It’s officially fall which means it
is time for another post about the best fall movies. Last year we covered all the best football movies so this year I thought I would write about all the best fall romantic
comedies. At this point I have actually
only thought of one but it is a classic—You’ve
Got Mail. Since Jules and I don’t
have any high school football games to attend on Friday nights we are having
fall movie nights instead and this week it was You’ve Got Mail which is a fav.
The movie
came out in 1998 and I remember it being very modern and cutting edge at the
time. I suppose that was about 15 years
ago and I was in the fourth grade. It
had technological phenomenon such as dial-up internet, chat rooms, and laptops
that were 3” inches thick. ( I think my
mom actually got this movie because she thought it was a romantic comedy he
might enjoy since it involved technology and computers). It stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks—that is
enough to make it a great movie. As
Jules put it during one scene in the movie—“Only Meg Ryan can make having a
cold look adorable.” As for Tom Hanks it
is my opinion that he is one of the great American actors especially
considering the wide range of parts he has played over the years. We can thank him for classic movie lines such
as “I’ve got a snake in my boot” (Toy
Story), “Wilson!!!”
(Castaway- who can spend an hour of
dialogue talking to a volleyball?), “There’s no crying in baseball” (A League of Their Own), “Houston, we have a
problem” (Apollo 13), and “Life is
like a box of chocolates” (Forrest Gump). Anyway, I digress. The premise of You’ve Got Mail is based off of The Shop Around the Corner- 1940s flick
starring Jimmie Stewart. (On some Friday
night movie night several years ago Jules and I watched this and decided it was
not one of the better movies Jimmie Stewart is in—the ending ruined it for us
so this is not a movie we are recommending.)
In You’ve Got Mail the two
main characters met over the internet and just exchange emails back and forth
but don’t actually know who the other one is.
They met in a chat room—do these even exist anymore? They send emails—really who does this now
with Facebook posts and tweeting on Twitter?
They both run bookstores. Meg
Ryan owns a small children’s bookstore while Tom Hanks runs Fox Books, the mega
bookstore that is going to take over everything. Since the movie was made the downfall of the
mega bookstore has taken place-- Borders no longer exists because of buying
books online and the fact that books don’t even come on paper any more but
electronically with a Kindle. I think
this movie also shaped my impressions on city life. When I first moved to Kansas City 2 years ago I was under the
impression that if you lived in a metro area you spent most of your time
hanging out at bookstores or drinking coffee.
I attribute these views to the fact that I had no idea what Starbucks
was (or cappuccino) until I saw this movie so it must be a city thing.
In the movie they talk about how much they
love New York in the fall and it reminds me of
how much I enjoy fall descending on Kansas
City this week.
If you can think of any other wonderful movies that need to make the
list—or so we even have a list since only one doesn’t qualify as a legit list—please
pass them along.
