Welcome to the latest episode, where we discuss 2000’s What Women Want. In Nancy Meyer’s first foray into rom com directing, she goes BIG: Two of the biggest stars at the time as leads, impressive ensemble cast, and a high-concept idea full of promise. Unfortunately for her (and Helen Hunt, and Alan Alda, and most of all Marisa Tomei) this movie fails to deliver on all points. For a film that wants you to think it’s about the struggles of the average (read: rich and white) woman, it’s really say...
Mar 25, 2015
Welcome to the latest episode, where we nurse the emotional scars handed to us from the Oscars by delving into our very first Jennifer Lopez movie, 2002’s Maid in Manhattan. We couldn’t be more divided on this movie: Alia seems to love it unquestioningly while Lisa remains sceptical. We can both agree that Jennifer Lopez was perfectly suited for this role, and the (heartbreaking) supporting cast of Miranda Richarsdon and Bob Hoskins really elevates this film to a level that its script probably n...
Feb 27, 2015
Happy Birthday to us! We turn the terrible twos this week, so we thought we’d celebrate with a special movie we’ve had in the hopper for quite a while: 1934’s It Happened One Night. It’s hard for us to hide our complete love for this movie, but really, what’s not to like? A road movie that includes an escape by sea, bus and car, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert blow every other at-odds couple out of the water with their amazing chemistry and quick wits. This film started it all off, and has an ...
Feb 13, 2015
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . Brought to us by the filmmaking team of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, it passes its ten-year anniversary as a pretty solid example that an American romantic comedy can be experiential, romantic, emotionally complex and a truly realistic depiction of the trials of falling in love, losing love, and doing it all over again. We can’t help but get excited talking about a movie that just seems to get ...
Jan 21, 2015
We celebrate the Holidays once again as we discuss the 2006 film The Holiday , which is surprisingly short on the holiday stuff and big on the painfully long scenes. A good starting premise is too-soon soaked with overblown hollywood embellishments, reminding us that two women trying to grow out of bad relationships, really just need to rebound to the next guy. Did the actors do the best they could with a bad script? We’re not entirely sure, but we do learn that Cameron Diaz cannot carry extende...
Dec 24, 2014
This week we discuss 1997’s Grosse Pointe Blank , starring John Cusack as a hit man, Dan Aykroyd as an evil hit man, and Minnie Driver as his love interest (Cusack’s not Aykroyd’s– that would be weird). We’re joined by Andrew Parker of Dork Shelf to get to the bottom of this funny, somewhat unscrupulous, action-infused romantic comedy. Oh, and it has a great soundtrack– just try and get Blister in the Sun out of your head after listening to this episode. Episode 79 – GROSSE POINTE BLANK...
Dec 05, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we take a break from the romance to discuss the acclaimed 1980 comedy 9 to 5. While the gender politics haven’t aged all that well, the trio of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton boasts undeniable charisma, and they do kick some figurative, and surprisingly literal, ass in the name of equal rights in the workplace. Including a memorable scene of the three women gettin’ high and imagining zany revenge fantasies, the film takes some crazy turns that Parton’s s...
Nov 21, 2014
We celebrate Halloween with a discussion of Hello Again , a little known ghostly rom com from 1987 starring Shelly Long and Gabriel Byrne. It’s the age old story of a suburban housewife who chokes to death on a chicken ball and then gets necromanced back to life by her sister, then ends up meeting a handsome doctor. In short: insanity. We’re joined by guest Stacey Sproule to try and make sense of this otherworldly comedy. Episode 77 – HELLO AGAIN...
Oct 30, 2014
Join us this week as we tackle the 1998 rom com killing machine You’ve Got Mail . Written and directed by Nora Ephron, based on source material from the 1937 play Parfumerie and the 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner , this is Tom Hanks’ and Meg Ryan’s third and final film together. We find a lot to talk about with this monster: is this a sweet love story, a commentary on modern romance and dating, or a capitalist propaganda machine? We’re leaning towards the latter… but at least we have Dave...
Oct 12, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 1995 Amy Heckerling film Clueless . Both an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma , and a highschool movie at the start of the teen-movie craze of the late 90s, it’s also a pretty neat time capsule. We discuss Alicia Silverstone, the early 1800s rural English social sphere vs. mid-90s Beverly Hills, the ever-ageless Paul Rudd in his first rom-com role, and what it’s like to revisit almost twenty years later… sigh , we feel old. Episode 75 – CLUELESS...
