Netflix It: Going the Distance

Available through Netflix: Going the Distance, directed by Nanette Burstein

I fully expected this to be terrible, but Going the Distance is that rarest of gems—a romantic comedy in which two appealing actors portray likable characters whom we want to end up together. Shocking concept, I know. And the guy isn't a total loser, and the gal isn't an uptight prig! And chemistry! And Bechdel test! And no pedicures!

Synopsis from AllMovie:

Drew Barrymore and Justin Long star in this romantic comedy about a long-distance romance that may be worth fighting for. Garrett (Long) is still nursing the wounds from a recent breakup when he meets Erin (Barrymore), an unflinchingly honest girl with a big talent for bar trivia. Hitting it off immediately, the pair spend a romantic summer together in New York City. It was supposed to be a summer fling, but as fall approaches and Erin returns to San Francisco, the spark is still there. Subsequently dividing his days between working and hitting the bars with best friends Box (Jason Sudeikis) and Dan (Charlie Day), Garrett drops everything whenever Erin calls. The more Garrett's phone rings, the more his pals begin to suspect that their drinking buddy is taking the relationship a little too seriously. And they're not the only ones; Erin's sister, Corrine (Christina Applegate), is keen to ensure that her smitten sibling doesn't repeat the mistakes of her past, and she makes no attempts to sugarcoat the fact that she disapproves of the coast-to-coast romance. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and as the texting becomes more intense, both Garrett and Erin start to suspect that their summer fling may just be the real thing.

Finding Bliss

Opening this weekend at City Cinemas Village East: Finding Bliss, directed by Julie Davis

Synopsis from the movie's website:

Finding Bliss is a cutting-edge romantic comedy that explores the adult film industry through the eyes of an idealistic 25 year-old award-winning film school grad, Jody Balaban (Leelee Sobieski), new to Los Angeles.

After a long humbling year temping as a traffic cop on a studio lot, Jody is faced with the hard decision of taking the only well-paying industry job she has yet been offered – editing porn at Grind Productions, a profitable X-rated company run by former porn star and shrewd business-woman Irene Fox (Kristen Johnson). Irene explains that Grind is embarking on their first “real” movie, which they plan to release in art-house theaters across the country. The consummate saleswoman, she attempts to seduce the desperate Jody to edit the film by challenging her to bring a smart female point of view to the sexual content in the movie, which is the crucial element needed for the film to cross over into the mainstream.

At first horrified by the prospect of exposing herself to the cockroaches of the film industry, not to mention the effect it would have on her strict Jewish parents, Jody has a remarkable change of heart when she realizes that Grind has all the facilities she needs to make her own low budget movie – on the sly of course. Jody rationalizes taking the job on the grounds that “the means justify the ends” – by editing porn during the day, she’ll be able to make meaningful art at night.

At first, Jody’s plan seems to be working out – she prepares to shoot her film after hours and her parents happily think she has a respectable job - but things get complicated when Jody meets Jeff Drake (Matt Davis), the charming Herr Director of porn. Jeff, also an award-winning filmmaker, once had his own dreams of making ‘real’ films, but now is a hard-worn cynic who masks his disappointment behind a façade of irony. In Jody, he sees the idealism he once had, while Jody starts to face her own sexual hang-ups as she begins to get aroused by the porn she so harshly judges.
When Jody starts making her own low-budget romantic comedy at night, she hires Laura (Denise Richards), a sweet ingénue who questions Jody’s preconceptions about love and sex as and gradually inspires Jody to embrace her growing attraction towards Jeff, not to mention her unexpected affection for the lowlifes of porn, including the dimwitted but lovable porn star Richard “Dick” Harder (Jamie Kennedy).

Just Wright

Opening this weekend: Just Wright, directed by Sanaa Hamri

Synopsis from the movie's website:

Leslie Wright (Queen Latifah) is a straight-shooting physical therapist who gets the gig of a lifetime working with NBA All-Star Scott McKnight (Common). All is going well until Leslie finds herself falling for Scott, forcing her to choose between the gig and the tug-of-war inside her heart. Oblivious to her romantic overtures, McKnight is instead drawn to the affections of Leslie’s childhood friend Morgan (Paula Patton), who has her sights set on being an NBA trophy wife. Is Leslie destined to play the role of “best friend” forever or will Scott finally see that what he always wanted is right in front of him?

Netflix It: The Holiday

#32 - The Holiday

Okay, so the X-Factor Contest picked another Nancy Meyer movie, not The Holiday, but I really enjoyed The Holiday (two romcoms for the price of one!), and the other movie stars a certain vile anti-Semite whom I would not want to promote in any way.

