Romantic comedies happen to be one of my favourite genres of film.
I love the frivolity of it all, and the fact that for all its predictability, it still never fails to make you go “awww”.
(Well, at least the good ones do that.)
I say “frivolous” because at the end of the day, it’s all about the love lost and found between one man and one woman, simple as that.
I can’t say that I’ve watched a whole lot of romantic comedies in my time, but I would say I’ve watched enough.
My favourite ones are as follows, in no particular order:
1) “When Harry Met Sally” – The first of Nora Ephron’s great trilogy of romantic comedies. I love this for the extremely witty dialogue, and the fact that Billy Crystal is just one of the funniest dudes ever. Meg Ryan was still kinda young-ish, and in my opinion hadn’t really blossomed into a full-fledged movie star yet, but you could see the potential in her nonetheless. My favourite scene was when they were having the argument about the “wagon wheel coffee table”, LOL!
2) “You’ve Got Mail” – How can you go wrong with this? Meg Ryan in the irresistible prime of her life, plus Tom Hanks, set in New York City, with a refreshingly new take on the rom-com angle, tapping on the start of the internet age and all that. Beautiful storytelling, great setting, incredible actors.
3) “Serendipity” – I truly believed that Kate Beckinsale was the most beautiful woman on earth when I first saw this film. I absolutely loved the whole notion of “serendipity” of which this movie was based on, and John Cusack is one of the great “average Joes” of romantic comedy. More “romantic” than “comedy”, but an absolute emotional journey nonetheless. I can’t believe that I only recently found out that Jeremy Piven starred as the buddy in this film. I never knew that!!
4) “My Best Friend’s Wedding” – Couldn’t possibly do a list without Julia Roberts in it, could we? In my opinion, this is still the greatest Julia Roberts rom-com ever. I love the whole sentiment of the film – about how we don’t know how to cherish the things we have until we learn that they are taken away from us. The scene on the boat, when they say “the moment passes you by”…well, that is the stuff that classics are made of.
5) “500 Days of Summer” – The most quirky and unconventional of rom-coms I’ve watched. But still one of the best, nonetheless. Also one of the most painful and hard-hitting rom-coms as well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly funny and entertaining, but the entire storyline is actually a very sad one.
6) “Music & Lyrics” – This film is very special to me because it was the film that made me decide to start dabbling in songwriting. I actually started the Songcraft songwriting circle two months after watching this film. If I had never watched this film, I would probably never have started songwriting. I’m glad that Hugh Grant appears at least once in my list, cos no one does dry humour like Hugh Grant. Never been a big fan of Drew Barrymore though (which explains why I could never bring myself to like “50 First Dates”). The film itself isn’t particularly fantastic or incredible, just your predictable slightly-above-average rom-com, but the subject matter and the fact that it starred a very in-form Hugh Grant allowed this film to make it to my list. Plus the fact that it got me started on actual songwriting. So you could say that this film actually changed my life significantly.
7) “27 Dresses” – Can’t have a list without Katherine Heigl, can I? This is my favourite Katherine Heigl film of all time, and judging by the way her career is panning out, it will most probably remain my favourite Katherine Heigl film of all time. I like this movie because it deals with the subject of weddings, and it’s about how Heigl is always helping others with their weddings, but never meets any luck of her own. Then finally one day she finally gets the dream wedding she’s been hoping for – not without any trials and tribulations, of course – and that final shot in the movie is just incredible. (You have to watch it to know what I’m talking about. It has something to do with the title of the movie.)
Thanks for sharing your favourites! Among those, I count “You have got Mail”, “27 Dresses”, “Music and Lyrics” among my favs too :D
Allow me to steal some airtime for mine here :P
1. The ugly truth
2. The back up plan
3. Hitch
I would cast my votes for the top 2 romance movies though not necessarily comedies – must watch in a lifetime :
1. Titanic (cheesy I know, but I watched it 2 times when it first came out!)
2. PS. I Love You
These 2 movies, are very touching and have certain reality of life, sad that I had to use tissues for the movies…. makes me wonder if guys can withstand the emotions in such movies?! (ie. not cry)
Hi Kkat, thanks for sharing your list.
