You don't have to be a romantic to enjoy a good romance film now and then. . . but it helps.What is your favorite romantic film?
Panelist: Tennessee Jed
Sweet Home Alabama. Hey I'm married to a Tennessee girl! :) Reese is at her best in this genre. Fred Ward as her Civil War re-enactor dad is classic.
Panelist: ScottDS
I always felt Charlie Kaufman was overrated, and then I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Holy crap! Thought-provoking without being pretentious (unlike his other films), well-acted, and totally, unapologetically romantic. It's hard to find good romantic movies nowadays since they're either completely cliched, or they try to circumvent the criticism by purposely pointing out the cliches. "Meet me in Montauk."
Panelist: AndrewPrice
My all-time favorite is a Korean film called My Sassy Girl. Yes, there's a Hollywood version, but I wouldn't waste my time with that. But since you're probably looking for an American film, I offer Clueless. Based on Pride and Prejudice, this film was all kinds of warm and fuzzy.
Panelist: BevfromNYC
Gone With the Wind. Okay, I know you know that I would say this, but let me tell you why. It is a classic Southern Gothic romance. Scarlett O’Hara is a pampered daughter of Tara plantation and the most beautiful belle in three county at the cusp of the Civil War. As the story progresses, the life of this classic Southern Belle is slowly destroyed. Torn between the old world she misses and the reality of a new world order, she does whatever she has to do to save her beloved Tara including marrying men she does not love. Unable to convince her childhood crush Ashley Wilkes to leave his wife, she finally agrees to be married for the third time to the scoundrel Rhett Butler “just for fun” (and to pay the back taxes on Tara). When the woman that has kept Ashley and her apart finally dies, she realizes that she has outgrown Ashley and the man she really loves is Rhett, the only man who has truly understood her. But is it too late? The movie leaves the most romantic question hanging in the air for all eternity. Will Rhett return?
Panelist: T-Rav
Bleh. So I don’t watch a lot of romance, because I have a Y chromosome, but of the few I have watched, I think A Walk to Remember (based on the Nicholas Sparks book) was probably my favorite. I don’t remember why, really; there just seemed to be a sincerity and a sweetness (not to mention tragedy) to the lovers, and I bought it. Plus, Mandy Moore was cuter at that age.
Comments? Thoughts?
You've Got Mail- Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I really enjoyed how they start off adversarial and he slowly works his way into her heart.
ReplyDeleteFollowed closely by Laws of Attraction and The Wedding Singer
All of them are about underdog men that eventually win the hand of the girl.
I guess growing up as the child of divorce I have a thing against adultery in movies... I don't care how you slice it... Meryl Streep's character is a bitch in Bridges of Madison County -- I never saw it -- deal breaker...
ReplyDeletewith that preface I think Casablanca is a great Romance for me -- precisely because the principle wins out. Maybe they did or maybe they didn't after Ilsa pulls of the gun on Rick... I like to think they sacrificed for the good of the cause.
The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara is my all-time favorite romantic picture heat and light that one there.
I've seen quite a few over the years that were really enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI don't like them to be very heavy. I lean more toward quirky romantic comedies.
My Chauffeur
Mannequin
Splash
Crazy Moon
Pretty in Pink
The Pick Up Artist
Blind Date
Say Anything
Valley Girl
I've only recently started to discover the old stuff. Thank you Netflix, the only problem with Netflix I've seen so much, I can't remember it all.
Butterflies Are Free
The Seven Year Itch
I'm in T-Rav's boat, not a big romance fan. So, being the animation buff, I'll go with what I know and pick Disney's Robin Hood. It's basically the same Robin Hood story as any other movie except with talking animals. I've always liked the matter-of-fact-ness about Robin and Marian's affair. Sorta like, "Hey Girl, you know I just wanna whisk you off to the forest and make you my bride, but first I gotta loose the bonds of oppression from the English people."
ReplyDeleteRomantic films are usually understood to mean love stories. Typical date movies. I usually can´t stand them.
ReplyDeleteThe romantic films I like have a romantic hero. The best example that comes to mind is John Wayne´s Tom Doniphon, the Man who shot Liberty Valance. He does what is necessary, gives up on his love and melts away, unremembered by all but a few.
Also, The Wind and the Lion is a great romantic movie.
Come to think of it, most movies by John Milius are unashamedly romantic, including Conan, Big Wednesday, Red Dawn and Rough Riders. They are just not date movies. Pity.
