This week, we examine four of the Best Picture Oscar-nominated films—“Call Me By Your Name”, “Get Out”, “Shape of Water”, and “Phantom Thread”—to ask whether we are entering a new phase of romance films. By diverging from conventional norms and stereotypes, these films have created on-screen relationships that are reminiscent of our own relationships. We then look to the history of romantic dramas and comedies to see how this new version of romance-on-screen came to be and what it potentially communicates about the way men and women are relating to one another.

Discussed this week:

“Why the Trump administration's new SNAP proposal is hard to swallow” (Devra First, Boston Globe)

Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel

Maybe It’s You - The Friend Zone Podcast

The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Phantom Thread (Focus Features)

Get Out (Universal Pictures)

Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics)

“Luca Guadagnino Had a Good Reason for Not Showing the Sex Scene in ‘Call Me By Your Name’” (Jude Dry, Indiewire)

Gone With the Wind (Loew’s Inc.)

Beyond Borders (Paramount Pictures)

The English Patient (Miramax Films)

Blade Runner 2049 (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Ingrid Goes West (Neon)

Wonder Woman (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Thelma (SF Studios)

Leap Year (Universal Pictures)

Pillow Talk (Universal-International)

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