Boy-being Meets Girl-being Under a Silvery Moon (Which Then Explodes for No Adequately Explored Reason): THE ROMANTIC COMEDIES POLL RESULTS THREAD

Surprised only half voted for the #1.

I will defend WHMS on the basis that I've watched it a million times and I still love it, but I think I'm too close to it to give any kind of critical analysis

baby fish mouth

i just realized the thread title is a hitchhiker's guide reference -- was that a prompt to include the hobbit/deschanel version on the poll?
the couples documentary segments are really good framing/punctuation marks in harry+sally.

I will defend WHMS on the basis that I've watched it a million times and I still love it, but I think I'm too close to it to give any kind of critical analysis

otm, saw it recently and it held up despite the fact that a billy crystal/meg ryan/rob reiner/nora ephron collab would sound like slow death just a few years later

though i gotta say i think bruno kirby and carrie fisher have the best meet-cute in the movie

bruno & carrie are my favorite thing about the movie - especially bruno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihaku9B92yk

Kinda have the urge to revisit Forget Paris, a semi-forgotten tonally similar thing Billy Crystal directed and starred in with Debra Winger in the mid-90s. the family rented it once at the time, didn't hate it but haven't even heard about it since

never gone near Mr saturday night though

I think WHMS kinda set the template for the modern romcom, but it's more emotionally subdued than most of the movies that followed (except for the "running to confess my true love" finale, which was a bit OTT even then, but I'm willing to forgive it because at least Sally isn't about to move to another country and Harry doesn't catch her at the airport as her flight is about to leave or anything), Crystal and Ryan have genuine chemistry, the "old folks reminiscing of their relationship" gimmick gives the movie a nice groundedness (something that wasn't used in most of its imitators), and in general the movie hits all the genre's sweet spots while featuring few of its more irritating cliches.

The only thing I don't like about it was "can [straight] men and women really be friends" debate that's both in the movie and was also sprung by it in the real world, because the idea that they can't is some essentialist bullshit. (Though to be fair to the movie, it never flat out states men and women in general can't be friends, just that these two can't.)

So yeah, if you like modern romcoms, I don't see any reason not to dig WHMS, because it has all that's good about them, and if you don't like the genre, well, what are you doing in this poll anyway?

I can't get past how uncharming Meg Ryan is, but I'm alone in thinking so: her appeal escapes me.

as a hetero man I cosign this sentiment

everything about this movie rubs me the wrong way - the cheap appropriation of superior material, the grating leads, the cloyingly pat resolution

if someone already had a masters in woody studies when it came out i can definitely see that being annoying

the cheap appropriation of superior material

Huh? Isn't it done from an original screenplay?

there's a very strange meg ryan romcom where she plays a biker from the future sent to kill her ex. that one might be a good watch for harry haters?

that does sound p entertaining

idk what to tell you Tuomas the film p obviously lifts its tone, style, setting, themes, and comic delivery almost entirely from Woody Allen (and this key bit from Reiner's dad as noted upthread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sxgnJVhKxxU#t=143)

but y'know minus the Jewy-ness and intellectual posturing and curdled mysanthropy

yeah when i was a kid i think i just assumed that all movies set in manhattan had jazz piano and modest title cards and shit

delivery of "and I think jazz is STUPID" in that clip >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the entirety of WHMS

xp

my sister went through a phase in the late nineties when she watched Forget Paris a lot.

"I will defend WHMS on the basis that I've watched it a million times"

i see, Chauncey

Chauncey von Poopandfart?

answers i arrived at

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Trouble in Paradise
The Shop Around the Corner
My Man Godfrey
Love Me Tonight
His Girl Friday
The Apartment
The Lady Eve
Annie Hall
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The Palm Beach Story
Bringing Up Baby
Smiles of a Summer Night
The Gay Divorcee
City Lights
It Happened One Night
A Summer's Tale
The Awful Truth
Libeled Lady
Adam's Rib

Manhattan
Ninotchka
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
The Marrying Kind
The Philadelphia Story
All of Me
Pillow Talk
Say Anything...
To Be or Not to Be
Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Seven Chances
Midnight
Christmas in July
Design for Living
Cluny Brown
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Easy Living
The Last Days of Disco
Holiday
Taxi zum Klo

Remember the Night
The Thin Man
Tampopo
It Should Happen to You
A Fish Called Wanda
Kiss Me Stupid
Ball of Fire
Pygmalion
"10"
Theodora Goes Wild

equally weighted, thought i voted for Shop Around The Corner but musta spaced it

bold means i liked it more than most

A Fish Called Wanda
All Night Long
All Of Me
Before Sunrise
Bull Durham
But I'm A Cheerleader
Defending Your Life
Easy A
Friends With Benefits
High Fidelity
Knight And Day
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Married To The Mob
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Pygmalion
Raising Arizona
Roxanne
Splash
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The African Queen
The Princess Bride
The Sure Thing
The Thin Man
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
When Harry Met Sally...

oh and it was the brangelina mr mrs smith, though i forgot to specify

Romance dead, comedy dying--not my favourite genre.

