nicholas latkovic

Father of the Bride. Dir. Charles Shyer. Perf. Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Touchstone Pictures, 1991.

Featured music:

Carmichael, Hoagy. “Stardust”. Gennett Records, 1927.

The truth of a man’s life story depends on who tells it. This is Barney’s version.

Barney Panofsky meets the love of his life at his wedding — and she is not the bride. A candid confessional told from Barney’s point of view, the film spans three decades and two continents, taking us through the different acts of his unusual history. There is his first wife, a flagrantly unfaithful free spirt; his second wife, a wealthy Jewish princess; and his third wife, the mother of his two children and his true love. With his father, Izzy, as his sidekick, Barney takes us through his long and gloriously full life, played out on a grand scale. Based on Mordecai Richler’s Giller Prize-winning best seller.

“Like Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Garlin has directed on occasion, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With has a conversational tone. Unlike too many movies made and populated by comedians, it has no striving for effect, no anxiety that we won’t get the joke. It is a movie made by friends about friends, and we get to feel curiously as if they are our friends.”

- Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times

“Laid back and affectionate, Cheese is the movie version of a dear friend you could spend all day with.”

- Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times

“For those of you who don’t think food is an important factor in a relationship, just know that the leading cause of many divorces isn’t irreconcilable differences but lactose intolerance.”

- Mark Jordan Legan, National Public Radio

Featured music:

Cyrin, Maxence. “Where Is My Mind?”. Novö Piano. 3d Japan/Zoom, 2009.

A story about two strangers. One a little stranger than the other…

After his fixation on detail and repetitive behaviors cost him his job at a toy manufacturing company, a legal battle over his deceased parents’ assets leave Adam with an uncertain future as he struggles to meet each day with a positive outlook. When Beth moves into his apartment, a mutual attraction creates a hopeful future for both until Adam’s Asperger syndrome is revealed. With Beth’s determination to stay by Adam’s side and understand his inability to interpret emotions, both set course for rough waters in an attempt to truly connect with each other, if such thing is possible. Directed by Max Mayer.

Featured music:

Coconut Records. “Wires”. Davy. Young Baby Records, 2009.

Fruit Bats. “When U Love Somebody”. Mouthfuls. Sub Pop, 2003.

Cover Illustration: Jean-Jacques Sempé

Sempé, Jean-Jacques. “Just What She Needs”. The New Yorker. 6 Feb. 2006.

The most fun money can buy.

Spoiled and “spirited” playboy Arthur Bach is handed an ultimatum: marry Susan, a wealthy heiress who will make a gentleman of him, or be cut off from the family fortune. After reluctantly proceeding with the arranged marriage, Arthur unexpectedly finds self-worth meeting Linda, a spunky waitress who captures his heart like none other. With Hobson, valet and confidant at his side, the introspective Arthur contemplates his true source of happiness and how to gracefully move out of the mess set before him — if such a thing is possible. Steve Gordon directs this modern-day fairytale which earned four Oscar nominations.

Featured music:

Vivaldi, Antonio. “Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, “La primavera (Spring, Allegro)”. The Four Seasons. 1723.

Cross, Christopher. “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”. Arthur: Music from the Motion Picture. Warner Bros., 1981.

Not all relationships fit like a glove.

Mirabelle, a quiet and orderly saleswoman at a high-end department store, finds her world suddenly filled with life when two very different men seek her affection: Ray, an affluent logician with cool, sincere charm, and Jeremy, a penniless graphic designer with a few steps to go in his career and social etiquette. As Mirabelle moves toward Ray, she discovers differences in their paths which prove too great a hurdle, unbeknownst to her Ray is creating them to guard his own fears of rejection. Anand Tucker directs this adaptation of Steve Martin’s 2000 novella.

Distraught over the death of his partner of 16 years, college professor George Falconer places a handgun into his briefcase on the morning of November 30, 1962 with the intent to kill himself at day’s end. As George fastidiously prepares for his suicide and aftermath, a series of meaningful encounters with an aspiring actor, former girlfriend, and an admiring student unknowingly alter his schedule, and perhaps his own self-destruction. Directed by Tom Ford.

Featured music:

Korzeniowski, Abel. “Clock Tick”. A Single Man: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Relativity Media, 2009.

Cover design: John Gall
Book design: Mercedes Everett, Lisa Motzkin

Lewis, Thomas, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon. A General Theory of Love. New York: Vintage, 2001.

Sweet-natured Philippe quietly moves through life without experiencing love until he meets Senta, an alluring bridesmaid at his sister’s wedding. After a passionate night, Senta proposes each take the life of a stranger to prove their love. Philippe quickly dismisses this macabre idea, until he comes across an unsolved murder of a homeless man. In jest, he adopts the murder as his and tells Senta he has fulfilled his part of the deal. When Senta unexpectedly presents in detail her own crime, Philippe fears the worst… Directed by Claude Chabrol.

“Flannel Pajamas is one of the wisest films I can remember about love and human intimacy. I will not forget it.”

-Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Featured music:

Asobi Seksu. “Thursday”. Citrus. Friendly Fire Recordings, 2006.

Featured music:

The Smiths. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”. The Queen is Dead. WEA, 1992.

Spektor, Regina. “Us”. Soviet Kitsch. Sire Records, 2004.

Featured music:

Waits, Tom. “You Can Never Hold Back Spring”. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. ANTI-label, 2006.

Directed by Michelle Lehman, 2008′s Sony Tropfest winning film tells a little love story about “a little girl who likes a little boy and a little boy who likes his BMX bike”.