Lifestyle of a Fashionista

2/15/23

My first rom-com post covered some of the royals of rom-coms; this post includes more rom-com categories I’ve created. I will put stars next to my favorites. A favorite is a movie I quote, has my favorite outfits, I would watch again, have watched several times, and share with friends. Movie titles without a rating I haven’t watched or don’t remember.

Nods to Shakespeare

I enjoy a movie with a nod to Shakespeare and a retelling of classic stories.

***10 Things I Hate About You (1999 on Disney+), “The film was inspired by none other than William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, re-imagining the titular shrew as Kat Stratford, the willful and deliberately single sister of local sweetheart Bianca. As Bianca’s multiple love interests seek to win her over, they encounter a formidable obstacle: the girls’ father has forbidden Bianca to date until her sister does. With the prospect of Kat Stratford finding a beau of her own seeming incredibly bleak, the boys enlist a mysterious bad boy, Patrick Verona, to win over the older Stratford sister.” Movieweb

***Much Ado About Nothing (1993 on Prime Video), In this Shakespearean farce, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her groom-to-be, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), team up with Claudio’s commanding officer, Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) — a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John (Keanu Reeves) plots to ruin the wedding.

***Deliver Us From Eva (2003 on Peacock), Eva doesn’t let her 3 sisters’ men push them around. She’s always butting in. How to pacify Eva? Find her a man. The men pay a playboy to be that man. The problem is – he falls in love with Eva. Based on “The Taming of the Shrew” IMDb

**Just One of the Guys (1985 -rent), When Terry Griffith (Joyce Hyser) loses her high school’s writing competition, she’s convinced that it’s because she’s a girl. So Terry decides to change high schools and pose as a boy to prove her point. Her brother, Buddy (Billy Jacoby), helps her pass as a guy so well that she is soon making friends with the boys at school, including the attractive Rick (Clayton Rohner), who becomes her new best friend. But her gender-swapping makes things difficult when she falls in love with him.

*Never Been Kissed (1999 on Disney+), Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore), a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob (David Arquette), Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation — not to mention her own failed love life — when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan).

Get Over It (2001 rent), “Loosely based on `A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, this story centres on Berke Landers, a high school student who is down on his luck. After losing his girlfriend, he resolves to get her back by any means possible.” Stars: Ben Foster, Kirsten Dunst, Melissa Sagemiller, Sisqó, Shane West, Colin Hanks, Zoe Saldana, Mila Kunis, Swoosie Kurtz, Ed Begley Jr., Carmen Electra and Martin Short. 

She’s The Man (2006 on Paramount+), Viola Johnson (Amanda Bynes) is in a real jam. Complications threaten her scheme to pose as her twin brother, Sebastian, and take his place at a new boarding school. She falls in love with her handsome roommate, Duke, who loves beautiful Olivia, who has fallen for Sebastian! As if that were not enough, Viola’s twin returns from London ahead of schedule but has no idea that his sister has already replaced him on campus.

**Shakespeare in Love (1998 on Paramount+) Is a Tale about a fictional relationship between William Shakespeare and a young woman who poses as a man in order to star in one of the writer’s plays. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench.

LGBTQ+ Love

From BuzzFeed, These 14 Queer Rom-Coms Will Have You Feeling Every Single Emotion

Love, Simon (2018 on Hulu)  based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Garner.

Red, White & Royal Blue (2023 on Prime Video), Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the United States, and young Prince Henry fall in love. However, considering their high-profile public lives, they must keep their relationship a secret at all costs.

***Kissing Jessica Stein (2001 rent) written and co-produced by the film’s stars, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. 

***Bros (2022 rent) starring Billy Eichner (screenplay writer) and Luke Macfarlane

**Chasing Amy (1997 rent) written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. 

**In & Out (1997 Paramount+)  starring Kevin Kline, Tom Selleck, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Newhart, Shalom Harlow, and Wilford Brimley.