One love story I liked was In the mood for Love, set in 1960s Hong Kong. Just as in my above examples, they don't do it. The relationship is chaste. Why not? It is only a movie :-)
ReplyDeleteLots of good choices!
ReplyDeleteThere's so many, but most of the romance films I like are the classic ones.
McClintock
North To Alaska
The Quiet Man
The Philadelphia Story
To Catch A Thief
Bringing Up Baby
The Shop Around The Corner
His Girl Friday (okay, pretty much any Cary Grant film)
Ball Of Fire
Rear Window
The African Queen
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
For modern day films I liked:
Kate And Leopold
The Princess Bride
Gorgeous (perhaps one of Jackie Chans best dramas, but it still has some action)
Streets Of Fire
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Groundhog Day
OverBoard
Stakeout
The Man With Two Brains
As you can see I don't like straight chick flicks. There has to be some comedy and action too.
Unfortunately, most romance films of the last decade or so are so cliched or bland they ain't funny.
Or so gross that romance is the last thing I associate with them, let alone comedy or action.
Before hollywood makes anymore romance films the writers and directors should really study the classics. Of course, all film makers would do well to do that.
I don't care much for romcoms but I sat through my fair share of them when I was single.
ReplyDeleteThe only one I can recall is IQ, due to the presence of Albert Einstein. That is the only aspects of all the romantic comedies I have ever watched that I haven't successfully blocked out.
And we wonder why they say "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus"! LOL! Gentlemen, why don't you think of romantic novels, Rom-coms, and movie epics as scientific research!
ReplyDeleteBev, LOL! Yeah, there definitely seems to be a slight difference here, doesn't there?
ReplyDeleteFloyd, I never liked Casablanca growing up, but something clicked when I hit my 20s. That's an excellent romantic film.
ReplyDeleteMax, I really liked Say Anything. And Ben, Princess Bride is great, though I actually have a hard time seeing it as a romance because I don't really like her very much.
ReplyDeleteEl Gordo, Call me crazy, but it's hard to see Conan as a romance film! LOL!
ReplyDeletetryanmax, Disney often built romantic elements into their films, even when the film really wasn't focused on that at all. I think it strengthens their stories a lot.
ReplyDeleteShawn, You've Got Mail was good. I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, IQ was kind of cute.
Hmm... some folks seem to be on to something here.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the biggest romance guy myself but I suppose one could say that, "Not all romances are date movies but all date movies are romances" or something like that. :-)
As for me, in addition to Spotless Mind (I think my crush on Ms. Winslet helps)...
Annie Hall and Manhattan are near-perfect romantic movies. I know not everyone is a Woody Allen fan (to say the least!) but this is him at the top of his game. I almost prefer the latter to the former: the black and white cinematography, the Gershwin music... critics didn't like that Woody wasn't creating a realistic NYC but that wasn't the point; he was creating the NYC he saw in his head.
I know I've mentioned these two guilty pleasures before: Woody's Everyone Says I Love You (his only musical) and the first Hanks/Ryan collaboration, the ridiculously underrated Joe vs. the Volcano, which I love dearly and will defend to my dying day.
Superman had its romantic aspects. That was the idea Donner and Mankiewicz had: if they could get the love story to work, then everything else would fall into place. "Two kids on a date" was how Donner described the meeting of Lois and Superman.
Ya know, while there were some episodes that might've been romantic, there really was never a romantic Star Trek film. Insurrection had the chance and blew it!
Call me cliched, but I still like Pretty Woman.
ReplyDeleteScott, I'm not a Woody Allen fan, but I did enjoy Manhattan.
ReplyDeleteBev, Isn't that the truth! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand romance movies, I avoid Rom-com's like the plague.
ReplyDeleteThe Wedding Singer was mentioned and it is a great movie with a strong romantic story in it. But it isn't just a romance movie, it was a great comedy as well, which is why I like it.
That's about as close as I get.
Scott.
Well, I thought I was going to be original by naming Sweet Home Alabama, but there was Tennessee Jed with it listed as the very first choice. Ah, well. I tend to be an old chauvinist, so I also tend to think of romance movies as "chick flicks," so my list is very short. Of the oldies, my pick would be the Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr version of An Affair to Remember.
ReplyDeleteScott, I can't imagine a romantic Trek film! I don't think it would fit the mold of what they've become -- action films.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Woody Allen fan and I stopped watching his films in recent years, so I can't really comment on his stuff.
I'm not sure your formula works either. A lot of horror movies and summer movies are date movies too just because it's more about who you are with than what you are watching.
