Contrarah:Film/Music/Art

“…oh you’ve torn your coat.”

Romcom best moments: This week I am focusing my site on the joy that can be found in the romantic comedy in readiness for tomorrow’s #MTOS. Today’s offerings relate to the screwball comedy and dialogue.

The romcom often feels like a new invention, but some of the best examples of witty repartee between romantic leads come from the black and white era. See the above from Bringing Up Baby(1938) which has a silly plot and ridiculous dialogue elevated by the pairing of Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. A stroke of genius.

But the origins of the screwball can be found even earlier than the 1930’s. William Shakespeare himself was pretty impressive at male/female banter. I’m a huge fan of Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing(1993) and in this scene he and Emma Thompson, as Benedick and Beatrice use forked tongues to hide their true feelings….hilariously compared to this later scene when Benedick starts to unravel. 

It’s all in the words. 

“….This is our last dance….”

Romcom best moments: This week I am focusing my site on the joy that can be found in the romantic comedy. Today’s offerings come from Nineties spellbinders: Reality Bites(1994) & Grosse Pointe Blank(1997).

Both of these films adhere to an important rule of the modern romcom - the male lead must be flawed yet loveable - Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise and Sunset) does this extremely well here. 

But it’s pretty hard to argue against the definitive modern romcom hero: John Cusack (Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, High Fidelity, Must Love Dogs), who has starred in brilliant romcoms spanning three decades! What a pedigree.

My all-time favourite Cusack scene is above. The immaculate pairing of a contract killer with a gorgeous baby to the beat of ‘Under Pressure’ says it all…

“With any luck next year…I’ll be going out with one of these girls”

Romcom best moments: This week I am focusing my site on the joy that can be found in the romantic comedy. Today’s offering comes from Love Actually (2003).

I’ll let you into a secret - I am not a fan of this film at all. I find that parts of it are very depressing, which I wasn’t ready for when I watched it that Christmas.

However, I think that this scene personifies the power of a romantic comedy. It’s funny and bittersweet, it is seasonal (the weather is of great importance in romcom lore) and we can all identify with those feelings of unrequited love. 

Enjoy. 

Mawwwaige! 

Romcom best moments: This week I am focusing my site on the joy that can be found in the romantic comedy. Today’s offering comes from Roxanne (1987).

Steve Martin’s witty fireman tries to woo the beautiful Daryl Hannah using some unusual methods. 

“Maybe you’d like some wine with your nose….I mean cheese?” 

And to see how Martin’s character deals with disparaging remarks regarding his enormous appendage, click here.