What are your favorite romantic comedies?

i like romantic comedies a lot. they make me happy, and i like watching them with a blanket and some good drinks or snacks.

Some of my favorites are:
Notting Hill
My Best Friend's Wedding
Housesitter
and
Kissing Jessica Stein

Those are just a few I can think of right now -- I'm sure I'll come up with many more soon!

How 'bout you?

http://futuredreams83.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/notting_hill.jpg

i used to like Housesitter but i dunno if it's aged well.

we watch it twice a year at my house

i actually just started reading goldie hawn's autobiography

anything before 1980, surm?

Mine:

Trouble in Paradise
The Lady Eve
Something Wild
Out of Sight

pre-80s:
Top Hat
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Funny Face

(all musicals?!...)

Top Hat is marvelous.

love notting hill

does the devil wears prada count

13 going on 30 obvious classic

ive admitted on this board before to having a soft spot for love actually

the wedding singer

enchanted

mean girls?

surprisingly tolerable: the family stone, definitely maybe

ugh the family stone

13 going on 30 is a good call

shallow hal obv

Love Actually cosign, max

Truth About Cats & Dogs
Clueless

10 Things I Hate About You
Romancing the Stone

High Fidelity
Empire Records

i used to love the truth about cats and dogs to be honest

does the devil wears prada count

― max, Sunday, December 19, 2010 10:51 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark

mean girls?

― max, Sunday, December 19, 2010 10:54 PM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark

don't think they really count, relationship stuff in both is kind of beside the point of the main plot

yeah, high fidelity really straining the definition here as well

yeah the wedding singer
reality bites/singles

i feel like high fidelity is a romantic comedy!

ooooh when harry met sally

don't think they really count, relationship stuff in both is kind of beside the point of the main plot

― some dude, Sunday, December 19, 2010 11:38 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i agree but they share a certain "vibe" w/ traditional romcoms

tho i guess that "vibe" is just... female-centered comedy

yeah but i mean...pretty much every mainstream comedy has a romantic subplot or some kind of love interest for the protagonist, that's all they are imo (xpost)

The Sure Thing's a good one

you people are crazy

kissing jessica stein is a good one, though

also old school: High Society! Bringing Up Baby!

top grossing rom coms of all time: http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=romanticcomedy.htm

lol at Norbit and various non-Wedding Singer Adam Sandler movies being on the list tho

i feel like i've seen plenty of newish rom coms and don't think they're any worse as a genre now than they were in the 90s but it's hard to think of any recent ones to stump for. 27 Dresses is pretty aight?

i cannot believe what women want is at #2, and i cannot believe it beat out pretty woman

i mean it was good but....

clueless for sure

xxp 27 dresses is terrible but this thread is making me feel like maybe i don't actually like romantic comedies

well adjusted for inflation i'm sure Pretty Woman was a bigger hit (xpost)

movies i really like on that box office mojo list, some of which i wouldn't necessarily categorize as straight up rom coms: Groundhog Day, Coming To America, The American President, Clueless, Sense and Sensibility, Roxanne, Joe Versus The Volcano, Pretty In Pink

also like Beautiful Girls, although maybe that's more in the High Fidelity category of movies about dudes thinkin baout womens

i would count high fidelity as a romantic comedy.

pretty in pink is all time.

i kind of love the american president but the romance plot is my least favorite thing about it

Just when you thought it was safe - OK CUPID PART 3: The Return of the WOO!

yesss i love the american president

xxp 27 dresses is terrible but this thread is making me feel like maybe i don't actually like romantic comedies

― horseshoe, Sunday, December 19, 2010 11:52 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i thought u liked 13 going on 30. I THOUGHT WE WERE BUDS OVER THAT MOVIE.

yes the american president lol

LA Story!

haha max i love you and i love 13 going on 30 but definitely maybe???? that movie was so so horrible

LA Story is a great

someone has to say annie hall; it might as well be me.

i don't love that movie actually

definitely maybe was totally cute & had THREE foxy female leads so _whatever_

i think i need to stay away from boy romantic comedies? but high fidelity is funny. idk, definitely maybe just went on and on and was dumb.

YOU JUST GO ON AND ON AND ARE DUMB SO

i mean i am sorry to be rude but you are just being ridiculous here

haha i know i have a bad attitude in this thread, sorry! ryan reynolds has a bizarrely small mouth.

