Rom-Com/Traum Reviews (Ranking) #4
First of the year, during the "love" month
Hi, I’m back—back to writing about love. Kinda. I really gotta rename this column, lol, because ain’t no way all these films are romcoms. Honestly, ain’t shit comical, and I’m not laughing. I didn’t even have to get halfway through Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to realize ain’t shit funny. And don’t even get me started on If Beale Street Could Talk.
For those of you who are new, I’ve compiled a list of 178 of the best romcoms, and the plan is to watch all of them and choose my top 50 by the end of the year. I’ll randomly select 3-4 movies to watch and review weekly. Feel free to recommend some from the list or suggest movies you want me to watch first.
Movies that make it to the Top 50 list get a 👍🏾, while the ones that don’t get a 👎🏾 below their review. The place on the list is also decided randomly. At the end of the year, I’ll reevaluate the order if needed. Read more about it here, but for now, here’s what I watched this week:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Written by Charlie Kaufman | Directed by Michel Gondry
After hearing about this movie for so long, I finally watched it. And like a complete dunce, I decided to do so right after a “breakup" last year. You know, the usual—I was sad, disappointed, even more sad after watching it. But… oddly hopeful? Ehh, let me stick to writing about the film.
Have you ever had a relationship that messes you up so badly that you just want to erase everything—and everyone—attached to the pain? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind answers that. It reminds us of love's irrational, paradoxical nature and explores the psychological toll of falling in and out of it. What happens when you love someone, and—for one reason or another—that love fades? Would you want to forget?
This movie asked me a lot of questions, and I’m still sitting. I don’t like forgetting, and I believe that true love never really fades, so I guess some shit you’re just forced to remember. Plus, it's worse to try not to care. So I don’t care to forcibly forget…I guess… lol, I’m thinking as I write—stay with me.
What surprised me most was Clementine’s choice to forget. After some Googling, I read that she was written with traits of someone experiencing BPD or bipolar disorder (I’m still learning the differences). That knowledge doesn’t change much—it just adds another layer to understanding her and the beauty in her complex nature, both of theirs. Another thing to love.
But whatever, this isn’t a proper review because this isn’t a normal movie. It’s the kind you buy on DVD, let the credits roll, and sit there still processing a scene from an hour ago. It’s fucked—and beautifully so.
Also, Kirsten Dunst’s character deserved way better because… WTF? That dutty doctor.
Did it make it to the Rom-Com Ranking Top 50 list? 👍🏾
💗 Rom-Com Ranking 💗
I love love just as much as the next bitch, and I was raised by a technically single mom, so you know I grew up watching Rom-Coms. Sleepless in Seattle, Along Came Polly and all the other greats. I remember my mom getting 50 First Dates on DVD after I kept begging her to rent it at our local DVD/movie …
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Written by James Baldwin & Barry Jenkins | Directed by Barry Jenkins
I always thought that when I finally watched this movie, I’d be in tears. Honestly, that was the main reason I hesitated to watch it. That, and the fact that love stories hit differently when you watch them with someone you love—preferably in a romantic sense. Instead, I watched this one with my mom. We had completely different reactions. She was unfazed, while I was leaning forward, practically out of my lumpy couch, annoyed by the ending. You wrap up a gripping story with stunning cinematography and one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in years like that… sheesh.
At its core, this movie is a story rooted in love, surrounded by injustice. The acting? Phenomenal. They couldn’t have cast Tish more perfectly—the delicate strength in her voice, the way she carries the weight of racism and mistreatment with a heavy yet courageous heart.
God bless Barry Jenkins for giving us a coming-of-age Black film and for bringing Baldwin’s masterful words to life.
And even bigger props for helping Regina King secure that Academy Award—well deserved.
Did it make it to the Rom-Com Ranking Top 50 list? 👍🏾
Failure To Launch (2006)
Written by Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember | Directed by Tom Dey
You’d think an early 2000s romcom starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey would be fire… but nah. This wasn’t even really memorable. I mean, after watching McConaughey in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)—who’s topping that?
It’s cute, sure, and there are some cool surprise cameos, but the plot? Makes no sense. It kinda feels like a movie made for a well-off, ish middle-aged woman who wants to take her teenage daughter to the movies after a shopping spree at Claire’s and Delia’s during the early 2000s golden era.
This is a harsh review, ngl—which is funny, considering this is the only true romcom on this list. But they’ll be iight. Go watch the movies I mentioned above instead!
Did it make it to the Rom-Com Ranking Top 50 list? 👎🏾
🎥 Up next 🎥: Hitch (2005), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), Moonlight (2016), Love Jones (1997)
J
dawg I watched “Eternal Sunshine” right after a breakup, and it was crazy because everyone told me I’d be broken afterward, but more than anything I was so stunned. It’s a movie that I had a hard time believing was made so long ago, both from an artistic / visual standpoint, and then considering the era that was rife with the classic “rom-com” setups. I really loved the way they played with the idea of memory from a visual standpoint. There’s that scene real early in the film where Jim Carrey’s character is in the bookstore, and it’s so cool how they convey the memory disintegrating; the titles disappear from the books and the world becomes whiter as objects disappear. But then he walks down the aisle and through a doorway into the house. the direction is so masterful!!! sorry for the essay but reading about you watching it brought this all back lmao Imma have to watch it again.