1. The Heartbreak Kid
2. Broadcast News
3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
4. Roman Holiday
5. The Paper Chase
6. The Graduate
7. Annie Hall
8. Married to the Mob
9. The Wedding Singer
10. Ninotchka
11. Tootsie
12. Woman of the Year

My Man Godfrey
Holiday
She's All That
City Lights
The Shop Around The Corner
Easy A
Midnight
The Awful Truth
His Girl Friday
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
Easy Living
The Lady Vanishes
Claire's Knee
Twentieth Century
Amelie
Roman Holiday
A Matter Of Life And Death
The 39 Steps
The Palm Beach Story
Bringing Up Baby

Here's mine:

1. The Philadelphia Story
2. Fucking Åmål (aka Show Me Love)
3. Muriel's Wedding
4. Clueless
5. The Seagull's Laughter
6. Groundhog Day
7. How to Marry a Millionaire
8. The Wedding Banquet
9. Four Weddings And A Funeral
10. Safety Not Guaranteed
11. The Incredibly True Adventure Of Two Girls In Love
12. Monkey Business
13. Romancing The Stone
14. Addicted To Love
15. The Lady Eve
16. Love And Other Disasters
17. American Pie
18. The Shop Around The Corner
19. Happy Accidents
20. Pillow Talk
21. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
22. Trick
23. As Good As It Gets
24. There's Something About Mary
25. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
26. When Harry Met Sally...
27. The Tao Of Steve
28. Green Card
29. Bridget Jones's Diary
30. Irma la Douce

the cheap appropriation of superior material

Huh? Isn't it done from an original screenplay?

― Tuomas, Tuesday, September 2, 2014 3:03

srsly, fuck non-expertise

1. The Philadelphia Story
2. Working Girl
3. Ninotchka
4. My Man Godfrey
5. Moonstruck
6. Bull Durham
7. Groundhog Day
8. Roman Holiday
9. Roxanne
10. Some Like It Hot
11. Harold And Maude
12. Tootsie
13. It Happened One Night
14. Pat And Mike
15. Murphy’s Romance
16. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
17. The Princess Bride
18. The Thin Man
19. When Harry Met Sally...
20. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
21. Sleepless In Seattle

Trouble in Paradise 1932
The Shop Around The Corner 1940
Annie Hall 1977
The Lady Eve 1941
His Girl Friday 1940
Roman Holiday 1953
The Palm Beach Story 1942
Love in the Afternoon (Wilder) 1957
Ninotchka 1939
City Lights 1931
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek 1944
Forgetting Sarah Marshall 2008
Bringing Up Baby 1938
Desk Set 1957
Say Anything... 1989
L.A. Story 1991

30s 4
40s 5
50s 3
60s 0
70s 1
80s 1
90s 1
00s 1

annie hall? really?

Would have easily been my #1 if I'd voted.

it was a foregone conclusion that it would win imo

bcz both people who do and don't gen watch films before 1987 have seen it

Maybe the issue is that it doesn't seem like a very typical romcom?

i mean, i like the movie, but it's so... earthbound compared to so many other films that made the list.

bcz both people who do and don't gen watch films before 1987 have seen it

^^^
ding ding ding

ballots reflect this p clearly

it's so... earthbound compared to so many other films

idk what you mean by this really. it's departures from reality are frequent and numerous

we're dealing with a poll where 9 people voted for the #1 pick and 7 voted for #10 so I wouldn't bother reading too deeply into the tea leaves re: a big comedy director's best picture winner taking the top spot

not looking for a flight to the moon on gossamer wings

Morbs is still waiting for his Wiener King.

you'd think morbz would be thrilled ilx voted a woody allen #1 even after the earlier hullabaloo

we're dealing with a poll where 9 people voted for the #1 pick and 7 voted for #10 so I wouldn't bother reading too deeply into the tea leaves re: a big comedy director's best picture winner taking the top spot

― da croupier, Wednesday, September 3, 2014 3:30 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good point.

by earthbound i guess i just mean... it's an amusing character study. sometimes very amusing. but compared to a lot of other films on the list it seems very conventional, complacent even.

but you know taste etc.

but i think it'd be hard for me to understand someone who would put it in the league of something like "his girl friday" which on the level of performance and pacing is such a miracle.

but what da croupier said, really

but compared to a lot of other films on the list it seems very conventional

This seems like a surprising thing to say about Annie Hall but I'll admit that there's a lot I haven't seen on the list.

not conventional compared to motherfucking When Harry Met Sally

yeah I don't really get calling it conventional - its structure and pacing is p unusual