Latest news with #PatriciaHighsmith
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Hit film starring Matt Damon and Jude Law to be adapted for Brighton stage
Theatre Royal Brighton is gearing up to welcome the first-ever UK tour of The Talented Mr Ripley. The show is a stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's gripping novel, which was also the source material for the 2000 Oscar-nominated film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow and the 2024 Netflix adaptation starring Andrew Scott. This new production will make its stop at Theatre Royal Brighton from Monday, October 27, to Saturday, November 1, 2025. Adapted and directed by Mark Leipacher, known for his work on Mary Stuart and A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Talented Mr Ripley is produced by Jack Maple and Thomas Hopkins. The story follows Tom Ripley, a man who transforms from a nobody to someone caught in a web of lies, identity theft, and murder, after being invited into the privileged world of Dickie Greenleaf. Set in the 1950s Italy and featuring a chillingly charismatic antihero, this adaptation is set to bring a fresh take on the classic tale, promising audiences a thrilling experience. The Talented Mr Ripley is a production by The Faction, with set and costume design by Holly Piggott, known for her work on Fleabag, and associate set and costume design by Ellen Farrell. The lighting design is by Zeynep Kepekli (The Little Mermaid, Bristol Old Vic), sound design by Max Pappenheim (The Night of the Iguana, Noel Coward Theatre), and casting by Marc Frankum CDG (The Woman in Black, Fortune Theatre). Casting is yet to be announced. Tickets for the Brighton shows will go on general sale at 12pm on May 23 and can be purchased via The Talented Mr Ripley is set to be a major highlight in Theatre Royal Brighton's 2025 calendar, bringing a gripping tale of deception, desire, and deadly ambition to the stage. This is a unique opportunity for audience members to witness a classic novel come to life in a fresh, thrilling production. With a combination of razor-sharp dialogue and psychological intensity, this is Ripley as you've never seen him before. The Theatre Royal Brighton is renowned for bringing high-quality productions to the city, and The Talented Mr Ripley is shaping up to be no exception.
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The books we're packing for summer 2025 holidays, from fantasy to romances
Alongside your passport, swimwear and SPF, a good beach read is an essential in your summer holiday suitcase. Helping you switch off and relax, there a few better feelings than escaping into the pages of a book while stretched out on a sun lounger (Aperol Spritz, optional). But what makes a good summer book? For some, it's revisiting the comforting reads that they associate with a certain place and time, while for others it's indulging in romantasy, diving into exciting debuts, page-turning thrillers or classics set in the destination you're sojourning in. Above all, you want to enjoy yourself – and you don't want to waste valuable sun lounging time on a bad book. Luckily, the IndyBest team is on hand with their literary recommendations for this summer. From a century-spanning William Boyd tome to a classic Patricia Highsmith thriller and Sarah J Maas's TikTok-viral A Court of Thorns and Roses series, these are the best summer books that deserve a special spot in your suitcase. This is one of the best novels I've ever read. I'm certain that this forgotten classic will make its way onto best lists and university curricula over the coming decades. Set just after the First World War, it follows an ex-serviceman as he restores a medieval fresco in a Yorkshire village. Taking place over just a month in 1920, it's full of perfect portrayals of the English countryside. Anyone who has spent time in rural Yorkshire will love Carr's tight, neat descriptions of its fields and woods in summertime. This quiet novel is a surprising page-turner; as Tom Birkin chips away at the wall painting, he confronts his damage from the war, and draws you further and further into his relationship with the villagers and the painting he uncovers. It's a short book – you can read it in an afternoon by the pool – but it's one of those novels that stays with you for months after you read it. A truly great family saga is one that spans generations, cleverly weaves together different plots and intertwines personal stories with historical events – The Covenant of Water is a story that ticked all these boxes for me and more. The novel opens in 1900 in Travancore, in the south west of India (in what is now part of Kerala), where a young girl is sent by boat to meet her much older husband-to-be for the first time. From that moment we see her grow into the matriarch of her family, affectionately known as Big Ammachi. Over the next seven decades we witness the lives, deaths, marriages, triumphs and more of her descendants, all touched by a mysterious curse. In every generation, at least one person dies by drowning and yet, their home of Parambil, is surrounded by water. Verghese crafts