Dear Rom-Com Fans,
We’re just some boys, posting in front of some girls, asking them (and everyone else!) to love our choices.
As we continued our Greatest Movies A-Z series with WatchMojo, we couldn't neglect Romantic Comedies. This video, along with Musicals, is being posted on their MsMojo page, which we hope is a match made in heaven. Enjoy.
Again, we gave ourselves some guidelines:
- One film per letter
- Articles don’t count (the, an, a, etc.)
- Final list should encapsulate the genre
The last rule dictated a lot of our hardest decisions. We also strived for balance. Hence why Julia Roberts only has a couple movies on the list - and why there’s only one Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan selection. We threw Drew Barrymore a bone instead of going with Notting Hill – so sue us!
Anyway, here’s some take-aways from our decision-making process. If your favorite movie isn’t in our final video, there’s a very good chance it’s a decision, and not an omission.
LESSONS FROM ROM-COM A-Z
TOP DECADE: 1990s
Rom Coms had a huge resurgence in the 90s, minting new movie stars left-right-and-center in a time when even Runaway Bride could run away with over $300 million at the box office (for a middling Julia Roberts film). Oh, how times have changed. We did, however, still manage to pull a lot of great picks from the 00s, and even some from the last few years with big hit movies that have made the genre refreshingly less bridal white. Nothing from the 60s though, and the summer of love. Go figure.
HARDEST LETTER: S
Sleepless in Seattle is not only a huge film for Nora Efron, but for the genre as a whole. It cemented Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as America’s sweetheart couple (though it didn’t introduce us to them - don’t forget about Joe vs the Volcano!), and Hanks also made the fantasy classic Splash! a decade earlier. Then there’s the proto Rom Com film The Shop Around the Corner, later remade as You’ve Got Mail. We could also add Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything as a contender. So because we had most of those stories and stars covered in Y, we went with the impossible-to-hate pairing of Bradley Cooper and Jennier Lawrence. An Oscar win and that many noms for a Rom Com is hard to ignore, too.
CHEATED OUT: Enchanted
We’re going to go out on a limb and guess that Enchanted has a lot more fans than Enough Said. Well, you’re in luck! Enchanted made our best Musicals video, so we opted for a bit of an adult alternative for this one. Also, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss. Enough said.
BEST BATTLE: Moonstruck vs My Best Friend’s Wedding
Moonstruck doesn’t seem to have the fan legacy as My Best Friend’s Wedding, but it certainly has a more impressive resume. Three Oscar wins, another three nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director), and it arguably re-ignited the whole new Rom Com wave even before When Harry Met Sally. But peak Julia Roberts is something to behold, so we said a little prayer for you and went with a fan favourite.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION: Think Like a Man
The big loser for this letter is There’s Something About Mary, but that movie feels a little more at home in the gross-out comedy genre, even if there’s no denying its bonafides as a Rom Com. So instead, we wanted to highlight a movie that was a huge hit and reminded Hollywood that a diverse cast could sell tickets and sexy jokes. And just look at that cast - damn!
Think your list would be better? More balanced? Less heart-breaking? Let us know.
Sincerely,
Dear Cast & Crew
