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Elizabeth Banks Snag Their Own Film

by Monika Bartyzel Apr 17th 2009 // 4:02PM

It looks like the blonde funnywomen are breaking out of the mold and leaving the men behind. No more married life with Paul Rudd or amateur porn with Seth Rogen – Variety reports that Leslie Mann andElizabeth Banks have signed on to star in New Line’sWhat Was I Thinking?

Unfortunately, it’ll still be man-obsessed. The project is adapting Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman’sWhat Was I Thinking?: 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories. The book is a collection of essays coming from a whole slew of people, including our favorite Leia Carrie Fisher and writer Francesca Lia Block, that covers the moments when women realize that their relationship is not going to work, like overhearing the wrong thing, wine snobbery, and men thinking of other women during sex. It’s almost as reductive as He’s Just Not That Into You! In film form, the project will follow four friends who go on a hedonistic ski trip after one gets dumped, and I assume they then reminisce, or run into, more men that fit these bad boyfriend scenarios.

On the bright side, it’s a female-centric crew — Lynda Obst is producing, and Susanna Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz sold the pitch. (I’m even forgiving them for being the ladies behind JJ Abrams’ upcoming remake of Little Darlings.) It’ll also probably get a few more awesome funny ladies attached, maybe even Tina Fey. But do we really need more romance-centric man bashing? I can’t decide if it’s simply good to see the ladies get more work behind the scenes and starring comedy on the screen, or just another excuse for women to be relegated to fluff.

WHAT WAS I THINKING? 54 Bad Boyfriend Stories, edited by Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman. Every woman has asked the question, and this collection, filled with stories from top names, proves there are almost limitless, and hilarious, ways to answer it. February release.

I met my dear friend Katherine Ruppe on the way to a white-water rafting adventure in Idaho. We hit it off immediately over lumpy sleeping bags, swarming bees and some sort of pharmaceutical that guaranteed we’d snooze through the scent of the nearby al fresco latrine.

I knew immediately that Katherine was a laugh-out-loud kind of writer. Apparently, the New York Times agrees.

MODERN LOVE

A Guest Star in His Romantic Drama

By KATHERINE RUPPE
Published: January 16, 2009 in the New York Times

MY science-fiction-loving friend Alyson always told me geeky guys were more interesting. I took her words to heart when I found myself single again a few years ago and resolved to broaden my dating pool.

Until then my pool (more like a mud puddle) had consisted solely of adventurous, charming, yet fatally flawed boy-men, one of whom had left me stranded at dusk with a flat tire while mountain biking down a ravine known to be frequented by mountain lions. An earnest geek with a heart of gold could only be an improvement.

With that in mind, I met The Engineer. He was good looking in a Clark Kent way. Sure, he was a brainiac with multiple degrees and a military-industrial-complex job, but he also indulged in Red Bull and Jägermeister, was an athlete and had a playful side. Maybe I could have my Clark Kent and a daring Superman, too.

Our first date was initially strained because of his quiet nature — he seemed unable to speak without first making intricate internal computations. Luckily after a few cocktails he loosened up, and we talked about spiritualism, near-death experiences and flying (he owned a plane — hot). I melted when he held my hand and spoke of future dates we would go on. His good-night kiss was a little mechanical, but I still got goose bumps. I went to sleep that night feeling unexpectedly tingly.

Two weeks later we had our second date, in Las Vegas, where The Engineer was temporarily working. I had just finished a screenplay, and my craving for adventure won over my need for caution in the romance department, so I flew there to meet him.

The movie version of our time there would be all glitter and high-rolling romance. In reality, we were two people growing more in lust in a bland business motel complete with free happy-hour beer and hot wings. After two days he flew me back to Los Angeles in his single-engine. His sexy pilot’s voice revved me up, while his explanations of wing load put me to sleep. Perhaps that’s what life with Superman was all about.

Back home, visions of boyfriendship danced through my head. The Engineer, however, seemed to be on a different flight plan, not calling for more than a week. But by our next date our connection had returned so strongly that I blithely set aside my dismay and invited him to a Moby concert.

Twenty-four hours later I was lazing on my couch when he phoned. I thought: “How nice, he’s calling two nights in a row. He really does like me.” Instead he sent my stomach into a neat back flip with the words: “There’s something we need to talk about.” I braced myself for his dirty bomb.

Read the rest of Katherine’s saga here.

Guru’s Note: Katherine’s story is also included in a riotous new estro-classic by Liz Dubelman and Barbara Davilman: What Was I Thinking? 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories. (If they’d asked me, I could have made it an even 60. At least.)