Pajiba

That's so weird, I just watched this again night before last. So many quotable quotes!

"SanDeE, your breasts feel..weird."

"Oh, that's 'cause they're real."

Goddam, Dustin. Your speed amazes me. Let me be first to stand at the back of the theater and begin the slow clap...

Dustin, you read B-Slim's mind. Great review, after this and the comments in the Born Standing Up thread I'm completely psyched to see this.

Those French. They have a word for everything.

Another fun thing along the lines of l'idiot... the hotel that they stay in is called "El Pollo del Mar" which means "Chicken of the Sea." Love it!!!

I also love this film and I also hate LA (the only place on earth a complete stranger would come up to me in a restuarant and tell me I had to have my teeth done)
I can't believe you only noticed L'Idiot's recently. There's a great dis when the maitre d' sits them at a side table telling them "there's somebody bigger than you here tonight"
And it has the best mockery ever of the those stupid drinks people order in coffee shops (double decaf mochchino with half whipped, half low fat.....), except remember people, this was 17 years ago long before everyone mocked these absurdities.
And, the ultimate LA line at the end when the sign announce it really wants to direct.

God, I love this movie!

Ah, darn, Alexandra beat me to the "Chicken of the Sea" hotel comment. An old boyfriend (whom I still remember quite fondly) talked me into seeing this, The Jerk, and The Three Amigos. We watched L.A. Story after we had just returned from my first trip to L.A. where his sister lived, and I loved Martin's use of those ubiquitous freeway signs. I think no other movie has ever captured L.A. (what little I know of it, anyway) and the time period like this one.

I have never seen this movie. Have at me.

Gotta love the sign.

Imagine reading this log line today--a talking freeway sign gives advice on a man's love life. Oh, how important a good writer is.

This was actually one of the first movies my family got on VHS, and I spent many a night falling asleep down the hall while my parents watched it in the living room. To this day, tubas make me think of Do Wah Diddy Diddy and a soft, safe bed.

Great review. Between this movie and Raymond Chandler, I'm beginning to think L.A. is the sort of city you can only show love for by putting it down the right way.

With paintball mask intact, I stand beside Kolby in the confession that I, too, have never seen this movie.

[snaps twice quickly] Netflix! Come!!

Great movie. I haven't seen it in a long time. I will have to add it to the queue.

Awww...don't feel bad, Kolby and boo, this may be the only Steve Martin movie I'm not familiar with. I've just placed it tops on my netflix queue.

Of course....now with his humor firmly fixed in my mind again....I also put The Jerk and The Three Amigos there as well....I may not be getting out much this month...

You have to love how he insists on driving to his friend's house, which is literally three doors down.

Yay! I love this movie. I still use the point system.

my favorite scene (which I only vaguely remember) is when he'd drive a to his friends house, which was just two or three houses. Then one day, overcome with emotion, he didn't even start the car, but pushed it down to his friend's house.

I may have it all wrong, but once I moved out west fifteen or so years later, I realized that nearly everybody gets in their cars to drive the equivalent of half a block. so its even funnier now than when I lived in boston.

Just a clarification for those who haven't seen the movie - Victoria Tennant, Steve Martin's then-wife, is the actress who plays the character of Sara McDowell, Steve Martin's love interest. Coincidentally, Victoria Tennant just guest-starred on last week's episode of Monk (yes, I watch Monk - shut up).

I like L.A. and I love this movie--it manages to capture the ridiculous with quite a bit of affection, which is much more subtle than just making fun of it.

"Some of these buildings are more than twenty years old."

Gotta love the scene with the mugger! "Hi, I'm Matt, I'll be your mugger this evening..." (At least, I think his name was Matt...it's been a few years.)

I love this movie and remember well when it came out (I think this makes me kind of old). It was promoted as though it was The Jerk, Part 2. Every ad for it had SM in full on "wild and crazy guy" mode". I suspect the bullshit marketing campaign had something to do with the movie's lack of commercial success, since it's so good!

For what it's worth, how about Bowfinger as another under-appreciated Steve Martin comedy gem?

I like L.A. and I love this movie--it manages to capture the ridiculous with quite a bit of affection, which is much more subtle than just making fun of it.

"Some of these buildings are more than twenty years old."

