I couldn't even get through half of it. :/
Your favorite romantic comedy... or one you hate?
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I couldn't even get through half of it. :/
I re-watched the Before trilogy in February. It was the first time I saw Sunrise in a good while. It still holds up. I know the general consensus is each is better than the last, but I never thought so. There's just something really special about that first film, and it's always been a huge mystery to me why it isn't usually considered with the best films of the 90s. Like you said, Emi, there's no bullshit. No directorial pretense. No conceit. It's just so raw an natural. And I think the scene when they're in the listening booth might be the single best depiction of the very moment two people fall in love ever shown on film. And it's also the longest break without dialog.
Sunset always felt too claustrophobic to me. Celine keeps mentioning Jesse's flight and I thought there was always a finality to it. It just didn't have that feeling of endless potential the first one did. Though, I will admit the last scene is just about perfect. Delpy is pure magic.
And Midnight, I don't know. The critics loved it, and I hear a lot of people beam about it to no end. But I thought the reveal/ending was obvious and cheap and kind beneath the rest of the series.
I saw Amelie for the first time a little over a year ago. I thought it was wonderful. I made a semi-long post about it in the TNZ hijacked thread, but no one noticed. Well, AP did, but I think she was just humoring me.
Sunset always felt too claustrophobic to me. Celine keeps mentioning Jesse's flight and I thought there was always a finality to it. It just didn't have that feeling of endless potential the first one did. Though, I will admit the last scene is just about perfect. Delpy is pure magic.
And Midnight, I don't know. The critics loved it, and I hear a lot of people beam about it to no end. But I thought the reveal/ending was obvious and cheap and kind beneath the rest of the series.
I saw Amelie for the first time a little over a year ago. I thought it was wonderful. I made a semi-long post about it in the TNZ hijacked thread, but no one noticed. Well, AP did, but I think she was just humoring me.
Dad and I watched Amélie together about a month ago. It's a wonderful film.
Arthur (Dudley Moore)
When Harry Met Sally (Billy Chrystal)
While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock)
Five Card Stud (Khrystyne Haje)
Forty Year Old Virgin (Steve Carell)
Fifty First Dates (Drew Barrymoore)
Splash (Tom Hanks)
A Clockwork Orange (Malcolm McDowell)
Just kidding about the last one.
When Harry Met Sally (Billy Chrystal)
While You Were Sleeping (Sandra Bullock)
Five Card Stud (Khrystyne Haje)
Forty Year Old Virgin (Steve Carell)
Fifty First Dates (Drew Barrymoore)
Splash (Tom Hanks)
A Clockwork Orange (Malcolm McDowell)
Just kidding about the last one.
I generally dislike the standard rom-coms they churn out, but I like the ones that are a bit more com than rom. Where the comedy is actually funny, and not just someone tripping over their wedding dress or making a faux pas in front of their in-laws.
Some faves: (Most probably already listed, but whatever.)
When Harry Met Sally
Wedding Singer
Shallow Hal
Fifty First Dates
Sixteen Candles
Never Been Kissed
She's The Man
Knocked Up
Princess Bride
10 Things I Hate About You
40 Year-Old Virgin
Something About Mary
Chasing Amy
Some faves: (Most probably already listed, but whatever.)
When Harry Met Sally
Wedding Singer
Shallow Hal
Fifty First Dates
Sixteen Candles
Never Been Kissed
She's The Man
Knocked Up
Princess Bride
10 Things I Hate About You
40 Year-Old Virgin
Something About Mary
Chasing Amy
Here's a partial list of mine:
Amélie
The Apartment
Coming To America
Enchanted
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Harold and Maude
High Fidelity
Notting Hill
The Princess Bride
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shakespeare in Love
Working Girl
Amélie
The Apartment
Coming To America
Enchanted
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Harold and Maude
High Fidelity
Notting Hill
The Princess Bride
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shakespeare in Love
Working Girl
I do love how you only ever name one actor per romantic movie. That kinda seems to defeat the whole point of love and romance.
