From the Vault: September '22 Streaming
Romantic Comedies, John Leguizamo, Takeshi Kitano, and "Always Be Closing"
September 2, 2022
I just fell in love, and I just quit my job, I'm going to find a new drive, damn, they work me so damn hard*...
Welcome to September streaming.
After last month's much-needed break, I'm back with new resolve, a fire in my bones, and love in my heart. Since the last blast went out in July, I: quit one of my horrible jobs, lifting the dead weight it pressed on my soul; got engaged to my longtime roommate (who's grant project digitizing the historic programs of WRVR radio has finally launched!); and I...sold a story? Time truly does go by. I'm on my main character syndrome, skipping through the streets of Brooklyn and summoning little birds to flit about my head even as the world burns in the background. These local developments shaped this month's programming: we've got a massive list of romantic comedies for you to sink into for fall, two (extremely fun) actors' showcases, and a collaboration about the art of the sale and the vacuous toil of hustle culture. Oh, yes. This will be the one you've waited for...
You're Falling for Him....Aren't You?: The Romantic Comedy
It feels like I have been training my whole life for a moment like this. Really, I'm far more prepared to write a proper streaming program of romantic comedies than I am to actually become someone's wife! I've studied the blade. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe (have you watched the romantic comedy where Kate Hudson, diagnosed with cancer, falls in love with her doctor, Gael Garcia Bernal, only to dance as a ghost at her own funeral? I have.) So please trust the process here, as I reconcile my own romcom knowledge against what lists are already out there. I reviewed a number of romantic comedy listicles in preparation for this program, and noticed a concerning pattern: very few, if any, have films on there prior to 1960, even as they champion great examples of the genre from the 90s and 2000s (this one from The Ringer angered film Twitter not too long ago). If you'll allow me just a second of film school pedantry, the romantic comedy actually traces back to the very beginnings of narrative film: Cecil B. DeMille introduced and developed the (extremely commercially successful) concept of the "sex comedy" with silent films like The Wild Goose Chase (1915), Don't Change Your Husband (1919), and Why Change Your Wife? (1920). There won't be any silent Cecil B. DeMille pictures in here (cause, like, I'm not an asshole), but this program will trace the idea of the modern romantic comedy back to its roots in the classic studio era, starting with screwball fare like It Happened One Night (1934), Twentieth Century (1934), and My Man Godfrey (1936), all films that position "the chase," quite literal, as the heart of romance. In a deliberate response to the idea that romantic comedies were invented in the late 20th century, this program will also highlight classic films, which can oftentimes hold up better (and hit harder) than films from less than 15 years ago, as part of the romcom canon. Although I wouldn't call the list definitive...it doesn't suck! I picked 150 films* reflective of the genre, using strict (and sometimes completely subjective) criteria: the film doesn't need to be a straight "romantic comedy" in the purest sense, but the film must primarily or significantly focus on the pursuit of romance and possess a substantive love story (so no Legally Blonde, Miss Congeniality, or Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc.). Also, while there are several films that could certainly be considered "guilty pleasures," certain things just fall to my whims, meaning no 50 First Dates, He's Just Not That Into You, Valentine's Day, Jennifer Aniston, etc. We simply have to maintain some standards of taste around here.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Spread to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.