FRIDAY OPEN THREAD: Which Romantic Comedies Remind You That Love Isn’t A Lie?

Hello friends and countryqueers, how the hell are you? I hope good, but also, if you aren’t I get it. It’s heartbreak season, you know? Like maybe you bought your new partner a bunch of cute holiday presents and then they dumped you! Or maybe you’re just remembering that one really good relationship you had seven years ago that ended messily but you still sometimes secretly think could work. I don’t know, these are hypothetical, definitely not things that I have done this month, but you know, if you have, it’s okay.

Here’s the thing: yes, I went through a breakup a few weeks ago, and yes I think love is a lie, but I also know that it isn’t. And I also know that love isn’t the way it happens in the movies, but damnit, sometimes your queer tender heart needs to snuggle up with your cats, watch 27 Dresses, scream “WHY ARE STRAIGHT PEOPLE LIKE THIS” while stuffing your face with popcorn, and then weep when the two leads finally get together at the end. Sometimes that’s the way you remember that if these boring heterosexuals who’ve done no work and never communicate until they have to can find love, then gosh dangit, so can you.

My December has been spent watching Nora Ephron movies, mostly. There’s something about the fast talking WASPs of the 1980s and 1990s that has always soothed me – it’s similar to the reason Chekov called his plays comedies I think, because their problems are so trivial but they’re taken so seriously – and honestly, the woman wrote/directed/produced the best romantic comedies of all time. My favorite, obviously, is When Harry Met Sally, because young Meg Ryan is a dream come true in every way. But there’s also Sleepless in Seattle, with Rosie O’Donnell’s random appearance, and how could we forget the last moments of You’ve Got Mail???? When nothing makes sense, I crave these stories because everything wraps up neatly, and doing the right thing always gets you what you want.

I’m also obsessed with the holiday themed rom-coms. Hallmark movies are an obsession of mine, even though I scream “MAKE IT GAY YOU COWARDS,” every time the protagonist and her “best friend” interact with one another. I’m thrilled about the prospect of there being a gay holiday rom-com starring Kristen Stewart next year, and I can’t wait for Holiday Help Desk from Beleeve Entertainment to come out on Christmas Eve. And of course, Love, Actually gets watched at least once a holiday season, even though the jury is still out about whether or not it’s a good movie.

Okay friends, what are you doing to heal your heart this season? How are you turning your blue Christmas around? What romantic comedies do you turn to year after year when you need to be reminded that love isn’t a lie? I want to know your faves! Especially if you think Jerry Maguire is a better romantic comedy than WHMS. I also want to know about your week and your life and your pets and your job and anything else you want to tell me. I’m very glad we’re here together this weekend, and I can’t wait to see what you’ve got to say!

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Ari

Ari is a 20-something artist and educator. They are a mom to two cats, they love domesticity, ritual, and porch time. They have studied, loved, and learned in CT, Greensboro, NC, and ATX.

Ari has written 330 articles for us.

95 Comments

  2. My bae and I recently rewatched P.S. I Love You while on an off-season weekend getaway to Long Island. There was something about watching it in the winter darkness in a sleepy town with a bottle of whisky and homemade chocolate chip cookies that really did the trick. The first scene has a couple of lesbophobic and transphobic jokes so NOT A GREAT START but the rest of it is such a weeper. Highly recommend.

  3. I’ve been trying to keep cosy and watch gentle films. Last week, I re-watched You’ve Got Mail, on the basis of my entirely mis-remembered understanding of Al’s excellent Meg Ryan Style Thief piece (https://www.autostraddle.com/style-thief-meg-ryan-from-the-1990s-386055/), which I could have sworn was all about You’ve Got Mail.

    I still prefer the 1940 original (The Shop Around the Corner)…but I noticed some interesting things about You’ve Got Mail:

    – Meg Ryan’s hair
    – Meg Ryan’s clothes
    – my crush on Heather Burns in this film (her character is definitely queer, right? Look at those clothes and her cute hair!)
    – awesome bisexual Sara Ramirez works in the market as a checkout girl
    – two minor women characters leave their appalling male characters and run off together.

