Love at First Screening

The best (worst) episodes always start with a notes app apology from Madison trying to defend her decision to torture herself and Chelsea (and potentially you, dear listener) with a movie no one asked for. This week, our hosts survived watching 1996's "romantic comedy"  Jerry Maguire.  This movie can't pick a struggle (Tom Cruise, scattered plot, no romance), but by God it can pi...

In this week's Cynic's Choice episode, our hosts brave the epic highs and lows of one Christian high school's evangelical battle with teen pregnancy and homosexuality as they discuss the biting satire Saved! (2004). After Chelsea pulls Madison away from a sermon on her personal lord and savior, Julien Baker, the duo launches head on into a discussion of this hilarious comedy's crit...

This week, Madison reports to us live from the bottom of a well while waiting for Lassie (at least that's what we assume by the horrendous quality of her audio--truly sorry!) to bring Chelsea the fabulous Sandy B flick  While You Were Sleeping  (1995). Chelsea surprised us all by actually enjoying the quirky movie, finding the found family story heartwarming despite the odd circumstances that...

This week, we once again question-- is this movie only fine because of the cast? Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. save a moderately horrible script for  Only You ( 1994). Listen as our hosts demand justice for Bonnie Hunt, try to remember the infamous name of the film (David? Damon?) and propose ways that this movie could have been changed to make it far more enjoyable. Also, can someone please...

This week, we hope you have a box of tissues handy, because here come the waterworks and the epic highs and lows of Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). After a brief contemplation on whether Madison's one-eyed step-cat can wink, our hosts make a mad dash to the chapel alongside a star-studded cast including Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, John Hannah, Rowan Atkinson, and even more "Oh, wait,...

This week our usual and only host, Marissa, graciously invites Chelsea and Madison on to have a thoughtful and intellectual discussion about the 1952 American musical romantic comedy (?) Singin' in the Rain . Marissa guides our guests through the plot, history, and fun facts of this comedic romp, exploring the pitfalls and follies that accompanied the transition from silent films to talkies. I...

This week, the pod dives into the best Drew Barrymore-Adam Sandler flick of all time, The Wedding Singer (1998). After the show's impromptu hiatus (thank you, LAFSters, for your patience!), has Madison finally picked her first rom com of the season? Either way, Chelsea has a bone to pick with Barrymore and stands firm that Sandler is not the comedic genius Hollywood seems to think he is. Plus...

It's Cynic's Choice, baby! Chelsea reminds us all what this podcast is truly about-- romantic comedies and queer love. Listen in as our hosts discuss the high camp of But I'm A Cheerleader. Listen as they discuss gender as a performance, how Natasha Lyonne should never again play a straight character, and how brilliant satire like this handles heavy topics like conversion therapy so de...

This week, our hosts travel back to 1960 after a brief stop at a soon-to-be divorcee's 25-year high school reunion in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage. While Chelsea and Madison's conversations about family, second-wave feminism, and meaningful character development remind us that this podcast still has a pulse, our hosts agree the film itself was dead on arr...

This week, our hosts take on a well-lauded movie in the romantic (comedy?) genre,  Sleepless in Seattle. While Chelsea would have rather watched paint dry, Madison defends the merit of the movie-- even if she doesn't buy into the concept that this movie is romantic, nor comedic. Would this be a thriller with a different lens and music? Does that poor child actor need therapy? Does Tom Hanks? Why d...

In the season six premiere, our hosts prepare to joust over the not-so-romantic comedy A Knight's Tale (2001). Madison proclaims she has finally broken the season premiere curse, but Chelsea thinks her cohost has tampered with the results. Either way, they both agree that people would wage war for the pleasure of Heath Ledger's smile, and Chaucer has never been more accurately portrayed in...

CW: moderately explicit sexual content, drinking, and rom coms that actually involve communication. On this heart-shaped holiday, our hosts invite you to take a drive with them through a nondescript mountain town to a sketchy distillery with three gal pals who take a trip that changes their friendship dynamic forever (possibly for the better). Mads drives Chelsea and you, dear listener, through a...

In their highly-anticipated Rom Com Respawn bonus episode, our hosts spend the evening with Ben Stiller and a menagerie of animated historical figures as they try to play matchmaker with Night at the Museum (2006). Chelsea supports the efforts of the National Wildlife Research Center to eliminate rabies in raccoons by 2053. Timothée Chalamet joins the ranks of Madison's celebrity nemeses. And amid...