DUQ, I liked Pretty Woman a lot and it definitely set the mold for most rom-coms to follow. I'm not thrilled with either actor, but at the time they didn't bother me.
ReplyDeleteI still prefer Clueless or Strictly Ballroom.
Ellen and Bev, Sad isn't it. LOL!
ReplyDeleteScott, No love for Strictly Ballroom? That's a local product for you!
ReplyDeleteLawhawk, An Affair to Remember was really excellent.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, Yep.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I loved your Top 25 romance films article.
http://commentaramafilms.blogspot.com/2010/02/top-25-romance-films-you-should-know_14.html
And no one mentions The Sound of Music?
ReplyDeleteGreat scenery, great music, great lyrics - about the only great movie with child actors - and Nazis!
And great quotes like these:
Herr Zeller: I've not asked you where you and your family are going. Nor have you asked me why I am here.
Captain von Trapp: Well, apparently, we're both suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me - I meant to accuse you.
The Baroness: Somewhere out there is a lady who I think will never be a nun. Auf Wiedersehen, darling.
Roman Holiday. Like duh.
ReplyDeleteK, Good call! LOL!
ReplyDeleteMycroft, I forgot about that one. That's one of my favorite romantic films. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen! Here's the link: Top 25 Romances
ReplyDeleteI checked out the top 25 list and I actually do like most of the films you list. LOL!
ReplyDeleteBev, why don't men regard romantic movies as research? Because it's fairly certain that if any guy used films as their model for wooing a girl, he'd end up with a restraining order against him.
ReplyDeleteDUQ, I don't like all of them, but I did enjoy most of them.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, Isn't that the truth! Rom-coms are about as realistic as most action films.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think they're premised on people who are already in love pretending they are falling in love.
Scott, Eternal Sunshine isn't the kind of movie I would usually like, but I did actually kinda like it. I think that's maybe because I saw it as part-romance, part-philosophical.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really interested in the crew doing all this to Carrey's mind, though. It did pay off eventually, but I didn't care for them as people.
Andrew, I think that's pretty much it. Otherwise, there is no way that You've Got Mail makes sense. When Hanks and Ryan had their little "break-up," Hanks got extremely nasty with her, and I don't know a single woman who at the very least wouldn't hang his words up like a Sword of Damocles after that.
ReplyDeleteEither that, or I need to look harder for a real-life Meg Ryan who will put up with my crap and stay always perky. No, on second thought, that's not what I want at all. And they say men have unrealistic ideals.
tryanmax, I really liked Disney's Robin Hood when I was a kid. It was just a fun movie (and also cut out the part about Robin being betrayed and murdered, of course).
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think your summation of Robin's attitude could and should be reworked into the latest fake Paul Ryan quote.
T-Rav, you spotted my muse!
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of funny, I checked out the AFI top 100 romantic films, and Double Indemnity is listed.
ReplyDeleteNow, I love that film, but I never thought of it as a romantic film in any shape or form, LOL.
T-Rav, I should have liked Eternal Sunshine but I really didn't. It rubbed me wrong in many, many ways.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, There is no real life Meg Ryan.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not just that film. So much of what gets done in these films would be considered stalking if the girl didn't already like the guy. Or at the least, the guy would get written off as "creepy."
It Happened One Night and its 80s-updated companion piece The Sure Thing.
ReplyDeleteT-Rav and tryanmax, Robin Hood was in theaters when I was young and we saw it a lot. I enjoy that one very much. In many ways, it's the classic example of what Disney should be doing.
ReplyDeleteBen, LOL! You're kidding? I never would have called that a romance either. Quite the opposite in fact.
ReplyDeleteEric, I have not seen The Sure Thing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, ironically, Robin Hood is considered a low-mark for Disney. I suspect it has a lot to do with the unabashed Americanization of a classic English tale. Too much for the critics to handle, I suppose.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, That doesn't surprise me. It's a great film for kids. Very watchable all around, nice values, lots of fun. The critics can take a flying leap... as usual.
ReplyDeleteTryanmax, that's a good point. Maybe in those times a guy could get away with acting like Cary Grant, Clark Gable or John Wayne (of course, they were smart enough to know what their ladies REALLY wanted) but today they would be charged with assault and slapped with a restraining order.
ReplyDeleteAnd modern romances would be worse. Kurt Russell in Overboard would be charged with kidnapping, possibly rape, fraud, and probably more crimes, lol.
