Find yourself getting carpal tunnel from swiping for your soulmate in the depths of dating apps only to encounter fish pics, enough ghosts to fill a haunted house and googling more acronyms than you’d like to admit. Does it make you long for the days of calling your crush from the landline, spending hours making them a personal mixtape and using your minimally allotted texts to send song lyrics on your flip phone? Relive the “good ‘ol days” this weekend streaming these three classic pre-swipe, pre-social media 2000s rom-coms all available on DIRECTV.
‘WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON’
For any teenager who kissed the poster of their movie star crush goodnight, this is for you. Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel) is a glamorous A-lister with a tarnished image who agrees to a public-facing date with a superfan and competition winner Rosalee Futch (Kate Bosworth). Taken off guard by her beauty and small-town charm, Tad decides to genuinely pursue her. Full of feel-good romance, hilarious comedy and the classic love triangle between the hot guy and the nerdy best friend, this movie is a heartwarming step back in time, albeit showcasing a love story just as unrealistic as finding your soulmate on the apps.
‘KNOCKED UP’
Knocked Up is a side-splitting rom-com from Judd Apatow about a one-night stand turned 18-year commitment when aspiring TV host Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) accidentally gets pregnant by stoner dropkick Ben Stone (Seth Rogan). The two couldn’t be more different, and this becomes more apparent when faced with the looming responsibility of parenthood, they decide to get together. With an ensemble of quirky friends and family, the movie tackles the comedic and heartfelt moments of navigating life’s unexpected obstacles and taking responsibility for your actions. This one is for the mom-bloggers, “mom-fluencers” and anyone who needs an ab workout.
‘500 DAYS OF SUMMER’
This is not a love story… This is an offbeat romantic dramedy about Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel), whose different views on love and life ultimately tear them apart. Tom is sent reeling when Summer breaks up with him and he must shift through the memories of their relationship to understand what went wrong. With artful elegance and a non-linear timeline, we are taken on their journey, exploring the nuances and misinterpretations of modern dating, which despite being over a decade ago, is still heart-wrenchingly relevant to today’s dating world. This is the perfect indie film for nostalgic millennials who want to ruminate on today’s dating scene and how it has evolved (or not) since the early 2000s.
BLANKETY BLANK WITH TRISTA SUTTER + KARI BYRON
Another iconic love story from the 2000s is one that created a cultural phenomenon and changed the game of reality TV… Yes, we’re talking about the first Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, who is still in a loving relationship with her ring-winner, Ryan. Trista came by the DIRECTV Studio to hang out with fellow 2000s reality star Kari Byron, host of Mythbusters, and play “Blankety Blank.” You’ll be transported back to family road trips, sitting in the backseat with your siblings finding ways to keep yourself entertained analog style. Check it out here.
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