***The Birdcage (1996 prime video) stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, and Elaine May. A remake of the 1978 French classic, La Cage aux Folles

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999 rent) dark teen comedy starring Natasha Lyonne

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009 on Prime Video) Stars Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor. The movie is based on a true story and biography titled I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks.

Imagine Me & You (2005 rent) starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey

Happiest Season (2020 on Hulu) Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. Also starring Dan Levy, Allison Brie, and Aubrey Plaza

The Half of It (2020 on Netflix) coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Alice Wu. It stars Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire, with Enrique Murciano, Wolfgang Novogratz, Catherine Curtin, Becky Ann Baker, and Collin Chou in supporting roles. The film is a modern loose retelling of the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac

Straight Up (2019 on Netflix) A romantic-comedy drama with a twist; a love story without the thrill of copulation.Todd and Rory are intellectual soul mates. He might be gay. She might not ... Directed by James Sweeney. Sweeney stars in the film with Katie Findlay, Dana Drori, James Scully, Tracie Thoms, Betsy Brandt and Randall Park

Fire Island (2022 on Hulu) written by and starring Joel Kim Booster. The film co-stars Bowen Yang, Conrad Ricamora, James Scully, and Margaret Cho. Inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Single All the Way (2021 on Netflix) Holiday rom-com starring Michael Urie, Philemon Chambers, Kathy Najimy, Luke Mcfarlane, and Jennifer Coolidge.

Crush (2022 on Hulu) High School rom-com starring Rowan Blanchard

Young Love, High School Love, or Old Flames meet again

*****Adventures in Babysitting (1987 on Disney+) stars Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, and Maia Brewton, and features cameos by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins and singer-songwriter Southside Johnny Lyon in one of my favorite scenes. “Nobody leaves here without singing the blues.”

****13 Going On 30 (2004 on Netflix) starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo

***Some Kind of Wonderful (1987 rent)  starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson. Written by John Hughes.

****Mean Girls (2004 on Paramount+) written by Tina Fey, and starring Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried 

****Clueless (1995 rent) written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd.

**Reality Bites (1994 rent) post high schoool graduation rom-com. Directed by Ben Stiller, in his directorial debut. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. 

**Easy A (2010 on Hulu) starring Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Dan Byrd, Amanda Bynes, Penn Badgley, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Aly Michalka, and Malcolm McDowell. The screenplay was partially inspired by the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

**Secret Admirer (1985 on Tubi) starring C. Thomas Howell, Lori Loughlin, Kelly Preston and Fred Ward.

*Valley Girl (1983 rent) directed by Martha Coolidge and starring Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Meyrink, Elizabeth Daily, Cameron Dye and Michael Bowen. The plot is based loosely on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

****Can’t Buy Me Love (1987 on Hulu) starring Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson. Can you go from geek to cool by “dating” the head cheerleader?

***Lucas (1986 rent/buy)  starring Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen, Winona Ryder, and Courtney Thorne-Smith. 

**Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead (1991 on Hulu) starring Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, Keith Coogan, John Getz and Josh Charles. 

**John Tucket Must Die (2006 Hulu) directed by Betty Thomas. Stars Jesse Metcalfe, Brittany Snow, Ashanti, Sophia Bush, and Penn Badgley

Love with Deception, Lying, Misleading, Secrets, Misunderstandings, and Complicated Relationships

The movies in this category involve characters who lie, pretend to be someone else, have a secret or are misleading in their actions. Also included are films where the characters have complicated relationships because of jobs, kids, family, time travel, money, love triangles, problematic exes, and miscommunication.