^^^that's what i found myself thinking about during definitely maybe, trying to stay awake

alex borgia is in that movie!! and kevin kline!!!! kevin kline!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah i was psyched to see kevin kline. i don't know. both elizabeth banks and isla fisher annoy me for some reason. i am a jerk, basically.

i still need to see "the beautician and the beast"

classic, esp if u are a drescher fan

tbh horseshoe i didnt even like definitely maybe that much but i think the spirit of this thread should be defending the indefensible

yeah i guess the whole genre is kind of indefensible

i saw made of honor the other week it was disappointing (tho michelle monahagn, hello) BUT longtime fans will be glad to know that a portion of it was filmed at my school

yeah i guess the whole genre is kind of indefensible

― horseshoe, Monday, December 20, 2010 5:29 AM (24 seconds ago) Bookmark

no

maid in manhattan wasn't terrible!

oh and also i watched a movie with robert downey jr and marisa tomei in italy?? it was 90s in a way ive never seen. "only you."

yeah i guess the whole genre is kind of indefensible

― horseshoe, Monday, December 20, 2010 5:29 AM (24 seconds ago) Bookmark

no

― boo (surm), Monday, December 20, 2010 12:30 AM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i don't really mean it, surm! i just have a complex relationship with it.

We just watched Cyrus.

WS Marisa Tomei

def

WNS Jonah Hill or John C Reilly

marisa is definitely beautiful. i was at the ny premiere for cyrus!

congrats!

Superbad.

thanks xp!

something's gotta give -- i am in love with amanda peet

working girl <3

Search: Sleepless in Seattle
Destroy: You Have Mail

It's like how fertilizer can both make your lawn look beautiful AND blow up a building.

ugh saw 'how do you know' today - so so so terrible.

love 'love, actually'. good xmas movie too.

ugh saw 'how do you know' today - so so so terrible.

Aww, disappointing. I typically like James Brooks movies, and Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd. I bet it was stupid Owen Wilson's fault, wasn't it?

i dunno - the whole thing was... dumb. and i usually don't have super high standards for rom-coms. paul rudd was probably the best thing in it. there was this stupid thing - reese plays a 'jock' so they make this grossly obvious point of how she drinks guiness. and it was just all over the place. i also felt like the trailer told a somewhat different story to the movie itself (it was 75mins into the movie before any scenes from the trailer even appeared).

looked stupid

ooh what about "how to lose a guy in 10 days" haha

I remembered some more:

-Moonstruck!!!
-Sleepless In Seattle - god help me its the corniest ever but I kind of love it
-Desperately Seeking Susan - Aidan Quinn was omg cuet
-The Chase? I think thats what it was called. Charlie Sheen, Kristy Swanson actiony car chase rom com
-Sweet Home Alabama - its just too cute

<3 moonstruck

omg desperately seeking susan

beyond

bump

Bringing Up Baby
Tootsie
Husbands and Wives
Before Sunrise

Roman Holiday
The Apartment
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Tootsie
Broadcast News
Sideways (sort of, if you focus on the Giamatti/Madsen story)

i just re-watched that scene from breakfast at tiffany's when audrey hepburn plays moon river

yeah i guess the whole genre is kind of indefensible

post-Say Anything, pretty much

Clueless
Four Weddings And A Funeral
Ghost Town

ok morbs i'm curious: is Say Anything your pick for the last good one or the beginning of the whole genre being crap?

it was the most recent 3.5/4 example I could think of, cept arguably Eat Drink Man Woman

lol i haven't seen that

morbs i am sort of disappointed in you; i would expect you to be creeped out by say anything.

Morbz is forgetting his previously-expressed love of Eternal Sunshine, apparently...?

otherwise I am kinda in his corner.

are there laughs in Eternal Sunshine? i don't remember any.

I hate modern rom coms where one or both of the leads is just an awful human being and the point of the film is not just to bring two people together but to cure someone of their awfulness. Like they thought that the key to Bringing Up Baby was the tightassedness of Cary Grant's character, not the effortless charm of Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

Ruffalo dancing to the Clash in his underwear

xp

Jim Carrey getting beaten up by a little kid

americas sweethearts, but mainly for hank azaria and christopher walken

i kind of loved that movie

it's a mess but i always watch it

It's weird how many of these I've never watched considering how high my tolerance is for bad movies. I feel like there's some embarrassing ones I'm just not remembering right now, but Clueless is a favorite.

yeah my wife is a big fan of Sweethearts and it has grown on me

Oh, I remember an embarrassing one now! The Holiday is a real guilty pleasure -- Cameron Diaz and Jude Law are very charming, the Kate Winslet/Jack Black portion of the movie is bad but at least has Eli Wallach.

I really think of Eternal Sunshine as way more than a "rom com" (ie, the only great Hollywood comedy of the last 10 years) so it didn't come to mind.

