Tag: RomCom

REVIEW: Celine Song’s sophomore effort ‘Materialists’ disappoints

A film from A24, written and directed Celine Song who helmed the wonderful “Past Lives” from 2023? On paper it looks like a slam dunk. Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case.

In Song’s second feature film, Dakota Johnson stars as a matchmaker in New York City named Lucy. She works for a company that specializes in setting up dates between similar people. Basically, it’s an in person dating app, but the app is a human match manager with an office.

Work is going well enough, but Lucy herself has been single for a while. That changes, though, when she meets the charming and understanding Harry (Pedro Pascal), and the two start dating. At the same time, she meets up and starts talking with former boyfriend John (Chris Evans).

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REVIEW: Middling romcom is all to be found in ‘The Lost City’

This might be the most intense adventure a character played by Sandra Bullock has been on since “Speed 2: Cruise Control.”

In “The Lost City,” Bullock portrays Loretta Sage, an author who’s made a career out of writing steamy romance/adventure novels. She was once passionate about history and exploring, but she lost her drive when her husband passed away.

Loretta isn’t excited about her latest book tour, either, as she’s tired of dealing with Alan (Channing Tatum), a book cover model who takes a lot of the attention. Loretta ends up having to rediscover her passion for history, and find some courage, though, as she’s kidnapped by a billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe), who’s searching for a treasure referenced in one of her books.

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REVIEW: ‘Marry Me’ has enough rom-com magic to win viewers over

My ears definitely perked up when I heard this film was actually based on a graphic novel, which I now want to read.

Jennifer Lopez is Kat in “Marry Me,” a pop music super star who’s preparing for a concert like no other. She plans to get married on stage in front of a huge crowd to her fiance, Bastian, who’s also a singer.

However, before the show, she learns that Bastian cheated on her. Upset and wanting a quick fix, she decides to pick a stranger in the crowd to marry instead. That stranger is Charlie (Owen Wilson), a school teacher and single father. The two at first see it as an in the moment, reversible mistake, but soon grow closer.

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REVIEW: ‘Happiest Season’ is satisfying holiday cinema

Take a break from Hallmark and go to Hulu because the streaming service has a romcom of much better quality.

“Happiest Season” stars Kristen Stewart as Abby and Mackenzie Davis as Harper. The two are a couple who’ve been together for about a year or so and are deeply in love. So much so that Abby is considering a proposal over Christmas.

As the holiday approaches, the two set off to visit Harper’s parents to enjoy a family Christmas. However, on the way, Harper informs Abby that she’s still in the closet and that her parents don’t know about their relationship. Planning to tell her parents at the right time, Harper convinces Abby to pretend that they’re just roommates instead of a couple. Keeping the secret proves difficult, though.

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REVIEW: ‘Then Came You’ is neither compelling nor comedic

This is one of those films with some good ideas at play, but in need of stronger execution.

Kathie Lee Gifford, who also wrote the script, stars as Annabelle. A recent widower, Annabelle has decided to travel the world with the ashes of her deceased spouse, and the first destination is in rural Scotland.

There, she stays at a historic building-turned inn, which is operated by a man named Howard (Craig Ferguson). The two come from different backgrounds and at first don’t get along. However, the two grow closer as time goes on.

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REVIEW: ‘Babysplitters’ is mostly abysmal

Parenthood and the process of getting there has been the subject of comedies for quite some time and some, like “Knocked Up,” can be big hits.

However, these types of films usually require a balanced approach. Unfortunately, “Babysplitters” is too all over the place.

The movie focuses on the married couple Jeff (Danny Pudi) and Sarah (Emily Chang). The two have a good relationship, but they somewhat disagree on the prospect of having children.

Meanwhile, their friends Don (Eddie Alfano) and Taylor (Maiara Walsh) are having the same conversations. After having some discussions all together, they come up with a plan of sharing one baby, but their plan has complications.

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Best of the Decade: Romance

This is a series called “Best of the Decade.” It’s a list including 10 movies that I found to be the best in a specific genre from 2010-2019.

Several great romantic relationships were brought to the big screen over the past decade, with some getting more attention than others. Here were my favorites.

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REVIEW: ‘Last Christmas’ lags far behind better flicks in the genre

If I wanted to watch a Hallmark holiday movie, I’d just turn on the channel rather than go to the theater. But that’s what “Last Christmas” asks audiences to do.

This latest holiday romance flick, featuring a big helping of George Michael music, stars Emilia Clarke as the protagonist Kate. At the movie’s beginning, Kate isn’t in a very good place, her career as a singer isn’t going anywhere, she’s stuck as a cashier at a job she’s not very fond of, she parties too much and doesn’t have her own place, meaning she’s either staying with her parents or couch-surfing.

This whole situation comes several months after a severe illness and as a result, Kate has become rough around the edges and overall very cynical. Her sour look at the world begins to soften, though, when she meets and gets to know Tom (Henry Golding). Eventually, Tom’s positiveness begins to push Kate in a better direction as their relationship grows.

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REVIEW: One can just move on to tomorrow, because ‘Yesterday’ doesn’t offer much

An Oscar and Golden Globe winning director, a writer with several charming hits, along with a fantastic concept ripe for all sorts of possibilities. On paper, “Yesterday” looked like a slam dunk, which makes it a total shame that it turned out so poorly.

The movie follows a struggling singer named Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), who lives day-to-day playing small gigs with help from his manager Ellie (Lily James). Getting fed up with his lack of success and his dead-end job, Jack considers leaving music all together.

However, during one bike ride home, Jack is hit by a bus at the exact same moment a blackout occurs worldwide. When he wakes up and recovers from his injuries, he comes to find himself in a world where the Beatles never became a band and their music does not exist in the pop culture landscape. Seeing an opportunity, Jack starts singing the songs and claims credit for the work, which of course leads him to his own fair share of fame.

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REVIEW: Chemistry with leads boosts ‘Long Shot’

What? No general or midterm election this year? Well let’s have a political film to fill that gap. At least it’s a comedy.

“Long Shot” tells the story of Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), the Secretary of State for a fictional president, who’s looking to run in the 2020 presidential race. She has a good amount of experience under her belt, but her campaign staff sees opportunities to improve her speeches and become more personable.

Enter Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen), a loose cannon investigative journalist who recently found himself unemployed. However, because he knows Field, Fred comes to work as a speech assistant for Field, especially with helping punch up the statements. However, on top of working together, Frank and Charlotte find themselves falling for each other.

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