****Amélie (2001 rent) French-language romantic comedy film. It tells the story of a shy waitress, played by Audrey Tautou, who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better while dealing with her own isolation. The film features an ensemble cast of supporting roles, including Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Debbouze, Claire Maurier, Clotilde Mollet, Isabelle Nanty, Dominique Pinon, Artus de Penguern, Yolande Moreau, Urbain Cancelier, and Maurice Bénichou. (and a traveling gnome)

The Parent Trap (1998 on Disney+), directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers starring Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson star as a divorced couple who separated shortly after their identical twin daughters’ birth; Lindsay Lohan 

**You Again (2010 Hulu and Disney+) stars Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, James Wolk, Victor Garber, Billy Unger, Kyle Bornheimer, Kristin Chenoweth, and Betty White

****Palm Springs (2020 on Hulu) Love and time travel.

****Crazy Rich Asians (2018 on Max) Love is complicated with a pushy rich family.

***Only You (1994 rent) Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. in Italy. Can they fall in love if she still believes that she is intended to be with someone else?

**Someone Like You (2001 rent) Stars Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear, Hugh Jackman, Marisa Tomei, and Ellen Barkin, and follows a heartbroken woman looking for a reason why she was dumped.

*Just my luck (2006 on Hulu) Is Lindsay Lohan lucky in love?

***Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004 rent on Prime Video) A complicated love story starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. The film features an ensemble supporting cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson. Wikepedia

The Best Man (1999 rent on Prime Video) The film stars an ensemble cast led by Taye Diggs and Nia Long, with the debut of Regina Hall.

*Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008 on Max) starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released by Universal Pictures. The opening scene was inspired by something that happened to Segal with an ex.

***Something at Tiffany’s (2022 on Prime Video) A ring mix-up around the holidays. Cute story with a great cast.

***Definitely, Maybe (2008 on Netflix) A cute story about love told by a single dad, starring Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks, Abigail Breslin, and Kevin Kline. 

****Lars and the Real Girl (2007 on Prime Video) A quirky love story starring Ryan Gosling.

**The Nanny Diaries (2007 on Prime Video) Starring Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Alicia Keys, and Laura Linney based on a book.

***Coming to America (1988 rent on Prime Video) Lots of comedy and a little bit of love with Eddie Murphy. Can a future king find love in Queens?

***He Said, She Said (1991 rent) Stars Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins as two journalists working in the same office with a complicated love story. Watch the story from two different points of view.

**My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002 on Hulu) Written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the film as Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos, a middle-class Greek American woman who falls in love with White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Ian Miller.

*Boomerang (1992 on Paramount+) Stars Eddie Murphy as an ad-exec and features Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt and Chris Rock.

**Friends with Benefits (2011 on Prime Video) Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. 

***Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011 on Hulu) Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon. The Dirty Dancing move is something Gosling did on dates prior to filming.

****Dan in Real Life on (2007 on Hulu) A complicate love story with family fun and drama. Stars Steve Carell, Alison Pill, Juliette Binoche, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney Emily Blunt, and Dane Cook. One of my favorites.

*The Five-Year Engagement (2012 on Prime Video) Emily Blunt and Jason Segal, will they every get married?

**Down with Love (2003 rent) Inspired by 1960s love stories,  stars Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor,

***Hitch (2005 Peacock) Can a matchmaker find love? starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta.

***Groundhog Day (1993 on Prime Video) Bill Murray and Andy McDowell repeating the same day to find love.

****Roxanne (1987 rent) starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah It is a modern retelling of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 verse play Cyrano de Bergerac, adapted by Steve Martin. Funny and cute.

****Working Girl (1988 rent) starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Deception and a love triangle with a solid soundtrack by Carly Simon.

***Little Black Book (2004 rent) Is omission a betrayal? starring Brittany Murphy, Holly Hunter, Ron Livingston, Julianne Nicholson, and Kathy Bates. With a nod to Carly Simon makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film.

**As Good as it Gets (1997 MGM+) Written by James Brooks, stars Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear 

**Silver Linings Playbook (2012 on Max) based on a book, stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence (won an oscar for this role), with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, John Ortiz and Julia Stiles in supporting roles.

**Love and Other Drugs (2010 on Prime Video) based on Jamie Reidy’s 2005 non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad and Gabriel Macht, the film tells the story of a medicine peddler in 1990s Pittsburgh who starts a relationship with a young woman suffering from an illness that leads to Parkinson’s disease.

