Weekly Culture Menu 2.13.24
A Supersized Valentine's Day Edition
For this week’s installment of the Weekly Culture Menu, we have a sampling of content across a variety of mediums, lengths, and sensibilities so that you can dip in and out all week. Once you subscribe, you can expect a weekly menu delivered to your inbox every Tuesday.
Valentine’s Day - a polarizing holiday that seems to cost money regardless of your stance. Love Valentine’s Day? Here’s a prix fixe menu that costs more than your monthly rent. Hate Valentine’s Day? Put your ex’s name on a dog poop bag (but for a good cause). I’m pro-Valentine’s Day because it’s a day where eating a dozen cupcakes feels sensible and rewatching comfort movies is encouraged. This week we have a supersized menu of love day-related recommendations for all, regardless of your placement on the celebration spectrum.
🍤 Amuse Bouche [ -10 mins ]
A few favorite poems on love:
📚 “All I Know About Love” by Neil Gaiman. Fun fact: my best friend read this at my wedding! 💖
📚 “If I Had Three Lives” by Sarah Russell.
📚 "Don't Hesitate” by Mary Oliver.
📚 "I Do Not Want to Have You” by Rupi Kaur.
🗞️ "Sexy Valentine’s Day Date Ideas That Honor the Life and Faith of Saint Valentine” by Angus Duffin. If all that poetry was a bit too earnest for you, you can always count on McSweeney’s to keep the commercialism in check.
🍟 Appetizer [ -30 mins ]
📺 “P.S. I Love You” Season 8, Episode 15 of How I Met Your Mother. I oft quote this episode’s premise: "If both people are into each other, then a big romantic gesture works: Dobler, but if one person isn't into the other, the same gesture comes off serial killer crazy: Dahmer." Dobler refers to Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) from the romantic comedy Say Anything, and Dahmer refers to Jeffrey Dahmer - the sociopathic serial killer. I’ll pause for you to review the Doblers and Dahmers of your own life.
📺 “Open Mic” Season 4, Episode 6 of Schitt’s Creek. I wish I could watch this for the first time again. If you haven’t seen Schitt’s Creek yet, you should rectify that immediately. In this episode, David’s boyfriend, Patrick, hosts an open mic night to attract customers to their general store. Good old-fashioned movie magic romance ensues (the opposite vibes of this). May your Valentine’s Day be more Patrick than Ken.
🗞️ "You Can Blame Geoffrey Chaucer for Valentine’s Day” by Emily Temple. A brief, literary history of Valentine’s Day. Also, proof that even as early as 1858, people were tired of mass-produced Valentine’s.
🍽️ Main Course [ 1 Hour+ ]
If you’re in the mood to swoon…
🎬 The Taste of Things. Don’t have Valentine’s Day plans yet? This is it - these are your plans. This gorgeous film is about the relationship between a talented cook (Juliette Binoche) and a gourmand (Benoît Magimel). A film about food, love, companionship, and the best of life made all the better because of its impermanence. Just don’t go hungry - your popcorn will disappoint you.
🎬 An Affair to Remember. A man (Cary Grant) and a woman (Deborah Kerr) have a whirlwind romantic affair on a cruise from Europe to New York and promise to reunite on the top of the Empire State Building in six months. Achingly romantic and the inspiration for countless movies (hello, Sleepless in Seattle, and Before Sunrise).
🎬 Before Sunrise. In this first installment of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, an American student (Ethan Hawke) and a French student (Julie Delpy) meet on a train in Vienna, fall in love over the course of a night, and agree to meet again in six months (sound familiar?). In typical Linklater fashion, each film in the trilogy is set and filmed in nine-year intervals. Swoon-worthy.
🎬 Notting Hill. A famous American actress (Julia Roberts) falls in love with an English bookshop owner (Hugh Grant). If this movie is on, I’m watching it, and I know the soundtrack so deeply in my bones that I can hear the music even before it begins. Many an Englishman has this movie to thank for the American interest in the British accent/charm. I’m just a girl, writing a newsletter asking you to watch this movie.
🎬 About Time. At 21, Tim (Domhall Gleeson) learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that he’s inherited their family’s ability to travel through time and change his life’s course, but not without consequences. I don’t know how this movie isn’t more popular, and I think the Metacritic rating is criminally low—all the feels.
🎬 The American President. Have you ever thought to yourself, “wow, I’d really like to watch a romantic movie tonight, but I wish it had the political optimism and signature walk and talk of an Aaron Sorkin film?” Well, you’re in luck. In this pre-West Wing Sorkin outing, a widowed American President falls in love with a lobbyist (Annette Bening), but their relationship threatens his popularity and re-election. Pretty confident this premise would not sell today - but it works with the backdrop of a different political era.
If friends are the real loves of your life…
🎬 Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Given last week’s announcement that this cult favorite is getting a sequel, it feels appropriate to include it on the list. Two best friends (Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow) attend their high-school reunion and embellish the truth about how their lives have turned out, creating a lie that spirals out of control. Clearly, this was pre-Instagram and Wikipedia.