Currently, I Love You Phillip Morris is a good twisted one. There's a nice Johnny Mathis scene in the cellblock.

ooh speaking of Jude Law I did think that ridiculous Doris Day/Rock Hudson homage with Renee Zellwegger was a lot of fun

Down With Love, I think it was called?

or was that with Ewan Macgregor

yeah i loved that one. everyone hated it, though!

it was ewan macgregor

i think i like the idea of romcoms more than i typically enjoy really watching them... saw leap year recently and it was horrible

i sort of enjoyed the one with ashley judd and hugh jackman that i always want to call Animal Husbandry, but I know its real title is something else

nobody said 40 year old virgin?

ashley judd-hugh jackman one is "someone like you" and it is terrible god i'm such an asshole in this thread but i don't understand you people.

ashley judd is so delightful, why dont you see her in anything anymore... she should be cranking out breezy, likable comedies

lol it IS terrible, but i found it strangely watchable idk

she's an angel

but she's no good at comedy. she should be in harrowing dramas and break everyone's heart.

four weddings tho.

i just noticed her character's name in it is Jane Goodale... jesus...

she can do anything!!

nobody said 40 year old virgin?

wasn't gonna bring up Apatow at the risk of waking slumbering Morbz-kracken....

but 40yo Virgin, Knocked Up, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are all awesome

i liked "someone like you" a lot

i like greg kinnear in anything tbh... hugh jackman has no ability to be sensuous though

haha Animal Husbandry

yeah, i think hugh jackman is the wrongest part of that movie

i think i like the idea of romcoms more than i typically enjoy really watching them... saw leap year recently and it was horrible

My mom wanted to see this so I went with her for her birthday, and it really is the worst. Soooo horrrible.

i think romantic comedies have been especially bad in the past couple of years. i saw when in rome, guys. poor k bell.

Oh and High Fidelity is a good one, mostly bcz the woman sez "You're never gonna change, so I'll give in and marry you." Real talk.

All three stars are good in How Do You Know, but Brooks's timing and smarts have just atrophied.

yeah this does seem like a bad period for them... all about steve was agonizing, tho it seems like a credit to ~sandy~ that i came away from it thinking no worse of her

10 Things I Hate About You
Truth About Cats and Dogs
The Philadelphia Story

feel like clueless & 10 things i hate about you are a distinct genre within the teen movie

i think romantic comedies have been especially bad in the past couple of years. i saw when in rome, guys. poor k bell.

― horseshoe, Monday, December 20, 2010 4:54 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is so weird to me too because i feel like there are tons of likable 30ish actresses perfect for these things

like in a world where we have rachel mcadams AND anne hathaway AND amy adams AND isla fischer AND mila kunis AND elizabeth banks AND etc etc... how is it that there was not one good romcom this whole year

besides black swan i mean

every talkie by a fellow named Ernst Lubitsch

(there have been hardly any good ones since Annie Hall)

yea good point max. really good point

Haet Woody Allen.

i kinda feel like there are a lot of dece romcoms in recent history, as long as you can count stuff like 'devil wears prada' or that movie where sara jessica parker goes to diane keaton's house for xmas dinner. also the proposal has a really winning way about it - ive watched it twice and had a decent time

but - & i remember posting abt this w/ the schef and some others once - i have really low standards when it comes to these movies and just adore them all

feel like clueless & 10 things i hate about you are a distinct genre within the teen movie

these are both amazing movies they do feel distinct from 'romanic comedy'. really decent teen movies are whats missing in my life although 'easy a' was p great

like in a world where we have rachel mcadams AND anne hathaway AND amy adams AND isla fischer AND mila kunis AND elizabeth banks AND etc etc... how is it that there was not one good romcom this whole year

― max, Monday, December 20, 2010 5:04 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

is isla fisher one of john hammond's secret dinosaur sites

i assumed it had to do with the recession and romantic comedies being relatively cheap for studios to make. what was wrong with when in rome wasn't the acting (anjelica huston was in it!!!!!! why???????) it was the writing. it seemed like the script was pasted together from a million other movies and no attempt at making sense was even made.

Hate Sweet Home Alabama because my sympathies are 100% with getting the hell out of Dodge and why Dodge has to be such a BITCH about it, I'm sure I don't know. GOD FORBID, NEVER REINVENT YOURSELF, YOU LYING LIAR.

i do kinda wanna see the proposal - dont feel like you can count devil wears prada though, the 'romance' isnt the draw of the movie at all

AND kate hudson AND kristen bell AND amanda seyfried AND jennifer garner

Unoriginal, bad-TV scripts are all that get greenlit, apparently.