Hooray, I love this movie! It was so ahead of its time, mocking typical LA absurdities (coffee ordering, freeway shootings, driving to the mailbox, snooty restaurants, women with stupid names) way before anyone else thought to. And I've always thought the last 20 minutes were incredibly moving.

Or... how about The Lonely Guy? I loved that movie! Charles Grodin actually being intentionally funny.

Or... how about The Lonely Guy? I loved that movie! Charles Grodin actually being intentionally funny.

Steve Martin gets a pass for a LOT of bad movies just because his ideal woman in this movie is a tuba player. I love you Steve!

Also this is the movie where I first realized I really want to punch Sarah Jessica Parker.

It's the Ying to "Grand Canyon's" Yang. Liked'em both a lot.

I use the "half-caff double decaf with a twist" line a lot. I had to explain the reference to my 10-years-younger fiancee a couple weeks ago. She looked at me like a dog hearing its master's voice, said, "Oh yeah?" and went about her day.

There have to be other good rom-coms out there. I know there is. I'll nominate Roxanne, Truly Madley Deeply and... wait... I'm a guy. What do I care? Bring on the boobies!!!

I love Steve Martin, too. One of my faves is "The Lonely Guy" which is his reverse-paean to New York City. Back in the first years I lived here, I would rent it every Valentine's day and watch it with a bottle of red wine. When I met my husband, we adopted the ritual. It's really an overlooked gem and is especially funny if you have ever looked for an apartment or tried to meet people here as an adult. You should spotlight that one! Available on Amazon for sure, because I just bought it for Vday Feb 14!

Anne, I'll second that. I hated, HATED, Sarah Jessica Parker in that flick (although I think that was the point).

Who the hell am I kidding? I've hated her in every movie... The only props she gets from me is that she's bangin' Ferris.

Dustin... Is is too much to ask for a review of Roxanne? I mean, we ARE waxing nostalgic over Mr. Martin, and there appears to be a lot of love here... No more pube comments from me either. Honest...

Tiddo, I'm going to have to second your Roxanne nomination. In honor of Steve Martin-ish Day, I'd also like to nominate Shopgirl (despite the not-quite romcom ending).

From Roxanne: "Oh, ho, ho, irony! Oh, no, no, we don't get that here. See, uh, people ski topless here while smoking dope, so irony's not really a, a high priority. We haven't had any irony here since about, uh, '83, when I was the only practitioner of it. And I stopped because I was tired of being stared at."

I simply adore L.A. Story. My mom and I caught it in the theater on a whim -- having not seen one preview or commercial for it -- and laughed our heads off.

"I'm doing 30-minute lips." Ha!

This movie sucked. I wonder if anyone involved in it realize that there are people who live outside of LA.

I liked the fact that he forgot it was opening day of freeway shooting season but still had a gun and ammo in his car. Contrast this funny take on LA with the dreck that was Grand Canyon, a movie that made Crash seem deep by comparison.

Dustin, same here, I would love a Roxanne review. I can't promise to withhold the pube talk though.

I hate LA (live here.) I love Steve Martin, even if I haven't seen any of his movies besides Shopgirl and Novocaine.

off to netflix with me.

This was such a great movie - it's so nice to be reminded of a rom-com that doesn't suck.

What I'd like to see is a Pajiba take on the best of the genre. It would certainly be timely, given that (blech) V-Day is around the corner.

Oh, MeggieMoo - donchoo love Valentine's Day? Me? I sure do!!!

I'm going to buy all the clearance candy-hearts, chocolate, teddy-bears, cutesy crap and mash/grind them up into convenient softball-sized lumps, which I'll set aflame and toss off various overpasses during rush-hour. Valentines, schmalentines, I'm gonna sit at home after I've coated my hands with anti-burn salve, drink a few 40's and watch "The Joy Luck Club". Then I'll sob my sorry ass to sleep. HA!

Skittimus....no fair taking my idea! Did you read my planner?

(looks around for daily planner)

Damnit...now I'm gonna have to come up with something else.

"...a kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true." Sigh, I adore this movie. Finding the DVD for $8 was a steal, but made me sad at the checkout because I knew it was worth so much more.

I love this movie.

If you think the current state of the romcom is couldn't get worse, just wait. Check out IMDb's future projects for Matthew McConaughey -- The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past due out in 2009. Extra shitty.

