We're just not that into He’s Just Not That Into You
The opening scene of He’s Just Not That Into You is great. A little girl is minding her own business on the playground…
When Romance Met Comedy
When Romance Met ComedyWith When Romance Met Comedy, Caroline Siede examines the history of the rom-com through the years, one happily ever after (or not) at a time.
When Romance Met ComedyWith When Romance Met Comedy, Caroline Siede examines the history of the rom-com through the years, one happily ever after (or not) at a time.Lloyd Dobler is Cameron Crowe’s original manic pixie dream date
The image of John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler earnestly, defiantly holding a boombox above his head has become such an…
20 years later, 10 Things I Hate About You remains a model for how to do the teen rom-com right
One of the most prevalent of rom-com tropes is the random, unmotivated musical number. The “Say A Little Prayer”…
For one brief, wonderful moment, Eddie Murphy reinvented himself as a romantic-comedy star
Eddie Murphy is kind of a dreamboat. That can be hard to remember after the decades in which he settled into (or…
In 1990, Pretty Woman changed romantic comedies forever
If you want a marker of just how iconic Pretty Woman is, consider that the film contains at least four or five different…
How does the original What Women Want hold up two decades later?
For the second-highest-grossing romantic comedy ever made, What Women Want hasn’t had much cultural…
Bride & Prejudice weaves an impressive cultural critique into a Bollywood-inspired Jane Austen update
There’s good news and bad news for American rom-com fans sick of rewatching the same Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts…
27 Dresses doesn’t deserve your hate and neither does Katherine Heigl
The first time I saw 27 Dresses, I felt such a strong emotional connection to its put-upon, self-sacrificing…
Without hope or agenda: A defense of Love Actually
It takes a lot to become a new Christmas classic, so it’s doubly impressive that Love Actually managed to enter that…
Why are Hallmark Christmas movies so addictive?
My fondest memory from this Thanksgiving was the night my mom and I tried to piece together the plot of a Hallmark…
Enchanted, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Disney princess
I’m as guilty as anyone of occasionally framing issues of onscreen representation in terms of how they might impact…
The Devil Wears Prada pulls off the perfect romantic comedy look, even though it really isn't one
One of the things you quickly learn when you write an ongoing column about romantic comedies is…
How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a sexy vacation romp that explores the line between fantasy and reality
Romantic comedies are about wish fulfillment, so that makes them a fascinating case study in which wishes Hollywood is…
Pretty In Pink is a far superior riff on the Sixteen Candles formula
John Hughes built a career on exploring teenage archetypes. The Breakfast Club famously featured a brain, an athlete, a…
Romantic comedies (briefly) came out of the closet with In & Out
In a roundabout way, we have Tom Hanks to thank for one of our very few mainstream gay rom-coms. While accepting the…
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days set the stage for the rom-com’s downfall
The history of the modern-day romantic comedy goes something like this: Rom-coms were good, then they got really bad,…
Jane Austen provided the romantic comedy some Sense And Sensibility
With the rom-com officially back in vogue thanks to summer hits like Crazy Rich Asians and Netflix’s Set It Up, it’s…
Pair Crazy Rich Asians with this Hong Kong rom-com classic
Picking a classic rom-com to complement the release of this summer’s buzzy Crazy Rich Asians is a bit of a challenge. Cr…
Maid In Manhattan let Jennifer Lopez’s rom-com talents sparkle
It is a truth too infrequently acknowledged that Jennifer Lopez is one of our most talented living performers. Lopez’s…
You can dance, you can jive, you can love Mamma Mia! without feeling embarrassed
One of the best moments in the goofy, feel-good movie musical Mamma Mia! finds a trio of old friends donning the gaudy…