I'll bite, what good has Rachel MacAdams ever done anybody?

max, how is it that you care that we don't have one good romcom this year?

the proposal is tolerable--sandy is hilarious as always (tho dammmn she looks like she had a ton of work done) and i have to admit ryan reynolds is p funny

I'll bite, what good has Rachel MacAdams ever done anybody?

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, December 20, 2010 5:10 PM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

she was the best thing in mean girls!

i kind of love the proposal tbh

also http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/3746/rachelr.jpg

That one with Sandra Bullock where she's the bitchy editor, although the age difference does kinda kill me cos she's gotta be at least 40, and an aspiring editorial asst is unlikely to be more than, what, 24 or so? It's at least a 10-year span, and I'd like her to segue into mature roles, if that's possible...?? But the dialogue does crack me up. Aaaaand I even cried at the end when she walks out of the barn wedding.

Oh! Oh! The Invention of Lying!!

t seemed like the script was pasted together from a million other movies and no attempt at making sense was even made.

this is pretty much how hollywood studios do things : /

max, how is it that you care that we don't have one good romcom this year?

― 486.52 (CaptainLorax), Monday, December 20, 2010 5:10 PM (51 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they are the best movies to fall asleep to/watch on sundays

i feel like 'boo, you whore' is the last great thing mcadams did, but i havent seen Red Eye and i hear she's really good in it

ryan reynolds owns, eventually everyone will love him imo - just a matter of time

Laurel, I liked that one too! I think it's "The Proposal". Mainly I just wanted that guy's parents house. AMAZING.

this is pretty much how hollywood studios do things : /

― buzza, Monday, December 20, 2010 5:12 PM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, maybe i'm just imagining it but i feel like the romantic comedies of my youth, even when they were just workmanlike, were better.

probably i was just dumb, though

also i hate to be predictable but they seem to be more woman-punishing than they used to be

i watched broadcast news the other week, it was funny in parts but tbh i would just as soon have watched the proposal, it would have "taught me less about myself" but at least i would have been out of there in 90 minutes

the invention of lying is a wretched movie btw

also i hate to be predictable but they seem to be more woman-punishing than they used to be

― horseshoe, Monday, December 20, 2010 5:14 PM (19 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah i think this is true. apatow takes a lot of shit for the way his movies treat women but hes not much different from the woman-oriented romcoms out there

or, i guess woman-punishing was always a major strand in romantic comedies but now it's all there is? like i asssume "he's just not that into you" is horrifying, right?

dont feel like you can count devil wears prada though, the 'romance' isnt the draw of the movie at all

fair enough - i guess the better recent movies that fall under the umbrella of 'girl films' arent really traditional romantic comedies. like 'step up 3d' is fucking awesome & i encourage all ppl to watch it, but its not really a comedy & the romance is peripheral

whats the ryan reynolds movie where he goes 30/30 w/ three chicks and has a kid - its sorta stupid & shallow but i loved that movies evocation of 90s optimism

definitely maybe

:( Re Ivent of Lying: I was highly amused as long as I floated along w/o thinking too hard about the giant gaping maw of a flaw with the central premise, which was that just because people can't LIE, doesn't mean they have to SAY EVERYTHING!!!

i guess the best girl-starring comedies arent romcoms anymore

yes i was waiting desperately for a competitor/villain figure to invent the uncomfortable silence, but it never happened

my favorite film of the year was a warped romcom: Wild Grass. It's French, the director is 87, and the leads are about 70 and 60.

Simply, worst effing year for American films ever by a wide margin. And I had to see a lot of multiplex trash.

like i asssume "he's just not that into you" is horrifying, right?

its take on gender power dynamics is fairly awful but mostly its really long. really though it was the pinnacle of 'how do any of these ppl afford all this shit from working these entirely fake-sounding jobs' pleasure-killing

like i cannot remember what really happened in any of the storylines but damn did those characters have some fukken swag homes and sailboats and cashmere sweaters

I remember liking "The Baxter" because it had a good premise and because Michelle Williams is v. v. pretty but I don't really remember how good it actually was.

:( Re Ivent of Lying: I was highly amused as long as I floated along w/o thinking too hard about the giant gaping maw of a flaw with the central premise, which was that just because people can't LIE, doesn't mean they have to SAY EVERYTHING!!!

