Romantic Dramas

[aradia22]

I watched The Bridges of Madison County for the first time recently. Prior to watching the movie, I knew the story from the musical adaptation. I have more to say if anyone wants to chat but basically, I thought it had its moments and Francesca was an interesting character, but overall it was pretty mediocre and it was way too long of a movie.  

[Irlandesa]

55 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

it was way too long of a movie.  

Which is kind of funny because it was a relatively short book.  I don't recall if I ever saw the movie but I did read the book.

[Athena]

On 5/16/2020 at 1:33 AM, aradia22 said:

I watched The Bridges of Madison County for the first time recently. Prior to watching the movie, I knew the story from the musical adaptation. I have more to say if anyone wants to chat but basically, I thought it had its moments and Francesca was an interesting character, but overall it was pretty mediocre and it was way too long of a movie.  

On 5/16/2020 at 2:29 AM, Irlandesa said:

Which is kind of funny because it was a relatively short book.  I don't recall if I ever saw the movie but I did read the book.

I read the book and watched the movie and it's one of the few instances where I think the movie is much better than the book because the book is not that great. It's short and while there is some character development, it's pretty basic. It was probably good for reader self-insert. The movie is too long but it works a little better because of the acting and the direction. 

[aradia22]

@Irlandesa Some movies are long because they seem to feel obligated to include all the moments people want from the book. I just felt like this movie was taking its sweet time about every little thing. It thought it was more profound and prestige than it actually was. Also, Clint's acting was not great. Not terrible but not great.

Also, I get the framing device of the children but they could have cut most of that and it would have been perfectly fine and a better movie.

[festivus]

I remember watching back in the day with the hubby and I was so bored. He loved it though. Back before we had phones and tablets to scroll through when the SO wants to watch something boring. I was probably redesigning the living room in my head or something.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Also, I get the framing device of the children but they could have cut most of that and it would have been perfectly fine and a better movie.

I didn't like the movie but I do think it would have been better if they cut out that part. That part was unnecessary and makes her come off really cold and terrible for leaving a letter for her kids to find after she dies detailing her affair. Who would do that? To give her kids issues the rest of their lives? Does she want them to end up hating her? There's no need to do that. They could have just showed the affair. I probably still wouldn't like it since I didn't like Francisca but she would have at least better for not telling her kids about her affair. 

[methodwriter85]

Speaking of Meryl Streep, I tried watching her 1984 romantic drama "Falling in Love" where she plays a married woman who begins an emotional affair with a married Robert Deniro. I couldn't get into it, although I loved her chic 80's outfits and how handsome Robert still was at that time. I normally like those kind of low-key dramas but if you want something in a similar kind of vein, "Lost In Translation" is much, much better.

 

[aradia22]

@andromeda331 I thought it was necessary because clearly the son was a jerk and had no intention of honoring his dead mother's wishes for her death until he heard the whole story. It's also clear that it pushes the daughter to divorce her terrible husband but again, I could have done without either story. They both felt trite. 

[krankydoodle]

I'm not sure if this really belongs here, but I watched 365 Days on Netflix last night and it was...something. I wasn't surprised when I found out that it was inspired by Fifty Shades of Gray. Whatever the movie's faults (and there are a whole bunch), at least the leads and locations are beautiful.

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

I'm not sure if this really belongs here, but I watched 365 Days on Netflix last night and it was...something. I wasn't surprised when I found out that it was inspired by Fifty Shades of Gray. Whatever the movie's faults (and there are a whole bunch), at least the leads and locations are beautiful.

Ooh boy there is so much to say about that movie. 

The leads are good looking and bring more heat that 50 Shades. Or maybe that was just the explicit sex scenes.  And the locations are gorgeous too.  But it's more Harlequin romance novel than 50 Shades since there's no S&M--just Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[krankydoodle]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Ooh boy there is so much to say about that movie. 

I thought about creating a separate thread for it, but then realized most of what I want to say comes down to "WTF was that?"

