FMG Newsletter: Recs for Weekend Watching + Reading

+ a deep dive on fave rom-coms

Happy fricking Friday! Congratulations on making it through another February week — our last full one!!! This time next week, it’ll be March — and though that means very little weather-wise in Chicago, it’s a signal of hope and a sign of the light and warmth to come :)

Thoughts from the week:

• Movies: Romantic comedies are a touchy subject. Everyone has their personal favorite (mine is When Harry Met Sally, but I’ve seen and enjoyed the incredibly-not-well-received-by-others Killers at least as many times) — and it’s tough to convince someone that their opinions are incorrect. As a rule, I tend to believe that no one’s opinions on art are incorrect — but when it comes to romantic comedies, I might have to amend that rule. Over the holidays, my mom and I went to see Anyone But You with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, and since then (including very recently) I’ve seen many, many people say that it’s “the best rom-com since How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” This makes me irrationally angry because 1. I found Anyone But You to be genuinely boring (my mom did indeed fall asleep during it, right there in her little reclining AMC seat), and also because 2. The following movies both exist AND came out in the time since How to Lose a Guy:

  • The Back-Up Plan (JLo decides to have a baby alone through artificial insemination but meets the love of her life while she’s pregnant)

  • Life As We Know It (Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel hate each other but co-parent their deceased best friends’ one-year-old daughter)

  • No Strings Attached (two college friends decide to hook up without commitment)

  • Friends With Benefits (two post-college friends decide to hook up without commitment)

  • Set It Up (two workaholic assistants set up their bosses so said bosses will take it easier on them)

  • The Proposal (Sandra Bullock makes her assistant Ryan Reynolds pretend to be her fiancé while they visit his family in Alaska)

  • Crazy Rich Asians (Constance Wu travels to Singapore to meet Henry Golding’s incredibly rich family; important side note: I met Henry Golding at a press screening of this film and he said “I live in Singapore” and literally 30 seconds later I said “And where do you live” so that’s something I will genuinely never recover from)

  • Red, White & Royal Blue (the US president’s son and the prince of England hate each other but become fake friends then real friends then much much more; this is based on a book and is a rare instance in which I liked the movie better than the book)

  • Crazy, Stupid, Love (Ryan Gosling looks incredibly hot and talks in a Boston-ish accent and several other famous people are also there)

  • Forgetting Sarah Marshall (my beloved Jason Segel mourns his relationship with Kristen Bell while befriending/eventually falling in love with Mila Kunis)

  • Just Go With It (Jennifer Aniston pretends to be Adam Sandler’s ex-wife to make Brooklyn Decker jealous)

  • Killers (Katherine Heigl falls in love with Ashton Kutcher then finds out, three years into their marriage, that he’s a trained assassin; I don't know what it is about this movie but it is literally my comfort movie and makes me feel so relaxed whenever I turn it on, which is often)

  • 27 Dresses (Katherine Heigl — yes, her again! — is a constant bridesmaid-never-bride and then meets wedding-announcement-writer James Marsden and chaos ensues)

  • Fool’s Gold (Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are ex-spouses searching for treasure; it’s all very hot and very fun)

  • She’s the Man (“Girls with asses like mine do not talk to boys with faces like yours”)

  • Players (The most recent rom-com I’ve watched, which just came out on Netflix this month, and which is so cute and funny and features dialogue that feels like how actual people talk to their friends — I cannot recommend it more and it’s exactly what I was hoping Anyone But You would be)

    • NOTE: It is very important to me to note that the opinions of many of the stars of these films do not represent the opinions of me. When it comes to the art vs. artist conversation, I am constantly learning.

  • Books: I finished The Women! It’s tough but beautiful when you love ALL of someone’s work and therefore can’t really rank it. As I said last week, The Nightingale is technically my favorite book by Kristin Hannah, but The Four Winds holds a very, very special place in my heart — and while The Women doesn’t top either of those for me, it was genuinely one of the best books I’ve ever read. My friend Maddie (who also finished the book and did think it was KH’s best) said this week that Kristin Hannah’s historical fiction novels are “like American Girl Doll books for grown-ups” — aka they’re so character-driven and moving that you feel incredibly connected to the women at the center of each story while you’re also learning about history. If you haven’t read a Kristin Hannah book yet, I think you should start with The Four Winds — but you honestly can’t go wrong.

    • In other book news, my cousin/soulmate Lauren FINALLY started reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow on my recommendation (I’ve been trying to get her to read it for months, and she finally succumbed to my wishes). It’s the most unique book I’ve read in years (maybe ever?) — and if you haven’t taken a chance on it yet, I genuinely can’t recommend it enough. Pro tip: Don’t read what it’s about before you start — just dive in and trust me!

• Dating: As always, I am genuinely trying my best to attempt dating while also remaining authentic to myself, which resulted in the below (unanswered) Hinge message this week. Was it too intense? Yes. Was it true? Also yes. And do I regret it!? Of course not!

Have a great weekend! Do all the things I’m afraid to do then tell me all about them.

XO, Gail

And as a reminder:

It’s an election year, and it is my duty to remind you that while newsletters like this are crucial for maintaining sanity and levity, I am not a news source and am in no way a replacement for staying informed. For every newsletter you read that makes you smile, I hope you also read an informed take on politics, world events, and social issues (then fact check it!) — and for every heavy piece of news you take in, I hope you also consume and/or create a piece of art that promotes light, laughter, and joy.

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