― Jesus Christ, the apple tree! (Laurel), Monday, December 20, 2010 5:17 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

hah, yeah, that bugged me too - also it was just such a bummer of a fuckin movie - i enjoyed gervais' chaste relash with garner though, like he didnt have enough self-esteem to write in a scene where he gets to kiss her or touch her butt or something, smh

max why didnt you mention reese witherspoon, shes about as good a comic performer out of any of the big hwood stars rn imo

i should see the baxter

that newer drew barrymore/justin long movie got surprisingly good reviews ... did anyone see it?

like i cannot remember what really happened in any of the storylines but damn did those characters have some fukken swag homes and sailboats and cashmere sweaters

― forGet (Lamp), Monday, December 20, 2010 5:20 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

a lot of what i liked about the proposal was sandra bullock's clothes, but that's a lot of what i like about the philadelphia story, too.

reese is good, dunno know why i left her off, i guess cause she hasnt been in much lately

i got vanity project vibes from that drew/justin movie, plus i find the leads to be tremendously unlikable

i purposefully left of katherine heigl and scarlett johansson tho

kirsten dunst should get into the romcom game

I don't like barrymore or long either but it also had jason sudeikis and charlie from it's always sunny in it, and those dudes are funny.

yes what ever happened to kirsten dunst; she's darling!

she's crazy/beautiful

It Happened One Night

what's the romcom where a guy (maybe David Schwimmer) is a writer and he has to decide to go out with the exotic girl that matches the girl from his stories or the homemaker girl that is his editor/typist (might be Jennifer Andiston)?

shes in that movie with ryan gosling where he murders her

according to wikipedia shes been depressed poor thing

classic rom/com plot

dunst gets on my nerves but she's pretty good at what she does

i do love kiki dunst

sometimes i could just watch marie antoinette over and over

i couldnt bring myself to netflix that barrymore/long movie because the sight of justin long's face repulses me. i also refuse to watch 'shes out of my league' because the rating system central to the movies plot appears deeply flawed

i purposefully left of katherine heigl and scarlett johansson tho

heigl makes everything shes in worse. the movie she did w/phantom of the opera has to be some kind of nadir. like 'worse than bride wars, even' nadir

kirsten dunst is a hero...

yeah katie heigl is basically whats wrong with modern romcoms imo she is also horribly unlikable

scarlett is such a babe but shes not funny or very likable. i get why woody allen casts her in everything tho.

ive only seen heigl in knocked up but i liked her well enough in it

tho i dunno scarjo was pretty good in ghost world. she could maybe pull it off.

she is likable in knocked up, but that was the last time, apparently

The Kirsten Dunst/Simon Pegg vehicle I caught the 2nd half of yesterday was mildly entertaining.

xxp I liiiiiiike Heigl! I like her overly literal, wide-eyed thing!

kirsten dunst should get into the romcom game

― max, Monday, December 20, 2010 10:24 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

u shd rent 'how to lose friends and alienate cinemagoers' son

yeah how to lose friends was ok but not quite a romcom

just sayin if that movie had been about a hilarious may december btw kiki and jeff bridges, set in the tron computer system, well, this might be a very different thread

it's more of a rom com than 'the devil wears prada' but ok yeah

Heigl's not coy, you know? Coy is just not in her repertoire. Maybe that makes her a bad choice if the emph is on "rom" and not on "com" but I still like her.

okay i was with you for a moment, but gross

xxp about dunst/bridges

<3 kirsten anyway

Hitch is prob my fav recent romcom that isn't a teen movie or resnais

i don't think it's necessarily heigl's comedic chops that are the problem - i just don't find her personality engaging at all

yeah hitch is fun enuf

so is that movie with emma stone. does that count as a romcom? shes good, i want her to go places.

or that julie delpy movie w/ adam goldberg? it is a comedy, about romance.

she has a nice voice

i meant stone. i totally loved and forgot about that delpy/goldberg movie!

is that easy a that lamp referred to, max?

@max: 'easy a'? its really more of a teen movie than a rom com - romantic lead has less screen time than stone's parents & the relationship is mostly beside the point/empty device to give story a place to go

i put it on my top ten of 2k10 list

yeah easy a.

i dug the delpy movie a lot too. & its so 'woody allen' that i think it kind of counts. but you dont see them fall in love which is sort of key to the romantic comedy concept

Notting Hill's my guilty pleasure.

i keep forgetting delpy's writing and directing her own shit now. i wanna see ~the countess~

Martha Meet Frank, Daniel and Lawrence

apparently tomorrow is julie delpy's birthday!

just, yknow

what's the romcom where a guy (maybe David Schwimmer) is a writer and he has to decide to go out with the exotic girl that matches the girl from his stories or the homemaker girl that is his editor/typist (might be Jennifer Aniston)?

