attention of men and that just doesn't fly with me.

 

Ha! Sorry about that. I should have known better. If you want, you can bring up how she never once asks her sous chef anything about his life? From start to finish, it's always about what's going on with her. He's about to lose his job too, you know. Do you maybe want to talk to him a little about that? No? You just want to go on and on about your crush while your business goes under? Great.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Ha! Sorry about that. I should have known better. If you want, you can bring up how she never once asks her sous chef anything about his life? From start to finish, it's always about what's going on with her. He's about to lose his job too, you know. Do you maybe want to talk to him a little about that? No? You just want to go on and on about your crush while your business goes under? Great.

Lol no I'm all for anyone bringing up any bull shit in these movies!

 

I was gonna totally bring up that I was way more attracted to Sous Chef Nolan than Sean Patrick Flannery the whole movie. Not that SPF isn't a good looking guy that I would go out with, but Nolan was a way more interesting character and seemed to actually give a shit about SMG's life and personality.

[JoelSchlosberg 352]

Nobody's mentioned how cheap the special effects were during the floating scene. Full body shots are conspicuously absent, and when Bartlett falls, it cuts away from him actually hitting the ground, with an off-screen crashing sound effect like something out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Plus, as Wikipedia points out the movie has something of a theme of references to Fred Astaire, so it begs comparison to the scene in Royal Wedding where Astaire dances on the ceiling. A half-century of special effects earlier, that managed to show Astaire defying gravity without cuts or closeups:

 

[media='']https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3PKmHombfU[/media]

[Cameron H. 23786]

God. There's so much.

 

I feel like I'm still a little unclear as to the power and magic of the food. It's like the movie wants us to believe that the food transfers her emotions on to the eater, but this doesn't always seem to be the case. When Tom and his girlfriend show up at her restaurant, she is immediately in a anxious and jealous mood, but when they eat their food, he gets so aroused he literally cums in his pants and his girlfriend becomes destructive and obnoxious. Where did those emotions come from? It's almost like the food is heightening their own emotions rather than reflecting hers. Then, at the end of the movie, when she's so upset with the whole Tom situation that cries into the sauce a little, everyone gets afflicted with this weird romantic sadness--and they are all into it! Why are they all so happy to be heartbroken and grief-stricken? Then, for the second course, they all just sit in stoney silence. That was creepy as Hell. Is SMG some kind of crazy sociopath that can just turn off her emotions? Oi! If I'm ever in a position where I'm being fed emotions by magically infused food, I seriously hope that SMG is not the chef that night. That girl seems extremely unstable.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Okay I am so behind on work but I really really want to get into the whole "love" situation going on in this movie, and why I think it's actually rather appropriate that Tom freaks out over the magic and the romance.

 

So this is my place holder to dive into that because it's way later in the day than I thought and I hate working on Fridays.

[SamLawson 2]

The 20 thing was not a brag but clearly stating that good sex has to take at least take 20 minutes. However I disagree. After being married with kids for eight years you gotta make every minute count. If you or your partner can't finish in less than 20 minutes someone is doing it wrong

[tomspanks 9039]

God. There's so much.

 

I feel like I'm still a little unclear as to the power and magic of the food. It's like the movie wants us to believe that the food transfers her emotions on to the eater, but this doesn't always seem to be the case. When Tom and his girlfriend show up at her restaurant, she is immediately in a anxious and jealous mood, but when they eat their food, he gets so aroused he literally cums in his pants and his girlfriend becomes destructive and obnoxious. Where did those emotions come from? It's almost like the food is heightening their own emotions rather than reflecting hers. Then, at the end of the movie, when she's so upset with the whole Tom situation that cries into the sauce a little, everyone gets afflicted with this weird romantic sadness--and they are all into it! Why are they all so happy to be heartbroken and grief-stricken? Then, for the second course, they all just sit in stoney silence. That was creepy as Hell. Is SMG some kind of crazy sociopath that can just turn off her emotions? Oi! If I'm ever in a position where I'm being fed emotions by magically infused food, I seriously hope that SMG is not the chef that night. That girl seems extremely unstable.

 

Don't you know, heartache is delicious...succulent...delectable...savory.

[tomspanks 9039]

The 20 thing was not a brag but clearly stating that good sex has to take at least take 20 minutes. However I disagree. After being married with kids for eight years you gotta make every minute count. If you or your partner can't finish in less than 20 minutes someone is doing it wrong

 

No, SMG said a good sex thought takes 20 minutes. What?! Ain't nobody got time for that.

[LizDaleWodlinger 1]

YES! More romantic comedies, please!