an epic tale with a cast of beautifully written characters and unexpected twists. The lakes and rivers of southern India are brought vividly to life and I felt completely drawn into the world he so wonderfully creates. With more than 700 pages, it's a chunky read, but the storytelling is so immersive that you won't want it to end. It's ideal for a long summer getaway but if you're travelling light, it's definitely one to download on your e-reader. If you're a fan of Pachinko or Homegoing, I think you'll love this too. I envy you if you're yet to devour William Boyd's Any Human Heart. Just as enjoyable on its first read as it is on its second (or even third), the cult novel follows Logan Mountstuart's life that stretches across the 20th Century. Spanning an anything-but-ordinary existence as a writer mingling with Hemingway in Paris, a spy during the Second World War recruited by none-other than Ian Fleming, an art-dealer in the swinging Sixties and much more, Boyd explores familial, romantic and platonic love his signature warm and witty voice. A modern classic, it's a masterclass in story telling that's just as joyous as it is emotional (be warned), and the perfect companion on your sun lounger this summer. 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by Sarah J Maas, published by Bloomsbury: £5, After seeing so much hype online about Sarah J Maas's romantesy series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, I hesitantly brought the first book with me on a family holiday last summer. It wasn't long before I was hooked and immediately regretting not bringing the entire six-book series with me. In the novel, we meet Feyre, a human huntress who kills a wolf that is not all it appears to be. Feyre is soon taken prisoner in the faerie realm, as revenge for the murder of a fellow faerie. As she discovers more about her captor, the high lord of the spring court Tamlin, Feyre develops feelings for her enemy (in true 'romantasy' style). Meanwhile, a war is brewing, thanks to Amarantha, the evil and vindictive high queen of Prythian. Yes, it all sounds faintly ridiculous, but as a former fantasy literature hater, Sarah J Maas has made me a convert. It's excellent at world building while the enemy-to-lover storyline keeps you hooked until the very last page - the true marker of a good sun lounger read. Part psychological thriller and part story of disaffected university students, Tartt's tome follows a group of clever misfits at an elite New England college and the chain of events that led to the death of a classmate. Although from a lower-class family, newbie Richard is accepted into the clique of students who are all under the cult-like influence of their charismatic Greek classics professor. When one member of the group threatens to reveal the group's role in the murder, tensions rise and the second half of the novel explores the psychological consequences of hiding such a terrible secret. Offering pure escapsim, Tartt boths thrills and intrigues the reader. I read this book last summer on holiday in Croatia after falling in love with Dolly's now infamous 2018 memoir, ' Everything I know about Love '. It's a collection of entries from her Sunday Times Style agony aunt column, which covers everything from friendship to careers and, of course, love lives. An easy and insightful read, the book's plotless nature makes it a great one to dip in and out of in between fun-filled vacation excursions. You'll naturally find yourself relating to the queries of both those writing in and Dolly's comforting, non-judgemental big sister advice. It doesn't try too hard to be all-knowing or too existential, instead walking the line between self-help and having a chat with a friend. Additionally, the scenarios that readers write in make for great conversation topics over evening cocktails. I have yet to read this one but can't wait to pick it up this summer. It sounds like the perfect mix of crime thriller, twisted feminist fantasy and gourmet cooking – what more could you want? The plot follows a chef as she sits in a Japanese detention centre, accused of murdering lonely businessmen after seducing them with her cooking. Once a scrappy journalist begins to break down her walls through a, seemingly, shared love of food we begin to learn more about obsession, romance, misogyny and the layered relationship between Japan and food. I'm only halfway through this book, but I'm completely hooked. The story follows a woman who transcribes sex and relationship therapy sessions in a quirky small town. As she listens to her neighbours' most intimate confessions, their secrets start to seep hilariously, and often cringe-inducingly, into her own life. One voice inparticular captures her attention: the enigmatic 'Big Swiss.' As fate (and small-town dynamics) would have it, she meets this woman in real life, and the story takes off with intrigue, drama, and unexpected connection. The writing is sharp, sexy, and packed with dry humour. It's gossipy in the best way, like eavesdropping on a very juicy secret. A perfect summer read that's both smart and irresistibly entertaining. Even more exciting? It's