The New York Times’s film critic Alissa Wilkinson has a theory about movies: They’re all about relationships. No matter how big the action, the suspense and tension we experience when watching a film is often really about the feelings between the characters.
But romantic relationships often fall back on old tropes, like the long-suffering wife of an ex-cop ... Show More
Oct 21
On Our Third Date, I Asked for a Joint Bank Account (Encore)
Janene Lin loathed the moment when the dinner bill would hit the table. When her date would pay, she felt like her love was for sale. Splitting the bill felt like no one had anything at stake. Most of the time, she would pay the bill herself, but that left her feeling uncared-for ... Show More
46m 6s
Oct 14
Does My Son Like His Stepmother More Than Me?
One thing that comforted Denise Ryan after her divorce was that she and her ex-husband still talked every day. Even though they lived apart, they were still co-parenting their son, Alexander, and they were constantly jumping on the phone to tell each other what he was up to at th ... Show More
48m 18s
Oct 7
How Alan Cumming Escaped His Father and Became Himself
The actor Alan Cumming is not the man his father wanted him to be. Growing up, Cumming says, his father had specific ideas about how he should look and what he should do with his life, ideas he enforced with abusive violence. However, Cumming tried to stay true to himself: As a t ... Show More
46m 39s
Jul 2025
“Materialists,” “Too Much,” and the Modern Rom-Com
Audiences have been bemoaning the death of the romantic comedy for years, but the genre persists—albeit often in a different form from the screwballs of the nineteen-forties or the “chick flicks” of the eighties and nineties. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham ... Show More
54m 37s
Jul 2025
What the movies get right (and wrong) about relationships, with Paul Eastwick, PhD, and Eli Finkel, PhD
For many of us, movies offer our earliest lessons in love and help shape our expectations about what romance and relationships might look like. Relationship researchers Paul Eastwick, PhD, and Eli Finkel, PhD, are cohosts of the podcast “Love Factually,” where they use psychology ... Show More
38m 47s
Jun 2023
'Past Lives,' the Start of Oscar Season, and the Top Five Most Romantic Movies of All Time
Sean and Amanda dive deep into 'Past Lives,' one of the year's finest films and an extraordinary example of writing, directing, and acting in romantic storytelling (1:00). Then, they share their five favorite romantic films (58:00). Finally, Sean is joined by writer-director Celi ... Show More
2 h
Nov 2021
Upper-intermediate | Romantic Movies And Real Life
<p>We all love a romantic chick-flick every now and then, but for some women it becomes a problem: they expect every man to live up to their Ryan Gosling/ Zhou Yumin/Seth Rogen-sized expectations, and it sometimes grates on their partners. In today's upper-intermediate lesson, le ... Show More
20m 59s
Feb 2021
You Might Actually Be In Love With Your Best Friend
Desire, commitment, passion — these are all words that often make up a romantic relationship. But what if you feel a strong, deep love for your best friend? This week, Cut producer Allison Behringer on what happens when your soul mate moves away. Learn more about your ad choices. ... Show More
25m 50s