What She's Having… a Podcast

Welcome to the latest episode, where we discuss 2000’s What Women Want. In Nancy Meyer’s first foray into rom com directing, she goes BIG: Two of the biggest stars at the time as leads, impressive ensemble cast, and a high-concept idea full of promise. Unfortunately for her (and Helen Hunt, and Alan Alda, and most of all Marisa Tomei) this movie fails to deliver on all points. For a film that wants you to think it’s about the struggles of the average (read: rich and white) woman, it’s really saying more that women are incapable of communicating their desires, and we need a male surrogate through which to speak. And who better to do that than its lead, champion of the people, Mel Gibson! (*Gag*)

Get comfy, friends, this might be our longest one yet!

Episode 85 – WHAT WOMEN WANT

Welcome to the latest episode, where we nurse the emotional scars handed to us from the Oscars by delving into our very first Jennifer Lopez movie, 2002’s Maid in Manhattan. We couldn’t be more divided on this movie: Alia seems to love it unquestioningly while Lisa remains sceptical. We can both agree that Jennifer Lopez was perfectly suited for this role, and the (heartbreaking) supporting cast of Miranda Richarsdon and Bob Hoskins really elevates this film to a level that its script probably never intended. Ralph Fiennes as the leading man though? Jury’s still out.

Episode 84 – MAID IN MANHATTAN

Happy Birthday to us! We turn the terrible twos this week, so we thought we’d celebrate with a special movie we’ve had in the hopper for quite a while: 1934’s It Happened One Night. It’s hard for us to hide our complete love for this movie, but really, what’s not to like? A road movie that includes an escape by sea, bus and car, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert blow every other at-odds couple out of the water with their amazing chemistry and quick wits. This film started it all off, and has an Oscar grand slam to speak for it.

Thanks for the two years of listening, friends! You can send all presents to the PO Box provided at the end of the episode.

Episode 83 – IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Brought to us by the filmmaking team of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, it passes its ten-year anniversary as a pretty solid example that an American romantic comedy can be experiential, romantic, emotionally complex and a truly realistic depiction of the trials of falling in love, losing love, and doing it all over again. We can’t help but get excited talking about a movie that just seems to get more interesting and more fun with additional viewings.

You’ll have to forgive us for not bashing any part of it… we’ll make sure to watch something bad again soon!

Episode 82 – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

We celebrate the Holidays once again as we discuss the 2006 film The Holiday, which is surprisingly short on the holiday stuff and big on the painfully long scenes. A good starting premise is too-soon soaked with overblown hollywood embellishments, reminding us that two women trying to grow out of bad relationships, really just need to rebound to the next guy. Did the actors do the best they could with a bad script? We’re not entirely sure, but we do learn that Cameron Diaz cannot carry extended solo-scenes talking to herself, and that Jack Black definitely sent his robot-double to set each day.

Unlike this film, which strangely glazes over the holidays and slaps on a saccharine New Years Eve scene, we hope that you and yours have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Episode 80 – THE HOLIDAY

This week we discuss 1997’s Grosse Pointe Blank, starring John Cusack as a hit man, Dan Aykroyd as an evil hit man, and Minnie Driver as his love interest (Cusack’s not Aykroyd’s– that would be weird). We’re joined by Andrew Parker of Dork Shelf to get to the bottom of this funny, somewhat unscrupulous, action-infused romantic comedy. Oh, and it has a great soundtrack– just try and get Blister in the Sun out of your head after listening to this episode.

Episode 79 – GROSSE POINTE BLANK

Check out our latest episode as we take a break from the romance to discuss the acclaimed 1980 comedy 9 to 5. While the gender politics haven’t aged all that well, the trio of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton boasts undeniable charisma, and they do kick some figurative, and surprisingly literal, ass in the name of equal rights in the workplace. Including a memorable scene of the three women gettin’ high and imagining zany revenge fantasies, the film takes some crazy turns that Parton’s song of the same name did not prepare us for. Oh, 1980, the hair was weird and the moustaches were aplenty, and it’s enough-to-drive-you-crazy if-you-let-it.

(Oh, man, that song is in our heads forever).

Episode 78 – 9 TO 5

We celebrate Halloween with a discussion of Hello Again, a little known ghostly rom com from 1987 starring Shelly Long and Gabriel Byrne. It’s the age old story of a suburban housewife who chokes to death on a chicken ball and then gets necromanced back to life by her sister, then ends up meeting a handsome doctor. In short: insanity.

We’re joined by guest Stacey Sproule to try and make sense of this otherworldly comedy.

Episode 77 – HELLO AGAIN

Join us this week as we tackle the 1998 rom com killing machine You’ve Got Mail. Written and directed by Nora Ephron, based on source material from the 1937 play Parfumerie and the 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner, this is Tom Hanks’ and Meg Ryan’s third and final film together.

Episode 76 – YOU’VE GOT MAIL

Check out our latest episode as we discuss the 1995 Amy Heckerling film Clueless. Both an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, and a highschool movie at the start of the teen-movie craze of the late 90s, it’s also a pretty neat time capsule. We discuss Alicia Silverstone, the early 1800s rural English social sphere vs. mid-90s Beverly Hills, the ever-ageless Paul Rudd in his first rom-com role, and what it’s like to revisit almost twenty years later… sigh, we feel old.

Episode 75 – CLUELESS