In Front Of Ira podcast

48:22

Sabrina and Torsten sit on a couch and discuss the first movie in the “Bridget Jones” series, 2001’s “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” certainly one of the best thirty films of the year. Starring an American with a convincing British accent (Renée Zellweger), a smarmy Hugh Grant, and a very Darcy Colin Firth. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – Reviews of the movie when it came out: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/13/helenfielding / https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bridget-joness-diary-2001 – Reassessments of the fat shaming from more recent commentators: https://archive.thetab.com/uk/2020/07/14/bridget-jones-diary-is-fat-phobic-and-has-actually-aged-terribly-166036 / https://www.vogue.com/article/bridget-jones-weight-obsession Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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29. Bro! We’re Talking About “Bros,” Bro! 1:03:23

8 weeks fa1:03:23

1:03:23

Torsten and Sabrina visit the National LGBTQ+ museum in New York to look at the audio-animatronic bisexuals in the first gay major studio romcom starring Billy Eichner and Luke MacFarlane. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The discourse surrounding the movie when it was released: https://www.them.us/story/bros-movie-box-office-performance-billy-eichner – The fictional LGBTQ+ museum in the film: https://variety.com/2022/artisans/news/bros-lgbtq-museum-billy-eichner-1235392680 Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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28. We Have an Invite to “My Best Friend’s Wedding” 55:38

9 weeks fa55:38

55:38

Sabrina and Torsten join in for a sing-along to “I Say a Little Prayer” at a seafood restaurant with Rupert Everett, Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, and Cameron Diaz in this unorthodox late 90s classic romcom that stars all your favorite actors who got famous later on. (Including Carrie Preston and Paul Giamatti.) They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The likeability of the Jules character: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/my-best-friends-wedding-julia-roberts-25-year-anniversary – The “gay best friend” trope: https://www.advocate.com/media/2020/11/20/history-gay-best-friend-film-and-tv#rebelltitem15 Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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27. Want to Meet at “Rye Lane”? 49:48

10 weeks fa49:48

49:48

In the second low-budget independent romcom set in South London on this podcast (what are the odds?), Sabrina and Torsten follow David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah as they wander around Rye Lane Market and drink deeply from the well of London romcom lore. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – Director of Photography Olan Collardy’s stunning cinemmatography in this movie: https://filmmakermagazine.com/118964-interview-dp-olan-collardy-rye-lane/ – Director Raine-Allen Miller’s thoughts on her film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4OmtSc9iig – The Rye Lane film locations walk: https://walkingpost.co.uk/rye-lane-film-locations-walk/ Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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26. Bite into the Snowman Cookie, “Hot Frosty”! 42:10

11 weeks fa42:10

42:10

Crime doesn’t pay in Hope Springs, New York, where Lacey Chabert magics a hot snowman (Dustin Milligan) to life in this joyously bonkers Christmas romcom written by Russell Hainline and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti. Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio co-star as scenery-chewing small-town cops. (Hallmark mainstay Chabert’s first venture into the Netflix Holiday Cinematic Universe rocketed straight to number 1 on the streamer’s charts.) They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – “Hot Frosty” writer Russell Hainline’s thoughts on the movie and its title: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/hot-frosty-writer-interview-netflix-holiday-movie-1236063597/ – The Rotten Tomatoes judgment on the movie: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hot_frosty Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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25. We’re Going on “The Holiday” 1:04:58

12 weeks fa1:04:58

1:04:58

Sabrina and Torsten are ready for the holidays (plural), so they’re going on “The Holiday” (singular). Join them in both L.A. and Surrey where they spend time with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law in this least kitchen-y of all Nancy Meyers movies. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – “The Holiday’s” stature as a Christmas classic: https://slate.com/culture/2023/12/the-holiday-movie-christmas-love-actually-cast.html – The rising popularity of the term “meet cute” following this movie: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=“meet+cute”&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3 Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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24. “You’ve Got Mail,” Meg and Tom! 1:04:46

13 weeks fa1:04:46

1:04:46

Don’t you love New York in the fall? Torsten and Sabrina give each other bouquets of pencils as they discuss how neoliberalism is ruining book shop owner Kathleen Kelly’s life in this Nora Ephron romcom from the late 90s (neoliberalism also goes by the name of Joe Fox, F-o-x). Of course this stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and there’s a lot of Starbucks references. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The Ernst Lubitsch movie “Shop Around the Corner” on which this is based: https://archive.org/details/the-shop-around-the-corner-1940-ernst-lubitsch – The age of AOL: https://time.com/3857628/aol-1985-history Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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23. We Go on a “Chicken Shop Date” with Marisa Kabas 1:03:25