Available from Netflix: The Holiday, directed by Nancy Meyers

Nancy Meyers' romantic comedy Holiday stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two women who exchange houses in order to get a new lease on life. After each suffers her fair share of romantic disappointments, Englishwoman Iris (Winslet) and L.A. woman Amanda (Diaz) meet on-line at a website devoted to helping people exchange houses for vacations. Each agrees to spend the Christmas holiday at the other's home. While each suffers from a minor case of culture shock, both women also end up becoming involved with a man. Iris makes the acquaintance of an upbeat everyman played by Jack Black, while Amanda spends time with a handsome Brit played by Jude Law. Both women must decide what to do with these new relationships as their pre-arranged house switch is scheduled to last less than two weeks.

Netflix It: Something's Gotta Give

#31 - Something's Gotta Give

Available from Netflix: Something's Gotta Give, directed by Nancy Meyers

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Jack Nicholson plays Harry Langer, a swinging sixtysomething entertainment executive surrounded by plenty of young girlfriends. His latest romance is young petite sophisticate Marin (Amanda Peet), who takes him to her mother's beach house in the Hamptons for a weekend fling. However, Marin's successful Broadway playwright mother Erica Barry (Diane Keaton) is already vacationing at the house with her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand). Marin and Harry stay anyway, and Harry ends up having a heart attack. He goes to the hospital and is looked after by thirtysomething doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves). Impressed by her writing, Dr. Mercer finds himself pursuing a romance with Erica. Because of his serious health condition, he orders Harry to stay near the hospital. While Marin returns to Manhattan, Erica agrees to stay on and look after Harry. Of course they are repulsed by each other at first, but they end up falling in love throughout the recovery process.

Netflix It: Bridget Jones's Diary

#30 - Bridget Jones's Diary

Available from Netflix: Bridget Jones's Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire

Based on Helen Fielding's hugely popular novel, this romantic comedy follows Bridget (Renee Zellweger), thirty-something British woman who has a penchant for alcoholic binges, smoking, and an inability to control her weight. While trying to keep these things in check and also deal with her job in publishing, she visits her parents for a Christmas party. They try to set her up with Mark (Colin Firth), the visiting son of one of their neighbors. Snubbed by Mark, she instead falls for her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant), a dashing lothario who begins to send her suggestive e-mails that soon lead to a dinner date proposition...

Netflix It: Sleepless in Seattle

#26 - Sleepless in Seattle

Available from Netflix: Sleepless in Seattle, directed by Nora Ephron

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Sleepless in Seattle, the sophomore directorial effort from Nora Ephron, is a light romantic comedy inspired by the 1957 film An Affair to Remember. Tom Hanks stars as widower and single father Sam. When Sam's son, Jonah (Ross Malinger), calls into a talk radio program looking for a new mother, Sam ends up getting on the phone and laments about his lost love. Thousands of miles away, Annie (Meg Ryan) hears the program and immediately falls in love with Sam, despite the fact that she has never met him and that she is engaged to humdrum Walter (Bill Pullman). Believing they are meant to be together, Annie sets out for Seattle to meet Sam, who, meanwhile, contends with an onslaught of letters from available women equally touched by his phone call. Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, and Rob Reiner also star.

Netflix It: You've Got Mail

#25 - You've Got Mail

Available from Netflix: You've Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Sleepless in Seattle director Nora Ephron originally made a name for herself as the writer of romantic comedies such as Heartburn and When Harry Met Sally. She continues the genre with You've Got Mail, marking her second collaboration with actors Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The story brings romance and courtship into the electronic age of the World Wide Web via e-mail and chat rooms. Joe Fox (Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) live and work blocks from each other on New York City's Upper West Side. Their lives are practically intertwined. They both shop at the same place, frequent the same coffee shop, and even own competing bookstores on the same street. They also both have significant others of their own. Joe has the overly hyper book editor Patricia Eden (Parker Posey), while Kathleen lives with the scholarly newspaper columnist Frank Navasky (Greg Kinnear). Then they meet in a chat room. Though they keep their identities secret (they're known only by screen names "NY152" and "Shopgirl"), they tell each other everything about their lives, including their private feelings, which slowly turn into affection for each other. When Joe decides to open a new branch of his "Foxbooks" chain that risks putting Kathleen's "Shop Around the Corner" out of business, the tension between them escalates. Surely her boutique business will be lost to the conglomerate with a built-in newsstand and coffee bar. When Joe sees Kathleen waiting for him in the restaurant where they agreed to meet up, he puts two and two together, but cannot face her, given their agreement not to reveal each others' names and professions. How can he reveal himself to her now, knowing that he is the cause of her misery? Hopefully, love will conquer all.

Embedding for the original trailer is "disabled by request," so enjoy this reimagining: