Image Credit: Fred Hayes
I know, I know, calling someone or something “hipster” is as vague as the elusive “manic pixie dream girl” herself. No one who is a hipster would ever actually admit to being a hipster (though, for the record, all of these folks qualify), and most hipster things have gone so mainstream (Arcade Fire, for one) they have all but lost their hipster cred.
But the big question here today, PopWatchers: Does a movie like the brilliant Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with its hipster elements, fall under the same hipster movie umbrella (organically made, of course) as bona fide hipster flicks like Garden State?
I ask this because Like Crazy, the heart breaker of an indie that won over audiences at Sundance earlier this year, gets released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. Fight me all you like on this one, but there’s no question this is a hipster flick. The beautiful trailer features Ingrid Michaelson covering “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and, c’mon, look at the beautiful Felicity Jones‘ hair and wardrobe! If these two had a meet cute at an Urban Outfitters over a shared appreciation for kelp, I would not be at all surprised.
That said, of course I am seeing this movie, PopWatchers. How fanboys react to the latest superhero movie is how I feel about movies in which attractive people (but not in that overbearing big budget rom-com way) find themselves in some tricky and complicated relationships set to deliriously good music. I love these kind of movies, well, Like Crazy.
So how will Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin’s heavily-improvised realistic romance fare in the pantheon of on-screen hipster love? My personal vote for best hipster romance goes to the aforementioned Eternal Sunshine, which just so happens to be my all-time favorite movie. Never mind Clementine’s potato collection or Stan’s thick-rimmed glasses, it wasn’t simply the aesthetics that made this film stand out, it’s the devastating and relatable love story at its core.
Of course, there’s some serious competition with equally wonderful, hipster-friendly romances like (500) Days of Summer, Once, Blue Valentine, and Lost in Translation. Heck, one could even argue for Annie Hall. (After all, no one set the standard for hipster fashions quite like Diane Keaton’s iconic character.)
But, which hipster love story made you fall so hard you spent a week with your Cure records for a week after watching? Was it budding Brooklyn romance in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist? Or did you like how Garden State took Zach Braff and Natalie Portman and mixed them together in a bag of crazy for their uber-hipster flick? How about the crossing-all-boundaries love of Lars and the Real Girl? Give us your pick in the comments section below! It’ll change your life.
Read more:
‘Like Crazy’ preview
‘Like Crazy’ breaks hearts (and breaks big) at Sundance
‘Like Crazy’ stars talk voyeuristic long-distance romance
away we go!
Yes!
I totally forgot about “Away We Go!” Such a sweet love story!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Lost in Translation
My fave hipster romances are “Maid in Manhattan” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.”
Uhhh- I think you are confused as to what makes a “hipster romance.”
Anything with Kate Hudson and Jennifer Lopez need not apply.
Uhhmmm I don’t believe those qualify, they are more anti-hipster
Yeah, um, no; definitely NOT hipster romances.
except of course Almost Famous, in which Kate Hudson played probably the greatest Manic Pixie Dream Girl of all time!
No way, man. Penny Lane is a groupie with heart. She is no Zooey-Deschanel-wanna-be-Smiths-loving-big-banged hipster. She can definitely not be defined as a MPDG. Almost Famous is better than that.
she was obviously kidding
A lot of people don’t know that the gorgeous and talented Felicity Jones is a cougar in Like Crazy. Anton Yelchin is 22 and she is 27.
Not sure that qualifies as her being a “couger”
anyone who thinks a 27 year old is a “cougar” is under 16 and doesn’t know the meaning of the term. i know when you are 13 a five year age difference is huge but over the age of 21, not so much. and the older you get, the bigger the “acceptable” gap is. a ‘cougar’ (though i loathe the term) relates more to an older woman (think middle aged here) with a boy toy. Classic example is Madonna and her flavor of the week. It’s the equivalent of the middle aged man with a litte young sexy tartlet (think George Clooney). Only notice that there is no derogatory term for when a man does it. Why? Because the term “cougar” is a classic example of the innate misogyny of our society. It’s derisive when a woman does it (according to men, especially), but if one of their guy friends does it, it is deserving of a high five.
‘Like Crazy’ should be getting a nationwide theatrical release. If it was given a fair chance, it could have been No. 1 this weekend. It has a stellar cast and deserves better than to be ignored by the public when it comes out.
Nick & Norah was barely in Brooklyn
I can’t wait to see it this weekend. It looks so good and I just love Anton Yelchin. I loved “Garden State” and “Imagine Me and You”. Great flicks.
One of the he best modern romances put on film in the last 20 years is Before Sunrise. Ethan Hawke at his bookish (i.e. hot) best and Julie Delpy as every young intellectual’s dreamgirl. I relate with every single word and shared glance. It made you long for the days when your life and love was romanticized to the point where you yhought you could coast on those thoughts forever. Yea, hopeless romatic much?
I think Before Sunrise has to be the winner here.
Ahhhh… I can’t believe I forgot you, “Before Sunrise”!
Thanks, Paola!
Defnitely one of the best romance movies – makes you want to be young again.
Before Sunrise is the one to beat. One of my all time favorites with Eternal Sunshine
FYI, this movie is not that good.
Eternal Sunshine is my ultimate, but I don’t want to attach the hipster label to it for fear of eventually hating it. Let’s just say it’s beautiful, creative, and awesome.
Garden State is a case study on trying to make a movie “hipster.” Too obvious.
Sorry – what does “allusive” mean? Do you mean “ELUSIVE”?
Try the internet; it can tell you lots of new things.
ALLUSIVE: adjective
1. having reference to something implied or inferred; containing, abounding in, or characterized by allusions.
2. Obsolete. metaphorical; symbolic; figurative.
MPDG is not an allusion (or metaphor, symbol, or figure) – it’s quite a literal description, actually. While allusive may be a real word, it’s not the appropriate word here.
I’m only 37 but what the heck is “hipster romance”? I’ve never heard that phrase. My God I feel like an old man.
It means a pretentious piece of crap usually set in New York.
Garden State may be my favorite movie of all time, but Eternal Sunshine follows close behind. And those are followed very closely with Chasing Amy, but I don’t think that’d be considered a hipster romance.
Eternal Sunshine is probably my favorite romantic film ever, so that’s definitely my favorite “hipster romance”. I also loved Lost in Translation. I was really, really disappointed by (500) Days of Summer, though.
really? what was disappointing about it?
Reality Bites is my favourite and first hipster romance that replayed over and over on my VCR.
Garden State is a VERY close second (which was on DVD at that point)