    • LOVE ‘You’ve Got Mail’!! I had no idea there was an original though, I’ll definitely have to check that out.

    • I got taken to task for not mentioning Meg Ryan’s You’ve Got Mail style in that piece, so I’m glad you were able to still appreciate it! I LOVE Sara Ramirez’s guest appearance

    • 1. Meg Ryan in ‘Courage Under Fire’ may well be my root.
      2. ‘Works in the market as a checkout girl’ YES. Snorted my tea.

  5. Wow. Based off those first paragraphs you and I have had the exact same month Al… But wouldn’t it be nice if it COULD happen the way it does in movies?!

    Also, I kept checking before for the Friday Open Thread. Turns out it was only Wednesday. Whoops.

    Holiday movie season is the only other time besides the Stanley Cup Playoffs that I wish I had cable. So many classics!

  7. I would say IMAGINE ME AND YOU but that reminds me of my abusive ex so…

    MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. It’s everything and has the best quotes and I am Toula. (Besides the fact that I don’t think she’s the oldest sibling and I am.)
    Pretty sure my dad (who hates the movie because my mom loves it) pulled the “why you want to leave me!?” card when I said I’d be moving out of state (one state away!) to be with my partner. She gets how much my mom and I adore the movie so. She’s like my Ian. Or I guess I’m her Ian because I’m more masculine but whatevs. OPAAAAAAAA

  8. I have a soft spot for 10 Things I Hate About You. Heath Ledger singing Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You to Julia Stokes while being chased by school staff is one of my all time favourite scenes. I’d be totally embarassed if someone did that to me but also secretly wish they would.

  9. ROMCOMS, I love them so much! I love Love, Actually, even with all its faults. It has Emma Thompson listening to Joni Mitchell and that makes it worth my time. I actually remember watching it in theaters, then renting it at least four times from a Blockbuster near my old house. I eventually got it on DVD.

    When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail are my go-to films, so I’m afraid I can’t give you any recs. I’ll probably look for those in the comments.

    I’m dating and feeling v hopeful about love and possibilities? So I’m probably in a different wavelength right now. Tonight we’re going dancing and meeting each other’s friends. We’ve got plans to spend Christmas together (she only spends New Years with her family) drinking, sunbathing and chilling in her temporary swimming pool because you gotta take advantage of living in the southern hemisphere.

  10. I just wanna thank all the AS writers who also had totally wrenching breakups and heartaches in 2018; what timing. I see you (seein’ me)

  11. I’m a hopeless romantic that love rom-coms. I don’t know if one day I’ll get a love like this but I can dream. I tried to knock down my list and narrow it down to a few, some of them are: Sabrina (1954), Must Love Dogs (2005), Enchanted (2007) I know it’s very cheesy but I think it’s adorable and it has Amy Adams! and Baby Boom (1987) I rewatched this after not seeing it for a while and fell in love with it again.

  13. My thoughts on “romantic comedies” are easily summed up: they have nothing approaching romance, and less approaching comedy. Since when was stalker-like behavior supposed to be romantic (or funny)? I just don’t get it.

    As for love, I have no evidence that romantic love exists in my life, so I have no cause to believe in it.

  14. I have one week till I have to turn in my practically final draft of my thesis (I’ll have a chance later to do some minor edits and changes but not much). I’m freaking out but getting ready to buckle down and finish fixing and writing this thing. At the same time I’m trying to find a space where I can host the actual ‘doing’ of what I’ve been writing about, it’s hard to find a space with multiple ovens that allows for a class/workshop to use it. And at the same time as all that I’m trying to share as much love with my kitten as possible and get ready for top surgery in a few weeks. I am soooo looking forward to having a few days of fun and free time after next friday. Definitely gonna watch a bunch of cheesy christmas love stories, I really like Unlikely Angel with Dolly Parton

  15. I found the movie Big Eden (2000) on Netflix a while ago, but it’s not streaming anymore unfortunately. It’s just really nice, though possibly unrealistic about a small Wyoming town’s acceptance of an interracial gay relationship, and has a warm fuzzy happy ending.

