It finally happened...

So after quite some time of managing to avoid one of the modern relationships biggest 'moments' I have finally succumb to pressure and given in - no I am not getting married - ladies and gentlemen (and the gentlemen here will understand instantly) I have been 'Notebooked'. After so long telling myself 'I will not be notebooked' it happened. What makes it even worse, I suggested the film be brought round!

That's how they do it gents, they plant the idea in your head like inception and before you know it you are watching Noah build that bloody house!!!

Now as a self proclaimed lover of films I can watch just about any movie and on some level appreciate the talent it takes to create a movie - unless it's horrific shite like cabin fever 2, Jesus that film sucks!!

I was told before I watched the film, 'you will cry' - so as any man would, I deliberately had a chat with my tear ducts, we toughened up the defences and made damn sure no tears were shed as The Notebook played out.

I'll be honest, I quite liked the film - hey I'm a guy who grew up watching Dawson's Creek and loves One Tree Hill, this shit is right up my street!! To be honest, I expected I would like the film, maybe that was another reason to avoid it!

I kept telling myself, I'm watching Ryan Gosling here, this guy has just been - as my friend brilliantly described - 'the shit' in Driver, a film shockingly over-looked by the Oscars (don't even get me started on those guys) - so I'm watching a good actor, not Hugh Grant bumble his way through your standard chick-flick!!

So I know what you are all thinking, did I cry? No, no I did not. To the disgust of my girlfriend I have to add. Such lines as 'you have no heart', 'you have a heart of stone' and 'you cry at a cartoon but not this?!' were thrown in my direction. The cartoon in question was Up, and yes I did cry. That opening is fantastic and heartbreaking and not predictable like the notebook, and chill out ladies I am not slagging it off but you know how the film will end - look at the front cover of the DVD for Christ sake!!

Now there were two moments that, as a lover of great visual scenes in movies I really liked. The opening with the rower at sunset is a stunning image and when Noah takes Allie to the Swan Lake, that is brilliantly shot.

As the film ended and I cheered to myself for not shedding a tear I was asked 'why don't you build me a house like that?'

So as I head to B&Q for supplies and download 'building houses for dummies' I ask you this, if the Notebook is the ultimate chick-flick in the modern world, what is the modern day 'guy-flick' that girls have to 'suffer' as part of a relationship...