being adapted into an HBO series starring Jodie Comer. If you love character-driven, offbeat stories with a voyeuristic twist, this one's a must. With the critically acclaimed Netflix series Ripley causing a stir earlier in the year, American novelist Patricia Highsmith's wily anti-hero Tom Ripley has captured a new generation of first book in the series, which was originally published in 1955, tells the story of Tom Ripley, a young, aimless man from New York who is offered a lot of money by the wealthy father of Dickie Greenleaf to go to Italy and persuade him to return to America. Tom integrates himself with Dickie and his girlfriend Marge on the sunny Italian coast, and becomes enamoured with the Mediterranean lifestyle. But when Tom's relationship with Dickie becomes more and more unsettling, Marge begins to suspect that Tom isn't everything he claims to be. Things turn deadly and Tom has to go on the run from the Italian police. The book's vivid portrayal of towns and cities across Italy coupled with a nail-biting narrative will draw you into Tom Ripley's twisted universe. If you find yourself sweltering by a pool this summer, forget dipping in the water to cool off. Instead, dive into this captivating memoir, which follows painter Christiane Ritter as she decides to join her hunter-trapper husband in the Arctic Circle, where the mercury falls as low as -35C. Just reading about the icy, sub-zero conditions is enough to make your temperature drop. Spending a year living in an isolated hut in Spitsbergen – an island in the Svalbard archipelago – Ritter endures everything from dwindling supplies to the threat of polar bears. From unblinking daylight and glittering glaciers in summer to never-ending nights and severe storms in winter, Ritter marvels at her surroundings and discovers what it takes to survive so far north. What makes the author's Arctic adventure even more awe-inspiring is the fact it took place in the 1930s, without any of the hi-tech gear used by polar explorers today. Like all the best travel writers, Ritter transports readers to the otherworldly landscape she encounters. Even if your own travels are more likely to involve swimwear and sangria than snow boots and sea ice, you can't help but be drawn in by Ritter's grit and good humour. The 'unimaginable world of splendour and beauty' she describes is enough to make you want to say goodbye to sun loungers in Saint-Tropez, in favour of eking out an existence in a frozen shack in Svalbard. Well, almost – on second thought, perhaps it's better to stick to reading about it by the pool. 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh, published by Jonathan Cape: £8.41, Everyone was reading or talking about this book at one point, and it's still a strong contender for your summer reading pile. The main character uses sleep as a form of extreme 'rest and relaxation' – the goal being to sleep for a year to escape feelings of disillusionment and emerge anew, which she attempts by getting sleep-inducing medications from a bizarre, very questionable psychiatrist. It mostly unfolds in her New York apartment, and socialising is more of less limited to one dysfunctional friendship, so it's a claustrophobic read. Dark, but very funny, it covers themes of isolation, grief, and privilege. If you like a book with lots of twists and turns then this may bore you (it can be quite repetitive), but it's an interesting take on something like self care, and quite addicting. I'm about halfway through Maud Ventura's My Husband, translated from French by Emma Ramadan, on Audible, and I can't wait to get back to it. Consumed with thoughts of her husband, even after years of marriage, the protagonist of the novel is, to put it plainly, obsessed with him. She ruminates on her husband's behaviour, second-guesses his feelings for her, and, in pursuit of the perfect relationship, takes things to the extreme. It's unnerving and, at points, quietly hilarious. A dark, compelling novel, this reads as easily as a hot knife glides through butter, making it (so far) the perfect psychological thriller to pick up and rip through by the pool this summer. In seven short stories, Haruki Murakami leads the reader through the lives and stories of men who have loved and lost women in some way in their lives, and the lasting impact that each of these relationships hold. Although translated from Japanese, so I'm not reading it in its original form, Murakami has a unique way of storytelling that makes all of his books so easy to read. This one felt especially impactful in the way that it examined completely different relationships with completely different types of people and, while remaining fully their own stories, brought together an overall message of appreciation for women and their impact on men. I took Men without Women with me on a beach holiday this year and it was a perfect holiday read in it being a short, easily digestible book with vivid imagery and depth. There was a sense of calm that I had while reading this book, as I've experienced with other Murakami books, that keep the author at the top of my list in stories to reach for.