  16. I LOVE rom-coms. They are my movie kryptonite and they ALL enchant me and make me believe in love. For example:

    – Sweet Home Alabama
    – The Proposal
    – Notting Hill
    – The Holiday
    – 50 First Dates
    – Made of Honor
    – P.S. I Love You
    – When Harry Met Sally
    – Just Like Heaven

    • I said this to a confirmed straight girl recently- and she knew what I was talking about. Blew. My. Mind. Did not help fix the micro-crush already there. Ah, those little indicators… the things that help you work out if the Soup Chef is into you or not…

      • What does “a confirmed straight girl” mean? She’s only had heterosexual relationships so far? Have you had a very deep conversation about her sexual identity?

        I’m truly not trying to sound sharp, but I know so so so many women who thought they were het, well into their 30s and even older, until they found out they weren’t in fact 100% het.

        So you know, someone’s experience to date – unless they have specifically mentioned they have no interest in women at all and never will – isn’t exactly an exhaustive indication!

        Here’s my constant advice on figuring out whether Soup Chef might be into you. Do you get on and laugh together and hang out? Or at least the first two? Are you sure she’s at least queer-friendly and, ideally, you’re out to her? Then ask her on a date. Something like, “I really like our chats, and would like to get to know you more. Drink or a coffee or a movie sometime?” [Insert your preferred activity – movies are good if you might get nervous chatting.] Or, “I really like spending time with you – would you like to go on a date?” I vote for using the actual word if there’s any chance she might take it ambiguously.

        And if she’s 100% het OR she’s just not into you, she can (hopefully gracefully) say that she’s not really interested in anything more than friendship. And then you know and life moves on. A little disappointment, maybe, but you haven’t gotten too invested, and you can just continue as things go. OR, you might find yourself on a date with someone cute that you have a micro-crush on. And even more hopefully, learn that she has a micro-crush on you.

        Good luck if you decide to take the plunge!

        P.S. I’m not a hugely smooth person, but I’ve done this more than once with “het” women. A couple of examples: I had a really nice ongoing fling with a former colleague for some months before I went to live overseas, and one multi-year relationship with a friend’s housemate who turned out had always had crushes on women and couldn’t figure out whether she was bi. Another relationship was when I was the second woman for someone who was still identifying as “I don’t know” in her early 30s… and during our time together she started IDing as bi, and has now been in a relationship with her current female partner for – good lord – 20 years.

        I’ve also never had, “Ugh, get away from me, you disgusting dyke”, because I’ve only approached people who had plenty of queers in their lives and who I was out to in the first place. So the “worst” response, just once, was “thanks but no thanks”. We both lived after the experience and continued to hang out in the same way we did previously.

        I’ve been out for over 30 years, and things are SO MUCH BETTER today in terms of acceptance, unless you’re living in a very conservative community. So, other than some slight embarrassment if you put yourself out there in a laid-back way and they’re not into it, the risks are much less (on average).

      • I’m currently reading this while my “confirmed straight girl” crush sleeps in next to me. I’d completely written her off as an option until she started asking me out. Turns out she is way less straight than either of us thought. Good luck with that crush—or a future one.

  18. I’ve never seen When Harry Met Sally et al. There was that one rom com (?) where the subway token lady fakes a relationship with a guy in a coma then falls for his brother (?best friend?) that I liked. Can’t remember what it was called.

    I’m counting down the days till I get my Christmas holiday and go to my mum’s (19th) for ten days – though I don’t go back to work until 2nd Jan, I have the weekend and New Year to catch up with stuff at home.