13 weeks fa1:03:25

1:03:25

“This is called flirting, Amelia!” Sabrina and Torsten welcome Marisa Kabas to a special episode about a viral real-life romcom: the “Chicken Shop Date” of Amelia Dimoldenberg and Andrew Garfield. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – Amelia and Andrew at the Golden Globes: https://youtu.be/E6O0wq6GNn8?si=OJ0hcR0IXDlTDtvr – The titular Chicken Shop Date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFS5vxYlfY8&pp=ygUkYW1lbGlhIGFuZHJldyBnYXJmaWVsZCBmaXJzdCBtZWV0aW5n – Nicholas Quah at Vulture on the Andrew Garfield Chicken Shop Date: https://www.vulture.com/article/amelia-dimoldenberg-will-chicken-shop-date-forever.html – Andrew Garfield kissing Stephen Colbert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbyhbLR0u0A Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of romcoms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on various social media apps and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Find Marisa at @marisakabas on Bluesky and Threads, and at https://www.thehandbasket.co Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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22. Chemistry With “Anyone But You” 47:21

30 weeks fa47:21

47:21

Torsten and Sabrina join Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney for a destination wedding in Australia featuring butt-grabbing and Shakespearean hijinks. Hopefully, no one needs to send a helicopter to save them from drowning in a movie that should work so much better than it does. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The fake dating rumors surrounding the movie’s leads: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/sydney-sweeney-admits-to-actively-fueling-glen-powell-dating-rumors – The Netflix show “Everything Sucks” featuring Sweeney: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7078710 Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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21. We Find “10 Things I Hate About You” and None Are This Movie 53:07

31 weeks fa53:07

53:07

Sabrina and Torsten head to Seattle (or is that Tacoma?) to join an all-star teen heart throb cast from the late 1990s take on Shakespeare. Plus, Allison Janney is there. Yes, they watched “10 Things I Hate About You,” counted all the things and noticed… hey… your eyes have a little green in them. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The soundtrack for the movie: https://www.discogs.com/de/master/171251-Various-10-Things-I-Hate-About-You-Music-From-The-Motion-Picture – The death of Heath Ledger: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/heath-ledger-death-stephen-gaghan-script-blink-bed-malcolm-gladwell-book-1235838795/ Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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20. We Figure Out “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” 55:38

32 weeks fa55:38

55:38

Sabrina and Torsten go back to a time in which people have jobs at print magazines. No it’s not a historical fantasy, it’s a romcom from the early 2000s! They are not on board with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey being mean to each other in boring ways, but maybe it’s all for the best since there is a Marvin Hamlisch cameo. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The inspiration for the movie: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/02/how-to-lose-a-guy-in-10-days-oral-history – Carrie Bradshaw and the question how 2000s era magazine writers could afford things: https://thoughtcatalog.com/stephanie-georgopulos/2011/06/carrie-bradshaws-budget-in-real-numbers/ Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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19. Vespa, Vespa! Take a “Roman Holiday” With Us 59:50

33 weeks fa59:50

59:50

Torsten and Sabrina encounter Gregory Peck carrying a watermelon and Audrey Hepburn hitting a violin over a man's head while Eddie Albert takes photos. It’s not as weird as it sounds. It’s weirder. Welcome to Rome, the eternal city, where even princesses have gelato. They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – The life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was forbidden to work during the era of McCarthyism: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/dalton-trumbo – Audrey Hepburn’s career and later life: https://www.biography.com/actors/audrey-hepburn Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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18. Let’s See “What Happens Later” 1:00:03

34 weeks fa1:00:03

1:00:03

Torsten and Sabrina watch Meg Ryan and David Duchovny get stuck in an airport during a bomb cyclone. Wait—is that a thing? They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – Meg Ryan’s dedication of the film to Nora Ephron: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meg-ryan-acting-hiatus-what-happens-later-rom-com-nora-ephron-160655136.html? – Steven Dietz’s play “Shooting Star,” on which the movie is based: https://books.google.com/books/about/Shooting_Star.html?id=yJ_pPUsv4AcC&redir_esc=y Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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17. Not Watching “Pretty Woman” Would Be a Big Mistake. Huge 1:06:55

35 weeks fa1:06:55

1:06:55

Sabrina and Torsten reassess the classic 1990 romcom “Pretty Woman.” Yes, the little arthouse drama that jumpstarted Jason Alexander’s career and isn’t remembered for much else… They talk about a few things you may want to check out: – “Pretty Woman”’s original dark ending: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/pretty-woman-original-ending – Scott Meslow’s book “From Hollywood With Love” and its chapter on “Pretty Woman”: https://books.google.com/books/about/From_Hollywood_with_Love.html?id=BA6azgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y Welcome to “In Front of Ira,” the podcast in which historians, friends, and lovers… of rom-coms Sabrina Mittermeier and Torsten Kathke discuss how the romantic comedy genre has evolved, what it can tell us about society, and whether this movie is worth watching. Find us @infrontofira on social media and drop us a line at infrontofirapod@gmail.com Our music is “Night in Venice” by Kevin MacLeod.…

In Front of Ira

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16. Color Us “Red, White & Royal Blue” 1:08:20

36 weeks fa1:08:20