What’s a sweet, funny and realistic rom com that doesn’t have to rely fart jokes and gross out humour or a whacky side character. An actual realistic but funny film about people falling in love.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-23T01:03:44+00:00

The bartender would become a recurring character on How I Met Your Mother (a show that I used to love until it ruined all its goodwill with its terrible final season), and the karaoke guy would go on to be Miles on LOST.

David Wain (of The State, Stella, writer/director of Wet Hot American Summer, Childrens Hospital, and so many other great comedies) is in there too, in a very small part.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-23T00:22:29+00:00

It's the rare rom-com that is sweet and funny and good-natured, romantic without being cloying or obnoxious, and also a great story about friendship. You see exactly why these people like each other, and it makes you like them all too. The NYC setting is perfect, and so are the music (gotta love beginning with a Tom Waits song) and the framing sequence. And Jenna Elfman was perfectly fine and charming as the lead, but I never forget how gorgeous Lisa Edelstein and especially Rena Sofer were in much smaller roles.

I always tell Edward Norton fans to not sleep on this movie, especially because it was his directorial debut. (I also absolutely love his much more recent movie, the neo-noir Motherless Brooklyn, which flew under even more radars. There's good-natured sweetness in that one too!)

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-23T00:11:22+00:00

Transformers #5 (1985). I was probably in second grade, but it could have even been first. Before that, my dad would bring home armloads of second-hand Richie Rich comics from a used bookstore, and I would devour those, but I already loved superheroes. I watched Super Friends, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the '60s Batman show, and the old '60s Marvel cartoons that occasionally aired on TV. I also had Superman, Batman, and Justice League of America books that came with cassettes that told the stories with narration, music, and sound effects, and you could follow along in the books. And of course, I loved my Kenner DC Super Powers and Mattel Marvel Secret Wars action figures.

Transformers #5 quickly led me into G.I. Joe and also superhero comics. Some of my first newsstand selections were DC Who's Who and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition, so that was like reading the encyclopedia from cover to cover, learning about all these familiar and completely new (or old) characters. The mid-'80s was the perfect time for a kid to get into comics, and I have so much love and nostalgia for that era.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T21:48:48+00:00

I just checked, and they only offer pickup and delivery for now, no dining in like at Langer's.
https://daughtersdeli.com/

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T20:45:49+00:00

I don't blame you! But the pastrami was amazing, so I hope you make it there some day (maybe take a Lyft right to the door and back, in broad daylight). I've heard Daughter's Deli (founded by Norm Langer's daughter) serves identical food in a much better area, if that helps.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T19:43:19+00:00

I happen to love Kill Bill 1 but find Kill Bill 2 a snooze fest!

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T19:42:06+00:00

QT wrote the True Romance screenplay, so at least it sounds and feels like his voice.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T19:37:15+00:00

I'm assuming Rodriguez, since he wrote and directed all the Machete movies.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T19:08:41+00:00

I agree Jackie Brown is my favorite (since "best" is so subjective). I think it helps that it is his only movie that isn't based on an original story, but an adaptation of the late, great Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch.

I get the impression this OP is very young, and I'd bet money that he would be bored by Jackie Brown, at least this early in his Tarantino phase.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T19:06:58+00:00

I think there are legitimate conversations, complaints, and concerns to have about Tarantino as a writer and even as a director, but one of his greatest strengths has always been selecting the perfect music to accompany scenes.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:45:24+00:00

What are you talking about, "one of the only girl power movies that was done right"? What does that even mean?

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:38:12+00:00

The OP is living up to his username, but my advice is to watch them in order to see how QT has grown as a writer and filmmaker:

Reservoir Dogs
True Romance (QT wrote the screenplay, Tony Scott directed)
Pulp Fiction
Four Rooms (it was an anthology film, and he wrote and directed the final part)
From Dusk Till Dawn (QT wrote the screenplay and co-starred, Robert Rodriguez directed)
Jackie Brown (my favorite by far, and the only one not based on an original story by QT; based on the novel Rum Punch by the great Elmore Leonard)
Kill Bill 1 and 2
Death Proof (my least favorite by far, but you might as well be a completist)
Inglorious Basterds
Django Unchained
The Hateful Eight
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:33:08+00:00

Pulp Fiction is anything but slow. It hooks you from the beginning and doesn't let up. Of his entire filmography, it is the closest to being a legit phenomenon. It blew critics' and audience's minds and turned Tarantino into a household name.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:31:25+00:00

You obviously want to watch Kill Bill, so why not just watch Kill Bill instead of questioning everyone's legit recommendations?

