Intellectual House o' Pancakes Comments Page and Grill

(On some browsers you'll need to refresh this page in order to see the comment you just left.)

iwombat - 2007-07-18 13:39:14
There was just an article in The New Yorker, about the history of the romantic comedy, made me want to see "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall" again.
-------------------------------
Greg - 2007-07-18 13:55:01
Seeing Manhattan made me run home and look up "Autodidactic." Manhattan is my favorite Woody Allen film of all.
-------------------------------
Paula - 2007-07-18 13:56:33
I liked that Denby article. And it's true--the "girlfriend" lately is always boring and pretty. Has the "kooky gal" fallen by the wayside now that Goldie Hawn can't play her anymore? I'm not thinking too hard, so I'm sure there are a few examples of interesting romantic comedy female characters.

I suppose Clementine from Eternal Sunshine... is one.
-------------------------------
Paula - 2007-07-18 13:59:41
It's hard to pick a favorite, but I rank Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters equally, with some of the '60s comedies just below.
-------------------------------
grigorss - 2007-07-18 17:10:22
Has the "kooky gal" fallen by the wayside now that Goldie Hawn can't play her anymore?

No, she's fallen by the wayside because Carole Lombard can't play her anymore.
The Denby article indirectly makes a very significant point -- that the really interesting, "kooky" female leads of the romantic comedy appeared, for the most part, in its classic, "screwball comedy" heyday -- when romantic comedies were thought of as "womans' pictures" -- now that romantic comedies are as likely to be made from the male perspective as a woman's (and I think that Annie Hall very much kicked this trend off), it's the men who seem more complex and interesting, -- if also more in need of some "growing up". I guess it'a all a matter of who's empathizing with who -- the perspective of the comedy (male or female) determines who gets the more challenging -- and ergo interesting -- character arc in the story; right now the prevailing trend would seem to be the guys.
In direct contradiction to this, Wonderfalls -- a recent, and very good romantic comedy TV show -- featured a very "kooky" and appealing lead in Caroline Dhavernas.
-------------------------------
Tom G. - 2007-07-18 20:19:36
I don't know, I don't really consider Hannah and Her Sisters a comedy in the sense that say Bananas is a comedy. It's certainly not a "screwball" comedy. To my recollection (and it has been a few years since I have seen it) it was a more a dramatic film that was funny. I know this might be splitting hairs here. Manhattan also falls into that category for me as does Annie Hall for that matter.
-------------------------------
Philip - 2007-07-18 22:45:23
Did the article mention Melanie Griffith? Her career fell apart all too quickly (or maybe she did), but "Working Girl" and "Something Wild" are both tremendous movies and she walked cleanly away with both of them.
-------------------------------
2fs - 2007-07-18 23:22:14
In which I concur with the TV comment above (and wholly agree re Wonderfalls) and further annoy Paula by saying: Lorelai Gilmore. Gilmore Girls, of course, being strongly influenced by those very screwball comedies...
-------------------------------
Paula - 2007-07-19 11:50:44
Something Wild! That movie and Married to the Mob are two of my favorite romantic comedies.

I love the way Melanie says "Glenlivet" in the liquor store scene.
-------------------------------
Greg - 2007-07-19 16:29:02
Ray Liotta was the perfect nutter in that movie, but every time Melanie said the name Charlie I melted a bit.
-------------------------------

add your comment:

your name:
your email:
your url:

back to the entry - Diaryland