  19. I’m a sucker for Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore rom-coms.

    When Harry Met Sally
    You’ve Got Mail
    The Wedding Singer
    Music and Lyrics
    Two Weeks Notice
    My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    Blended
    Just Go with It
    The Prince And Me
    A Christmas Prince (Netflix)

    I saw Love Actually for the first time yesterday and really liked it.

    • I’ll be honest, most of those not my cup of tea. But i loved music and lyrics. Can sing you every word of Pop Goes my Heart right now.

  21. I LOVE ROMANTIC COMEDIES theyre like one of the staples of my personality I think especially cause baby gay closeted me could pine for the female lead the whole movie and everyone would be like wasn’t that great and I could truthfully say yes, yes it was (For some reason Bandcamp instantly came to mind here? I was obsessed with that movie for a long ass time)

    to all the boys ive loved before / scott pilgrim vs the world / while you were sleeping / think like a man is tERRIBLE except all the women in there i love them im in love / jumping the broom / deliver us from eva / holy shit i forgot about two can play that game that thing is AWFUL i need to watch as soon as i get off work / love and basketball/ THE BEST MAN HOW ARE STRAIGHTS EVEN MAKING IT TO THE ALTAR??? / BOOMERANG THE CINEMATIC CLASSIC / my big fat greek wedding / probably every other netflix original cause why not / 13 going on 30 i lOVE JENNIFER / i might even watch old tyler perry movies do you remember why did i get married? and the sequel i saw those both in theatres and just man there’s nothing like watching one of these movies with a mostly black audience like thats 98% of the enjoyment of watching rom coms is with the audience (my family and i are big fans of watching rom coms together for critiquing purposes but lately weve been watching like BET original movies where there are like killer wives and shit and that is on another level of ridiculous fun) / The Wood!!! / enchanted!! / coming to america!!!! / oh shit do you remember beginners i love that movie / BFFs is like my all time favorite lesbian rom com just cause its a literal fanfic come to life / AND IMAGINE ME AND YOU the first lesbian rom com i bought and snuck into my room and watched over and over again when DVDs were still a thing / btw have you searched lesbian rom coms we are in trouble ppl are putting pariah, the handmaiden, and im just like please stop

    what woN’T I be watching this season??

    i can actually make anything i think of a rom com if i try hard enough/spend enough time on archiveofourown (im on mean girls musical inspired ones atm) so do i even apply to this also love might be a lie but thats the movie i prefer so its chill (to me at this present moment before i go in for a closing shift)

    I LOVE YOU AL(AINA) that loves not a lie btw

  22. Hi ok so I was single for 10 YEARS. 10 years! And then I met my partner, last year! And I love her so much. So maybe love isn’t always a lie? Ok so she celebrates Christmas and last year she showed me the greatest holiday rom com of All Time THE HOLIDAY, staring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet and some seriously great real estate. Everyone’s house looks SO NICE. I like to think Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet ended up together, actually, in the end.

    • Yes! I was literally scrolling through the comments to see if anyone had mentioned The Holiday yet, because it is the best of the Christmas rom-coms and also has British people and Kate Winslet making friends with adorable old man Eli Wallach.

    • I had to leave the theater early on during this movie because my brain could not compute a world in which Kate winslett is interested in jack black. It still can’t.

  24. I am having a solid December so far if you ignore that holiday shopping spirits have been down again(been like this for the past 3 years), which for me means fewer customers. I need the cash so I can move out and host rad queer parties in a tiny LA apartment and for my bff to have another place to stay at when she wants to. Actually, half my blues are due to still being at home if that makes any sense. But, on the plus side good food, quality backyard to nap in, and neighbors who quiet. As for romcoms, I don’t really have a favorite, though I might be a bit partial to Something’s Gotta Give. Keanu, Jack, and Diane are a quality combo; plus Keanu doesn’t look like he’s aged since that movie or since he did Point Break. Vampire anyone?

