★★★★ Another year, another in the long line of Romeo and Juliet inspired media. How does this iteration stack up against the rest? Rosaline takes a meta approach, blending modernity with old school Shakespeare to create an intoxicating concoction. Yes, this is a movie where one can awaken to someone playing “All By Myself” on … Continue reading Film Review: Rosaline
Film Review: Look Both Ways
★★ I absolutely adore Lili Reinhart in CW’s Riverdale, and she was a true highlight in films like Hustlers and Chemical Hearts. Now, romantic dramedy Look Both Ways calls on Reinhart to approach adulthood through two different perspectives that could lead to similar outcomes. While the concept behind this Netflix movie is charming and delightful, … Continue reading Film Review: Look Both Ways
Film Review: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between
★★★★ Rom-com Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between has an absolute mouthful of a title. Yet, it is one of my favorite films of the genre that Netflix has released as of late. Based on the book by Jennifer E. Smith, Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between is set in Chicago, as an adorable young … Continue reading Film Review: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between
Film Review: Press Play
★★★★ Making the best case yet for cassette tapes being a superior format, Press Play provides an extra twist on the rom-com formula we all know and love. I was not quite sure what to expect going into this film beyond one's standard romance, but I was quickly proven wrong. Lewis Pullman (Bad Times at … Continue reading Film Review: Press Play
Film Review: Fire Island
★★★★ Here is a sentence I never thought I would write: from Disney and Hulu comes the best gay rom-com I have seen in a very long time. Bursting with the energy of the modern LGBT experience, Fire Island takes us on an annual vacation to “gay Disneyland” with a diverse and colorful cast of … Continue reading Film Review: Fire Island
Film Review: Senior Year
★★★★ As an adult freshly in my 30s, I cannot say that where I am now is how I envisioned my future forming after high school. How can one even fathom waking up from a coma at age 37—having skipped the maturing and personal growth of two decades—still in a 17-year-old state of mind? This … Continue reading Film Review: Senior Year
Film Review: Marry Me
★★★ For those waiting patiently to see Jennifer Lopez make her triumphant return to the cheesy romantic-comedy model in which she thrived, 2022’s Marry Me may feel like welcoming home a long-lost love. Firmly stuck in a different time, there is admittedly something comforting about this brand of movie. In the same breath though, I … Continue reading Film Review: Marry Me
Film Review: I Want You Back
★★★★ I Want You Back is the first great rom-com of 2022, a hopeful, sweet, and hilariously awkward movie that I simply loved. An ensemble cast with overwhelmingly charming chemistry sell the material, especially the two leads, played by Charlie Day and Jenny Slate. Even though one of the characters says their situation is “like … Continue reading Film Review: I Want You Back
Film Review: Book of Love
★★★ Book of Love is a romantic comedy just about as generic as they come, if not for the lead performances from Sam Claflin and Veronica Echegui. Like me, one may recognize Claflin from such films as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, or far stronger romances, Me Before You and Love, Rosie. This time around, … Continue reading Film Review: Book of Love
Film Review: Sex Appeal
★★★★ I love a good raunchy sex comedy, but when one tosses in a healthy amount of heart, there is truly a recipe for a memorable flick. Sex Appeal has all the right ingredients for a tasty comedy stew. It provides the viewer with a blanket of simplicity in terms of the narrative, then goes … Continue reading Film Review: Sex Appeal