Sep 24, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2005 film Hitch , Will Smith’s first, and interestingly, last romantic comedy vehicle, and boy is this movie something. Smith barely keeps this one together with his natural charisma, but with hopeless comic timing, awkward performances, and generally the idea that all women are stupid enough to get tricked into falling in love… and this stinker still manages to clock in at 118 minutes. Good thing we still have those old Fresh Prince episodes to go ...
Sep 11, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the newly released 2014 film The F Word , (or the more generic “ What If ” to those outside Canada). Starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, and helmed by Michael Dowse, this film offers a fresh take on a pretty conventional rom-com story of woe: what if the one you fall for is already taken? We discuss the origin of the film from an original play, why weddings are such a genre staple, and we relish in the beautiful shots of our hometown of Toronto, in...
Aug 28, 2014
Join us this week as we discuss the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid . This isn’t your average Farrelly Brothers’ remake, but the original helmed by comedian/actor/director/writer Elaine May. The film starring Charles Grodin, (pre-grumpy Dad phase), Cybill Shepherd and Jeannie Berlin, follows a honeymoon doomed with bad decisions and packed with so much squirm-inducing, terrible behaviour, it’s a wonder if this could be inspiration for all the anti-hero leading characters of more contemporary comedi...
Aug 20, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the beloved 1987 film The Princess Bride . We also team up with our bros from the Rewatchability podcast, J.M. McNab and Blain Watters , for our first ever joint episode! With so many quotable lines, wonderful costumes, silly stunts and sad stories from Blain, this is one memorable film for our generation. We discuss Rob Reiner and the wonderful cast, the amazing Mandy Patinkin, Homeland (no spoilers, promise!), whether Buttercup is a standout heroine, ...
Aug 11, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss 1988’s Bull Durham, a movie about sex and baseball, and sexy-baseball. We follow Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Kevin Costner through a season of the minor leagues and a summer of moving on, moving up and a lot of getting it on. We share our thoughts on the differences between 1988 and 2014, how not to fuck up a strong female role, baseball memories and lots of Susan Sarandon love. This week we welcome special guest Anne T. Donahue , writer, fellow pod...
Jul 30, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the newly released FX pilots Married and You’re the Worst , the first in the crop of tv pilots coming this year in our very own rom-com tradition. Packed with comedy actors both familiar (hey Jenny Slate!) and new, both shows aren’t wasting any time getting right into their respective romantic entanglements, showing us a slice of both the domestic and the wild, single life. Is 2014 the year of the romantic comedy rebirth on television? We’ll have to wai...
Jul 23, 2014
Join us this week as we discuss the 1987 film Roxanne . Starring Steve Martin and Darryl Hannah, and boasting a wonderful cast of supporting characters, (hey there Fred Willard and Damon Wayans!), this Cyrano de Bergerac retelling is as wacky as it is romantic, and often very hard to dislike – unless you don’t like movies where a couple guys dupe a woman and betray her emotions – in any case, it teaches one to never pick on a grown man with a big nose – he may just know karate. Episode 68 – ROXA...
Jul 16, 2014
This week we watched the much anticipated 2014 film They Came Together . Packed full of silliness and absurdity, this self-reflexive parody includes an ensemble that reads like a list of your favourite comedy actors. Helmed by David Wain and written by Wain and Michael Showalter, the geniuses that brought you Wet Hot American Summer, it may be the romantic comedy genre parody to end all parodies. There’s no more jokes left, guys. This week we welcome special guest Dan Gorman , from the podcasts ...
Jul 09, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we go back to 1981 when the genre was fresh and exciting, and Albert Brooks was telling it like it is with his second feature, Modern Romance . While Brooks holds a special place in the comedy lover’s heart, it’s the efficient storytelling and cringe-worthy realism that gets us excited to talk about this noteworthy rom-com gem. The film is a springboard for conversations about love, relationships, the nature of the romantic comedy, and also about drunk-dialing. We...
Jul 02, 2014
Join us this week as we discuss the newly released 2014 film Obvious Child. Friends, we couldn’t wait to see this film and were not disappointed – in fact, we engage in the kind of gushing normally saved for the fares of Moonstruck, The Apartment, or in Alia’s case, The Housesitter. Not many of these come along in this genre, (women in four of the major creative roles? Holla!), and this is definitely a big fat present; a present that unselfconsciously covers heartbreak, foolishness, mistakes, ho...