*Uptown Girls (2003 on Prime Video) Brittany Murphy and  Dakota Fanning. Can a down on her luck rockstar’s daughter find success and love?

***How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998 on Hulu) adapted from Terry McMillan’s best-selling 1996 novel of the same title. The film stars Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs (in his film debut), Whoopi Goldberg, and Regina King. 

***Long Shot (2019 on Hulu) The plot follows a journalist (Seth Rogen) who reunites with his former babysitter (Charlize Theron), now the United States Secretary of State. Love and politics are complicated.

****Defending Your Life (1991 rent) Written, directed, and starring Albert Brooks, the film also stars Meryl Streep. about a man who finds himself on trial in the afterlife, where proceedings examine his lifelong fears, to determine whether he’ll be (yet again) reincarnated on Earth. 

**Broadcast News (1987 Starz) written, produced and directed by James L. Brooks. Stars William Hurt, Albert Brooks, and Holly Hunter

**The Big Sick (2017 on Prime Video) written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani based on a true love story.

**50/50 (2011 on Max) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston. The film is loosely inspired by Will Reiser’s own experience with cancer, with Rogen’s character Kyle based on Rogen himself. 

**Bridesmaids (2011 on Prime Video) directed by Paul Feig, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig. Also stars Maya Rudolph. Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, and Wendi McLendon-Covey 

*Isn’t it Romantic (2019 rent)  What is a true love story? Starring Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine, and Priyanka Chopra

***About Fate (2022 on Prime Video) Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann in a complicated and fun love story.

The Prince and Me (2004 on Paramount+) starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox and Alberta Watson.

**What Women Want (2000 on Paramount+) Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt

**Sabrina (1995 rent) and (1954 on Paramount+)

***Laws of Attraction (2004 rent)  Stars Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore as high-powered divorce attorneys stumbling into love.

****Legal Eagles (1986 rent) directed by Ivan Reitman. Starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah. A complicated legal case and love story.

**Mrs. Winterborne (1997 rent)  starring Shirley MacLaine, Ricki Lake, and Brendan Fraser. It is loosely based on Cornell Woolrich’s novel I Married a Dead Man.

**Crocodile Dundee (1986 on AMC+) stars Paul Hogan (writer) and  Linda Kozlowski. Inspired by the true-life exploits of Rod Ansell.

***When in Rome (2010 Netflix) stars Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. Also starring Dax Shepard, Don Johnson, Anjelica Huston, Danny DeVito, and Will Arnett.

**Keeping the Faith (2000 rent) A love triangle between childhood friends involving a priest and a rabbi. Ben Stiller, Edward Norton (in his directorial debut), Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, and Anne Bancroft. 

**Chances Are (1989 rent) starring Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O’Neal, and Mary Stuart Masterson 

**Friends with Kids (2012 Peacock) written, produced, and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars in the film with Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns 

**She’s Having a Baby (1989 MGM+) written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern.

*Lala Land (2016 rent) stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Dancing, singing, and falling in love.

**Housesitter (1992 rent)  starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. A con-artist who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.

**Overboard (1987 on Hulu) directed by Garry Marshall, starring real life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell

***It Could Happen to You (1994 rent)  starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda in a plot inspired by a real-life news story

**Made of Honor (2008 Peacock)  Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, and Sydney Pollack

**The Truth About Cats and Dogs (rent)

****Moonstruck (1987 prime video) starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. 

**Arthur (1981 rent) Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli

**Tootsie (1982 rent) directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman. Its supporting cast includes Pollack, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, George Gaynes, Geena Davis 

**No Reservations (2016 rent) Love in the kitchen.  Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, and Abigail Breslin

***Dave (1993 rent) Love, politics and impersonations. Directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Gary Ross, and starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Laura Linney, Ving Rhames, Charles Grodin, and Ben Kingsley appear in supporting roles.

**New in Town (2009 Peacock) starring Renée Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., and Siobhan Fallon Hogan.

***Return to Me (2000 Prime Video) directed by Bonnie Hunt and starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver. 

