Master Index of Archived Threads


RomCom Rant

batmagadanleadoff Feb 25 2016 10:37 PM

Every NYC Romantic Comedy Is Full Of Shit In The Exact Same Way http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/every- ... 1761005748 RomCom movie rant where author displays a high level of knowledge about Williamsburg and uses phrase "hijinks ensues" in piece. Had to double-check to see if the piece was written by someone from over here.

cooby classic Feb 26 2016 05:36 PM Re: RomCom Rant

Can someone tell me the reason for the recent surge of movies about single girls who want to sleep around? Or is it just this particular actress?

RealityChuck Apr 07 2016 05:31 PM Re: RomCom Rant

I just read the column. What a whiney little temper tantrum. "They can't afford to live in that apartment! Civilization is ending! Movies hare a duty to be 100% accurate! The slightest variation from reality deserves a mob with pitchforks! Everyone bow down to the God of Realism!"

Edgy MD Apr 07 2016 06:03 PM Re: RomCom Rant

cooby wrote: Can someone tell me the reason for the recent surge of movies about single girls who want to sleep around? Or is it just this particular actress? It's actually a big problem with the romantic comedy genre that studios are struggling to deal with. The flip but very useful dramatic definition is that a tragedy ends with a funeral and a comedy with a wedding. This has held true through most of cinematic history, as long as you're willing to redefine wedding in a more symbolic sense — a big, magical redemptive first kiss, or a proposal. If it's to be sex, it should be the first time, and a clear implication (or explicit statement) that it is to be forever. A marriage, in other words. In the age of almost indifferently casual sex, and less faith in marriage, it's become much more of a challenge for the screenwriter to get us to a meaningful payoff. Frequently they have to go through a relatively meaningless sexual encounter and then build meaning to their relationship beyond that, even as that brass ring of coupling is gone. Sometimes it works (Knocked Up), sometimes not so much (most of everything else, particularly if Natalie Portman or Dakota Johnson are in it). It was somewhat more doable when the convention suggested the man had the casual attitude toward sex and not the woman. Therefore the pre-coupling sexual encounter (When Harry Met Sally) becomes a plot device forcing the reconciliation of their attitudes. Now that both genders are happily giving it away for free, the magic of romance has become a harder sell. One thing that has worked in latter years (and Knocked Up is again an example), is the romantic comedy where the man is the real protagonist. That's been mostly the exception through Hollywood history, but is seemingly less rare.