Confessions of a Closet Romantic

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1322830/open_sms] (I'll be taking a brief break in January – see you next year!) There's a unique flavor to British romcoms and especially British romantic holiday movies: a dash of vinegar mixed in with the sugar and spice, a grounding bite to the proceedings, a bittersweet gentle melancholy, an undercurrent that keeps it real and earns the emotion in every tiny moment and line. These movies hit just the right spot for me this year, reminding me that I'm not alone if I can bravely reach out, where there are valuable and heart-affirming connections everywhere you look. Confessionsofaclosetromantic.com [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com] "This movie is in love with that new car feeling of a new relationship." You say that like it's a bad thing. Relationship therapist ranks Love Actually romances. [https://youtu.be/kR6H4eGHZJM?si=CoINLayvszYgsKL9] "I like you very much, just as you are." [https://youtu.be/oZu2JfM2Aq8?si=W8Url21nokPnjWB5] Romcoms — and the patriarchy — need more moments like this. "You'll go somewhere new and you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again." [https://youtu.be/LZQV6NjR_bI?si=iUPEpg1YewFLTdag]Best scene in the whole movie. Oh and this one. "I've got a life to start living — and you're not going to be in it!" [https://youtu.be/kqQZx2toz4k?si=dmwWaCGiGd2Bb63V]The patriarchy needs a whole bunch more of these moments, too. "Last Christmas/I gave you my heart.." [https://youtu.be/z9CEIcmWmtA?si=Xg7Q1T_GNoCvHehL] Just being a human IS hard, so yes, let's do something nice for someone. You're made of everything you do. It might not be something but it could be everything. [https://youtu.be/fFNteX1Jefo?si=4k7uYg2JaCqGr-e-] Oh this quiet, gorgeous movie. My favorite characters are the twin girls Sam and Charlie, and the turkeys. Oh boy am I kidding: everybody is my favorite character in this amazing animated movie. [https://youtu.be/SiCTXSwqzkw?si=X3Y1nRuNBaGiviO5] Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poppyconfesses] If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1322830/open_sms] The world can be harsh place, but the grace of love — familial, chosen family, platonic and especially intimate and romantic love  — always helps you through. It's a gift that keeps on giving and keeps you going, so let's be grateful for wherever and whenever we are graced with it. The best holiday movies and romcoms remind us that cultivating and growing relationships is never easy, but always worth it in the end. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/] My favorite holiday movies and romcoms are the ones with stories so good [https://youtu.be/ps8DhuMfScQ?si=GMBzBVaAZhRyGQje] that you can enjoy them all throughout the year. I love the characters and plot of The Family Stone so much, I gushed over it in my first Christmas episode [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/a-cozy-humorous-holiday-little-womenthe-family-stone/]. The Bishop's Wife [https://youtu.be/jAFneciOP0M?si=Y9GgAVqHnBnyY2jU] is another magical holiday movie that I could happily watch at least once a month. You can watch the full movie here. [https://youtu.be/1o9SskdQWzw?si=HcAVy3p9ZTd6V0UG] Please Rewind has a fantastic analysis of one of my favorite Woody Allen movies [https://youtu.be/6SMCcAcMvP8?si=Rkj7A0B3q9p6Qiu4], which begins and ends at Thanksgiving. The Dan in Real Life trailer [https://youtu.be/8SqaWEBSd4g?si=pCk44P8d_sR2wyi_] is — predictably — terrible. Here's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. [https://youtu.be/7cwUz-B7klI?si=akA6W7v8AtBfMbxl]Some amazing fan posted the DVD extras and bloopers [https://youtu.be/FxQtj6uX0ME?si=gjwjkjJtozPza-4p]and we are grateful. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poppyconfesses] If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1322830/open_sms] Who doesn't love a romantic meet cute? Who doesn't love a double meet cute, a story about fate, searching for the one — when the real one is right under your nose? Add a great script, good banter, two lead characters to root for from the first minute, a great supporting cast and some funny shenanigans while chasing a spare ticket to a sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve concert: this sexy warm-hearted holiday romcom is just the cheer we need this year. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/] Dang, another trailer that fails to capture the tone of the movie. [https://youtu.be/QdGiO-zZC_o?si=UyKyKbeptfbz6GrA]At least you see how cute everybody is. He's going to melt your heart! [https://youtu.be/Dmi794YO-0w?si=PbRiHOCms_YofeP-] And other body parts. I think Lauren Holly's facial expressions sum it up for all of us. This Pentatonix mashup of Pure Imagination and Christmas Time Is Here [https://youtu.be/h13Urh6RJEU?si=NPs1Mlc_2DBKtdN4] adds that slight melancholy to the holiday that's needed this year. A round up [https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2559964/the-best-christmas-movies-on-netflix-right-now] of some of the best holiday movies streaming on Netflix this year. And start your holidays here. [https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/81946034] Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poppyconfesses] If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1322830/open_sms] It's the season: bring on the witchy energy. These movies could be called dark romcoms, because they center romantic love in their plots, and they're often funny, but it's a corrupted or disappointing love, with witches as the main characters scrambling to find their power and the right sorcery for success, illegal illicit or otherwise. On the way to making us laugh or cry, these movies explore some fairly serious themes around domestic violence, sexual consent, cultural conditioning, emotional abuse and how the patriarchy often strives to minimize and control women's innate power. You will definitely laugh, too. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/] I guess horror comedy works too [https://youtu.be/vXOmzA56E40?si=RxNt1zSXOFfRKEfj]. Sex magik creates love magic, sex magik creates… Oh geez: another weird retro trailer [https://youtu.be/R7uixLkpjPs?si=XvpiySlg2WrIwuYT]. Even Variety agrees with me. Fortunately they have another chance to get it right, because Practical Magic 2 is now officially in the works. [https://variety.com/2024/film/news/practical-magic-2-sandra-bullock-nicole-kidman-1236030299/] Bell, Book and Candle, the full movie on YouTube. [https://youtu.be/953tFSGpafk?si=X654vWUJPFIjjrh4] The only witchy polycule that I know of. [https://youtu.be/mLs1y_KSTKk?si=9lL4AgLdv3mqwLfC] The anatomy of a spell. [https://themodernwitch.com/library-of-knowledge/spells-and-rituals/anatomy-of-a-spell/]Witch history and self-help. [https://www.carnegielibrary.org/staff-picks/witches-radical-figures-feminist-icons/#:~:text=Historically%20villainized%20and%20recently%20reclaimed,live%20free%20from%20society's%20constraints.] Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poppyconfesses] If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1322830/open_sms] It took me a long time to check out this sport romance, but to say I was knocked over by this inventive, dramatic, erotic story is an understatement. It's about a threesome, a love triangle, sport prodigies, early promise, the pursuit of excellence, the thrill and disappointments of growing up, playing the game of life and love, sex as the game and the game being mostly about sex. How to explain? You just need to experience it. https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com [https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com/] "This is a game about winning the points that matter." Does any trailer ever get it right? This is not the movie I saw [https://youtu.be/VobTTbg-te0?si=MEvjHEwUFWJ7NA4C]. Pop some popcorn, snuggle in and watch this movie. The final match took eight months to produce. "He wanted the action to mirror the characters’ complicated and sweaty dynamic — for viewers to feel like they were inside the competition, which is as much metaphor as sport." How they served the tennis scenes in Challengers. [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/29/movies/challengers-tennis-behind-the-scenes.html#:~:text=Yes%20and%20no.,backhand%2C%E2%80%9D%20Brad%20Gilbert%20said.] Interesting brief interview [https://youtu.be/o012mQsC9iw?si=cI4cOHvAWGmEGvvk] with Challengers screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes. A guide [https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4287347225/?listId=ls025720609&ref_=nm_ao_lg_dt_i] to the films of Luca Guadagnino. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/poppyconfesses] If you enjoyed this episode, please click share in your podcast app and tell your friends! Thanks for listening!