[Dejana]

21 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

I'm not sure if this really belongs here, but I watched 365 Days on Netflix last night and it was...something. I wasn't surprised when I found out that it was inspired by Fifty Shades of Gray. Whatever the movie's faults (and there are a whole bunch), at least the leads and locations are beautiful.

I saw it on top of the Netflix charts and wondered what in the world it was. Glossy, Stockholm Syndrome porn, it seems... 365 Days is adapted from the first book in a trilogy of Polish novels. They  haven't officially been translated but English versions can be found on Wattpad, which sounds about right. 

 

[aradia22]

Quote

I'm not sure if this really belongs here, but I watched 365 Days on Netflix last night and it was...something. I wasn't surprised when I found out that it was inspired by Fifty Shades of Gray. Whatever the movie's faults (and there are a whole bunch), at least the leads and locations are beautiful.

I watched the little preview thing on Netflix. It's so odd. I just can't watch the English dubs on Netflix of French, Spanish, etc. shows/movies. They're so bad and awkward. This was slightly better but still off. I don't think it sounds like a Harlequin romance... mafia stuff is it's own weird category. But one thing it does have in common with Harlequin romance is people who primarily speak another language insisting on speaking English when they would clearly be more comfortable speaking their own language. They don't seem like great actors. But I'm sure they would be better actors if they weren't trying to get out all this English dialogue. 

[Starleigh]

One of my favorites in this genre is The Painted Veil. 

Funny story, I saw it in the theater when it came out. The audience was mostly senior citizens, a few random women of varying ages (including me) and a group of early 20s frat boy types. When it finished, and the credits started rolling, some of the frat boys started clapping. Since I was sitting close by and could overhear their conversation, I was amused to hear that evidently they had stumbled into the wrong room in the theater, but by the time they figured that out, they were caught up in the movie and decided to stay. They were saying stuff like, "Wow, that was really good!"

[Ms Blue Jay]

Did anyone watch "Wild Mountain Thyme"?  It seems like people absolutely hated it, but I didn't.

[aradia22]

I still need to watch Doubt but I'm finding it hard to believe that John Patrick Shanley has written anything good since Moonstruck.

[Ms Blue Jay]

He also did Joe versus the Volcano which is definitely a "cult" favourite, but I could never get through it.

[tribeca]

On 4/18/2021 at 3:49 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

He also did Joe versus the Volcano which is definitely a "cult" favourite, but I could never get through it.

I have not seen that in a long time.  I remember his luggage was really dependable lol

Edited May 2, 2021 by tribeca

[Spartan Girl]

I don’t know why The Vow is being aired on tv so much now but it reminds me of how much I hate it. The parents of that movie were complete sociopaths, taking advantage of her memory loss to rewrite history and shoehorn her husband out of her life. I really don’t get why she’d still want them in her life after that.

I almost wish that Channing Tatum turned down her offer of a second date at the end, telling her that it took him a while to finally move on and, memory loss or not, he couldn’t just wait around for her to fall in love with him again.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[Ms Blue Jay]

I remember hating that movie too, but I don't have memory of why.

This reminds me of how upset I was by The Time Traveler's Wife.  That is one of my all time favourite books and it is just so fucking good.  The movie was just allllllll wrong!  I know it has its fans, and that's fine, but man, after reading the book it really felt like a horrible retelling of it.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Spartan Girl]

I have a love-hate relationship with the movie Somewhere in Time. I love it because of Christopher Reeve (duh) and that it was filmed in my state’s Mackinac Island. But I hate that the goddamn brilliant musical score makes me so emotional EVERY DAMN TIME. It only got worse after Christopher Reeve died.

[blackwing]

On 4/11/2021 at 6:19 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Did anyone watch "Wild Mountain Thyme"?  It seems like people absolutely hated it, but I didn't.