    How is everyone’s week going? Mines has been solid. Yesterday a woman with Mike Tyson like face tattoos kicked me in my lower left back for no valid reason. She just told me to stop taking pictures of her with my phone, which was in my pocket then as I tried to walk past and around her, she kicked me. I didn’t fall and when I ask for an apology, but she told me to stop doing what I was doing. Never had that happen and felt very weird afterward. Oh well. In more positive news I spent my Sunday at Cuties Coffee for a fundraiser they were hosting to help this tpoc get a reliable ride. Iris(one of the owners) painted my face it was really relaxing. They really did a great job with the painting. Then spent the rest of the day with my bff with my face painted. Really good times.

    Said painted face.

    Thank you for viewing and reading my post. Have a positive weekend.

  26. Oh my gosh you guys! I started a new job 3 weeks ago and I’d hoped / thought that a more structured work environment (than freelancing from home) would be good for my mental health. But holy shit. I had no idea how right I was!! I’m starting to get used to feeling this happy and energized but the first week I seriously didn’t know what to do with myself.

    And! The same week I started my job I got an email from an old coworker asking me if I could be a resource for her 18 yo step-daughter who just came out as bi to my friend (but not yet to her dad)!

    I’m so happy to be able to be there for both my friend and her daughter – I’ve wanted to be a resource and role model for young people, especially bi+ folx but for so long I felt like my bi identity was invisible because my partner’s male. And this is such great confirmation that my hard these past few years to find lgbtq community and becone more open is actually working. I was not out at work at all when I worked with this colleague. And I’ve never actually come out to her. But we’re FB friends and I’ve slowly becone more out on FB. And apparently it worked.

    I’m using my new job (which is a 2 month temp gig) as practice being out / openly bi at work in a low key, comfortable and authentic way and it’s going really well. My pride pins have done their trick and a couple people have casually come out to me. Which is nice.

    I tend to read more romance than I watch. But I do love Say Anything. And I loved When Harry Met Sally. Im afraid I hate You’ve Got Mail with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. I just can’t get over how deceptive and manipulative he was. I hope she left him. Although I’m a little sorry that his big box bookstore probably went bankrupt in the 00s.

    Has anyone read When Katie meet Cassidy by Camille Peri? As the title suggests, it’s pretty much a lesbian Nora Ephron rom com. You have two attractive, successful young white lawyers running around Manhattan falling in love while wearing gorgeous clothes – one in bespoke suits and one in skirts and heels. There’s some bi erasure (it wasn’t a dealbreaker for me but it was noticeable) but I thought it was good, fluffy fun.

    • Literally already read When Katie Met Cassidy TWICE and hear you on the bi erasure for sure but also really loved it, want the movie, etc. It’s like I know both the leads are super white/privileged/all of the things but also…I bet they are both immensely hot.

      Also love that you get to mentor your friend’s daughter and huge kudos to you for gradually becoming more out all over the place, that’s amazing!

      • yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about When Katie Met Cassidy. It’s not perfect and I can see how it might really not work for other people for all the reasons, but I also would just LOVE to see the two of them smoldering and flirting in (and out of) clothes that cost more than my mortgage payment. I want to see Cassidy on the big screen looking hot in her bespoke suits, etc.

  27. While I wouldn’t say I hate romcoms and romance films they rate a small hissing sound from me.

    The only thing I’m 100% sure is a romcom that I like is My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

    Legally Blonde not sure if romcom or not but I love it. Prom queen type using her powers for good, gets me every time.

    Moonstruck pretty sure it’s not a romcom, think it’s a dramedy. Why I find it uplifting or even enjoyable. I don’t really know. Is it the breakfast scene at the end? The cast members? The prescience of opera? Or is singing That’s Amore while it’s stuck in my head days afterwards?

    Lilo & Stitch is my pick me up when I’m down oozing further into the ground movie.

    Thor: Ragnarock is my basic pick me movie and my first holiday present this year :)

      • She throws a box of chocolates shouting, “LIAR!” at the TV I was hooked and then there’s all the positive supportive girl power stuff.
        Elle learning she deserves better than stinky Warner, and to be great for herself and nobody else.

