Sept. 21, 2023

Quick Look: the Trope-y Romcom Goodness of Love at First Sight

I'm not a snob when to comes to romantic tropes. I don't discriminate: the more outlandish the better, and I love them all. Every beat might be as familiar as the back of my hand, but my attitude is: bring it on again. It's e...

Listen to the episode

Sept. 7, 2023

Romantic, Painterly Psychological Thrillers: The Essex Serpent/The Beguiled

Is it Halloween yet? If it's getting cooler where you live, too, let's brew some tea or pour some hot chocolate or hot cider and snuggle on the sofa with two of the most atmospheric, painterly, creepy yet oddly feminist and r...

Listen to the episode

Aug. 24, 2023

Love Bomb: You Hurt My Feelings

I'm a huge fan of the films of Nicole Holofcener, and her latest is another lo-fi, funny, thoughtful story for anybody who's ever tried to make a romantic, platonic, sibling or parental relationship thrive. Is it ever okay to...

Listen to the episode

Aug. 10, 2023

Surf's Up: the Sensual Romance of Surfing

Ever since I first saw 1959's Gidget rerun on TV, I thought surfing and beach culture looked like the most fun you could have all summer. I might be an outsider still but my surf crush continues with every surfing movie or do...

Listen to the episode

July 27, 2023

Romance Replay: Year Round Holiday Magic: The Bishop's Wife

Summer is kicking my butt, and I desperately need to chill. Let's celebrate Christmas in July and enjoy a replay of one of my favorite episodes, about one of my favorite classic holiday movies: the romantic and spiritual The ...

Listen to the episode

July 13, 2023

Reunited in Love

It's almost reunion season — translated into stories, that theme seems to always include unrequited love and crushes, frustrated ambition, embarrassing attempts to impress, reliving lost youth, and shattered dreams. Some are ...

Listen to the episode

June 29, 2023

Quick Take: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

This minor Woody Allen film asks a really pertinent question for a romance podcast: do we fool ourselves by looking to the stars, horoscopes, psychics or fortune tellers to comfort and convince us that love is out there waiti...

Listen to the episode

June 15, 2023

LGBTQ Love: Supernova/The Prom

I'm taking a closer look at two emotional and exhilarating romantic LGBTQ love stories to celebrate Pride Month. These movies are very different in tone, but are equally heartwarming and visually exciting, with incredible per...

Listen to the episode

June 1, 2023

Raunchy Medieval Romcom: The Little Hours

It's difficult to describe the tone of this bawdy, outrageously gigglesome medieval romcom: it's played straight, for laughs, while deeply subversive, satirical and quietly hilarious, just like its 14th century source materia...

Listen to the episode

May 18, 2023

Bros-mance

Bros was a bit of a box office disappointment, but it's a fabulously funny, honest and sexy gay romcom. Fire Island may have gotten there first by also showcasing an entirely LGBTQ cast, but when it's about romcoms this good,...

Listen to the episode