What romance movies / tv shows did you watch this week? June 25

Before sunrise - I absolutely adore this film. I’m temped to book a flight to Europe and take train rides everywhere. I think the actors had great chemistry and the characters felt real. I love that we just get to see the character’s relationship develop, no plot twists no disruptions, but two people talking with each other getting to know each other and realizing it has potential to be something great. I like that the ending was left ambiguous but with a hopeful tone. I’ve seen the sequels so I know how their story plays out and while I think this story exists better as a standalone, the sequels didn’t ruin the story for me, which is usually what happens with sequels. I think visually it’s so pretty but not like it’s trying to hard either, that really what stands out, it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be some pretentious acclaimed movie—it just is but not in an obnoxious A24 way (sorry to anyone who likes A24), just in a natural sense. Anyways yeah I adore this one and would definitely recommend, also Ethan Hawke at his prime in this movie is everything.

The best years of our lives - I did like the movie but I found it to be a bit too long and I think the pacing could have been a bit quicker. Personally I thought the story of Homer was the best and I found his arc and his relationship so powerful to me. The other storylines were fine to be but they didn’t stand out in the same way, would definitely recommend for any classic Hollywood fans!

The Graduate

3/10

One that doesn't age well. I actually thought the premise was interesting. The problem is all the characters suck. The lead is boring and needs to re-evaluate his priorities. The main love interest didn't get as much development as she should've. The cougar mother was a manipulative sl*t. The father was controlling as hell. All around just bad character writing. If the narrative had just been around the mother and her issues, with a side plot of the main romance, maybe it could've worked. This one just didn't.

Pretty in Pink

6/10

This is one of my mom's favorite movies apparently. I've been avoiding telling her my thoughts about it though, and that is it was meh. I love Andrew McCarthy, Weekend at Bernie's is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. So I was mainly interested in this movie for him. I saw Breakfast Club once and didn't care for it, so Molly Ringwald made no impression on me at all. I've only seen John Cryer in the Supergirl tv show and he was fine I guess. I liked Molly quite a bit here, she actually felt like a real teenager with a homelife that felt real. I went back and forth on the boys throughout the movie. They both eventually won me over and I would've been fine if either of them ended up with her, but I think the ending they went with was appropriate. So nothing special, but I enjoyed it at least somewhat.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

8/10

I'm gonna be honest. I've never really been a Whitney fan. That's not to say I've ever denied her talent, she had talent unlike no other, just was never all that into her music or movies (I reviewed The Bodyguard on here not that long ago). I watched the lifetime biopic about her and that one didn't sway me all that much. So I watched this because I was bored and happened to stumble across it on Netflix and... I actually really enjoyed it. Did it make me more of a Whitney fan? No, but it did make me more interested in her life than I was before. The actors were all amazing (although I find it hilarious that the actress they got for Whitney looks more like Robyn Crawford and the actress they got for Robyn looks more like Whitney), especially Stanley Tucci. They are what made the movie for me. I also love how they acknowledged that Whitney mostly took existing songs and just gave them new meaning. Her talent was her voice.

Out of Time

5/10

A very middle of the road one. I love most of Denzel Washington's roles, I love most of Dean Cain's roles and neither disappointed here. The ladies were pretty bland to me. I guess it was a well written mystery, although I've seen it done better. The romantic subplots made no impression on me whatsoever. A pretty generic, but not bad, police procedural.

I, Tonya

6.5/10

I have a love-hate relationship with this one. I really enjoyed the tone, it heavily reminded me of Molly's Game. Margot Robbie was amazing. She put her all into this one, as well as Allison Janey and Sebastian Stan. The skating choreography was impeccable as well. The thing was, I couldn't help but feel like this movie had an agenda. That agenda being to make Tonya Harding out to be as much of a victim as they possibly could. They put effort into showing just how hard her life was and that what happened to Kerrigan is nothing. Just to be clear, I've never formed an opinion on her alleged involvement in the incident. For as long as I've known of it, I had always assumed that it was proven she was involved. But after doing my own research, I've realized that it'll always be up in the air. There's no proof that she was involved for sure, but there is some evidence that suggests she possibly could have been, and since Kerrigan didn't suffer any damage long-term that it's something that doesn't need to be dwelled on. I do agree that the public's to blame for this story being blown up so much. I just wish the movie had a bit of an objective edge and to leave the incident at least somewhat ambiguous. But no, they not only make the entire film a Tonya pity party, but frame the incident so that it couldn't possibly have had anything to do with her, and that just didn't sit right with me. Loved the tone, loved the performances, wasn't a fan of the agenda.

The Best of Me (2014) 2 star DNF at 78 min. Thought I could hang in there until the end, but the acting (which ran the gamut from blah to lousy) defeated me. The only exceptions were young Dawson, adult Dawson, and Gerald McRaney, all of whom were wonderful and deserved much better acting partners and a better script.

The Scarlet Pimpernel 1934 from the 31st minute onwards after BR shamed me into continuing😉.

3.5 stars. Considerably better than the first 30m.

Emma (1996) rewatch, enjoyable as always.

I'm way behind on my WDYW weeks because reasons (👶). So here's what I watched the last several weeks:

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story - 4 stars. So much better than I ever imagined it would be! I wasn't very excited to watch this but with Bridgerton Season 3 not coming out until December IIRC, I needed something in the meantime. I teared up during the final episode when Charlotte >!goes to see George, slides under the bed next to him and he says "you didn't go over the wall."!<

Ted Lasso Season 3 -3.5 stars. They ended the series just when I felt like I was getting tired of it. I most enjoyed the face-heel-face turn of Nathan.

Shrinking Season 1 - 3.5 stars. I held off on watching this one for a while because I wasn't into the trailer but I should've known I'd like it because it's another Bill Lawrence joint (Scrubs, Cougar Town, Ted Lasso). His batting average continues to be high with me.

Mrs Davis - 3 stars. The most outlandish and weird show I've seen in a while. The romantic triangle in this one is truly bizarre because the main character Simone is caught between her ex and... >!Jesus, yes, literal son of god Jesus.!<

Rye Lane (2023) - 3 stars. Someone on Tiktok (or should I say FilmTok?) called this movie their favorite romantic comedy of the year. I thought it was fine. The premise is strong and there were some interesting storytelling techniques like when the two main characters are literally walking through their memories together while one of them is telling them what happened. But like a lot of indie movies, there were stretches where it felt like there wasn't anything going on.

Desert Hearts - 5 stars. I get why Camille Paglia claims to have watched this movie eleven times when it was released. It's so well made and Patricia Charbonneau is brilliant as Cay.

Never Have I Ever Season 4 - 3 stars. another show that wrapped right when I felt like I was just getting tired of it. I'm a Mindy Kaling fan but I feel like we've seen her main character fall for a basic white boy so many times. I'm here for Eleanor and her loyal himbo, Trent, and liked their ending.