It's not really a genre where I'd say I'm an active fan, like I would about SF/F or spy-fi, but I've seen quite a few that I enjoyed, and some I actually love. Some of them have been mentioned already, so I thought I'd introduce the "romance" work of Kevin Smith to the thread. There are four movies of Smith which I'd call clear rom-coms (though, of course, in Smith's own r-rated style):
- Mallrats (not as good as Smith's other movies, as it was the first time he had to work with studio interference, but it's still quite entertaining)
- Chasing Amy
- Zack & Miri Make a Porno
- Clerks 2 (the sequel focuses much more on the romantic plot than the original, and therefore qualifies IMO as a rom-com)
- Mallrats (not as good as Smith's other movies, as it was the first time he had to work with studio interference, but it's still quite entertaining)
- Chasing Amy
- Zack & Miri Make a Porno
- Clerks 2 (the sequel focuses much more on the romantic plot than the original, and therefore qualifies IMO as a rom-com)
I started doing that because Arthur had a remake, and I wanted to clarify which one I meant. Then I continued to be consistent. I only named one actor from each, because in many cases, I didn't know who the other actors were.I do love how you only ever name one actor per romantic movie. That kinda seems to defeat the whole point of love and romance.
Some personal favorites:
- The modern classics: Groundhog Day, Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, My Best Friend's Wedding (only saw this once, but feel safe putting it up here). George of the Jungle? I'd have to revisit it. And, yes, The Mummy '99.
- Meet the Patels is a good recent rom-com of sorts that happens to be an (apparently totally legit) documentary. Fans of Master of None will likely enjoy it, and its star, Ravi V. Patel, guested on its first season.
- Wristcutters: A Love Story is maybe my favorite modern romcom, and has a great hook/reason the pair can't get together: they're both kinda depressed, and also dead, in a purgatorial afterlife. Highly recommended.
- About a Boy ('02)
- Cusack Double Feature: The Sure Thing/Say Anything...
- Pride and Prejudice ('05)
- Fired Up
- Definitely the Before trilogy, though Midnight is a bit repetitive in the middle, and hardly a comedy.
- I saw 27 Dresses on a plane once when there were no other options, and I enjoyed it. It's got Cyclops!
- La La Land totally counts, right?
... And, of course, Just Like Heaven, because I'm in it:
Yours truly, a paid extra, reading a book (that white dot),
because movie shoots are deathly dull.
I also hate Knocked Up (grossly sexist, completely unbelievable pairing) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (an even worse character pairing, apocalypse or no).
On the whole, though, I like to think that film critic Mark Kermode killed the genre with this Leap Year review, enhanced by yours truly:
- The modern classics: Groundhog Day, Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, My Best Friend's Wedding (only saw this once, but feel safe putting it up here). George of the Jungle? I'd have to revisit it. And, yes, The Mummy '99.
- Meet the Patels is a good recent rom-com of sorts that happens to be an (apparently totally legit) documentary. Fans of Master of None will likely enjoy it, and its star, Ravi V. Patel, guested on its first season.
- Wristcutters: A Love Story is maybe my favorite modern romcom, and has a great hook/reason the pair can't get together: they're both kinda depressed, and also dead, in a purgatorial afterlife. Highly recommended.
- About a Boy ('02)
- Cusack Double Feature: The Sure Thing/Say Anything...
- Pride and Prejudice ('05)
- Fired Up
- Definitely the Before trilogy, though Midnight is a bit repetitive in the middle, and hardly a comedy.
- I saw 27 Dresses on a plane once when there were no other options, and I enjoyed it. It's got Cyclops!
- La La Land totally counts, right?
... And, of course, Just Like Heaven, because I'm in it:
Yours truly, a paid extra, reading a book (that white dot),
because movie shoots are deathly dull.
Agreed! It begins with a title card calling an ostensibly real woman a "bitch" (har, har), features perhaps the most eye-rollingly fake cutesy rom-com job ever (professional greeting card writer? for real?), and ends with a suggestion that the universe is giving JGL a new woman to make up for the last one being a defective match. It's a movie that's so edgy and cool that when Deschanel leaves the guy's workplace halfway through, it's never stated what she goes on to do. Because, who cares, right? She's only the character in the title; no need to give her any depth or life beyond the scope of the male protagonist. I'll admit the movie has a few cute moments and scenes, but woof, the sexism. (Webb redeemed himself with Amazing Spider Man 1, though.)