I just watched "Wild Mountain Thyme".  Particularly because I watched "Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar" and I was surprised at how funny Jamie Dornan was.  I remember him being fantastic in "The Fall" and of course he was brooding in "50 Shades", but I thought it was a revelation at how funny he is.  Went to see what else he has been in, and I watched this one because I like Emily Blunt too.   I think Dornan is a very underrated actor.

Overall, I liked "Wild Mountain Thyme", although some of the plot was a bit odd.  I didn't fully understand the point of the Jon Hamm character, and really, flying all the way across the ocean to see if someone kind of likes you?  Have they never heard of telephones or Facetime?

I did like the slow burn between Anthony and Rosemary, and the interactions with Christopher Walken's character and Rosemary's mom were great too.  I know this movie got criticised a lot for the bad Irish accents, which is interesting because Jamie Dornan is actually Irish, even if he's from a different area.  But it seems the criticism was too much to overcome.  If it were up to me, I would have thought the two leads should have gotten Golden Globe acting nominations in the comedy category.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I finally saw "Falling In Love" (1984) starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep and ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god I love this movie sooooooooooo much.

I recommend saving it for Christmas, though!

[Ms Blue Jay]

I forgot to say that I finally saw Brokeback Mountain last year and it was incredible.  Heath Ledger was amazing!  Now I get even more why people hate the movie "Crash" so much.  I thought people hated it just because it was bad, but now I see how amazing BM was and how it should have won best picture!

[Scarlett45]

On 9/15/2021 at 4:02 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I forgot to say that I finally saw Brokeback Mountain last year and it was incredible.  Heath Ledger was amazing!  Now I get even more why people hate the movie "Crash" so much.  I thought people hated it just because it was bad, but now I see how amazing BM was and how it should have won best picture!

It was a good one. Lots of intense quiet acting in that one. Subtle facial work. 

[Spartan Girl]

Watched All My Life last weekend, and I have to say it was pretty good. Sad yet somehow inspiring that they had such good friends that were able to raise enough money through the kindness of strangers (and GoFundMe) to give them their dream wedding.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I saw "Splendor in the Grass" starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty for the first time.  It's from 1961. That was really really good.

[Trini]

Watched The Photograph. I liked it; would recommend. My main issue is that I thought the chemistry between the two leads was lukewarm. When they had cute banter they were good, but otherwise, they didn't really have the 'heat' for me to really buy that the relationship was so serious when the time span (within the movie) was so short. But also the main couple might not have gotten enough screentime since the film was telling three stories at once.

I also saw Sylvie's Love recently, and it was interesting how both films had a few themes in common (secret daughter; break-up to advance career; overseas move). Would also recommend this one. It really got the 1950s/1960s look and vibe down. (But I'm a 80s/90s kid, so what do I know!)

[methodwriter85]

On 5/2/2021 at 1:58 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I don’t know why The Vow is being aired on tv so much now but it reminds me of how much I hate it. The parents of that movie were complete sociopaths, taking advantage of her memory loss to rewrite history and shoehorn her husband out of her life. I really don’t get why she’d still want them in her life after that.

I almost wish that Channing Tatum turned down her offer of a second date at the end, telling her that it took him a while to finally move on and, memory loss or not, he couldn’t just wait around for her to fall in love with him again.

I'm really surprised Netflix hasn't swapped up Rachel McAdams yet to start a new division of romantic dramas. LOL. (She has appeared in comedies for them.) 

 

[Trini]

Recently watched Age of Adaline: This was nice; interesting concept - although I had to roll my eyes a little bit that miraculous circumstances just happened to a gorgeous, well-to-do, young, white woman. Hollywood! But I did like the fairy tale quality of the storytelling.

And I'm a million years late to this one, but I finally* saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and it was so good! Like everyone else, I questioned Jim Carrey's casting, but he was perfect for this role. The one thing I didn't like was all the drama with the memory-erasing staff and the amount of screentime that took; although it did connect in the end. Really interesting concept and execution.  *I think my years of avoiding details about the film paid off!

