Rom-Com Radar: 2 New Rom-Coms Streaming Early
Go back in time with these premieres that bypassed the closed box office.
Bravo, cuties! You’ve made it through another week of 2020. If this spring’s chaos has you down, our theme this week is vintage nostalgia. Dig a scrunchie out of your vanity, put on The Go-Go’s and pretend it’s 1985 — we won’t judge.
🚨 The Rom-Com Radar 🎯
Two new rom-coms are going straight to video-on-demand due to movie theater closures. If you’re looking for something bursting with cotton candy color, the Valley Girl remake is available for rent on YouTube and Amazon. The New York Times called it “fizzy and fun,” and its poppy covers of classic 80s songs are already up on Spotify. Oh yeah, did we mention it’s a musical?
Fast forward to the 1990s rock scene in Beanie Feldstein’s new comedy How To Build a Girl. This adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name also stars Alfie Allen, who you’ll recognize from Game of Thrones. Stream the coming-of-age tale on Amazon, iTunes, and more.
Meet Cute Chats with Miraya Berke: What’s the Definition of a Romantic Comedy?
Do you follow us on Instagram yet? Don’t miss out on our new series of live conversations about rom-coms and relationships with fun special guests!
This week we caught up with Miraya Berke, the founder of Rom Com Fest. The LA-based film festival wants to give the rom-com genre the recognition it deserves. We asked Miraya why rom-coms deserve our respect, especially during uncertain times.
“When I started Rom Com Fest a year and a half ago, the world felt so crazy then, and it’s just continuing to get more crazy,” Miraya says. “The power of love and human connection are the only things that feel true and will continue on. Celebrating that is what we need more than ever.”
That being said, the traditional happily-ever-after may be hard to imagine for some of us right now. But Miraya says that not every rom-com needs to end with a neat and tidy bow. “It just has to have a satisfying ending,” she explains. “I don’t feel that they all need to end happily-ever-after. A lot of the submissions that we get for the film festival have […] the woman end up without the man because she’s stronger and better on her own.” She cites 500 Days of Summer as an example of a rom-com that has you “leaving the movie theater with a smile on your face and hope for the future,” even when the couple you’ve been rooting for doesn’t last.
You can watch a clip of our conversation with Miraya here. Learn more about Rom Com Fest at their website, and follow them on Instagram @romcomfest.
Up next, we’re talking about relationships and dating in quarantine with writer and mental health advocate Allison Raskin! Follow us at @meetcute to tune in on Tuesday, May 19th at 7PM EST.
🎉 Meet Cute Presents: The Distance 🎉
Bring on the era of the digital meet-cute. If you’re hoping to find love while app-swiping and DM-sliding, we cooked up three Meet Cute stories that explore how strangers have met through technology and fallen in love across distances for decades.
All Becky Sue wants is to meet Zach, her charming long-distance pen pal, but the universe is doing everything it can to keep them apart.
Listen as the two play phone-tag in “1990.”
When Jerry picks up Megan’s lost journal during a road trip, he finds her AIM screen name inside.
Go back in time to your AOL Instant Messenger days in our new teen rom-com, "2004."
When Paul's aunt tags the wrong "Shawn" on his Facebook post asking for cactus care advice, the two strangers strike up an unlikely flirtation.
Learn not to judge a stranger by their Facebook photos in “2010.”
And one more Meet Cute to put you in the mood for summer…
When Taylor gets teased for riding the ferris wheel alone, the carnival's new veterinarian comes to her rescue. Will fireworks fly between them, or will Jake's fear of heights ruin everything?
Daydream about small-town carnivals and summer loves in “Carnival.”
🎧 TUNE IN 🎧
Via the links below, or search for “Meet Cute” wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to keep up with new releases and throw us a FIVE STAR rating (🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟) if you’re listening on Apple. 💖
Apple • Spotify • Google • Stitcher • SoundCloud • iHeart
🖍 Give us feedback! 📋
We'd love to know what you're enjoying about Meet Cute. Take our short survey to tell us what we should work on — and what you want more of in the future. It’ll only take 5 minutes.
🎶 Love Song of the Week 💞
Keep up with us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
And don’t forget: Share your favorite rom-com scenes and love songs with us for a chance to be featured. Better yet, spot a love message in the wild? Reply to this email or Tweet at us. 💌