Jun 25, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we take on Working Girl, a film that packs 80s star power with the likes of Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. Helmed by Mike Nichols, it shows us a little slice of 1988 America, a world where feminist politics on the big screen were surprisingly condescending, and everyone wants to be a cog in the wheel of the corporate machine… and everyone had big hair. All of them. We discuss unintentional but blatant sexism, objectification, our love for Jo...
Jun 18, 2014
For our latest episode, we braved half-empty theatres to see 2014’s The Other Woman, starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton and some guy from Game of Thrones (aka Alia’s “second favourite Lannister”). The movie, directed by the oft-maligned (by us) Nick Cassavetes, tries its hand at a tale of female friendship where you would least expect it, then seemed to think that exploring the concepts of ‘cheating’ and ‘monogamy’ in a movie about being ‘the other woman’ was maybe just too much. We ...
Jun 11, 2014
Well friends, we’re back from hiatus to present a little thing we like to call the Sandler-Barrymore Trifecta. That’s right: we watched 1998’s The Wedding Singer , 2004’s 50 First Dates , and 2014’s Blended … and we suggest you not try this at home. With Blended as the latest release from the romantic comedy duo of Adam “Has left the building” Sandler and Drew “Could do better” Barrymore, it says a lot about lame dads and unfortunately not a lot about the title theme. But hey, Terry Crews was th...
Jun 04, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2000 film Happy Accidents . What’s more fetching than an earnest, fun-loving man that also reveals that he’s a time-traveller? We’re not sure. This movie, starring Marisa Tomei and Vincent D’Onofrio might just charm the pants off you, if you can get past the late 90s formalisms and remember Anthony Michael Hall from his 80s-movie days. We discuss the late 90s romantic climate, Ruby and Sam’s turbulent relationship, why time travel and romance go so ...
May 09, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 1997 film My Best Friend’s Wedding . A vehicle that re-launched the rom-com reign of Julia Roberts, (“how dare she take a break from romantic comedies?” thought someone in 1996, as they rented a VHS copy of Mr. Wrong.). The film offers the actress a strong platform to show off her manic comedic chops, including some pretty sweet pratfalls, as well as flaunt her trademark cackle. While a box office smash back in ’97, we still found it so enjoyable we...
May 02, 2014
Last month, the two-part series finale of the epic romantic comedy sitcom How I Met Your Mother unleashed unto the interweb a haze of confusion, upset, and in some cases, blind fury. We’ve let the dust settle in the wake of the finale’s March 31 air date, and try to reason through the end of an often silly, often charming rom-com series that subverted the genre with the ritual postponing of the ‘meet cute’. Whether you were an occasional, ambivalent or super-fan, everyone seems to have an opinio...
Apr 25, 2014
Join us this week as we discuss the 2000 film High Fidelity , by the guys who brought you Grosse Pointe Blank, plus the guy who wrote Con Air, and Stephen Frears. Based on the book by Nick Hornby, John Cusack stars as Rob Gordon, a record store owner reeling over his most recent breakup. And like anyone who might value a record collection over say, character or maturity, Rob drags out his top-five most painful breakups, like a sad, sad, self-pitying pop song. He may not be a great guy, but we su...
Apr 13, 2014
Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2009 film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past . Perhaps a surprise to anyone who ignored this one back in 2009, the film is a loose adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol- but with way less dimension and way more Matthew McConaughey. As fans of the recent HBO series True Detective and in light of the recent Oscar win, we go back to the days when McConaughey was the king of Hollywood romantic comedy, you know, to do some compare and contrast. With a little ...
Apr 04, 2014
We say goodbye to March and our month-long excursion into romance (sans-comedy) with sighs, daydreams and long gazes out the window… and also the 2004 film The Notebook . A vehicle that launched the young careers of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, it also boasts the wonderful James Garner and the amazing Gena Rowlands, for some strange reason we can’t quite figure out… in addition to being an odd directorial choice for Nick Cassavetes, son of Gena Rowlands and the late John Cassavetes. While a ...
Mar 28, 2014
It’s almost springtime and we continue our romance month by warming up to some mature summer lovin’ with 1995′s The Bridges of Madison County . Maybe it’s the age-old tale of forbidden love, or how surprisingly good Clint Eastwood looked without his shirt, but we sure find it easy to get into this 90s classic starring Meryl Streep, playing Italian-born Iowa housewife Francesca, and Clint Eastwood as transient nature photographer Robert, (also playing double-duty directing the film). With the lus...
Mar 25, 2014