Get cozy this holiday season with a toasty drink of your choice in a well-loved mug and crack open a feel good rom com. Which one should you read? Obviously one of the best sapphic Christmas novels out there-- Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun! Ever since our hosts read this last year, they knew it had to be discussed on the podcast. Now, that dream is reality! Chelsea and Madison discuss the...

In the season five finale, our hosts return to an episode formerly lost to the internet ether as they discuss Serendipity (2001) ... again. (And if you're reading this, their second-chance romance had a happy ending!) Special guest Lily has qualms with the main characters' blatant disregard for their romantic commitments — although for fidelity's biggest fan, she would not hesitate to kick Madison...

Madison puts on her smarty pants and comes prepared to talk all things  Desk Set (1957) with Chelsea. This Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy romp explores the age old battle of the intersection of industrialization and the human condition. Digressions include the Luddite movement and AI, but the conversation in this one really serves to remind listeners that both hosts actually did get something fro...

Pack your party-ready wardrobe because we've RSVPd "I do" to an engagement (or seven) with The Wedding Year (2019). Starring Sarah Hyland and Tyler James Willams, with a special cameo from Wanda Sykes, this marriage manic rom com has our hosts weeping for every guest's bank account—and cheering for the gays (the only healthy relationship in this mess of a movie). P.S. Everyone (except Mara and Jak...

Spooky season is upon us, the witching hour has struck, and our hosts alongside their fabulous guest, Ella, leap from the roof and land in the gorgeous New England landscape of 1998's Practical Magic. Ella provides valuable, fresh insight for a movie the hosts have seen a million times and reminds us that while the bar is set in hell for men, we can always raise the standards. Folks, if he isn't h...

This week it's another Cynic's Choice! Has Chelsea picked an actual Rom Com, or has she pulled a fast one on the LAFSters yet again? As our hosts dive into Laggies (2014), Madison may be too distracted by Keira Knightley's American-accented performance to notice. With Sam Rockwell and Cholë Grace Moretz, this tale of feeling lost in adulthood — caught between expectation and personal truth — leads...

As the moon grows fuller, our hosts and their fabulous guest, Andrea, find themselves quite  Moonstruck  (1987) by Cher's beauty and Nicolas Cage's dedication to his performance. Tune in as they discuss newly acquired vocal stims (MY HAND), the way Nic Cage should never say "To the bed" like that again, and how we should all revere Olympia Dukakis. Are men chasing youth (and women) to run from dea...

This week, we circle back to Chappell Roan and the troublesome nature of parasocial relationships with a thoughtful discussion of The Idea of You (2024). Starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, this latest entry into the canon of what some are calling "MILF Cinema" has our hosts contemplating the perceptions of age gap romances, examining societal expectations of mothers, and asking: How th...

This week, Mads puts Chelsea's friendship with her to the ultimate test as they watch 2012's Wanderlust. Do you long to be disturbed by Paul Rudd saying overtly disgusting sexual things in a mirror? Do you wish to feel let down by Jennifer Aniston? Do you want to question your allegiance to watching anything Kathryn Hahn is in? Do you want to replace Mads as Chelsea's permanent guest host? Boy, do...

This week, our hosts embark on a campy adventure to track down a priceless artifact at gunpoint with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in The Lost City (2022). While Madison thinks the pink jumpsuit lasted far too long in that jungle, she agrees with Chelsea's assertion that this 21st-century take on Romancing the Stone improves the "romance novelist finds herself on a romantic adventure&...

This week, our hosts find themselves embroiled in a discussion of the issues of philanthropy, system theory, and who should be driving community support projects. Is  Two Weeks Notice  the rom-com exploration of Audre Lorde's quote “For the master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring ab...

This week, our hosts hit the ice with two Olympic hopefuls to discuss the sports romance The Cutting Edge (1992), starring Moira Kelly and D. B. Sweeney. While their banter about writing idols and the 2024 Paris Olympics had Chelsea and Madison feeling inspired at the onset of this episode, dissecting the film's middling romantic plot and character arcs left them dissatisfied. For the viewer, it m...