Sam Frontera and Shelby Schwieterman

The Rom Complex

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Which came first, the romantic comedy or our messed up ways of thinking about love and relationships? Each week Sam Frontera and Shelby Schwieterman break down the romcom tropes that make their hearts sing and the ones that need to be tuned up. Listen to them talk about how these movies affected their relationships–for better and for worse.

Author

Sam Frontera and Shelby Schwieterman

Episodes

80. Crazy, Stupid, Love: Because They Fell in Love and Love Is For Stupid Assholes 20.05.2021 1:00:11

Sam and Shelby are back and sliding into your flip-phone texts to talk to you about 2011’s Crazy, Stupid, Love. We discuss cheating, creepy thirteen-year-olds, and whether we could pull Ryan Gosling....

79. What’s Your Number: Being in Love Means Being Yourself 22.04.2021 57:06

First thing’s first… HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAM! All she wants for her 30th is Chris Evans to reenact her favorite scenes from What’s Your Number? (2011), which happens to be our movie for...

78. The Broken Hearts Gallery: Now All I Have Left of Our Love Is This Sad, Second Place Duck 15.04.2021 55:11

The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020) shares some elements with last week’s The Break-Up (art gallery owned by cool older lady) but is one thousand times more charming, cute, and joyful. Sam and...

77. The Break-Up: Who Loves Ya, Baby? 08.04.2021 54:27

Our movie for this episode is UNFORTUNATELY 2006’s The Break-Up. Sam and Shelby spend most of the episode frustrated with Vince Vaughn’s behavior. We barely even make jokes about it! But we...

76. Someone Great: I Bet She Loves That We Broke Up 01.04.2021 1:01:35

This episode Sam and Shelby get serious… as in they seriously love Someone Great (2019). Could it be that we spend the entire time talking about the movie and related topics rather...

75. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Scott Earned the Power of Love 25.03.2021 59:10

The final boss level of our Manic Pixie Dream Girl month is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), a movie packed with color, action, and distractingly poor representations of its characters with...

74. 500 Days of Summer: Some People Are Meant to Fall in Love with Each Other, but Not Meant to Be Together 18.03.2021 1:00:45

We’re giving the MPDG the deconstruction treatment with (500) Days of Summer (2009). JGL shows us the danger of fooling yourself into thinking you’ve found the person of your dreams and then...

73. Elizabethtown: Just Tell Me You Love Me and Get It Over With! 11.03.2021 59:07

This week Sam and Shelby take a road trip (of the mind) to Elizabethtown (2005). We discuss how little Kirsten and Orlando were back then as well as how little sense this...

72. Garden State: I Would Love to See You Tap Dance 04.03.2021 1:03:27

As the wacky fun-loving girls that we are, we just HAVE to dedicate this month to the Manic Pixie Dream Girls that inspired and damaged us, starting with Natalie Portman in Garden...

71. Music and Lyrics: I Wasn’t Gonna Fall in Love Again but Then Pop Goes My Heart 25.02.2021 54:24

Sam and Shelby like some things (Hugh Grant, people dating who they want, holiday pay) and don’t like other things (Anna Kendrick’s career and the movie Music and Lyrics [2007]). They discuss...

70. Four Weddings and a Funeral: The Truth Is, I Have Met the Right Person, Only He’s Not in Love with Me 18.02.2021 59:44

Once again we are absolutely wrecked by the idea of falling in love with someone you DO NOT KNOW, this time in the form of Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). Despite...

69. Two Weeks Notice: Did you say, “Billy, I Love You”? 11.02.2021 1:02:08

It’s the episode hugh’ve all been waiting for–we’re talking about the charming Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock teamup in Two Weeks Notice (2002). Sam and Shelby go over inappropriate sex conversations, women...

68. Notting Hill: I’m Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy, Asking Him to Love Her 04.02.2021 54:51

Feb-Hugh-ary commences with a look into Notting Hill (1999), a movie which takes you through the fantasy of going out with a famous person and having them treat you like crap. Sam...

67. Pretty Woman: The First Guy I Ever Loved Was a Total Nothing 28.01.2021 1:02:33

There she was just a-walkin’ down the street–wait, that’s the wrong song about a person walking down the street. I always do this! Anyway, in this episode, we’re talking about Pretty Woman...

66. Runaway Bride: You’re a Cynical, Exploitive, Mean-Hearted Creep Who Wouldn’t Know Real Love If It Bit Him in the Armpit 21.01.2021 1:04:28

Julia Roberts January continues with 1999’s Runaway Bride! Shelby finds out she is in fact a bit of a runaway bride herself. We also discuss FedEx time schedules, ways of preparing eggs,...

65. My Best Friend’s Wedding: Tell Him You Love Him. Bite the Bullet. 14.01.2021 1:04:17

A new episode is here for you THE MOMENT you wake up, before you put on your makeup! Get ready for singing and sabotage because we’re talking about My Best Friend’s Wedding...

64. Midnight at the Magnolia: I Never Want to Wake Up without Knowing I Get to See My Best Friend, the Love of My Life 31.12.2020 1:02:35

Midnight at the Magnolia (2020) SHOULD be Sam’s dream movie–Chicago, fake dating, friends-to-lovers–but nOPE IT IS NOT. Though Shelby is taken in by the suddenly musical male lead, Sam is not fooled...

63. Last Holiday: We Will Laugh More; We’ll Love More; We Just Won’t Be So Afraid 24.12.2020 53:58

Will this holiday be our *dun dun dun* Last Holiday (2006)? Not if Sam and Shelby have anything to say about it. We discuss going out and getting what you want (as...

62. Happiest Season: In Love with Somebody That Is Too Afraid to Show the World Who They Are 17.12.2020 59:29

You HAD TO HAVE known it was coming–that’s right, we’re talking about Happiest Season (2020). Is this movie about too many things? Yes. Does Aubrey Plaza steal the show? Absolutely. Is it...

61. Holidate: Hey, Love Muffin! (with Suki Lanh) 10.12.2020 1:04:43

Sam and Shelby welcome back Suki Lanh to give her dissertation on the Netflix film Holidate (2020). We discuss St. Patrick’s dates and easy fixes, and Suki has a lesson for white...

60. Hitched for the Holidays: Love the One You’re With? 03.12.2020 55:51

It’s the holiday season, and we’re already giving Hallmark the attention it so desperately craves by talking about Hitched for the Holidays (2012). This movie has it all–Christmas, Hanukkah, fake dating, psychic...

59. When We First Met: Don’t Fall in Love! She’s Gonna Rip Your Heart Out! 26.11.2020 51:38

We’re closing out Netflix November with a film that’s both fun and riddled with plot holes–When We First Met (2018). Sam and Shelby discuss lack of chemistry, poorly-drawn female characters, and the...

58. Set It Up: You Like Because, You Love Despite 19.11.2020 1:00:17

Sam and Shelby return to the Netflix puzzle cube to discuss 2018’s Set It Up. After we figure out how to pronounce Zoey Deutch’s name, we go down the rabbit hole that...

57. Always Be My Maybe: Likewise, Keanu. I… Love Your Outfit. 12.11.2020 59:02

Sam and Shelby discuss the much loved Always Be My Maybe (2019) and add a new member to their Hot Dads list (enjoy the company, Charlie Swan). Sam airs more wig grievances,...

56. Love, Guaranteed: You’ll Find Love, Guaranteed 05.11.2020 59:22

Sam and Shelby kick off Netflix November with Love, Guaranteed (2020), the romcom equivalent of a small bag of potato chips–mostly air, no nutritional value, but okay to munch on while you’re...