― 486.52 (CaptainLorax), Monday, December 20, 2010 10:25 PM (23 minutes ago)

Apt Pupil

i haven't seen it, but Alex and Emma is about a writer and his stenographer. that's Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson, btw.

xp lol

'alex and emma'

luke wilson and kate hudson, so easily confused with the stars of one of the biggest sitcoms of all time

crosspost

alex and emma was the only romcom I ever liked

apparently there is an Audrey Hepburn version? according to youtube commentors

ohh... someone said: a loose remake of "paris when it sizzles"
I hate going through a bunch of youtube comments to find answers

I guess I like some 80s movies that I never considered to be romcoms even though they might be.

oh and I like Amelie. I think I'll shut up now

i want to watch the goodbye girl again.

Interesting to hear ppl hating on Heigel - I sorta like her. Then again, the think the only "recent" thing I've seen her in is Knocked Up.

whoever said upthread that the movie with her and g butler is all time low is otm tho

she's kind of the worst thing in Knocked Up.

she is absolutely LOATHSOME in 27 Dresses

Why have you seen 27 dresses?!

Midsummer Night's Dream is a favourite too now i think of it

OK so Gerard Butler is pretty hot but why does he make what only seem to be horrible horrible movies. The last time I was at my parents' place we watched some thing with him and Jennifer Aniston - he was a bounty hunter, i don't know what it was but it was pretty much unwatchable.

i believe it's called 'i married a bounty hunter'

Why have you seen 27 dresses?!

I too often ask myself this question

I blame my wife's menstrual cycle

I don't really watch a lot of these. Ones that come to mind:

10 Things I Hate About You
Can't Hardly Wait - that sorta counts, right?
Would Before Sunrise/Sunset count as comdies? They both (sunrise more so) have parts that are funny and I love them a lot.
Moonstruck
Pretty in Pink

Would Before Sunrise/Sunset count as comdies? They both (sunrise more so) have parts that are funny and I love them a lot.

these are the only two i could think of. they're funny but idk if they 'count'. otoh 'annie hall' is really not like most rom coms.

Not to get all Waltzing Matilda up in here but:

Strictly Ballroom
Muriel's Wedding

i love before sunrise and before sunset, but i don't really think of them as comedies

I like Katherine Heigl! I thought she was good in Knocked Up.

x-post to HM - Yeah. You know what randomly popped into my head the other day? When they're walking across the bridge and they meet the actors who invite them to the play that night and the one actor makes little horns and says, "I'll be the cow" or something like that. Little parts like that kill me.

HS - Yeah I guess overall I wouldn't either but they sure as hell are romantic.

yeah i almost think BS/BS are too good for this thread

yeah, I think you're right

yeah im down with heigl... my main problem with knocked up is i didnt buy into the romance between her and rogen, but it wasnt her fault

my heigl-lohan girlfriend

Oh, I remember an embarrassing one now! The Holiday is a real guilty pleasure -- Cameron Diaz and Jude Law are very charming, the Kate Winslet/Jack Black portion of the movie is bad but at least has Eli Wallach.

― THX THO... (Nicole), Monday, December 20, 2010 4:34 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm just the opposite, watched it for the Winslet/Black parts and tolerated or let my mind wander during the Diaz/Law parts

i think BS/AS might be too serious for this thread, but i don't know about being too good

There's this movie that is like before sunrise but it was like Home Alone in Europe (not so much people getting bonked on the head, but I just remember the protagonists being about Kevin's age, and there was probably mischief abound).

Does anyone have any idea what this movie is?

Oh I sorta remember wanting to see The Holiday but I never got around to it in the end.

Before Sunset KILLS me...some of those scenes of Delpy on the boat, or when she's dancing, I think *I* fell in love with her

Definitely beyond rom/com though...but both are superlovely/delightful

i like greg kinnear in anything tbh... hugh jackman has no ability to be sensuous though

― the boobfinder general (Princess TamTam), Monday, December 20, 2010 4:51 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i've noticed a weird thing with Greg Kinnear where he is always in rom coms as the less sympathetic male lead in a love triangle or the female lead's ex or guy she ends up breaking up with...Someone Like You, You've Got Mail, Loser, the Sabrina remake, Ghost Town. i think the romantic subplot in Baby Mama was refreshing mainly because it was kind of nice to see Kinnear get the girl for once. OK i've talked myself into writing a thinkpiece, nobody steal my idea thanks bye.

i've noticed a weird thing with Greg Kinnear where he is always ... guy she ends up breaking up with

this is literally the plot of the aforementioned "The Baxter"

i think kinnear's half-annoying and half-attractive, so that makes sense xp

isn't that weirdly the default mode of all ex- talk soup hosts?

