The Rom Com Rewrite

It is August, which is supposed to be summertime in the UK (where we record from), so Lisa and Charles Adrian have picked a sunny rom com for this month's episode. If you haven't seen this film, don't read any further! Don't listen to this episode yet! Watch the film! Enjoy the surprises! Then come back to read on and listen. You will thank us.

Palm Springs

Year: 2020

Screenplay by: Andy Siara

Based on a story by: Max Barbakow and Andy Siara

Director: Max Barbakow

Stars: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons

Show notes:

A reminder that this podcast is all spoilers all the time and this film is so delightful to watch unspoiled that we urge you, if possible, to watch it without knowing anything about it (as we did).

We loved this film. We had to work really hard to find anything to fix. We hope you like it as much as we did.

The short, spoiler-filled plot summary for this film on imdb.com can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9484998/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

In this episode we reference (and this is, in itself, a HUGE SPOILER) Groundhog Day (1993) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/), Russian Doll (which Charles Adrian calls "Russian Dolls") (2019 – ) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7520794/), Love Wedding Repeat (which Charles Adrian calls "that other wedding thing that was on Netflix recently") (2020) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5096470/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_7) and The Good Place (2016 – 2020) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4955642/).

We record these episodes over the internet. Sometimes the audio is not perfect. We apologise for that.

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzaltzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.

Thank you for listening!

In a mini-episode, Lisa reads a brief piece on why The Proposal is one of the unfunniest, cruelest rom coms out there -- not the mild romp it's meant to be.

Year: 2009

Writer: Peter Chiarelli

Director: Anne Fletcher

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson

Show notes:

In this episode, Lisa reads a short essay she wrote back in 2010 about how this movie is heavy-handed where it should be lighthearted, mean-spirited where it should be heartwarming, and dull where it should be lively. Not to mention, it does not understand book publishing at all, and as someone who has worked in book publishing, Lisa took this personally.

Lisa references It Happened One Night (1934) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025316/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and Bringing Up Baby (1938) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029947/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0).

Our theme music is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (http://martinzaltzaustwick.com), and this episode was edited by Nakul Pande (http://nakulpande.com).

Thank you for listening!

This month, Lisa and Charles Adrian look into the novel and surprising concept of 'sex friends' as it is explored in two films from ten years ago.

Friends With Benefits

Year: 2011

Screenplay by: Keith Merryman, David A. Newman and Will Gluck

Based on a story by: Harley Peyton, Keith Merryman and David A. Newman

Director: Will Gluck

Stars: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis

No Strings Attached

Year: 2011

Screenplay by: Elizabeth Meriwether

Based on a story by: Michael Samonek and Elizabeth Meriwether

Director: Ivan Reitman

Stars: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher

Show notes:

In this episode we take two films about 'sex friends' that came out in 2011 – Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached – and we compare and we contrast and we generally fix.

Incidentally, another very important link between these two films, at least at time of recording this episode, and which we forgot to mention, is that Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are married to each other.

Charles Adrian mentions another two Mila Kunis vehicles, Bad Moms (2016) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4651520/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) and Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800039/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), and he also references an episode of the comedy series Kim's Convenience (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim%27s_Convenience). Lisa talks about the film Up In The Air (2009) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/).

For anybody who is interested, the Defence Of Marriage Act (known as DOMA) was not struck down by the United States Supreme Court until 2013 (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Defense-of-Marriage-Act) and so cannot be the reason people were only just discovering the concept of 'sex friends' in 2011.

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzaltzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.

Thank you for listening!

Lisa and Charles Adrian love June Diane Raphael, Lisa Kudrow and also, to a large extent, the Charlize Theron/Seth Rogen vehicle that is Long Shot. Those are the main take-aways from this episode.

Year: 2019

Writers: Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah

Based on a story by: Dan Sterling

Director: Jonathan Levine

Stars: Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel

Show notes:

Note: We record these episodes over the internet and the sound quality in this episode is not always perfect. Our apologies.

In this episode, we talk a lot about how much we love June Diane Raphael, who has a crucial supporting role in Long Shot as Maggie Millikin, the chief aide to Charlize Theron's character (Secretary) Charlotte Field. We also talk about how much we love Lisa Kudrow, who has a short and memorable cameo as a pollster. And we get into the nitty-gritty of how we might go about fixing two or three of the small but intensely irritating problems with the film as a whole.

