Last movie watched...

[Bobblehead]

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Ive had to watch some dross with my missus too (now ex-missus but somehow still find myself watching them whenever i go round for tea) and one of the few decent ones i watched was The Five Year Engagement. Its got Emily Blunt and that guy from Forgetting Sarah Marshall who kept getting his knob out. Its funny,charming in places and a bit sad in some but i actually really enjoyed it.

[pictsy]

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Wristcutters - A Love Story.  It has romance of a sort and it's funny in that way you might not necessarily laugh out loud.

Even though romcoms (a horrible compound word if ever there were one) are ostensibly regarded as 'chick flicks' (a horrible phrase to keep 'romcom' company in the horrible language waiting room of life) and therefore supposedly aimed at me, I don't really like them a great deal.  For one major reason.  They all follow the same formula.  It's the same reason why I don't like James Bond films, actually.

Anyway, I still watch the odd romantic comedy now and again because I have a habit of watching shite - a category of which the majority of cinema falls into.  Saying that, there are probably some romantic comedies that stand out from the crowd. 

[Link Prime]

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Three I adore, and have on DVD;

The Tall Guy- hilarious, and a little bit genuinely touching in places. You'll rewind the sex scene!
So I Married An Axe Murderer- forget Austin Powers, this is Myers forgotten masterpiece. Love the soundtrack too.
Scrooged- yeah, it's a Crimbo film (my personal favourite), but apart from the underpinning Dickens tale there's a 2nd chance love story at its heart. You will choke back at least one tear (unless numbed by several festive glasses of Baileys).

[Tiplodocus]

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Tom Hanks gets hijacked in the seas off Somalia courtesy of director Paul Greengrass.

I'm a fan of Hanks and Greengrass so possibly biased but this is just wonderful stuff. Hanks is superb throughout - especially at the end and goodness only knows how Greengrass manages to keep upping the tension as you go through because things become almost unbearably tense the second the pirates appear.

The pirates are nicely sketched as well - a bit of layering given to what could have been one-dimensional baddies.

It could have all been horrible in the wrong hands - there's a lot of US Military presence but ZERO flag waving on show - with some fantastic simple lines ("We all have bosses" and "Maybe in America") that show the issues aren't simply black and white. 

Oh and the score is fantastic.

[TordelBack]

The Tall Guy- hilarious, and a little bit genuinely touching in places. You'll rewind the sex scene!

Yeah, that's a favourite of mine too, and definitely has one of the best movie sex scenes (in a good way).

[Bobblehead]

 Im not sure why everything i put was a posted as a quote but i cant edit it to change it,nvm.

Tried to watch Cloud Atlas last night but only managed an hour and I was still clueless to what it was about.Ill try and finish it off tonight,but either im dense and its way to convoluted (ie.clever) for me or it takes a while for things to click into place.

[Tiplodocus]

Persevere with Cloud Atlas - I really liked it.

It isn't really convoluted. If you haven't already clicked already, the tales are nested. e.g. The South Sea voyage is
a book being read in the tale of the musicians/gay lovers which is the letters being read in 70s San Francisco by Halle Berry which is a pulp novel being published by... etc.

They behaviours in one tale often relfect into the other tales - Tom Hanks has the most obvious (and lovely) character journey

[JOE SOAP]

Serenity.  Now that is how you make a good SF adventure film.  Mr. Abrams please take notes. 

I'm long over my initial viewing's disappointment with the deaths of certain characters (although I still think at least one was a poor decision, especially where there was to be no follow-on series with which to effect a resurrection), and haven't rewatched Firefly in several years, so I was able to sit back and enjoy this without quite as many of the usual geeky niggles.

Serenity only disappoints when viewed in context of it being an all too brief shorthand of Firefly season 2 that ditches everything but the plot, but even still, it definitely proves Whedon is a fine director - at least technically - even if its 2 deaths are the wrong ones (plotwise it makes more sense to sacrifice Simon Tam).

Chiwetel Ejiofor is indeed a mighty yet somewhat admirable foe- a more frighteningly profound take on loquacious bounty hunter, Jubal Early.

I've no doubt Whedon would've been in the hat for Star Wars if Marvel hadn't poached him first.

[Professor Bear]

Star Wars and Marvel both belong to Disney, so it could have happened if they wanted it to.  Most likely there was just a lack of imagination when suits were asked who they fancied for directing a big space adventure that's a bit silly but supports a worldwide fanbase not afraid to spend money on merchandising tat.

[JamesC]

I was conned into watching that once when I thought I'd be watching The 51st State. There should be a criminal offence of Duping Blokes into watching Romcoms through Misrepresentation.

My girlfriend generally has quite good taste in films, but since she found all the awful romcoms available on Netflix I've had to endure some right old shite, including long-forgotten Matthew Perry/Salma Hayek film Fools Rush In - which easily ranks as one of the worst films I have ever seen.

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

All I can think of is When Harry Met Sally, which is a legit classic movie. Richard Curtis' films and Sleepless in Seattle are tolerable/watchable I suppose. After that I'm a bit stuck. I keep meaning to go back and watch some early Woody Allen films - not sure if they'd count?

I enjoyed This Means War which is a sort of Rom Com Action Film.
Two super CIA guys fall in love with the same girl and use their CIA resources trying to up the ante in seducing her. There's a great scene where they go paintballing.

[TordelBack]

Serenity only disappoints when viewed in context of it being an all too brief shorthand of Firefly season 2 that ditches everything but the plot, but even still, it definitely proves Whedon is a fine director - at least technically - even if its 2 deaths are the wrong ones (plotwise it makes more sense to sacrifice Simon Tam).

That's exactly it. I was a little too invested in Firefly when I watched it first, leaving me feeling a bit short-changed by what we didn't get rather than what we did, but with the balm of time I was better able to appreciate what a solid, engaging, downright exciting movie it is.   Planning to rewatch it again soon.

Anyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character. 

[shaolin_monkey]

Are there any watchable Romcoms?

Does Amelie count as a romcom?  I bloody love that film - funny and romantic.

There's always Shaun of the Dead, our first ever RomZomCom?

[Mabs]

My missus loves A Walk in the Clouds, although not much comedy in it. It's quite a watchable romantic film with some beautiful scenery of the Mexican countryside.

But a romantic film even I love is Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. I watched it as a young boy and it haunted me ever since.

[Richmond Clements]

Anyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.

[Hawkmumbler]

Anyway, not nearly as annoying as killing off Anya, probably Whedon's best character.

Which is, of course, the perfect reason to do it! Killing off a character you're getting attached to is a great way of keeping the writing fresh.

Unless its from Whedon of cause. In which case its all par for the course.