Hey everyone, we had another awesome Breakdown Webcast in the Stage 32 Writers' Room last night. We broke down the storytelling conventions on Romantic Comedies. A producer friend of mine at an A-List production company has been hearing from every studio exec "find me a Rom Com!" so I thought it was a perfect time to break them down and sees what makes them tick (you can watch the full breakdown only in the Writers' Room).
With that in mind, what are some of your favorite Rom Coms? For me, it's WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, THE APARTMENT, and 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. You?
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Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and When Harry Met Sally are forever favorites - Meg Ryan is the original RomCom darling. HUGE fan of (500) Days of Summer (even bigger fan of JGL). The RomCom I somehow always find my way back to? 13 Going on 30
(1) When Harry Met Sally, (2) Clueless, (3) Misery, (4) Pride & Prejudice, (5) Cruel Intentions.
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You've Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Some Like It Hot...could go on and on and on really :)
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Anything written by Nora Ephron
My top 3 are 500 Days of Summer (2009) , Hitch (2004) , 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
10 Things I Hate About You, Moonstruck, Regarding Henry.
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SIDEWAYS
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Addicted to love ,Philedelphia story
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The Goodbye Girl.
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Wow, none of these are current. I guess we are in need of rom-coms?? I actually started one this week that I've put off for a few years.
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The Proposal, 2 Weeks Notice, How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days, Notting Hill, Kate & Leopold, Crazy Stupid Love...
This is good to know. I think I'm going to sign up to this. And the greatest Rom Com of all time is Chasing Amy.
These are all AWESOME answers and there are some I definitely need to watch again.
Stage 32 List of Favorite Rom Coms (compared to standard lists - is there something like a Stage32 member taste [in whatever Genre?] ):
(1) When Harry Met Sally (×3)
(2) The Apartment
(3) (500) Days of Summer (×3)
(4) Sleepless in Seattle
(5) You've Got Mail (×2)
(6) Clueless
(7) While You Were Sleeping (×2)
(8) Some Like It Hot
(9) Pride & Prejudice
(10) Cruel Intentions
(11) Hitch
(12) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (×2)
(13) Kissing a Fool
(14) 10 Things I Hate About You
(15) Moonstruck
(16) Regarding Henry
(17) Sideways
(18) The Philadelphia story
(19) The Goodbye Girl
(20) She's the Man
(21) Twelfth Night or What You Will
(22) Chasing Amy
(23) The Proposal,
(24) 2 Weeks Notice
(25) How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days
(26) Notting Hill
(27) Kate & Leopold
(28) Crazy Stupid Love (×3)
(29) My Big Fat Greek Wedding
(30) The Wedding Singer
(31) Say Anything
(32) The Pick'-up Artist
(33) The Bick Sick
(34) Pretty in Pink
(35) KNIGHT & DAY
(36) Keeping UP With the Joneses
(37) The Thin Man
(38) Some Kind of Wonderful
(39) Can't By Me Love
(40) There's Something About Mary
(41) Wedding Crashers
(42) Life is Beautiful
(43) Amélie
(44) Pyaar ke Side Effects
(45) Forget Paris
(46) Coming To America
(47) Boomerang
(48) My BestFriend's Wedding
(49) Something's Gotta Give
(50) ?
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Now, you're speakin' my language. I LOVE ROM-COMS!!!! It's about time they make a comeback!
Any Rom-com from 1930-1949, 1986-1989, 1995-2012, any with Drew Barrymore or Hugh Grant, Katherine Heigl, Meg Ryan (pre-plastic surgery face), SJP, Sandy Bullock, Renee Z, Matthew M, John Crobett, Jen Garner, J-Lo, anyone named Jen, Jennifer, Jenny. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING!!! I also dig the Hallmark style, but that's because that has been the only option for decent non-smutty rom-coms.
I have a problem, can you tell?
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So many!
1) THE WEDDING SINGER - Adam Sander at his funniest! (imho)
2) SAY ANYTHING - for John Cusack's pained performance, iconic grand gesture - and that hilariously authentic dinner speech :)
3) WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
4) CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE
5) THE BIG SICK
6-8) All ROBERT DOWNEY JR. late 80's thru early 90's Rom Coms -
so THE PICK UP ARTIST / CHANCES ARE / and ONLY YOU
9) A Coming of age / Romantic Comedy combo - PRETTY IN PINK (Ducky was the BEST besty ever! - and John Hughes' films rule.)
10) Any classic starring Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, or Katharine Hepburn
BONUSES:
- My favorite multi-genre flicks with strong rom-com overtones - FOUL PLAY (with Goldie Hawn & Chevy Chase), and what I consider a bit of a modern knock-off of it - KNIGHT & DAY (with Tom Cruise & Cameron Diaz).. -Totally underrated!
- Another totally underrated & fairly recent zany film that I absolutely loved but don't know how to classify - KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES - with Gal Gadot, Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, and Jon Hamm.
Updated.
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Check out the Thin Man series (1930s - 1940's) with William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are wonderully written and acted. The have a genuine onscreen chemistry.
The Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy. Wonderful comedic acting and well written screenplay by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich.
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Most Jon Hughes movies for a start.
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Awesome answers! This month in the Writers' Room we are welcoming in Amy Baer the former head of CBS Films who also developed some of our most memorable Romantic Comedies while at Sony - including MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING and SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE. If anyone wants to attend the webcast on 5/20 and get a free month of the Writers' Room hit me up and I will hook you up! j.mirch@stage32.com
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It's gonna be so good - MBFW was brilliant! "Who's chasing you?" always gets me a little..
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I forgot one (although it's probably covered in my criteria)...Can't Buy Me Love. omg...
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A lot of good movies listed here. No one ever mentions and I guess I never thought of them as romcoms but they are and are a couple of the funniest moves ever. There's Something About Mary & Wedding Crashers.
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I don't like rom-coms - too cheesy. So I wrote one with a low-cheese content. Hard to get it made though, because the industry is pro-cheese, even if audiences aren't.
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I am not generally a big fan of rom-coms, but Something's Gotta Give is quite funny, and both Keaton and Nicholson are enjoyable.
I’m with @Richard @Christiana in that I dislike cheese however gotta agree with @Rutger “Some like it hot” was exemplary. My fave line “Your a man” reply “No one’s perfect”. (Remember it that way but maybe I’m a word out.) I only ever wrote one rom com in order to push my writing to the edge but it’s my first and last.
Debbie Croysdale Yes, Some Like it Hot is a classic. My parents would let us watch when it was on TV. The premise is, of course, ridiculous, but it has enough internal logic to make the thing hang together. And the actors are stellar.
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CRAZY, STUPID LOVE and 500 DAYS OF SUMMER all time favorite rom coms. There may be more but considering these two are unforgettable I'm gonna stick with them!
Btw 500 Days of Summer is also how long its been since anyone has commented on this post.
... list updated
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Love Actually - great romcom!
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Big, big fan of Love Actually though not a classic romcom. Also a great teaching script for my students. A little more recently, Silver Linings Playbook though it plays on a much deeper level than most.
What's up Doc? - 1972
My favorite genre. They are harmless. I could not name just one, but I could name 50.
Annie Hall
The Proposal and You've Got Mail are my top faves Have seen both umpteen times and still rewatch them. Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually are close second faves.
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Taming of The Shrew, a Shakespeare play before many films made. I reckon best performance in film was Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
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Ok. Guilty pleasure here. But I watched 50 First Dates again yesterday and found myself incredibly moved by the both the premise and the heart of the story.
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How about "Isn't It Romantic"? Even if it is a cheesy attempt at a low-cheese rom-com.