Counter-Point: The 50 “Best” Rom-Coms (Pre-’90s)

by Mark Brinkerhoff

That sound you heard this week? It likely was #FilmTwitter collectively reeling from reading The Ringer staff’s list of the 50 “best” romantic comedies of all time. What prompted such a breathless response, however, was that only one of the films on the instantly infamous list pre-dated the 1980s, and it *wasn’t* Annie Hall. No, that Best Picture-winning, genre-redefining classic didn’t make the top *50*, Harold and Maude did. 

Now far be it for me to quibble about anything the late, great Hal Ashby made (namely Harold and Maude) but the otherwise ignorance of literally more than half a century of not only the very best rom-coms, but some of the finest films of all time—period—can’t go unnoticed. So with that, here’s a non-exhaustive, chronological list of the “best” rom-coms from the genre’s Golden Age in the ’30s through its modernization in the ’70s/’80s with links to where you can watch them...

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Earliest years with all living nominees!

by Nathaniel R

1971 BEST ACTRESS (50 years ago) is the furthest back you can go to get a category (any category) where all the nomines are still alive: Julie Christie, Jane Fonda, Glenda Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, and Janet Suzman

Loyal readers know we are always irritated that the Academy cares more about imaginary audiences than the one they have so we're thinking of the awesomeness of Hollywood and Oscar history today (since they won't). You've seen our lists of the "oldest living screen stars"  and the "oldest living Oscar nominees" but we're aware Oscar is never going to do anything cool like a "family album" again, a great moment from the broadcast.  BUT THEY SHOULD. If the Academy leaned back into tradition rather than pretend it didn't exist, they could harness more respect and enthusiasm again. Institutions become institutions for a reason. Institutions aren't "cool" by nature since they're like giant time-worn machines that you're parents and grandparents know even better than you but they do command respect if they believe in themselves. The Academy shouldn't be doing 'we're just like you!' Gen Z cosplay but merely flex their own hard-won nearly century old brand.

So here's something a little different: A list of the furthest back you can go in each Oscar category and still have a year where all the nominees still walk among us. Imagine if Oscar invited or celebrated even two or three of them (which is nothing really!) to honor their past. It would be so fun...

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Best Picture Rankings... the serious and the silly

by Nathaniel

It may surprise you to know that DUNE does not even have the highest death count among the Best Picture nominees

Each year after the Oscar nominations are announced we give ourselves over, even more fully, to our primal mania of list-making. On the updated Best Picture Oscar Chart you'll find a daily Reader's Choice poll, plus lots of info on the films, how we did on our predictions, and multiple very random lists like these...

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Nathaniel's Top Ten List (Best of 2021)

by Nathaniel R

Movies are not quite keepsakes anymore with physical media dying. Yet they remain emotional treasures to return to or reflect upon as real as any beloved mementos you could place in a keepsake box. For awards and list obsessives they take on extra-meaning as stand-ins for each calendar year as well. We have to have a gimmick for the top ten lists each year, else the task of putting so much love into words becomes too daunting.  So this year we've chosen memorable objects as a frame with which to remember the year's best. These great films were filled with fawned over items and knick knacks from "purty" paper flowers to restless coffee cups, from razor-sharp seashell bracelets to winning lottery tickets, from horny religious figurines to magical belts.

20 HONORABLE MENTIONS

So that you don't immediately ask "WHERE IS  ____?" here are the 20 films outside of the top 10 list that were loved and/or deeply admired. Plus, in keeping with the chosen theme, the visual object we most closely associate with them... 

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Doc Corner: The 25 Best Documentaries of 2021 (and where to see them)

By Glenn Dunks

Dear readers, I watch a lot of movies. Then again, what else was I supposed to do throughout yet another pandemic year with city-wide lockdowns and curfews? Which is why it was no real struggle at all to think of enough titles to make this list of the 25 best documentaries of 2021. Nor why I do not consider it the least bit excessive. Movies are great, so let's celebrate them! Each of the films listed are deserving of your eyes, although often for very different reasons—I hope my pseudo-weekly reviews and below captions help explain why.

It was a strong year for films about artists and art more broadly. Nearly half the films on the list below are related to film, music, painting, dance and/or the people to make them. Queer themed docs were also prevalent. The longest film here is 194 minutes. The shortest is 61. There is almost a 50/50 between male and female directors across 25 films that travel the globe from sex doll factories in China to political campaigns in Zimbabwe, a jail cell in Guantanamo Bay and the streets of Harlem...

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