oh yeah Baby Mama was pretty good. kinda as good as this genre gets really.

oh i've seen The Baxter, thought it was aight. but it's not like that movie's about an ACTOR who always plays the other man. (xpost)

As Good As This Genre Gets is another movie where Greg Kinnear is kind of a third wheel

Home Alone in Europe ... Chasing Liberty?

i don't know if Chasing Liberty is a good movie but i have watched it on multiple occasions just because Mandy Moore is ridic in it

i've noticed a weird thing with Greg Kinnear where he is always in rom coms as the less sympathetic male lead in a love triangle or the female lead's ex or guy she ends up breaking up with...Someone Like You, You've Got Mail, Loser, the Sabrina remake, Ghost Town. i think the romantic subplot in Baby Mama was refreshing mainly because it was kind of nice to see Kinnear get the girl for once. OK i've talked myself into writing a thinkpiece, nobody steal my idea thanks bye.

― some dude, Monday, December 20, 2010 7:05 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

i think it's cuz he plays dickheads incredibly well... theres sort of an evil sheen to his earnestness and nice smile, idk - i thought this was used really well in little miss sunshine, he was my favorite non-arkin thing about that movie

dont think he's a dickhead in too many of those roles tho, just a watery eyed sap

he's good as a dickhead in Ghost Town, which i hadn't really thought of as a straight up rom com, but weirdly it is one of my favorite comedies of the last couple years...but yeah he's generally, per Seth Rogen's bit about You've Got Mail being his favorite movie in Undeclared, "a very likeable Greg Kinnear"

Is Ghost Town worth watching?

i kind of turned it on expecting to get bored by it and thought it was actually kind of great and affecting.

"Home Alone in Europe ... Chasing Liberty?"

I think this movie might be contemp. with Home Alone or even older. It seemed like it had a very leisurely pace.

I like the Gervais U.S. rom-coms (Ghost Town and the Invention of Lying) but they both have sudden moments of HEART where like someone stuck ten minutes of really sappy drama in the middle of an enjoyable comedy

the invention of lying was almost uniquely bad to me, a real mess

i'm a sucker for a high concept

i just didnt laugh once, and i found it really depressing too... plus i hate looking at or listening to gervais

"the invention of lying was almost uniquely bad to me, a real mess"

have you seen King Ralph?

plus i hate looking at or listening to gervais

― the boobfinder general (Princess TamTam), Monday, December 20, 2010 6:31 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

why did you watch a movie starring ricky gervais then?

prefer king ralph - iirc it was consistent in tone, knew what it was

it was on tv, there were a lot of talented people in it

did you catch the cameo by this guy?
http://www.danwei.org/2009/08/01/headshot_joe.jpg

Invention of Lying was a bit awkward in marrying some elements that didn't quite go together but Ghost Town imo had HEART all the way through, the early stuff with him being a dick was just a set up for his Scrooge-like redemption. and i don't really like Gervais much at all so i feel weird stumping for this movie.

Ghost Town felt very old fashioned Howard-Hawks-ish in a way. Something very sweet and simple at the heart of it.

i've never even heard of it!

I counted Before Sunrise yesterday.

haha chasing liberty is TERRIBLE but i watched it in the theater with a friend who shares my lifelong adoration of mandy moore

have we talked about this? I LOVE her.

but I haven't seen chasing liberty

don't ever see it, but yes, isn't she the best?

"candy" is a great song, also

It is a good song and yes, she's great. I would like to hang out with her.

one of the staples of old school ILM was me and jess and ethan perving over mandy moore

ship of drools

She's ridiculously pretty and just seems down to Earth.

Ghost Town felt very old fashioned Howard-Hawks-ish in a way. Something very sweet and simple at the heart of it.

― Square-Panted Sponge Robert (VegemiteGrrrl), Monday, December 20, 2010 7:50 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes, totally!

one of the staples of old school ILM was me and jess and ethan perving over mandy moore

― some dude, Monday, December 20, 2010 8:42 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

i remember this - also the critical reevaluation of 'candy' - weird that her acting career seemed to stall out

Yeah. I saw her recently on a rerun of (don't judge) Grey's Anatomy but I can't remember the last movie she made which makes me sad. Probably Ryan Adam's fault.

had i known she had been on grey's anatomy i totally would have watched. terrible things i have watched for mandy moore: how to deal, entire episodes of entourage, probably other stuff

i have stared at the How To Deal poster thinking i could totally sit through that movie but haven't brought myself to it yet. she was on Entourage during its best season, though, and Saved was dope.

saved is actually good, yeah, so i didn't include it

<3 saved

oh horseshoe here's one i might be able to one-up you on: did you watch American Dreamz? now that was a p.o.s.