---

(I guess the theme here is romances with a twist!)

[PepSinger]

On 12/13/2021 at 12:05 AM, Trini said:

And I'm a million years late to this one, but I finally* saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and it was so good! Like everyone else, I questioned Jim Carrey's casting, but he was perfect for this role. The one thing I didn't like was all the drama with the memory-erasing staff and the amount of screentime that took; although it did connect in the end. Really interesting concept and execution.  *I think my years of avoiding details about the film paid off!

It's one of my all-time favorite movies. I adore it.

[RealHousewife]

On 5/16/2020 at 12:33 AM, aradia22 said:

I watched The Bridges of Madison County for the first time recently. Prior to watching the movie, I knew the story from the musical adaptation. I have more to say if anyone wants to chat but basically, I thought it had its moments and Francesca was an interesting character, but overall it was pretty mediocre and it was way too long of a movie.  

Agree. The cast is impressive, and I heard it was a really good and romantic movie, but I didn't love it like I thought I would. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Jim Carrey should have been nominated and won the Oscar for "Eternal" for my money anyway.  I thought that he was better than Kate Winslet.  I don't know if I like a male actor performance more than his in that movie.

When I think of "Eternal" I tend to think of "Closer" and "50 First Dates".  All heavy romances that were released in 2004 and I think I saw all of them in the theatre.  "50 First Dates" appears like a rom com, but it feels heavier to me than that.

Here's another one I love - the 2013 "The Great Gatsby".  Critics don't like this movie at all, but I liked it in 2013 and I like it today!

Edited December 22, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Here's another one I love - the 2013 "The Great Gatsby".  Critics don't like this movie at all, but I liked it in 2013 and I like it today!

I love almost all of Baz Luhrmann's films (except Australia), and I also loved this one.  His aesthetic works for the material far better than any other serious director.  No one does over the top spectacle with dark undercurrents quite like Baz.   

[Ms Blue Jay]

I agree, they're all good, but Gatsby is my favourite of his; it just spoke to me.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[blugirlami21]

On 5/2/2021 at 1:58 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I don’t know why The Vow is being aired on tv so much now but it reminds me of how much I hate it. The parents of that movie were complete sociopaths, taking advantage of her memory loss to rewrite history and shoehorn her husband out of her life. I really don’t get why she’d still want them in her life after that.

I almost wish that Channing Tatum turned down her offer of a second date at the end, telling her that it took him a while to finally move on and, memory loss or not, he couldn’t just wait around for her to fall in love with him again.

I have a love hate relationship with this one as well. The parents definitely sucked but I thought she sucked too. She was just so rude and combative the whole time. There was more than enough evidence that you were married to the guy. Give him a chance.

I saw Legends Of the Fall this year and whew what a rollercoaster. I did enjoy it though it was depressing as heck. Not one person got what they wanted in the end.

[RealHousewife]

I personally loved The Vow. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've disliked any movie that stars Rachel McAdams. I enjoy her acting and think she picks great projects. The Notebook is one of my favorite movies ever. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Has anyone seen "At First Sight"?  Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, 1999.  I saw it for the first time.  It's pretty sexy!  I liked it a lot.

Seems like you guys like to talk about "The Vow".  I saw a Lifetime movie called "Second Chance Christmas".  Everyone else gave it a horrible review but I actually liked it.  People said it's a shitty version of "The Vow" 😄

20 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I personally loved The Vow. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've disliked any movie that stars Rachel McAdams. I enjoy her acting and think she picks great projects. The Notebook is one of my favorite movies ever. 

She's kind of the Queen of a certain type of movie.  I really like another romantic drama she's in, "About Time".

Edited December 23, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[andromeda331]

23 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Has anyone seen "At First Sight"?  Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, 1999.  I saw it for the first time.  It's pretty sexy!  I liked it a lot.

