Monday, June 30, 2008

Rom-Com Results

Well, thanks for hangin' out twiddlin' your thumbs while I tallied all the results from the romantic comedy movie survey I started back in May. As July dawns, I am finally ready with the results:

58 of you were kind enough to respond and a total of 40 films received at least one vote. The 40 films in alphabetical order are:

10 Things I Hate About You
6 Days, 7 Nights
A Fish Called Wanda
The American President
As Good As It Gets
Benny & Joon
Big
Blast from the Past
Bridget Jones's Diary
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Bull Durham
Continental Divide
Dangerous Liaisons
Enchanted
Fools Rush In
Goodbye Girl
House Calls
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
It Happened One Night
Love, Actually
Moonstruck
Much Ado About Nothing
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Pretty Woman
Pride & Prejudice (1940)
Princess Bride
PS I Love You
Serendipity
Shakespeare in Love
Shallow Hal
Sliding Doors
So, I Married an Axe Murderer
Sweet Home Alabama
Under the Tuscan Sun
The Wedding Singer
What Happens in Vegas
When Harry Met Sally
The Wiggles (children's film)
While You Were Sleeping
You've Got Mail

As for the "winners", in 3rd place were Love, Actually and Moonstruck.
2nd place was a 3-way tie between How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Pretty Woman and When Harry Met Sally.

And the winner -- beloved by men and women alike -- The Princess Bride!! This 1987 film directed by Rob Reiner from the book by William Goldman, stars Robin Wright (before she added the Penn) and Cary Elwes as the romantic couple. It also includes a bevy of classic comics such as Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane and Christopher Guest. All, in all, a witty script, inventive action, an adorable child "narrator", and just a smattering of romance made this film the clear winner.



My personal favorite was Sweet Home Alabama. How could I not choose a movie the begins at Tiffany's where Reese Witherspoon gets to pick out an engagement ring. Both of the male protagonists are very likable -- Patrick Dempsey is um, er "dreamy" and Josh Lucas's southern accent gets me every time. Reese makes an engaging, sympathetic heroine and there are lots of cross-cultural laughs along the way.

Thank you again all for participating in this interesting experiment. If you would like to have a copy of my Excel spreadsheet listing many additional romantic comedy films, as well as the year they were released and the romantic leads please email me.

Til then, see you at the movies. We'll laugh, we'll cry and maybe someone will fall in love -- at least on the silver screen.