Thursday Movie Picks - Romantic Tropes: Friends to Lovers

-

 

This week's romantic theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is the ever popular friends to lovers. There's so much to choose from here. Here's what I came up with.


1) Just Friends - This is one of my favorite rom coms, Amy Smart (why is she not in more movies?) and Ryan Reynolds have great chemistry


2) Definitely, Maybe - While it's been a long time since I've seen this, the idea was cute. A dad telling his daughter three separate stories of friends he fell in love with while we the audience guess which one is her mother.


3) Love & Basketball - Nope, I'm not going for a Ryan Reynolds theme here. Now I want to pick one of my favorite movies from junior high. I love this, and I need to re-watch it again.

Comments

  1. Sonia CercaFebruary 11, 2021 at 6:41 AM

    Definitely, Maybe is the only I've seen but I don't remember anything about it. I thought it was cute but that's it. I've been meaning to rewatch it though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 11, 2021 at 10:52 AM

      It's been years since I've seen it too, but it was cute.

      Delete
  2. joel65913February 11, 2021 at 9:30 AM

    Of the three Definitely, Maybe is the one I liked the most. A sweet concept well done with two of my favorite actresses, Rachel Weisz and Elizabeth Banks in the cast.

    Just Friends was okay the one time I saw it but I've never had any great desire to return to it.

    I haven't seen Love and Basketball. I've heard of it but only vaguely, I'll have to look it up and get a clearer idea of what it's about outside of being a romcom.

    I had a tougher time this week, three came to me right away but they seemed like such obvious choices I decided to try for some more obscure picks and that's where it got difficult. Still I persevered and came up with these.

    The Wedding Singer (1998)-Nice guy Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer at a small hall in 80’s New Jersey who is about to marry Linda (Angela Featherstone) when he meets server Julia (Drew Barrymore) who has just started at the venue. Julia is engaged to Glenn (Matthew Glave) and they strike up a friendship over that mutual fact. But when Linda dumps Robbie on the eve of their wedding he falls apart and Julia trying to help him get back on his feet asks Robbie to help plan her upcoming nuptials. As they work on the plans Robbie realizes that not only is Glenn an enormous tool but that he's falling for Julia who subconsciously is doing the same. Will they realize their true feelings in time? Probably Sandler’s sweetest, least abrasive film packed wall to wall with fun 80’s music and fashions.

    The Full Monty (1997)-When hard times fall on an English town a group of men on the dole including Gaz (Robert Carlyle), Dave (Mark Addy), Lomper (Steve Huison) and Guy (Hugo Speer) form a male strip revue. Out of desperation to pull in crowds they promise to go “the full Monty”. Though they run into many hurdles, some comic and others serious, eventually they prevail, along the way buddies Lomper & Guy realize they’ve fallen for each other and end up a couple.

    Hands Across the Table (1935)-Manicurist Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) works at a swanky hotel hunting for a rich husband. She thinks she’s found a plum pigeon in Theodore Drew III (Fred MacMurray), since he comes from a prominent family but finds out he’s as broke as she is since the stock market crash. They become friends though and decide to help each other in their gold digging. Regi meets wealthy hotel guest Allen Macklyn (Ralph Bellamy), who falls for her while Ted is waiting for Vivian Snowden (Astrid Allwyn) the heiress he has on the hook to return from Bermuda so he can hop back on the gravy train. All seems smooth sailing but as feelings between Regi and Theodore develop, their careful plans start to change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 11, 2021 at 10:48 AM

      I wouldn't call Love & Basketball a rom com per say, but it's very good. I've seen the first two of your picks! The Wedding Singer is definitely a bit tamer Sandler. The Fully Monty I only vaguely remember as I was quite young when i watched it.

      Delete
  3. SJHoneywellFebruary 11, 2021 at 10:55 AM

    One of the classes I teach invovles a two-week project where the students select a movie. Love & Basketball is the second-most popular choice in a completely open field.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BirgitFebruary 11, 2021 at 11:26 AM

    Funny, I just re-watched Definately, Maybe which was on TV the other day. It's nice but I wasn't too enthralled with it...just a nice rom-com. I haven't seen your other 2 yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 12, 2021 at 9:55 AM

      I'm curious how it holds up since it's been so long since I've watched it.

      Delete
  5. SaraFebruary 11, 2021 at 3:01 PM

    omg I love ALL of these movies!! I was wondering about Amy Smart too. I really like her and she just sort of disappeared. Definitely, Maybe is an underrated gem. It deserves so much love. Love & Basketball was one of the first rom coms I watched with my (now) husband. I need to rewatch it again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 12, 2021 at 9:55 AM

      She's a really solid actress too. I loved her in The Butterfly Effect.

      Delete
  6. thevoid99February 11, 2021 at 4:41 PM

    Love & Basketball... a true classic that deserves more love. Just Friends is hilarious. I don't think I've seen Definitely, Maybe as it was on HBO a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GetterFebruary 11, 2021 at 4:45 PM

    The first two are okay, I don't think I remember Love & Basketball so I need to rewatch it for sure. lol

    ReplyDelete
  8. RuthFebruary 11, 2021 at 6:33 PM

    Can't believe I haven't seen Love & Basketball yet considering I LOVE the director's work. I haven't seen Just Friends yet but Definitely, Maybe is better than I thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 12, 2021 at 9:09 AM

      You need to watch it! I think it's on Hulu right now.

      Delete
  9. DellFebruary 11, 2021 at 8:17 PM

    I almost picked Love & Basketball, as its a fave of my wife & I. Just Friends is an underrated gem. I really enjoy that one. Haven't seen your other pick, yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 12, 2021 at 9:09 AM

      It's such a class. I really need to watch L&B again. I know it's on one of my streaming services.

      Delete
  10. Cinematic DelightsFebruary 12, 2021 at 2:30 AM

    I haven't seen any of these before. I've heard of the first two but not Love & Basketball. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Often Off TopicFebruary 12, 2021 at 5:42 AM

    I really wish we could have a few more Ryan Reynolds romcoms, they're just so much fun. Just Friends is one I try to watch every Christmas <3

    ReplyDelete
  12. KatyFebruary 12, 2021 at 3:40 PM

    Nice picks! I was going to go with Just Friends too, but went with a superhero theme instead. I wish Anna had done more comedies outside of her show because she's hilarious. Wasn't a big fan of Definitely, Maybe though. I'll have to check out Love and Basketball.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 12, 2021 at 7:16 PM

      I loved your Marvel theme! Anna is hilarious, I hope her career flourishes post Pratt lol

      Delete
  13. WandererFebruary 18, 2021 at 5:23 PM

    I've seen the first two but don't remember much. The last one is one I've heard good things, waiting for it to get on Netflix.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more