Peter Murmann

7 Days

1 June 2022

Indian parents, even in the United States, still feel entitled that they can help find spouses for their children. Caucasian parents no longer have those rights. This romantic comedy of a man and woman of Indian descent who are living in the USA and are (n their mid-twenties is very creative. Except for a final scene, the film plays only in the house of the lady. The two seem to be a perfect mismatch. The woman goes on set-up dates by her mother so her mother pays the rent for her house.

Movies, Comedy

Why Men Don’t Listen and Women park badly (Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken

29 January 2022

This German comedy is based on the book “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps” by Allan and Barbara Pease. The film is funny. I cannot speak about the book because I have not read it. The film argues (explains) that the differences in men’s and women’s behavior are largely due to the different roles men and women had in early human societies. Anyone familiar with evolutionary psychology will know these ideas but they are put on display well in this comedy. The film is staged in Berlin in the year 2006. The internet is already a force in hooking up but we are not yet in the era of everyone having a profile on dating websites. The film is quite funny until the end. But the end is not a real end. The film just stops and you are left hanging. What happened to the other characters we got into?

Movies, Comedy

Love Hard

15 January 2022

Living in LA, a young white journalist writes about the trials and tribulations of finding a partner in the age of social media and online dating. Her recent date conveniently failed to mention a relevant extra-curricular activity: he is already married. Now our heroine is s back on her dating app and soon gets connected to a guy far away in Lake Placid, New York. They are hitting it off well, talking endlessly over the phone.

Movies, Comedy

The perfect secret (Das perfekte Geheimnis)

11 January 2020

Imagine you know absolutely everything about another person, and you can fully predict what the person will think and do in the future. Would this help or hurt a relationship? This extreme form of knowing someone else does no exist but we all have a sense that we know some people much better than others. Some people we can trust and we can predict with high certainty that they will behave well toward us. Other people, by contrast, are complete wild cards and their unpredictability in thought and action can terrorize us.

Movies, Comedy

Muriel’s Wedding

25 December 2017

I recently saw an interview with Björn Ulvaeus, the key creative force behind the songs of ABBA. He described how the makers of the film Muriel’s Wedding pursued him for a long time to get the license to use ABBA songs in the film. This piqued my interest to see the comedy made in the 1990s. The film is fun. It is different. It is also a good social commentary. Muriel dreams about her wedding. But she is a girl nobody likes in high school. What gets her through this challenging period are ABBA songs. And eventually she does marry but in a very unexpected way.

Movies, Comedy

The Brothers McMullen

4 August 2017

Three catholic brothers—John, Berry and Patrick—aged 33 to 21 try to figure out their love life. The oldest inherited the family home on Long Island and the two younger brothers move back in. Five years ago, their unpleasant and unappreciative father died and mother went straight back to Ireland to live with the love of her life who has been waiting for her for 35 years.

Movies, Comedy

Keeping up with the Joneses

3 April 2017

A middle-age couple drops of their two boys for summer camp. For the first time since the kids were born, the husband and wife are alone. Time for some wild sex and parties? Not really. The two find it difficult to let lose until a new couple moves into the neighborhood. They seem to have so much more spontaneous affection for each other and seem to lead so interesting lives. They are also so good at everything. I was almost tempted to stop watching the film after 30 minutes or so. It was not clear where the plot was heading. I did not find the film particularly funny. But somewhere, almost half way into the movie, suddenly it becomes clear what the film is all about. Once it reveals its true character, you cannot but laugh and be drawn into its message. I do not want to reveal too much because otherwise you will not be able to experience the surprise that is necessary to enjoy this film.

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