**The Wedding Date (2005 Prime Video) starring Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, and Amy Adams. Based on the 2002 novel Asking for Trouble by Elizabeth Young.

***Yesterday (2019 Hulu) A British rom-com where Himesh Patel stars as struggling musician Jack Malik who suddenly finds himself as the only person who remembers the Beatles and becomes famous for performing their songs.

****Michael (1996 rent) directed by Nora Ephron. Stars John Travolta, Andie MacDowell, William Hurt, Bob Hoskins, Joey Lauren Adams, and Robert Pastorelli 

**Grumpy Old Men (1993 rent) starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Ossie Davis and Buck Henry.

**The American President (1995 rent) written by Aaron Sorkin. Michael Douglas and Annette Benning. Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox and Richard Dreyfuss star in supporting roles.

**Under the Tuscan Sun (2003 rent) directed by Audrey Wells and starring Diane Lane. Based on Frances Mayes’ 1996 memoir of the same name.

***A Fish Called Wanda (1988 on Prime Video) written by Charles Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin.

***Blind Date (1987 rent) directed by Blake Edwards and starring Bruce Willis (in his first credited lead role) and Kim Basinger.

***Seems Like Old Times (1980 rent) Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase

*Summer School (1987 rent) Directed by Carl Reiner and starring Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley and Courtney Thorne-Smith.

Meet Cute (2002 on Peacock) starring Kaley Cuoco and Pete Davidson, involves time traveling.

Love and Sports

***Jerry Maguire (1996 Paramount+) Love and a sports agent. Written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. 

Just Wright (2010 on Hulu) Love and basketball, starring Queen Latifah and Common.

Love & Basketball (2000 on Max) written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood in her feature film directorial debut. stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps

Bull Durham (1988 rent) Love and baseball. Stars Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins.

***Major League (1989 on AMC+) Love and baseball. Stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, James Gammon, Bob Uecker, Rene Russo, Margaret Whitton, Dennis Haysbert, and Corbin Bernsen.

****Bring It On (2000 rent) Cheerleading and love. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Jesse Bradford, and Gabrielle Union. 

***Wimbledon (2004 rent) stars Paul Bettany as a tennis pro (once ranked 11th) and Kirsten Dunst as an up-and-coming tennis star. Sam Neill and Jon Favreau co-star.

****Karate Kid (1984 on Netflix) stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka.

****Bend it Like Beckham (2002 on Hulu/Disney+) stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher, Juliet Stevenson, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi

Love, Action, and Comedy

***Knight and Day (2010 Max) starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

****Romancing the Stone (1984 rent) directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas. Starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

**Bird on a Wire (1990 rent) Goldie Hawn and Mel Gibson

**Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010 on Max) based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley. It stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, and Ellen Wong.

Musical Rom-Coms (with some drama)

**Mamma Mia (2008 Max)

***Grease (1978 on AMC+)

****Dirty Dancing (1987 on Prime Video)

****Footloose (1984 rent)

***Footloose (2011 on Paramount+)

****Pitch Perfect (2012 rent)

Older rom-coms: 40s, 50s, 60s

***Desk Set (1957 rent)

**Roman Holiday (1953 Paramount+)

The Shop Around the Corner (1940 rent)

Funny Face (1957 on rent)

His Girl Friday (1940 on Prime Video)

It Happened One Night (1934 rent)

The Seven Year Itch (1955 on Prime Video)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 Hulu)

The Apartment (1960 on Prime Video)

Guys and Dolls (1955 musical on Peacock)

****Singing in the Rain (1952 on HBO max)

The End

This marks the end of my rom-com lists, I’m sure I forgot to include some famous rom-coms, but I did my best to fit my favorites. (Here is a link to Wikepedia’s full list of rom-coms: List of romantic comedy films)

After putting together my lists, I realized it’s hard to recreate rom-com magic from earlier years, but I will continue to root for the success of new rom-coms.

From Vanity Fair, The State of the Union: Why There’s Still Hope for Rom-Coms