The Guardian
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
There's a deep ugliness and some slippery ethics behind the snail slime beauty boom
Apologies. As a reasonably attentive student of generational divides, I'm still late to one of the most dramatic divergences yet: the normalisation of snail slime. At some point, maybe around the time I stopped believing in face cream miracles, smearing on snail mucus, in serums or lotions, was hailed by newcomers to Korean-made skin products as transformative, almost immediately. Its most cherished effect being, as an industry spokeswoman told British Vogue in 2023, 'a radiant youthful glow'. Today, thanks more to rhapsodising influencers than age-defying evidence, the slime phenomenon persists, gathers converts and withstands objections from snail supporters, who do not, sadly, seem that numerous. What snails need now, perhaps more than any other animal, is celebrity allies, supposing there are any willing to sacrifice the magical power of slime. Early ethical concerns about the snails' treatment were satisfied, to a remarkable extent, by industry assurances, duly recited by slime fans, that the slime makers are treated like kings, even when sprayed in their thousands with acidic solution that prompts slime secretion as a defence mechanism. After a few such sessions these snails are caringly euthanised. Yet more blessed gastropods, according to a popular K-Beauty brand, SeoulCeuticals, live out their days in less stressful 'snail havens, allowing snails to meander freely over mesh setups, mimicking their natural environment'. Either way, all snails, fortunate and not, are natural, and thus appeal to key demographics in the soaring market for snail beauty products: millennials and gen Z, 'who actively seek skin-friendly, cruelty-free beauty solutions'. In a masterstroke by the beauty industry, gen Z consumers (aged under 28) have begun spending on anti-ageing while still young. The value of the snail beauty product market has been projected as $3.4bn by 2034. The industry can also take credit for what appears to be, though not that helpfully for the snails, much diminished levels of snail- and slime-related revulsion. This is hard to quantify, but not so long ago Patricia Highsmith's affection and respect for snails, which she wrote about and kept as pets, was routinely portrayed as bizarre and repellent. Her 1948 short story, The Snail Watcher, featuring a kind of awful snail apotheosis, was initially rejected by periodicals 'with horror and disgust'. Highsmith's habit of transporting pet snails in her handbag or, for smuggling purposes, her bra (10 under each breast) was likewise presented, before the arrival of snail slime beauty, as deficient if not actively disgusting. Now, in a eulogy to a Korean snail product, Vogue rhapsodises about 'a slime-y texture that is a sensorial experience on its own'. Along with the slime-tolerance evinced by generations often considered super-sensitive, levels of incuriosity about the snail slime industry are such as to make you wonder, if you still recoil from the whole thing, if that makes you one of the weird ones. What's wrong with you! Why wouldn't you feel fine about industrialised snail labour for a product with uncertain benefits if the snail industry says it's OK? Especially for slime that could give you the prized, regularly slimed look known as 'glass skin'. Being beyond any expectation of rejuvenation, I can't, admittedly, be certain that having a reflective face would not once have seemed worth the torment and premature death of any number of gastropods. But expert consensus, not just in beauty magazines is, overwhelmingly, that it is. Including for an Atlantic magazine writer speculating, with some feeling, about the impact of tariffs on Korean beauty product prices – could US glass skin go the same, chilling way as US free speech? The trade-off between snail and human wellbeing is evidently settled. 