I’ve watched “The Ugly Truth” and “Hitch” before and I must say that they were definitely entertaining. “The Ugly Truth” because it stars Katherine Heigl (whom I absolutely adore), and “Hitch” because I liked the premise of the film – about this dating coach who could coach others in love but couldn’t seem to get it right himself. My favourite scene from “Hitch” was at the end when Will Smith was arguing with Albert and Albert was saying something like “at least I’m willing to put myself out there and risk failure” or something to that effect. And Eva Mendes was hot too. (Yah, what can I say? I’m a guy.)
I’ve not watched “Titanic” in its entirety before, and not watched “P.S. I Love You” before…although I actually followed this little-known detective TV series of the same name many many years ago, haha!
I don’t know about other guys, but there are definitely moments in a theatre when if all the elements of the film are perfectly aligned, I will be moved to tears. Not “Niagara Falls” kind of tears, but just being moist in the eyes. =)
Hi, Jeremy & Kkat,
Thanks for sharing your favourite rom-com movies – make me wanna to watch or re-watch all of them! =p Could see that both of you are rom-com / rom movies lover!
I had watched “When Harry Met Sally”, “You’ve Got Mail” & “My Best Friend’s Wedding” only once before at the cinema and that was quite some time ago =p which I must admit I don’t quite remember very much about them, haha! But thanks to a dear friend who lent me the dvd of “My Best Friend’s Wedding” recently that I’m be able to recap it once again.
I have heard many good comments about “27 Dresses” many times before, a lot of people shared that it is a Must Watch “Self-Help plus Motivational” movie for single lady especially, haha! =p I don’t know if it is true but I’m quite keen to watch it for myself! ;) Another movie which I am very keen to watch is “Music & Lyrics” as it is about songwriting perhaps and I always like to know more about it.
As for “PS, I Love You”, a friend gave me the book but I had not read or watched the movie yet. Another friend of mine who had read the book, had cried many times while reading it; telling me that I should not miss it. I believe it must be a very touching one and usually book will be better than the movie.
By the way, had any one of you read the book or watched this movie, “Time traveller’s wife” before? Was it nice?
And Hey! Good news! “Titanic” is going to show at Cathay cinema on 5 April, in 3D format!!! =D
Jeremy – You seem to remember all the lines and details of the movies, how do you do that? What impressed upon me is the plot usually, and of course the cast play an important role too.
The script you mentioned “at least I’m willing to put myself out there and risk failure” reminded me that we should practice what we preach.
So, there are things we can learn from the movies and make it work for us in life! Thanks for refreshing our memories!
With respect to PS. I Love You – I caught it a few months back after a recommendation from a friend. Unbelievably touching and the story line is memorable. I have to say I am quite a big fan of Gerald Butler, and this is the one and only show that he portrayed the soft side of him.
I shall not spill the beans in case you are planning to watch it, but please standby the tissues.
And please tell me – if you have been moved to tears :D
ST – I watched Time Travellor’s wife before, is quite interesting. But a little far fetched for my liking. Nonetheless, you can watch it if you have time.
And thanks for sharing about Titanic 3D ! :D
where is SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE?
Yup, “Sleepless in Seattle” is an all-time classic as well. But I never really came to terms with the fact that they had so little actual screen time together (I’m referring to Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks).
But I appreciate the fact that “Sleepless” is written in a way unlike any other rom-com we’ve seen, cos as I mentioned, the two protagonists hardly ever meet with each other until the final scene. It’s a very uniquely-written rom-com in that way.
At least that’s what I remember of the movie.
But the ending scene is something else huh? One of my favourite ending scenes in a rom-com (apart from “You’ve Got Mail”, of course). I guess all the anxiety in the movie builds and builds (cos of the not-actually-meeting-before) until it all kind of explodes in a swell of emotion at the end.
I would rank “Sleepless” just slightly outside of my list of all-time favourite rom-coms. =(
But that’s just me.
Chinhon – Thanks for mentioning it! It’s one of my favourites! ^^V
Kkat – Thanks for your sharing. =) You are most welcome for the info about ‘Titanic’; I like to share this news with everyone too! =D