Sam Frontera and Shelby Schwieterman

The Rom Complex

Tv EN ↓ 316 episodes

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.

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Author

Sam Frontera and Shelby Schwieterman

Episodes

90. Center Stage: She’s A Ballerina and She’s in Love with You (with David Michael Burke) 29.07.2021 1:01:01

The delightful and hilarious David Michael Burke (yes, the one from TikTok!) joined us to talk about Center Stage (2000), the dance movie that started it all. In this case, we’re defining...

89. Earth Girls Are Easy: Sensualize the Atmosphere of Your Love Trap (with Happily Ever Slasher) 22.07.2021 1:00:30

Amanda and Brooke of Happily Ever Slasher join us to talk about Earth Girls Are Easy (1988). Who would have thought that Jim Carrey could be… a hot guy??? We talk about...

88. Two Can Play That Game: When It Comes to Love, There Are No Rules (with Drunk on RomComs) 15.07.2021 1:02:04

Grab your headphones and your favorite beverage because this week’s guests are Marie and Coni from Drunk on Romcoms! We discuss Two Can Play That Game (2001), the immaturity of power struggles,...

87. Stuck in Love: Just Avoid Love at All Costs. That’s My Motto (with Movies That Raised Us) 08.07.2021 1:01:00

Our guests for this episode are Mo and Christina from Movies That Raised Us who did us the honor of chatting about 2012’s Stuck In Love. This movie is filled TO THE...

86. Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist: I Loved Your Mixes, By the Way (with Sick S.A.D. Film Club) 01.07.2021 1:00:08

Oh hi, July. That one’s for you, listener. And let’s get another “oh, hi” for our first guests for this month–the hosts of the Sick S.A.D. Film Club podcast! Shannon, Anna-Laurie, Dominique...

85. Tangled: I Really Want to Make a Love Connection 24.06.2021 52:06

Is that a pet chameleon in your pocket or are you just happy to hear us talk about Tangled (2010)? Flynn Rider might be the hottest Disney love interest, but that doesn’t...

84. Your Name: No Jobs, No Love, No Happiness 17.06.2021 56:56

I gotta be honest, we spend most of this one gushing about how much we loved Your Name (2016). But then it turns into a discussion of why we are so transfixed...

83. Shrek: The Ogre Has Fallen in Love with the Princess 10.06.2021 1:03:00

You know what? Get INTO our swamp because we’re talking about Shrek (2001)! It’s got fairy tales, it’s got anti-Disney sentiment, it’s got a beautiful love story–between Shrek and Donkey, of course....

82. Enchanted: How Does She Know That You Love Her? 03.06.2021 58:59

Do me a favor real quick–sing that little song that makes all the animals near you come running to help you clean your kitchen and iron your clothes, then have all those...

81. Celeste and Jesse Forever: Do You Think the Obamas Are Really in Love? 27.05.2021 53:58

We’re closing out May with 2012’s Celeste and Jesse Forever, a movie in which the asshole protagonist learns how to let people cut her in line. Sam and Shelby discuss full lips...

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,...