'It has made my skin softer and only grossed me out twice,' she tells us. From the snails' perspective, the effect of tariffs – if they drive US buyers back to domestic, non-snail slime products – might amount to a more important commercial pushback than anything so far achieved by animal welfare organisations. While the soaring demand for slime products could encourage recourse to unethical types of extraction, Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has just tried another intervention, warning that 'snails are not skincare tools. They can feel stress, pain and fear.' Secrecy by some within the industry, along with a moderately stressed snail looking, to an amateur, much like a relaxed one, makes this easier to claim than to demonstrate. Even so, in the limited snail mucin studies concerned with ethics, the animals' treatment by some manufacturers sounds, when not actively barbaric, difficult to reconcile with industry assurances. The slime is, after all, a stress response. There is film of snails frothing and retracting into their shells. An analysis by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center found that common methods of snail slime collection include, as well as allegedly low-stress techniques that deliver less product, electrical stimulation, the application of salt solution ('osmotically drawing out a snail's hydration') and the use of force (featuring 'objects such as glass rods, cotton swabs, syringes, droppers, sticks or needles') to increase the yield. Alternatively, the shell might be cracked, generating more mucus, or the extractors might try vibrational, ozone-assisted and ultrasonic stimulation: 'These methods are less favoured as snails often die easily.' The authors prioritise, in conclusion, 'the need for ethical extraction'. Sign up to Observed Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers after newsletter promotion But without the exposure of a cruel snail extraction facility, it's not obvious how snails get beyond their current designation as insensate slime machines. At some point, the popularity of mucus might give way to another miracle face-plumper, possibly a synthetic version of snail mucin. Alternatively, if the snails get lucky, this resourceful industry will discover superior secretions in another unfortunate animal, ideally one similarly docile, cheap and unlovable enough to be euthanised in its millions. Not that consumers seem to be too picky. No matter how distressing the process, it's not so distressing, even among the usually tender-hearted, as the prospect of looking old. Catherine Bennett is an Observer columnist
Buzz Feed
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
20 Valentine's Day Movies To Stream On Amazon Prime Video
We hope you love the shows and movies we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of revenue or other compensation from the links on this page. Oh, and FYI: Platform, prices, and other availability details are accurate as of time of posting. 1. Carol (2015) It's been called one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, and now it's time to give Carol its V-Day flowers, too. Based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, and beautifully reimagined by Todd Haynes (alongside playwright Phyllis Nagy), there is no better occasion to revisit this '50s-set romance between Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett) and Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), the unlikely but energetically fused pair who are forced to upend their lives and become pseudo-outlaws to pursue a relationship. It is by no means your classic, feel-good love story — in fact, some will tell you it's not a love story at all — but don't let that be your only criteria for V-Day viewing. Maybe what your soul really needs is a devastating score from Carter Burwell and two acting giants at the top of their game saying things like "I like the hat." Watch it on Prime Video. 2. Challengers (2024) MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection Zero-time Oscar nominee and multiple-time winner of my heart, this sweaty love-triangle film about having thighs (and also playing professional tennis) is a sure-fire way to turn up the temperature on any day — but especially Valentine's. Pair Luca Guadagnino's feast for the eyes with an actual feast of sugary-sweet churros and treat yourself to a perfect evening of hot, grunting rodents, sumptuous JW Anderson costuming, and the pulse-pounding music of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Three tickets for Challengers, please! Watch it on Prime Video. 