3SMReviews: You should totally watch this. Volume II
Movies I watched in 2018 that were just so good I think you should watch them too. Today’s theme: funny, romantic, and romantically funny
Romantic Comedy Renaissance
Oh my goodness, it’s like the Hollywood execs looked at their spreadsheet of excess and said, “Whoa, Nelly! We’ve been pumping out superhero films like there’s a big comet headed toward the earth and only a superhero movie can save us! But where is the love?”
They seem to have said that a year ago because this summer was the summer of romantic comedies for me. And they were so good! Here are the standouts.
Just getting started. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Lana Condor’s unsent love letters are mailed, and she gets a fake boyfriend out of the deal.
Young career women. Zoe Deutch is an assistant who cooks up a matchmaking scheme with Glen Powell in Set it Up. Gillian Jacobs is on a business trip to Spain in Ibiza and Jessica Williams is a marvel in The Incredible Jessica James.
What else do these three movies have in common? Two of them follow the new romantic comedy formula that provides romance, but is just as focused on the woman staying true to herself.
A more mature romance. Rose Byrne confronts her relationship at midlife in Juliet, Naked. Maybe her boyfriend’s (Chris O’Dowd) obsession with recluse musician Tucker Crowe is going to be the thing that breaks them up. Or maybe Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) is.
Sanaa Lathan is a successful career woman who’s got everything under control in Nappily Ever After. Until Everything falls apart.
Couples Walking and Talking
The Before Sunrise trilogy set the bar high, and these two films are worthy entries into the genre.
In Blue Jay, Sarah Paulson and Mark Duplass’ chance meeting in their hometown leads to a night of remembering their high school relationship.
Alice Eve and Chris Evans meet by chance and spend an evening walking around New York City, trying figure a way to get out of a conundrum in Before We Go.
I could not stop laughing, it was so funny
Really great comedies are cathartic and I recommend them for Friday nights. All that laughter wipes away the work week and makes you lighter for the weekend. Here were three that were great.
In Blockers, three friends decide to lose their virginity on Prom night. Their parents (Leslie Mann, John Cena, and Ike Barinholz) get wind of the pact and spend the evening trying to thwart their daughters’ efforts.
In Game Night, Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman have friends over for an evening of entertainment via board games. From that point, nothing goes according to plan, resulting in much hilarity and many homages to games.
Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel create a different kind of humor in Lost in Paris, the story of a Canadian woman who heads to Paris to find out what’s become of her aunt. Very odd hilarity ensues.
Looking for You Should Totally Watch this Volume I? It’s here. And here is Volume III.
images that are not from moviestillsdb are from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365545/mediaviewer/rm3957096192; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5990342/mediaviewer/rm3070769664;
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2936884/mediaviewer/rm2524981504