🎬 My Best Friend’s Wedding. This premise is unhinged, but that makes it great. As does Julia Roberts’ effortlessly perfect curls and 90’s wardrobe (the living, breathing personification of the cool girl archetype). Jules (Julia Roberts) and her best friend (Dermot Mulroney, NOT Dylan McDermott) make a deal to marry each other if they’re not married by the time they’re 28 (yes - 28, LOL). But when she finds out her best friend is engaged (to a very young Cameron Diaz!), she realizes she loves him and then does everything she can to sabotage the wedding - unhinged, I told you. It also includes this scene, a perfect example of something I can’t get enough of in a movie but would be genuinely horrified by IRL.
🎬 The First Wives Club. Three former college friends (Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton) reunite and make a pact to get back at their ex-husbands who, after years of receiving their wives’ dutiful support, left them for younger women. A prime example of why Rotten Tomatoes is just wrong. Grab your friends, and bump “You Don’t Own Me.”
🎬 Bottoms. Two high school students and self-described “ugly, untalented gays” (Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri) start a fight club to woo the cheerleaders and lose their virginities. A hilarious take on the buddy comedy.
If you just need a laugh…
🎬 Palm Springs. In this Groundhog Day-esque comedy, two wedding guests (Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti) are stuck reliving the same day repeatedly. Once they realize they’re stuck in a continuous loop, they live out all the “ruin a wedding” scenarios as they try to free themselves from the cycle. A surprisingly fun and insightful ride.
🎬 Roxanne. In this revamp of Cyrano de Bergerac, Steve Martin plays a fire chief with an abnormally long nose who finds the girl of his dreams (Daryl Hannah) but is too insecure about his appearance to pursue her, so he instead helps a smitten handsome colleague woo her with his words. One for the ages, it also includes an aspirational verbal takedown of an unimaginative bully.
🎬 The Big Sick. Based on the true story of Kumail Nanjiani’s courtship with his wife, The Big Sick is a love story between a Pakistani-born comedian and an American grad student who must reckon with cultural clashes and complex family dynamics when one of them unexpectedly contracts a mysterious illness early in their relationship. The premise might not sound funny, but it’s genuinely hilarious, heartwarming, and an all-around great watch.
If you’re looking for something a little less straightforward…
🎬 The Way We Were. Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford play politically opposed paramours who fall in love despite their differences but struggle to make it work. For the Sex and the City fans out there, this scene is a reference to the film. Worth the watch for Robert Redford’s wardrobe alone.
🎬 Phantom Thread. A talented but controlling British dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis) falls in love with a strong-willed woman who becomes his muse and lover. Beautifully shot and acted with Freudian dysfunction of all varieties on full display. Many layers to peel back with this one.
🎬 Gone Girl. Adapted from the book of the same name, Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike play a seemingly perfect couple whose world is rocked after she mysteriously disappears. What follows is a twisty David Finch thriller that challenges the notion of being a “good wife” and “cool girl.” You’ve probably seen it, but what better day to revisit it than Valentine’s? Maybe even a good pairing with My Best Friend’s Wedding. Let the" “cool girl” trope discussion continue.
🎬 Past Lives. Childhood friends Nora (the Oscar nomination-deserving Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) reconnect 20 years after Nora’s family emigrates to America from South Korea. A sliding doors concept that will leave you breathless, and one of the most honest conversations between a married couple I’ve seen on screen - this is your sign to watch it if you haven’t already.
📺 Fleishman is in Trouble. 1.5 years later, I still can’t stop talking about this limited series. Fleishman is a perspective-bending story about the dissolution of the central couple’s marriage (Jesse Eisenberg and Claire Danes) and the ensuing events. Adapted from Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s book of the same name, Brodesser’s work as a celebrity profiler led her to realize that she only ever heard one side of a divorce, but she always wondered what the other person would say if given the opportunity. It’s the first thing she’s written for screen, and it’s a triumph. Listen to/read this interview with Brodesser-Akner on the Scriptnotes podcast as a follow-up.
📚 The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. A recent favorite, this novel is about a love triangle between three college friends. It’s also a deconstruction of the marriage clichés we’re used to seeing in literary fiction, as well as a meditation on the foundational choices of the early post-college years. For the book nerds among us - it’s a fun one just for all the literary references.
🧁 Dessert [ -1 hour ]
🎧 The Nora Ephron Episode of Sentimental Garbage. If you love Nora Ephron, this is a must-listen - it will bring joy and feel like a chat amongst best friends. It also sheds light on a complex figure and contextualizes some of her most well-known work.
🎧 Alain de Botton on the On Being Podcast. British author and philosopher Alain De Botton (writer of the viral “Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person” and The Course of Love) sits down with Krista Tippett and gives his usual pessimistic but highly pragmatic view of love—a must-listen for anyone trying to coexist with another human.
And there you have it - bon appétit! I’ll leave you with Heath Ledger performing a grand, romantic gesture. A perfect example of something that could easily be Dahmer if it weren’t so Dobler. Unless it’s Dahmer for you - let me know.
What will you be watching this Valentine’s Day? Let’s get some more recs going in the comments!
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OMG, the ex's name on a doggy bag is AMAZING! I feel like EVERY animal shelter should do this - they'd make so much money! This def gave me my laugh of the day! 😂