3. My Bloody Valentine (2009) Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection Last year, when Letterboxd shared its "most obsessively rewatched films on Valentine's Day" and it included three bloody horror films (plus, Gone Girl), it was cause to wonder if everyone was doing okay. It's hard to imagine we're doing much better this year. So, help yourself to this remake of the 1981 Canadian slasher — both included among the Letterboxd list — involving a pickax-wielding coal miner who goes on a Valentine's Day murder spree. Reviews at the time ranged from " gore you can believe in" to " It won't endure past the weekend." (We can now confidently say the latter was wrong; the 3-D film earned over $100 million at the worldwide box office and Blumhouse is currently developing a new installment.) Watch it on Prime Video. 4. Groundhog Day (1993) In his original review for Groundhog Day, the late Roger Ebert wrote that the film "finds its note and purpose so precisely that its genius may not be immediately noticeable. It unfolds so inevitably, is so entertaining, so apparently effortless, that you have to stand back and slap yourself before you see how good it really is." To save you a slap, let this be your reminder that Harold Ramis' romcom about a man (Bill Murray) doomed to repeat the same day for all of eternity, has stood the test of time and inspired dozens of films — including the lockdown streaming hit Palm Springs — for a reason. It is simply that good! Watch it on Prime Video. 5. Melancholia (2011) If you'd prefer a bit of counter-programming on V-Day — let's just call it existential dread — then Lars von Trier's end-of-the-world epic which takes place at a wedding party against the backdrop of an impending cataclysmic planetary event, is an ideal way to spend two hours. A sobering reminder that romantic partnership can't always make us feel whole, this sweeping tale starring career-best work from Kirsten Dunst, has been regarded as one of the greatest films about depression ever made. (And one of the greatest films ever made, full stop.) Watch it on Prime Video. 6. Past Lives (2023) Another film that doesn't exactly scream candy-heart sayings like "XOXO BE MINE," or scream anything for that matter, is this understated Sundance indie from writer-director Celine Song. The film, which was sold to A24 and went on to earn two Oscar nominations including Best Pic, tracks the complicated emotional journey of its protagonist Nora (Greta Lee), a contentedly married 20-something Manhattanite, who unexpectedly reunites with a special childhood classmate from Seoul. Prepare yourself for some hard-hitting "what-if" questions about love, and the impossible choices we make, plus an incredible final shot that proves "bittersweet" is sometimes the most satisfying V-Day taste of all. Watch it on Prime Video. 7. My Old Ass (2024) "What-if" questions also happen to swirl around this Indie Spirit-nominated hidden gem from Megan Park. The story of a a teen named Elliott who, during a mushroom trip, meets her 39-year-old self (played by Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, respectively) invites us all to wonder how we might course-correct if we encountered a more experienced version of ourselves. How does any of this amount to a good Valentine's Day flick? Well, there is also a smart, queer rom-com nested inside this film — also involving a boy named Chad whom Elliott is adamantly told to stay away from by her older self. Watch it on Prime Video. 8. Drinking Buddies (2013) If you thought Sideways was the only film that could use booze as a vehicle to plumb the depths of human intimacy, think again. This Joe Swanberg film, which Richard Brody (admiringly) called"a brilliant sleight-of-hand" upon its release, is as naturalistic and low-key as you'd expect from a Swanberg film, who is often associated with the mumblecore subgenre and largely improvised scripts. This time, though, he casts four well-established actors — Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston — as the coupled-up "drinking buddies" who, over many meandering conversations at a Chicago craft brewery, a lake house, and beyond, find that their relationships are unfortunately... on the rocks. Watch it on Prime Video. 9. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) Here's a depressing piece of trivia: Not since 2012's Silver Linings Playbook has a rom-com earned a coveted spot in the Best Picture Oscar race. (And let me qualify that by saying Playbook was... a bit light on the "com" if we're being 100.) It's hard to say whether this represents a general snootiness toward rom-coms as cinema, but it is notable that these recognitions were much more common in the '90s — when it wasn't so strange to see a crowd-pleasing flick like this one directed by Mike Newell and written by rom-com master Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually), welcomed into the fold. Four Weddings and a Funeral is responsible for launching Hugh Grant's career, so if you just saw Heretic and are interested in seeing the mischievous Brit in a very different register, or simply crave a romance with wit, hold the cheese, this one's for you. Watch it on Prime Video. 10. Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) Somewhere between " lobotomy cinema" and " a winning spin on royal rom-coms' best tropes," exists this faithful adaptation of the bestselling romance novel by Casey McQuiston. It stars Taylor Zakhar Perez as the bisexual son of the sitting American president and Nicholas Galitzine as the British prince who he hates, loves to hate, and eventually just loves. I probably don't need to remind you, but Uma Thurman is also in this star-crossed tale as the aforementioned president. She has a Southern accent that, quite frankly, I'm still haunted by nearly two years later. Watch it on Prime Video. 11. The Idea of You (2024) It feels right to transition into another enjoyable, brain-off rom-com adapted from a popular novel and starring Nicholas Galitzine. Though, make no mistake: This is Anne Hathaway's movie. The Oscar-winning actor plays Solène Marchand (you read that right), an art gallery owner who stumbles into an age-gap romance for the ages while accompanying her16-year-old daughter to Coachella. Galitzine stars as Hayes Campbell, the hunky Harry Styles-esque frontman of the band August Moon who simply can't get enough of Solène from their very brief, accidental run-in. After a handful of dates with Hayes, the tabloids get wind of their relationship and the low-profile Solène is thrust into the public eye. Uh oh... she has a lot of explaining to do with her daughter now. I will never quite be able to wrap my head around the fact that Michael Showalter directed this — a reminder that we all contain multitudes. Watch it on Prime Video. 12. The Big Sick (2017) Hewing closer to the type of of film we've come to expect from Michael Showalter is this rom-com starring Kumail Nanjiani and Zoe Kazan. The Sundance breakout — and indie winner at the summer box office — is based on the real-life story of Pakistan-born comedian Nanjiani who learned that his partner Emily (played by Kazan) had contracted a mysterious illness and would be put into a medically induced coma. Scene-stealing supporting performances from Ray Romano and Holly Hunter (inspired casting!), as well as the quippy Oscar-nominated screenplay from Nanjiani and real-life partner Emily V. Gordon, helped us all realize how starved we were for a fresh take on the rom-com in 2017. And guess what? We could still use more. Watch it on Prime Video. 13. Moonstruck (1988) MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection You know what's missing from your Valentine's Day plans? Some piping hot, fresh bread and a big knife (!!!). Surely, there is a very good reason that we are still returning to this Norman Jewison two-hander nearly four decades later. Of course, if I had to give it a stab (with my big knife) I'd say the giant performances from Nic Cage and Cher have something to do with it. Or, maybe deep down, we all crave a comfort watch — endlessly quotable dialogue, some eccentric characters, and a juicy forbidden love story — to distract us from our own lives. On Valentine's Day, this tonal oddity about an Italian-American widow who stumbles into a secret romance, is sure to slap even harder. Watch it on Prime Video. 14. Blue Valentine (2011) Filed under: Movies That Will Make You Grateful To Be Single This Valentine's Day, this indie-sleaze era weepie about the slow disintegration of a marriage tells you exactly what you're getting yourself into with its title. The impossibly cursed Derek Cianfrance project starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams (in an Oscar-nominated turn) uses a non-linear structure of flashback sequences to build out the story of a doomed couple, saddled with loss and addiction, who simply can't find their way back to each other. As legend has it, the actors went so deep into the toxicity of this fictional relationship that they had trouble speaking to one another after the film wrapped. Enjoy! Watch it on Prime Video. 