Your favorite romantic comedy... or one you hate?

I like The American President, too.

 

I don't regard Groundhog Day as a romantic comedy, in part because the love in question -- which Phil realizes -- is more than romantic passion. But if we're listing it as a rom-com, then absolutely it is tops. I can't count Roman Holiday because I love anything Audrey Hepburn is in. Does Chasing Liberty count? It's one of those movies I like but which people aren't supposed to like, apparently. It always makes me wish I'd been able to just wander Europe's roads as a twenty-something.

 

I remember it being an outing even in the '70s, and back in the days of a whopping two channels on TV with no way to record them, going to a movie was a big deal.

The shorter attention spans are part of it, though. I read somewhere that the chariot race in Ben-Hur (which is utterly mesmerizing, even when it's the umpteenth time I've seen it and know what's going to happen) would never be filmed that way nowadays, and wouldn't be as long... because audiences would just tune it out.

The last time I saw a movie in a theatre was literally last century (Toy Story 2). And since I used to work in musical theatre and enjoy Shakespeare plays, that could be why I like some of the slower-paced movies.

 

They did a Ben-Hur remake last year, so there's probably some people out there who know what it would look like if it was filmed today. Not many of them though...

 

I never saw the prequel movies, at least not all the way through. They were just too boring and silly to hold my attention. I did finally watch The Force Awakens a few days ago, on Netflix.

I've noticed my own attention span suffering over the years, and I blame the internet for that. When it's so easy to flit from one forum to another, to a news site where I'm following half a dozen articles and conversations, to playing a quick couple of levels of one of my BFG games, to checking email, and my soap is on in 15 minutes... it's just become far too easy to allow distractions to get in the way of in-depth reading or watching.

Unless, of course, I'm binge-watching something on Netflix, or watching whole seasons of Bonanza on another site.

 

Does Attack of the Clones count as a romcom?

 

We'll I'm not one of them, I have no interest in seeing a remake of Ben-Hur. If I want to watch Ben-Hur I'll pop my BR in of the 1959 version of film. It's still a classic film that holds up today as a story.

 

If it does, it's a really, really bad one.

 

Clones is to Rom-Com as Plan 9 is to SciFi-Com?

 

I was thinking more along the lines of:
AOTC:SW::"Spock's Brain":ST


No, seriously, AOTC is not really a romcom, of course. However, although it as some intentional humor, it has some unintentionally funny moments as well where it just completely falls apart. I was just being silly. Back to the topic!

 

Romantic Comedies aren't something I seek out but as a comedy fan I do enjoy them if they are funny enough. Roxanne with Steve Martin is probably my favorite. Also I've always liked that movie Just Friends, Ryan Reynolds is hilarious in that.

 

I use to watch a lot of random VHS tapes that my dad would bring home and once in a while some rom-coms would find their way into my rotations. I haven't seen a LOT of rom-coms, but some standout ones that I wouldn't mind watching again if they appeared:

When Harry Met Sally
While You Were Sleeping
10 Things I Hate About You
Clueless

Clueless is considered a rom-com, right? I can't help it, but this movie is freaking cute.

Post-teenage me has seen movies like Zack and Miri and Knocked up and Wedding Crashers and other more modern romcoms, which are funny in their own way but definitely not movies that I need to see again. In college I saw Love, Actually for the first time and I liked it upon the first viewing, but somehow during the second viewing I realized that I really, really hated it. Somehow in the first round I failed to realize that I hated almost every character aside from Liam Neeson and Martin Freeman.

 

Of a 1925 silent film, and of course there was a 1907 short which predated even that. .

 

Not that into rom coms, but I do enjoy a few. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is probably my favourite rom com. Wish the Dracula puppet musical was a real thing.

Also like 50 First Dates, Hitch, Yes Man, and Love, Actually. Got some special memories tied to that last one.

 

Anyone else a fan of They Came Together?

 

LOL the title is a double entendre, but the movie is fairly tame. It's a parody of romantic comedies. Stars Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd. Very funny.