I think it's true that the majority of romances have a fantasy element, and impossible standards to meet for regular guys and gals (not to mention a bit of suspension of belief).
What romantic films are the most realistic?
I guess I would pick The Shop Around The Corner.
Really narrows the field.
Ben, A lot of romance films involve things that would be considered stalking at a minimum, but even more likely assault, kidnapping, and rape. They really are fantasies and should never be acted up in the real world without a total guarantee of consent.
ReplyDeleteYou're right too about the impossible standards. Don't forget that romance films involve people who are perfect looking, are matched because they have chemistry, are not bound by real world constraints like traffic, money or inability to get amazing private access to famous places, and everything the characters say is both written in advance and edited to be perfect and is guaranteed to get the perfect response to make all the lines work.
So yeah, don't expect a real date to look anything like a romcom.
I don't know why I dislike romantic comedies so much--well, actually I do. I'm not a chick, but more importantly, romcoms today are so incredibly paint-by-numbers predictable, and there are so many eye-rolling moments. Even in the '90s, when movies were better, this was true. In my opinion, they would do better to go heavy on the comedy, light on the romance. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, I think that's a problem for movies generally, but I agree that romcoms (and action flicks) are really prone to formula abuse.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting is when you look at the list of famous/most loved romance films, you don't often find anything formulaic on it. It seems that as with other genres, it's the ones that do their own thing which stand out.
I always thought the Thin Man films were fairly realistic, as far as Nick and Nora's relationship goes.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I bicker a lot like that and say things we don't mean but know each other knows we don't mean it and actually mean something else, or are joking between the lines.
Or maybe that's just 31 years of marriage.
At least I could relate to it more.
I'm not a huge Katherine Hepburn fan but she stars in a David Lean film called Summertime. She plays a single school teacher vacationing in Venice. She falls in love with a local, natch, but she's very good in it. It is also a postcard from Venice as Lean works his cinematic magic on the place.
ReplyDeleteFloyd, I'm not big on Hepburn either, but I agree about Summertime. Lean is an excellent director in terms of cinematography. He's done some truly incredible work.
ReplyDeleteBen, I've never heard of a married couple who don't argue... except on film. On film, arguing is usually only done by people who hate each other. In real life, it seems to be the opposite.
ReplyDelete"...why don't men regard romantic movies as research? Because it's fairly certain that if any guy used films as their model for wooing a girl, he'd end up with a restraining order against him."
ReplyDeleteTryanmax - LOL! Okay, good point. But flowers are always nice touch...and FYI the proper response for any questions like "Honey, does this [BLANK] make me look [BLANK]" is almost always "NO!" Unless the word she says is positive like "sexy" or "hot", it should always, ALWAYS be "NO!".
Bev, What if it's a trickier question like, "Honey, does this dress make my butt look big and sexy?"
ReplyDeleteAndrew, Make sure they don't reverse the question too. "Does my butt make this room look big?" That one's tricky. It's best to feign illness at that point and flee the room. ;)
ReplyDelete"FYI the proper response for any questions like "Honey, does this [BLANK] make me look [BLANK]" is almost always "NO!" "
ReplyDeleteHmm, that explains a lot. My response has always been, "Oh! So that's what we're doing today? We're going to fight?" ;-)
Down with tryanmax!
ReplyDeleteAndrew - As DUQ suggests - If you don't know how to answer create a diversion like fainting or throwing up. However I would avoid "fleeing" as it may require some kind of explanation.
ReplyDeleteBev, That's solid advice. Thanks! I'll avoid fleeing in future and will just attempt to throw up. :)
ReplyDeletetryanmax, You live in a dangerous world, my friend!
Tryanmax, LOL! In your case maybe a good fleeing would work!
ReplyDeleteSo Bev, what do you think of modern romcoms? Do they hold up to the ones from the past?
ReplyDeleteAndrew, let's just say I have a very effective screening process.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I would hope so, otherwise you'd be a candidate for Bobbit-ization.
ReplyDeleteAndrew - I don't think the writing is as good as the past rom-coms from the past as in the pre-'70's. The objective of the story has always been the same, - boy meets girl, boy almost gets girl, boy loses girl by doing something wrong, boy redeems himself and gets the girl. But the new ones just don't seem to be as clever. There is something that is just so much more romantic about leaving the final details to the viewers imagination. You know, the shot of dropped shoe beside the bed or the pan to the sunset.