        Some romance stuff is a power or fulfillment fantasy for straight women adult me realises.

        “Oh Warner, do you remember when we spent those four amazing hours in the hot tub together after winter formal? Well this is so much better than that. Excuse me, I have some shopping to do.”
        Clearly a power move.

        “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.” is also a helluva line.

      • YES SHE DID!
        Only Cher could have kept Nic Cage from eating all the scenery.

        Olympia Dukakis was brilliant too in that understated way of grand dames.

    • I was just scrolling down to comment and say “Moonstruck but I don’t know why?”.

      I really don’t like 95% of het romcoms, because so many of them are sexist or gender-stereotyped in subtle or overt ways and I really don’t have ANY time for it. I never have, even in the so-called heyday of the 80s.

      As for the queer ones, yes yes yes to D.E.B.S. and Imagine Me and You (despite the stupid title, I was just like “FINALLY!” for a rom-com that didn’t make me want to vomit.)

      • Maybe because Moonstruck confronts and questions stuff. The women don’t spend their time trying to catch a man but questioning “the nature” of things while staying true to themselves and what they want or going for what they want but never previously dared to take. Cher famously said, “A man is a luxury, not a necessity. Like dessert.”

        When Loretta’s dad is trying to shame her she pretty much tells him to shut the fuck up, kettle to pot, look in the mirror dude.

        And the movie’s not just about erotic/romantic love, storge(familial love) is there and not just as some adjacent thing that’s an agent of encouragement to the erotic love of The Main Pair but as the cornucopia of love one finds in life.

        Also like the conflicts feel realer to me, I come from shouting family, the conflicts in romcoms always seem freakishly airbrushed to me. Everything is a rush to that picture perfect “got the girl/guy moment”

        Moonstruck is a hot, passionate mess.
        Proposal with a used ring at breakfast chaos.

        Eros is not a cherub, he’s the son of merciless,capricious goddess who makes love to the god of war when she feels like it.

        • “Eros is not a cherub, he’s the son of merciless,capricious goddess who makes love to the god of war when she feels like it.”

          Well put!

          And yeah, I think the “realness” of the movie conflicts and the fact that Cher just rocks the entire thing makes it. It’s the only movie I like with Nic Cage and really, it’s all about her and dealing with her family. And Nic does actually show some character growth to make him worthwhile for her to bother with.

  28. They had “I can’t think straight” at clexacon London this year and I have to say, the polo, Oxford, the flirting, the smiles and demolished wedding cake, still does it for me.
    Also fireworks and practicing yelling at football games and Giles as a dad and cheesy songs while winding through traffic..”Imagine Me&You” is also still on that regular rewatch list.

  29. I love “Obvious Child”! It’s a self-aware romantic comedy starring the lovely Jenny Slate, it’s genuinely funny and charming, and it always makes me happy. :)

  31. Suddenly I’m having a taxonomic debate on what “Mamma Mia!” do we class it as a film adaptation of a musical. Can musicals be romcoms?
    How many musicals are romcoms then?

    I think the abyss is laughing at me.

    What is “Shall We Dance?” do I add another question mark or what?

    English class did NOT prepare me for this, formal papers there’s no exclamation or question marks in sentences that aren’t quotes.

    • If you take something like Singin’ in the Rain, Top Hat and the 1937 version of Shall We Dance I guess I will called them romcoms

      • O_O

        Some questions should not be formulated and especially not entered into the world because the answers are grotesque mockeries of reality beyond comprehension.

  32. This topic is SO affirming. I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes to decompress to problematic yet entertaining hetero-romantic fantasies. I also adore the Nora Ephron Triumvirate + cheesy holiday movies. (I’ve watched The Princess Switch like 2.5 times already, bc Vanessa Hudgens! twin swap! matchmaking child! unexpected royalty!)