Seems like you guys like to talk about "The Vow".  I saw a Lifetime movie called "Second Chance Christmas".  Everyone else gave it a horrible review but I actually liked it.  People said it's a shitty version of "The Vow" 😄

She's kind of the Queen of a certain type of movie.  I really like another romantic drama she's in, "About Time".

Yes, she is and that will always be my favorite Rachel McAdams movie even though I love most of her movies. Mean Girls is just so funny, horrible and reminds me so much my high school. Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, and Lindsay Lohan were all really great in the movie. So were the adults. So many quotable lines. 

[Scarlett45]

On 12/22/2021 at 10:30 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Has anyone seen "At First Sight"?  Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, 1999.  I saw it for the first time.  It's pretty sexy!  I liked it a lot.

Not since I was a girl (likely when it came out)- I will check it out again. 

 

On 12/22/2021 at 10:12 PM, RealHousewife said:

I personally loved The Vow. Come to think of it, I don't know if I've disliked any movie that stars Rachel McAdams. I enjoy her acting and think she picks great projects. The Notebook is one of my favorite movies ever. 

I liked The Vow- I forgive Rachel McAdam’s character for being distant- I can imagine losing the last 5yrs of your life would be traumatic. I thought that movie was a good vehicle for Channing Tatum- he showed he could bring emotional nuance. He did some amazing facial work with his feelings of grief and rejection- the woman he loved didn’t know him.  

 

I did think it was odd that your father (or mother for that matter) having an affair would be cause not to speak to your parents indefinitely. Assuming the affair was with another consenting adult, that’s not really any of your business. Their spouse choosing to forgive them isn’t up to you. It’s not fun to be put in the middle of all that, but just cutting your parents off? And your sibling? That was just WEIRD. 

[Scarlett45]

On 10/24/2021 at 2:02 PM, Trini said:

I also saw Sylvie's Love recently, and it was interesting how both films had a few themes in common (secret daughter; break-up to advance career; overseas move). Would also recommend this one. It really got the 1950s/1960s look and vibe down. (But I'm a 80s/90s kid, so what do I know!)

Watching Sylvie’s Love now- I appreciate that they didn’t make Lacey an asshole so that we would of course root for her and Robert. Lacy did love her, and while he was “square” his feelings for her were genuine (and she was a shitty fiancé and wife to him- cheating on him with Robert several times) but I am glad they split up when they did rather than spending the rest of Michelle’s childhood pretending. Lacy wasn’t a bad dude, but that didn’t make him right for Sylvie. 

[Spartan Girl]

The reoccurring theme I've noticed in all of Joe Wright's romantic dramas -- Atonement, Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina, and now Cyrano -- is that it's all about longing of some sort. Longing for someone you love that you can't be with because of some reason or another, longing for a different life, longing to express yourself. Yet the only one that has a happy ending is Pride and Prejudice. 

[katha]

"Notorious" is ridiculously romantic, even as it deconstructs romance tropes and the toxic central relationships. IMO it's Hitchcock's best work. Grant and Bergman have ridiculous chemistry. And yet the film is good in acknowledging that Claude Rains' Nazi mama's boy probably loves Ingrid more than Grant's Devlin, who really goes to sadistic lengths to taunt her. I mean, until Claude starts poisoning her, that's not so cool obviously. ;-) For being shot in the 1940ies it is pretty open about showing how screwed up it all is and how Bergman's Alicia deserves better. Yet also it's totally understandable why she'd fall for Grant: That last sequence when he gets her out of the house and she's in her poisoned delirium is a great metaphor for all that is right/wrong with that pairing. And never has Grant looked better and never used his looks to such devastating effect. It's one of the only films with a homme fatale, I'd argue, and he really nails it.

"Paterson" barely qualifies as "drama" LOL, because nothing much happens in it, but I think the relationship between Paterson and Laura is very moving. Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani give it such a quiet, lived-in chemistry. Two people who just accept and support each other. Yeah, Laura is a bit annoying and flighty with all her projects and Paterson is a bit too set in his ways, but neither is trying to change the other or remake them into something different. And I always cry when the dog tears apart Paterson's poems and Laura kneels there and says that they might try to glue them back together. Such a show of love in such a quiet way. She's been asking him about perhaps making a copy of his work all week, yet wouldn't even dream of going all "I told you so" in that moment.