ReplyDeleteBev, Subtlety is a lost art.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that the new films are much more formulaic than the older films. I mean, ultimately, they are all the formula you mention. But in older films, you don't notice it as much as you do in the new films. I'm not really sure why. Maybe the writing is just worse or maybe they're being more obvious because they don't respect their audience, but it seems like in older films, the formula was well hidden within the story whereas these days the formula is the story.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a realistic rom-com, but my mind immediately jumps to the one I find most unrealistic--and intentionally so: Down With Love. I guess you could say that is one of my guilty pleasures, because I do like that one a lot. I waver between whether it is even a good movie because it is so cliched but is obviously self-aware. I'm sure it's not historically accurate, though I wouldn't know. I just think it's fun and colorful and the musical number at the end is good.
ReplyDeleteSleepless in Seattle is what comes to mind when I think of Romantic Comedies. I love the guys talking about The Dirty Dozen. It is in response to a woman talking about An Affair to Remember.
ReplyDeleteIf you have seen Notting Hill, it is a dry British Rom-Com. When Julia Roberts shows up at the book store to declare her love for Hugh Grant, in real life, most guys would head for a lawyer to get a restraining order.
Subtlety? What's that?
ReplyDeleteT-Rav, Subtlety is like the villain won't be destroying the entire planet or the explosion doesn't blow up the whole city. At least, that's the Hollywood definition of subtlety. :(
ReplyDeleteJoel, I didn't care for Notting Hill at all. It was like a smirk-off between two unlikable people.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I can't think of any realistic romcoms off the top of my head. Maybe some of the teen ones?
ReplyDeleteMajor props Andrew for mentioning 'My Sassy Girl'! I just simply love that movie! It's one of those films where I have to watch it again at least once a year. It's definitely the best modern (post 1980) romantic movie ever.
ReplyDeleteOther best awesome Romantic movies:
Oldies:
Casablanca (DUH!)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Gone With The Wind
Wuthering Heights
Roman Holiday
Doctor Zhivago
The Apartment
Sabrina
Charade
The Quiet Man
Many of the great romantic screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s (i.e. His Girl Friday, It Happened One Night, The lady Eve...)
Semi-oldies:
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Woody Allen movies when he didn't suck (Annie Hall, Manhattan, etc.)
Princess Bride
When Harry Met Sally
Somewhere in Time
Newbies:
500 Days of Summer
the 'Always: Sunset on 3rd Street' Trilogy
Beauty and Beast (Disney)
Once
In the Mood for Love
Il Mare
Thank you Professor! ;)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy My Sassy Girl, I think actress stands out as unique in the world of romcoms because she's not pretending just to be nasty so the film works, she really comes across as angry and upset throughout the film. It's like she's the first romcom actress I've seen who isn't worried about trying to seem cute.
Excellent list of movies.
I have found that as I get older, my taste has changed SO much. The Quiet Man, Gone With The Wind, and Casablanca are the classic gold standards. Period.
ReplyDeleteCurrent long time favorites though: I love Love Actually, possibly because it shows so many different aspects of romance - young, old, forbidden, etc. My preferred bumbling Hugh Grant movie is Four Weddings and a Funeral. The sub-plot romances are often more romantic than that the main one. Non-bumbling Hugh Grant is Sense and Sensibility. Although I liked Meg Ryan initially, I got tired of cute. I don't like unrelenting cute. (Overboard is an exception). Much Ado About Nothing ('90s version) I thought was chock full of romantic notions.
Firefly, Meg Ryan wore out her welcome with me too. Cute gets old fast and at this point I just find her annoying.
ReplyDeleteMy tastes have changed too over time. I like a lot of the classic romances a lot more.
Well, after a while, her face stopped moving and it seemed to become more and more plastic.
ReplyDeleteThere is that too. But even leaving that aside, she just got annoying fast.
ReplyDeleteThe Thomas Crown Affair either version.
ReplyDeleteGood call Joel! I like the original better, but both versions are quite good.
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteI like the latter better. The first was too nihilistic for me. Both involve women who think their bodies and their witty repartee will capture their man. What they don't realize is a man needs more than that. ;-)
Joel, We do? Uh... I mean, sure we do! ;)
ReplyDeleteI like Steve McQueen a lot, which is why I like the original better. But to me, they're both almost equally as good.
Braveheart. I thought it was romantic.
ReplyDeleteL.A. Story good Steve Martin flick.
Donnie Darko boy alters time and sacrifices himself so that his girlfriend will live in an alternate timeline.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid When Steve Martin readjusts Rachel Ward's breasts after they fall out of wack and she softly moans "Oh Rigby" you can just feel the love in the air.