Oh, and we do also talk about how much we like this film. We really do like this film.

In this episode, Charles Adrian makes a comparison with a climactic scene from Notting Hill (1999) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125439/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) and Lisa mentions a previous Seth Rogen vehicle Knocked Up (2007) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478311/).

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzaltzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.

Thank you for listening!

Lisa and Charles Adrian stumble upon a real fixer-upper in this week's film, Failure To Launch.

Year: 2006

Writers: Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember

Director: Tom Dey

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Bartha, Bradley Cooper, Terry Bradshaw, Kathy Bates, Tyrel Jackson Williams

Show notes:

Note: We record these episodes over the internet and the sound quality in this episode is not always perfect. Our apologies.

This time round, we congratulate the filmmakers of Failure To Launch on producing material that could be made into at least three other better films. Which is to say, we really didn't like this film.

We mention cameos from Jessica Stone as Boatyard Woman and a young Patton Oswalt as Techie Guy.

This film references The Philadelphia Story (1940) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032904/), so we mention it too, along with its jazz remake High Society (1956) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049314/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), and Lisa talks about Hitch (2005) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386588/).

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzaltzaustwick.com). Artwork is by Lisa Findley.

Thank you for listening!

Lisa and Charles Adrian get into the Netflix-produced modern classic To All The Boys I've Loved Before.

Year: 2018

Writer: Sofia Alvarez

Based on the novel by: Jenny Han

Director: Susan Johnson

Stars: Lara Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Andrew Bachelor, Trezzo Mahoro, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Israel Broussard, John Corbett

Show notes:

In this episode we get lost in the weeds of our synopsis, sail through the meet-cute, obstacles and happy ending, and land on the one thing that would make this film better.

We mention the TV show Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017), in which Janel Parrish played Mona Vanderwaal. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Liars and watch Charles Adrian talk to Vera Chok about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exrw-iaYTxk.

We also mention the TV shows Golden Girls (1985-1992) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Girls), Bridgerton (2020) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgerton) and Never Have I Ever (2020) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Have_I_Ever_(TV_series)), the film She's All That (1999) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She%27s_All_That) and the novel that sparked a thousand rom coms: Jane Austin's Pride And Prejudice (1813) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice).

In the previous episode of this podcast, we talked about the film 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Things_I_Hate_About_You).

Music in this episode is by Martin Zaltz Austwick (martinzaltzaustwick.com).

Thank you for listening!

Lisa and Charles Adrian kick off The Rom Com Rewrite in time for Valentines Day by talking about the (now) classic rom com 10 Things I Hate About You.

Year: 1999

Writers: Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith

Director: Gil Junger

Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Styles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik

(also mentioned in this episode: David Krumholtz, Susan May Pratt and Gabrielle Union)

Show notes:

In this episode, we give a synopsis of the film 10 Things I Hate About You (and a synopsis of that synopsis because Charles Adrian found the film so difficult to follow), we take you through the meet cute, the obstacles and the happy ending, and then we talk about how we would make it better.

You can find a description of the seven major beats of rom com writing here: https://www.well-storied.com/blog/anatomy-of-a-romantic-comedy-seven-essential-story-beats

We mention that the plot of this film is based on The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare, which you can read a synopsis of here: https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/shrew/summary/.

We also mention Sleepless In Seattle (a 1993 film that you can read about on imdb here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108160/), She's All That (a 1999 film that you can read about on imdb here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160862/) and Clueless (a 1995 film that you can read about on imdb here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112697/).

The Ellen we mention is Ellen Degeneres; you can read about The Puppy Episode of her sitcom Ellen, in which the character she played came out as a lesbian, on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Puppy_Episode.

You can find out about Bikini Kill on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini_Kill and you can browse a whole selection of the kind of Jared Leto photographs that Kat might have had in her drawer here: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/jared-leto-1997?family=editorial&phrase=jared%20leto%201997&sort=best

Thank you for listening!

Searching for Mx Right!

Lisa and Charles Adrian LOVE rom coms but they have some suggestions. In each episode, they choose a film, take it lovingly apart and put it back together better. Warning: this podcast is all spoilers all the time!

The Rom Com Rewrite is a new podcast from Lisa Findley and Charles Adrian.