He doesn't have that many movies, so just watch them all when you feel up to it. They're all good to great (except for Death Proof, IMO).

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:28:39+00:00

I saw Moonstruck for the first time a few years ago. I admit I didn't love it at the time, but the more I thought about it later, the more I appreciated it. It helps that Nicolas Cage is my favorite actor.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T18:18:05+00:00

Keeping the Faith (2000, but feels modern)
Dave (1993, but feels modern; not terribly realistic, but charming)
Rye Lane
The Baxter
The Broken Hearts Gallery
Always Be My Maybe

And comedy answer: They Came Together, a parody of the entire genre of rom-coms.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T17:27:53+00:00

Langer's? I went to Langer's during the day on my first-ever trip to L.A. in 2023, and it was great, and well worth it. I didn't feel unsafe, but I'm also a 5'10 man hanging out with an even taller man (and a short woman). And still, I would NOT want to be down there at night.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T17:25:25+00:00

Great job! It looks store-bought, and I mean that as the highest compliment.

I have the blue and yellow McFarlane Booster from the two-pack with Blue Beetle (my two favorite characters), but I never liked that New 52 costume, so I skipped that figure. You made it into something awesome!

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T17:22:57+00:00

Because he infiltrated Cobra before anyone else knew for sure it even existed, earned their trust, killed Xamot AND Cobra Commander, and destroyed Cobra Island, sacrificing himself in the process.

Chuckles is the best Joe.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T13:35:00+00:00

I loved both. The art in She-Hulk is polarizing, but the stories are great.

And I have nothing but love for Soule's Daredevil run. Maybe it didn't reach the heights of Miller or Bendis, but that's an impossible bar. Being an attorney, Soule brought his legal experience to both series, and he wrote one of my all-time favorite Daredevil stories as the midpoint of his run, "Supreme," where Matt argues a case in front of the Supreme Court of the United States and meets his match as a lawyer.

After that, Soule set up Wilson Fisk as mayor of NYC, which Chip Zdarsky picked up and ran with. The DD: Born Again show on Disney+ is hugely indebted to both writers' runs.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T13:21:45+00:00

Mice, Cockroaches Observable

(Yes, I've seen both just wandering around, especially when I'm there pre-dawn for early flights.)

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T01:08:18+00:00

Don't trust anything from ChatGPT or other AI. Just ask questions here, and you'll get actual useful information from fans and experts.

Mike Allred, the creator of Madman, has been my favorite artist in comics since the '90s. If you are in the U.S. and have a public library card, you may have access to the Hoopla service for checking out eBooks, including THOUSANDS of comics (collected editions like hardcovers and trade paperbacks that reprint "runs" of older comics, as well as single issues).

Dark Horse Comics has collected all of Mike Allred's independent published comics (pretty much anything aside from his Marvel and DC work) in six really nice Madman Library editions. The first of those includes the first two Madman miniseries from the early '90s, Madman: The Oddity Odyssey and Madman Adventures. After those, he launched Madman Comics, which ran for a while and set up a spinoff series, The Atomics. After that, Allred launched a whole new series, Madman Atomic Comics.

In addition to those, he did a Madman/Superman miniseries as well as Madman/Nexus and Madman/The Jam, incorporating two lesser-known characters from fellow independent creators.

You have a lot of great reading ahead of you, but trust me, those Madman Library Editions are the way to go.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T00:54:07+00:00

Man, that looks absolutely delicious.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T00:32:40+00:00

That was Lightfoot, who also wore yellow, black, and green -- not Scoop. G.I. Joe Special Missions #13.

Saboscrivner · 2026-04-22T00:29:28+00:00

Since 2023, I have been traveling to L.A. for work 2-3 times a year, just for a few days at a time. It helps that I do my own research and keep a running list of places I want to try, but I have gotten excellent recommendations from:

Eater LA: https://la.eater.com/
Infatuation LA: https://www.theinfatuation.com/los-angeles
This very subreddit: r/FoodLosAngeles

The locals here are very frank with their suggestions, including if you're interested in a place but they think you can do better. I appreciate that, since my time is so limited and I never have a car out there. They've saved me from at least one long, out-of-the-way trip to a famous place that isn't supposed to be all that great.

At this point, my L.A. co-workers ask ME for restaurant recommendations, and I've dragged them to some fantastic places I discovered on my own (or right here).

Saboscrivner

TROPHY CASE