Free Republic

I recently got out of a relationship. That’s never an easy thing. In addition, Hallmark decided to make a feel-good holiday movie about it. Some of you may have seen it — “The Christmas Farmer,” it was called, referring to the guy my ex, Debbie, is apparently engaged to now. It is what it is, but I don’t feel like I was fairly represented in the movie. I get it: I’m a New York City corporate attorney courting the small-town girl, but I thought she wanted to be a part of this world. The first time I met Debbie at...

Sentimental films make you more liberal, research suggests. Political scientists found that Hollywood movies are better able to change attitudes – in a left-wing direction – than advertising or news reports. Todd Adkins, of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said audiences seemed to turn off their critical faculties when they reach the cinema.

There’s no denying it: ladies love the chick flicks. For men, they’re instruments of torture they must endure with their woman so they can be rewarded at the end of the night. Women, however, eat them up — especially the under-30 crowd. They’ll drag their boyfriends to them, bond with a group of girlfriends while watching them, or sit at home alone crying to them. Nevermind that they’re vapid, formulaic crap that Hollywood can churn out faster than Sandra Fluke can go through condoms. They’re still successful. Too bad they also send some of the worst messages to women in...

Nora Ephron, the writer and director of American film classics such as "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle," died today at the age of 71.

What is your favorite romance movie? This might seem a bit odd coming from me, but there it is. 2nd question--how do I change my tagline??

Sex and the ciggie If your teens watch "Sex and the City," the sex isn't the only thing you have to worry about. Virtually every teen girl interviewed as part of a new Health Department report on smoking said the show influenced their deadly habit. "Whenever I think of how to smoke, it's the way Sarah Jessica Parker exhales, and I'm like obsessed," one 10th-grader said. "I love her, and the way she exhales is very memorable. She kind of ... elongates her neck and exhales into the air." About 11% of teenagers smoke, according to the Health Department. The...