I've never seen LA Story, and I lived there for what felt like forever. Maybe the previews hit too close to my waitress life? But I'm grows up now and far away, so I'll give it a whirl.

Favourite. Movie. Ever. Thanks for showing it some affection, Dustin.

I like to think that the freeway sign (r u o k?) was a forerunner to texting language. Which of course was witty back then, and is stupid and lazy now.

One of my favourite scenes is the one in the art gallery where Harris spends ten minutes analysing in great detail the relationships of characters in a painting, which turns out to be an essentially blank canvas.

This movie is just so quotable, to wit:

There's a Tudor mansion, and a four-door mansion!

Beethoven's Balls.

Pointy bird, oh pointy pointy..

She's not so young, she'll be 27 in four years!

And of course, Big-S-small-a-small-n-big-D-small-e-big-E.

[studiously viewing painting]

It makes me . . . emotionally . . . erect.

I love this movie.

And I have to add my vote for a review of Roxanne. Steve Martin doing José Ferrer doing Cyrano de Bergerac. Watch them back to back to see what I mean.

No one has mentioned my favorite Martin movie, All of Me. Only movie ever where Lily Tomlin is not only tolerable but enjoyable.

I also really like Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. But its not nearly on the level with The Jerk, All of Me, and LA Story.

And finally, who can forget Orin Scrivello, DDS?

To this day I cannot believe that the Romantic Comedy Line (you know the type) that hits me hardest is a Steve Martin line: "So there I was jabbering at her about my new job as a serious newsman - about anything at all - but all I could think was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful and yet again, wonderful."

Man that kills me. Best line of its type since Spencer Tracy's monologue at the end of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

That he surrounded a feeling like that with some incredible silly and made it work together is amazing work.

"Ahh, low sustained booming noises, Nine. Nine-fifteen."

This is my favorite movie of all time. I hate most romantic comedies... but this one gives me that warm tingly feeling.

This is the most perfect review of one of my most favorite movies ever. Thank you!

I love this movie. It is my third date film and if the guy doesn't like it or calls it "cute" then he's out the door.

This movie makes me emotionally erect!

So there I was at work, trying to think of something to say about this masterpiece, and the stupid computers crashed! For, like, everybody! Must be part of the new cruelty!

Anyway, love this movie, always have, always will. I can count on the fingers of one hand the movies I have seen more than once in the theater, and this was one of them. And I am not ashamed to say I loved the Enya songs and still like her.

Sara McDowell was the character played by Victoria Tennant, and how can you forget to mention Richard E. Grant?

Since I was 13 years old I love this movie but I still can quite put my finger on why, I haven't seen it in a while though.

Then there was the brilliant turn from Patrick Stewart as Monsieur Perdue (translation: Lost Soul,)the brutally harsh Maitre D.

"You think that you can have the duck with a financial statement like this?"

Also, as per everyone else, Roxanne rocks too.

"It's the Ying to "Grand Canyon's" Yang. Liked'em both a lot." Agreed. This is one of my favorite steve martin movies and has been since I was wee. I liked it more than roxanne, in retrospect, having seen both when I was young, I find this one has more staying power.

The blend of absurdity and romance is how I see my relationship with my wife, actually. I am at the same time goofy and hopelessly romantic.

We also see a window into steve martin's view of himself. Is he the wiggy weekend weather man phoning in comedy performances, or is he the man who really wants to find something special in life while absurdity screams from every street corner of LA.

The movie satirizes the craziness of LA just as Swingers years later poked more understated but equally razor sharp fun at the night life scene in the city of Angels.

Dreadfully underrated and thank you for the glowing review.

"It's exactly like licking a shag carpet!"

"I'll have a half-double-decaf half-caf, with a twist of lemon."

Have you ever tried to order that? People look at you funny.

I lived in and around LA for about 15 years. I eventually left because, among other things, LA had become exactly as this movie portrays it. But when I come back to visit friends, I find I still have a fondness for the place.I'll have to figure out what that means about me.

"Oh, I'll have a twist."

"you must love the little birdies so, that you give them this to perch on"

I third (fourth? umpteenth?) the Roxanne review request. When I finally read the play I was AMAZED at how much of the bar insult scene was actually verbatim from the play. And how well it still worked.