15. Something's Gotta Give (2003) Regarded as one of the most Nancy Meyers-y Nancy Meyers movies to ever Nancy Meyers, Something's Gotta Give is the story of a divorced playwright Erica Berry (Diane Keaton) who not only wears a turtleneck but ceremoniously cuts one open with scissors during sex with Jack Nicholson's playboy Harry. There is other stuff too: Erica becomes romantically entangled with Keanu Reeves' Julian, a hot, young doctor tasked with taking care of Harry after his heart attack. If you can't escape to a beautiful home in the Hampton's for the holiday to "write a play," surely streaming this film on Amazon Prime Video is the second-best thing. Watch it on Prime Video. 16. The Fall Guy (2024) This summer popcorn flick, which swung and missed at the box office despite an appealing four-quadrant marketing pitch and a cast which built on the Barbenheimer momentum with newly minted Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, had industry folks questioning everything. Thankfully, with its availability on streaming, new audiences are now able to discover this surprisingly layered film. Or should I say films. The Fall Guy impressively manages to weave two movies into one — an action-packed epic with car chases, explosions, and stunts gone awry and a mushy love story of a director and a stuntman who very clearly belong together. A little something for everyone. Watch it on Prime Video. 17. Top Five (2014) Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection If you are able to look past a few glaring missteps, Chris Rock's film which he wrote, directed, starred in, and hopefully didn't name (very bad SEO), offers up plenty to fall in love with. Described as Chris Rock's Annie Hall, this walk-and-talk rom-com about a stand-up-turned-fluff-movie-actor (Rock) who is being shadowed by a New York Times reporter (Rosario Dawson) unfurls effortlessly over the course of one day. Manohla Dargis — an actual New York Times reporter — wrote that the film was "blisteringly funny," going on to say that it is a romantic comedy "that's also an extended riff on art, identity, authenticity and what it means to be a black entertainer." Watch it on Prime Video. 18. Bridesmaids (2011) Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection Hold on for one more day 'cause it's gonna go your way! Saoirse Ronan's favorite movie is a hilarious two-hour romp filled with raunchy jokes, jealousy, explosive diarrhea, and tender lessons on friendship. It is also — and I often forget this — a story about a baker and a cop who fall in love. The Paul Feig-directed blockbuster remains one of the most quotable rom-coms of the 21st century, and many of those quotes come from the lips of Melissa McCarthy. As the no-nonsense Megan, McCarthy pulled off the rare feat of scoring an Oscar nomination for a broadly comedic performance. More of that please! Watch it on Prime Video. 19. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) It feels like a small miracle that this Stephen Frears-directed film, shot in six months on a £600,000 budget, with a radically uncommercial story, ever got made (in the '80s, no less). And that's probably what has made it such a cult-classic to this day. In it, Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a young South London Pakistani man opens a laundromat and employs his childhood friend, a skinhead (Daniel Day-Lewis), who he becomes romantically involved with. Allegedly, Day-Lewis wrote Frears a letter, saying he would kill him if he was not cast in the movie as Omar's boyfriend, which I support. Watch it on Prime Video. 20. In the Land of Women (2007) This is entirely just a PSA to let you know that there is an Adam Brody and KStew rom-com from the mid-aughts that you likely have not seen. While I cannot in good faith recommend it as a piece of cinema — the New York Times disparagingly called it the "equivalent of a sensitive emo band with one foot in alternative rock and the other in the squishy pop mainstream" (wait that actually makes me like it more) — sometimes all you're really looking for is a taste of nostalgia. And, boy, does this film deliver on that front. A fresh-faced and fresh-off-of- The - OC Brody plays an aspiring screenwriter who can't seem to finish a screenplay (Nancy Meyers alert!) so he's writing soft-core pornography to make ends meet. After a breakup, he moves to Michigan to visit his grandma and winds up hooking up with a mother who lives next door (Meg Ryan) and her older daughter (Stewart). Any questions?