I also hate Knocked Up (grossly sexist, completely unbelievable pairing) and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (an even worse character pairing, apocalypse or no).
I saw What If?; it made me hate millennials, and I am one. The demise of the genre is interesting, though - a mix of sociology (in these modern times, it's nearly impossible to come up with plausible reasons why mutually attracted individuals shouldn't get together) and entertainment economics (why pay for a movie ticket the cost of an entree when you can stream comedy more to your particular tastes from home?).
On the whole, though, I like to think that film critic Mark Kermode killed the genre with this Leap Year review, enhanced by yours truly:
I tend to gravitate toward rom-coms stories that are told from the "male standpoint". Perhaps my favorites in this category would be "Swingers", and the classic, When Harry Met Sally, and 40 year Old Virgin, and Scott Pilgrim.
But I also liked rom-coms like Bridesmaids, and Enchanted, both of which are told from the woman's standpoint. And I loved Love, Actually.
But I also liked rom-coms like Bridesmaids, and Enchanted, both of which are told from the woman's standpoint. And I loved Love, Actually.
The only "Five Card Stud" I know of is a Western starring Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum.
When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, Princess Bride, Wedding Singer have all been mentioned.
Return to Me - David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Logia, David Alan Greer, and written and directed by Bonnie Hunt.
A little sappy in places, but terrific acting, especially by the older actors, and some great comedic moments.
Return to Me - David Duchovny, Minnie Driver, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Logia, David Alan Greer, and written and directed by Bonnie Hunt.
A little sappy in places, but terrific acting, especially by the older actors, and some great comedic moments.
Ooh, I remember one that annoyed me: SWEET HOME ALABAMA. Not because of the romance stuff, but because of the underlying message that down-home Southern folk are somehow more pure and decent than those big-city New Yorkers, who are mostly stuck-up snobs, etc. And that small-town life is better than city life. And that leaving your hometown to (gasp!) pursue your dreams and ambitions is something you'll regret down the road.
Needless to say, the New Yorker in me took offense.
I remember being particularly annoyed by the movie's treatment of the Candice Bergen character, who is treated as a bad guy simply because she is understandably upset by the fact that Reese Witherspoon has just ditched Bergen's son at the altar for the cute Southern guy. But, hey, Bergen is a snooty New Yorker so we're supposed to dislike her.
Needless to say, the New Yorker in me took offense.
I remember being particularly annoyed by the movie's treatment of the Candice Bergen character, who is treated as a bad guy simply because she is understandably upset by the fact that Reese Witherspoon has just ditched Bergen's son at the altar for the cute Southern guy. But, hey, Bergen is a snooty New Yorker so we're supposed to dislike her.
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This one came out in 2002. The Wikipedia description is thus: "A bartender with a fear of commitment has limited his social life to a weekly poker game with the guys. His best friend sets him up with sure thing one night stand and the two fall in love."The only "Five Card Stud" I know of is a Western starring Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum.
Richard Gere.
And the guy who plays the hotel concierge. I enjoy both their movies.
The movie also depicts quite accurately how vicious and backbiting some women can be to other women.
-When Harry Met Sally is a classic. It's not just a great film, but I've lost count of the amount of female friends I've fancied over the years, and I'd say watching this actually helped.
-High Fidelity is also great, probably the most faithful book adaptation I've seen. It's also very relatable, and has one of the best lines to describe love ever: "If you really wanted to mess me up, you should have got to me earlier!"
-The Five Year Engagement is one of those films I saw a couple of years ago, and just found it to be a really funny and deserves alot more attention than it gets.
-Shaun of the Dead. Yes it's a rom-com, it just happens to have zombies in it as well.
-High Fidelity is also great, probably the most faithful book adaptation I've seen. It's also very relatable, and has one of the best lines to describe love ever: "If you really wanted to mess me up, you should have got to me earlier!"
-The Five Year Engagement is one of those films I saw a couple of years ago, and just found it to be a really funny and deserves alot more attention than it gets.
-Shaun of the Dead. Yes it's a rom-com, it just happens to have zombies in it as well.
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