!! i have to admit defeat; i completely forgot that movie existed. sorry mandy!

lol. i think my threshold is Because I Said So, that one looks like it's gotta be the bottom of the barrel.

Man she's made some crappy movies, huh? WHY GIRL, WHY?!

you know what is a hilariously shitty movie with mandy moore, is a walk to remember. it is crypto-christian and she looks like a vampire in most of it.

lol YES!!

crypto-christian vampire, tho- can see that bein a pretty hot look

SPOILER she dies of cancer iirc, which is why she looks like a vampire. it's not as hot as you might think.

ok bit of a downer there tbh

it is wildly uneven in tone

the invention of lying is just totally hateful and ill-conceived and boring but ghost town is pretty cute

Wait. I'm supposed to have a favorite rom com? wtf is that about? As of 2010, they're obv a commodity, like canned corn. Am I supposed to have a favorite can of corn, too?

i think u've had enough

lol

I'm not big on romcoms but I like Blind Date (Rest in Peace, Mr. Edwards!), Enchanted and Valentine's Day.

'he's just not that into you' had so much potential and yet was such a TOTAL FUCKING FAILURE. ugh. i was so mad at the end of it.

i was surprised by how much i liked Ghost Town too, it was charming.

it's christmastime, can't believe no one's mentioned While You Were Sleeping. it's the original sandra bullock being goofily fetching, plus peter gallagher!

Sandy was so cute back in the day.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iSEMdSAVL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Aw I love that!!! Perfection.

Better Off Dead

and er.. Princess Bride. if that counts!

this is probably a good thread to recommend Zerophilia, which is kind of a weird sci-fi rom com about a guy who can change gender. very low budget and a little amateurish but i really liked it.

Anything I love and think is truly quality I disqualify from mentioning in this thread.

what? why?? i don't think "romantic comedies" have to be "bad" -- i just think you have to judge them by different standards than you do other movies

For me, the whole genre has become so awful in the past few years that it now seems almost insulting to refer to something like His Girl Friday as a romcom.

yea, the past few years, i think ur prolly right.

(not that i've seen enough to know, but they just look so horrible, some of them)

Yeah, I haven't seen that many of the recent ones but I think you don't have to see a movie like When in Rome to know it is bad.

More comedy than romance but: SPLASH! :) It was on hdnet this morning

"The statue of Liberty was a gift by the French to..naked women everywhere. BOCCE BALLS!!"

who is down for a romcom ballot poll

only if you confine that filthy term to crap from Nora Ephron on

would you prefer "romantic comedy"

i would prefer "comantic romedy"

i wd use "romantic comedy" for champagne classics and "rom com" for the lobotomized variety.

fine whatever

i would use "com rom" for the vobotomized lariety, personally.

well I'm not running this poll if its just me and Morbz

whine fatever

sounds like it wd be the best poll ever, Shakes

Kind of want to see Sleepless in Seattle win just to make Morbs blow his lid.

i would enjoy this

I would enjoy this too!

I'll mail you this and the syllabus Veg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Rrr9z8S1L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

:D

I am up for it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjBI73EoPmI

Romcoms are so often date-night fare that i find it hard to dissociate them with who I first saw them with. Love Actually may or may not be a good movie, but it reminds me of a girl i still have a soft spot for, so I like it. Likewise ....About Last Night.

Love Actually is one of the most hideous, lazy, amateur, cynical piece-of-shit movies I've ever seen.
Rowan Atkinson bit is funny I guess.

worst thing about Love Actually is when I try to express how appalling it is people go 'ah, yeah, I suppose it is a bit schmaltzy'
THAT'S NOT THE THING THAT'S SHIT ABOUT IT

The opening scene likely goes over the heads of most Americans, where Christmas is just another day on the singles chart, and Wet Wet Wet's cover of "Love is All Around" wasn't a big hit. I remember having to explain this and several other bits of intended humo(u)r as we watched it.

so, looks like we have a half-dozen potential voters or so? need more

Eh, why not.

I like Love Actually

I'm in!

and co-sign on the recommendation of that Harvey book.

Garbo is a scream in Ninotchka, but can she outpoll Sandra Bullock

That reminds me... What would you call Sandra Bullock if she were your friend?

I screened Three Wise Girls from 1932 on Criterion Channel last night. Marie Prevost (yeah, <that> Marie Prevost) there has a memorable turn in what has to be a very early example of that tried & true RomCom cliche: the smartass, straight-talking & less-glamorous best friend/roommate to Jean Harlow's protagonist.