    I also love Sandra Bullock films:
    -While You Were Sleeping (planning to watch it this week in fact)
    -Miss Congeniality (hella sapphic subtext when she bonds with the other women, imo!!!)
    -Two Weeks’ Notice (not a top choice but will do in a pinch)
    -Oceans 8 (obviously, fantastic)

    Others that i think haven’t been mentioned:
    -Confessions of a Shopaholic
    -Clueless
    -She’s the Man (haven’t seen this since high school, when the combination of Amanda Bynes + Channing Tatum really did things for my emerging bisexuality)
    -Pride & Prejudice 1995 (I mean…this kind of counts, right?)

    There are also some webseries that I would flag as being rom com-ish:
    -The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
    -Nothing Much To Do
    -Emma Approved (this hits the spot for me with its A+ Eurasian representation)

  33. I loved Notting Hill when I was younger. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, too, even though the leads are both terrible people (but hey, they deserve each other, so it works). My Best Friend’s Wedding (do I just like horrible protagonists, or what? I enjoy that she “loses” at the end; it’s a bit of a pivot from the usual). There’s a silly one called Just Like Heaven where Reese Witherspoon is a “ghost” that younger me enjoyed a lot. And there’s Definitely, Maybe, which stars Ryan Reynolds and has a neat framing device where he tells his young daughter about the three major relationships in his life (with Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, and Elizabeth Banks). Chasing Liberty is another one I really like — it plays out like a fanfic (it even has the pretend marriage trope!) and it allows poor Matthew Goode to actually get the girl, which he sure didn’t in (another fave) Imagine Me and You!

  34. This one may not be in the spirit of the thread exactly, but if you’ve seen many of the movies listed here, especially You’ve Got Mail, then I highly recommend the romantic comedy satire They Came Together with Amy Poehler and Mark Rudd. It satirizes parts of so many of these films and honestly the more you’ve seen, the more jokes you’ll get. It makes me laugh out loud consistently :D

  35. I never could stand straight romcoms even when I thought I was straight. Though I could usually stomach French ones because they tend to be messy or absurd. Like Jeux d’enfants (Love Me If You Dare) where the lovers end up ( SPOILER: ) standing in a pit together as it fills up with cement… on purpose! For their eternal love! Aww! Also, don’t watch popular abroad type Italian films about love if you want to feel that it’s not a lie because everyone is always cheating on everyone.

    Right now my December is living in a romcom setting because I’m on holiday in Florence to celebrate 12 years of marriage. We’ve got a lovely apartment (for the week) in the historical center and we’re spending all day every day looking at amazing art. It makes me feel like writing a bisexual poly romance novel with a Mary Sue and Gary Stu character that have a meet-cute with a smart and sexy Italian art conservationist at gli Uffizi or Palazzo Vecchio and fall head over heels as she explains art to them.

  36. Fifty Shades anyone? Just Kidding ! Anyway, on that theme, I think my favorite romantic movie of all time is Secretary(2002). I fell in love with Magggie Gyllenhal after watching this movie. And it stars James Spader who is my man crush.
    Oh wait , I have one more, Cast away. It’s not exactly romantic, but when Helen hunt runs after Tom Hanks’ taxi in the rain, it’s very romantic. That’s the kind of love I live for.

  39. Romcoms are my guilty pleasure, although some are too problematic or too stupid for my taste (Love Actually has so many toxic story lines; I can’t handle it, and Christmas Prince is best watched as a drinking game imo).

    My favorite anti-romcom/movie to watch when getting over someone is How to Be Single. In addition to Norah Ephron’s movies I like Forgetting Sarah Marshall (so many actors I like), and, to the extent it counts, Easy A.

  40. Al(aina) my mother is also a Hallmark holiday film fanatic, a recent one is “A Gingerbread Romance” staring Tia Mowry (idk her married name if she went for one) and her romantic interest is Duane Henry.

    I have no idea if that’s a historic first for Hallmark or what but next time I have to been in the room while one those Hallmark holiday romcoms I’ll be internally shouting make it black and gay.

    Everyone deserves escapist fluff.

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