Can't say enough good things about that movie. It's got an eternal pass for "... it's a place where people took a desert and turned it into their dreams."

Fantastic writing throughout. Breath-stoppingly good writing.

Oh, and it's "damned testicles." Can't recall what Roland does, but it's particularly brass-balled; thus, the clang.

Best scene has our very own Captain Picard playing the fascist Maitre'd at L'idiot's where you WILL be seated at table 253!

I saw this movie in a theater when it came out (yes, I'm that old). And I lived in LA at the time--which made it even better. After all these years, I still remember the line about why Steve Martin could never be a woman. Another scene I still remember--the scene where Martin and SandeE are in a room adjacent to Tennant's room, where she's having a go with her ex-husband. Martin thinks about Tennant, and Tennant thinks about Martin, while both are having sex with someone else. Meanwhile, SandeE and the ex are both fantasizing about--Brad Pitt.

Yes, yes, late to the party. I'll echo the calls for a 'Roxanne' review as well: my wife and I bonded over that movie (she owns the soundtrack album).

Years ago, when we were moving to L.A., we watched 'L.A. Story' with friends, howling with laughter. Little did we know, watching it years later before moving back from L.A., how unbelievably *true* much of that movie is. The 'driving half a block rather than walking' thing? Yeah, been there, seen that. One of the best rom-coms ever, and it makes my list for one of the best movies ever.

Ahh...LA Story!

SJP was perfect in that role. Just the right amount of vapidity.

And everything surrounding the L'Idiot scenes were amazing, from the phone interview right down to the rapping waiter and the diet floss.

"Ask for me, I'm Shan your waiter, and I also act."

Harris: Hello, this is Harris. I'm in right now, so you can talk to me personally. Please start talking at the sound of the beep.
[BEEP]
Sara: Hello?
Harris: Hello.
Sara: Hello?
Harris: Hello.
Sara: Is this a person?
Harris: Yes, it is a person.

Funny that this site has reviewed two of my favorites that are many years old in the span of two weeks. Thank you.

I used to work in a Library for the Blind, which was a mail-order book-on-tape library from the Library of Congress. To pass the time, I'd listen to the books on tape, and the best I ever heard was Steve Martin reading his own novella, The Pleasure of My Company. Same heartbreakingly hilarious (or hilariously heartbreaking?) Steve Martin wit I loved in LA Story - I highly recommend.

One of my favorite rom-coms also.

Loved the speech he gave to win back victoria tennet's character.

Something along the lines of:
"This is where I am supposed to say something wonderfully thoughful, romantic and apologetic, but I can't think of anything, but I want to say it, so can't we just pretend I already said it."

Can anyone get closer on that one?

Belief is such a damned trap-- I mean, if I believe that movie dialog degrades over time I believe I've seen my best movies already. Agreed, the line from LAStory about a kiss is hard to top these days, but hey, I'm a believer when it comes to movies. Or I will not go, ever.

If I thought about it I could come up with a line equal to LAStory from the recent rom-com
Definitely, Maybe. The line in the movie that
refers to the title wasn't bad if you saw the scene. Isla Fisher had some solid material. Kevin Kline's lines will make me smile two years from now when I get around to watching the flick again.

Anyway.
Love Steve Martin's writing. Tho the movie was somehow stale, liked Shopgirl when I read it. His writing jumps and let's not forget his topic was the much-done-love-triangle.

Mirabelle is a terrific creation. So are the boys in love with her. Hats off, Mr. Martin.
Thanks for L.A.Story AND Shopgirl.

And thanks Pajiba! Dustin!

L.A. Story is one of my all time favorites. Along with Bowfinger, it demonstrates that Steve Martin understands how to paraphrase more cleverly than the old saying: It's as if someone grabbed and shook the United States by the East Coast and all the nutjobs ended up in California... or however it goes.

What I should point out is that L.A. Story, for those who hadn't noticed, grandfathered the California Shakespeare adaptation. Yes, before Clueless (based on "Emma"), and 10 Things I Hate About You (based on "The Taming of the Shrew"), L.A. Story tells the bard's tale of starcrossed lovers... it is, underneath the hot dog balloons and Enya music, a wonderful adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Oh wonderful, wonderful, wonderful... and yet again wonderful!