Interesting choices, Shawn. Certainly not traditional romance films.
ReplyDeleteNot techniclly a movie but the Firth/Ehle "Pride and Prejudice" adaptation.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit Braveheart is a tough sell, and certainly not traditional, but the courtship between Wallace and his childhood sweetheart is nice. And when she is killed, the ensuing rebellion is due to the love he had for her.
ReplyDeleteSorry Andrew, no love from Strictly Ballroom here. Never seen it, not my thing, I won't watch a movie that I don't like just because it is Australian and they make heaps of bad movies here.
ReplyDeleteAdam Sandler makes some types of 'romantic' movies that I can enjoy as they are good comedies and they are quite sweet.
Scott.
Michael, Good call! That's one of my favorite too.
ReplyDeleteShawn, That's true. I just don't think a lot of people would have called it a romance.
ReplyDeleteScott, That's ok, I don't care if a movie is made in the US either. And like your industry, ours turns out a TON of crap.
ReplyDeleteThese:
ReplyDeleteA MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946)
THE QUIET MAN (1952)
THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943)
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
SUNRISE (1927)
ONE-WAY PASSAGE (1932)
THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
MARTY (1955)
ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)
RANDOM HARVEST (1942)
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940)
HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1943)
GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1939)
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1947)
PICNIC (1955)
THE LADY EVE (1941)
BALL OF FIRE (1941)
BIRD OF PARADISE (1932)
HOBSON'S CHOICE (1954)
PETER IBBETSON (1935)
SHALL WE DANCE? (1996)
GROUNDHOG DAY (1993)
ONLY THE LONELY (1991)
PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948)
A HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949)
I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING! (1945)
THE BLISS OF MRS. BLOSSOM (1968)
MELODY (1971)
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969)
--note the conspicuous lack of Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan. ;)
OK - Some of the definitions are... interesting...
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the love for the classics (The Philadelphia Story is the best movie ever of all time! period.)
The Quiet Man and McClintock are both great choices.
Sleepless in Seattle is OK. An Affair to Remember is BETTER. Roman Holiday is pretty awesome too.
When I was a teen, Pretty Woman was epic - but then I realized it was a movie about a hooker!!! But I still watch pieces when it shows up...
Clueless was awesome. 10 Things I Hate about You (modern take on Taming of the Shrew) was pretty good.
I have to admit I liked How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - even though there is NO way that would have worked that way. Maybe I just like the actors...
I really do not like NSparks. I read a couple of his books, but never finished The Notebook - and haven't managed to get through the movie either.
Apparently they have actually done research (I haven't looked it up - I was told this by my Social Psych prof) and shown that RomComs actually have a negative influence on relationships. Since they never show any of the real life after the obstacles are overcome and happily ever after begins, and given the dearth of successful marriages in the last generation, too many GenX and younger women think that's what married/relationship life should be - flowers, tingles, and lust. Unfortunately, they then learn that those things barely get you through the dating intro period and they don't know what to do next.
Backthrow, Interesting list, and I appreciate that it's Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan- free. :)
ReplyDeleterlaWTX, I haven't seen the research of which you speak, but I have witnessed that anecdotally. I've seen far too many young women who think that relationships should be like they are in the romcoms and when they aren't that the man must be a dud. It never dawns on them that romcoms are entirely fake.
ReplyDeleteAs I said somewhere above,
A lot of romance films involve things that would be considered stalking at a minimum, but even more likely assault, kidnapping, and rape. They really are fantasies and should never be acted up in the real world without a total guarantee of consent.
You're right too about the impossible standards. Don't forget that romance films involve people who are perfect looking, are matched because they have chemistry, are not bound by real world constraints like traffic, money or inability to get amazing private access to famous places, and everything the characters say is both written in advance and edited to be perfect and is guaranteed to get the perfect response to make all the lines work.
I enjoyed While You Were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock. About A Boy with Hugh Grant isn't too bad either. This isn't exactly my favorite type of film.
ReplyDeleteAlright - I'll say it; I liked Joe Wright's "Pride and Prejudice." LOTS of humor and a very well told story. Think he really nailed the period and the way people interacted at that time.
ReplyDeleteOutlaw, I enjoyed "While You Were Sleeping."
ReplyDeleteKenn, I thought it was good. I prefer the Colin Firth version. But I can't say either version was bad. :)
ReplyDelete