Edited March 16, 2022 by katha

[Ms Blue Jay]

I rewatched "The Lake House" finally, which I've been meaning to do forever.  I loooooooooved it.  "Speed" is one of my all time favourites, so I didn't expect to love this so much, but I did!

[Trini]

Finally watched The Noel Diary, and thought I'd mention it here since I thought this was more rom-drama than 'christmas movie'. I liked it, even though the romance elements were very 'trope-y'. The leads were good together, and I thought their individual side stories were good.  However, it was a little hilarious to me that Rachel immediately bounced after they slept together; like, she got everything she wanted out of that road trip and was "BYE". Wow -- bold move for her, and the writers.

(comments from the Rom-Com topic:)

On 12/7/2022 at 11:27 AM, PepSinger said:

I watched The Noel Diary, and I loved it. It reminded my mother and me of The Notebook. The chemistry between Justin Hartley and Barrett Boss was off the charts. Nice supporting cast as well.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to see James Remar and Essence Atkins.

On 12/9/2022 at 3:27 AM, Irlandesa said:

Except when they had sex.  She goes into the hotel with curly hair. By the time they're having dinner, her hair is straightened for the sexy times she decides she's having (so the cheating was a very decided thing and the movie somehow thinks natural curls aren't sexy--booo!)  And then her curls are back when she sneaks out. 

....

Yep - really weird that she had somehow had straight hair for that one scene.

Edited December 25, 2022 by Trini
Oy, spelling

[PepSinger]

9 hours ago, Trini said:

On 12/9/2022 at 2:27 AM, Irlandesa said:

Except when they had sex.  She goes into the hotel with curly hair. By the time they're having dinner, her hair is straightened for the sexy times she decides she's having (so the cheating was a very decided thing and the movie somehow thinks natural curls aren't sexy--booo!)  And then her curls are back when she sneaks out. 

....

Yep - really weird that she had somehow had straight hair for that one scene

Heh. Maybe she straightened it for dinner and sexy times made it so humid that her hair curled back up? 😉 

[Scarlett45]

On 12/25/2022 at 12:09 PM, PepSinger said:

Heh. Maybe she straightened it for dinner and sexy times made it so humid that her hair curled back up? 😉 

I haven’t straightened my hair in years but that DOES happen!

[katha]

I just watched "Frankie and Johnny" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. Was surprised how much I liked it. The performances were great, though they are both too glamorous to play these downtrodden people LOL. Ah, Hollywood, I guess. Pfeiffer was very affecting, giving the character both strength and fragility. With Pacino you always have a lottery if he'll chew all the scenery or actually deliver a performance. His acting is big, but not too big and suits his more extroverted character. Also surprisingly good comic timing. Nice cast of supporting characters as well.

Wasn't sure if I should put it as comedy or drama, but I thought that the main relationship had too serious undertones for a romcom so here it is. :-)

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, katha said:

The performances were great, though they are both too glamorous to play these downtrodden people LOL. Ah, Hollywood, I guess.

Gods, yes -- it's much better on stage, because there Frankie is played by someone who looks like Frankie is supposed to look (her perception of herself and thus how she navigates in the world is completely defined by being all the things American society deems unattractive, and being fat is an integral part of that).  Kathy Bates originated the role off-Broadway.  By the time it got to Broadway, it was Edie Falco.  Then the film goes with Michelle Pfeiffer.  The trajectory makes me want to laugh and cry simultaneously. 

If I hadn't already seen the play, I think I'd have been carried away by the performances and rolled with it, because Pfeiffer and Pacino are indeed great in it.  Since I had, I did find myself occasionally distracted and disgruntled, but was still glad I'd watched, so, on its own, I think it works rather well.