A Note About the Heartbreak Survival Guide... MOVIES

....or the books, movies, TV shows, and music to get you over a guy.

MOVIES:- NEW
The Romantics (2010)
* Apparently is is a book too, but I saw the movie before I knew it was a book.

Don't be fooled by the girly rom-com title. The Romantics is a dark look at a group of college friends (although seriously Josh Duhmal makes Adam Brody and Elijah Wood look like little boys as opposed to contemporaries) assembled for the wedding of their best pals Tom (Josh D) and Lila (Anna Paquin). The rub, of course, is that Lila's best friend and former roommate, Laura (Katie Holmes) used to date Tom, and is having an affair with him all the while. And Laura used to date Tom for years back in college, until one weekend the gang got together at Lila's family's house (where they've all reunited for the wedding), and Tom left dating Lila and dumping Laura.

Their supposedly happy friends (engaged and married couples) are secretly miserable and getting drunk or making outwith each other. Best part, a knock-down, drag-out fight (read girly hurtful word fight) between Lila and Laura moments before they are about to walk down the aisle. FURTHER SPOILER: Laura tells Lila she slept with the groom the night before the wedding. The reason you side with Laura (and you will) is that Lila is just too damn perfect. You can't totally hate her, but she irks you a bit. Laura gets Tom on a deeper level, and all the cold creamed faces and perfect sundresses and refusing to drink in public (Lila's perfect girl traits) just make you want to hate her. Plus, she's totally mean to her younger sister, who everyone calls "minnow."

SPOILER ALERT:
Rain ruins the perfect outdoor wedding. Everyone runs for shelter, leaving Tom and Laura standing out in the rain. Will their passion and unrelenting pain leave them together? Will Tom go back inside and marry Lila even though he knows he belongs with Laura? Who knows?

WHY YOU WILL LIKE THIS:
If you have ever drawn a spider web-type map of your friends and played "who made out with who," then this movie is for you. See Laura's maid of honor speech, where she explains, "Our friends got the name 'the romantics' because of our incestuous dating history."

MOVIES- OLD
When Harry Met Sally (1989)

It begs the age-old question, "Can men and women be friends?"
It's final scene seems to confirm the age-old question with Harry's first answer- "No. Because sex always gets in the way...and the friendship is ultimately doomed."

SPOILER ALERT: Yes Harry and Sally end up married, in the end, 12 years and 3 months after their meeting. But they go through some seriously rough times. In the end, they don't really remain friends. Why? Love gets in the way. They alienate everyone else around them, driving themselves deeply into a co-dependent relationship where they can't be happy with anyone else, and finally the sex gets in the way. Then it's awkward. They talk, they say it meant nothing, they stop talking, they suffer, they get stuck as the maid of honor and best man at mutual friends' wedding. They spend the holidays alone. He shows up at the new years party, just before midnight, and outlines all the things that he loves about her. They kiss.

TIDBIT:
In the featurette titled "men and women can't be friends" on the DVD, director Rob Reiner and several psychologists, actors from the movie , and the scriptwriter (Nora Ephron) have a discussion about their little thesis. Reiner puts it best, saying, "I could never have the close relationship I have with my wife with another woman." They said it depends on the situation and circumstances, which really seem to say, if you're not 100 percent sure you will marry this person, then no, in the long term, you cannot have a deep, rich,committed friendship with them.

WHY YOU WILL LIKE THIS
Cause we all have some secret fantasy that all the pain and tears were worth it. And that some guy will keep calling and leaving silly messages asking for the chance to grovel.

A Note About Dan and Nate: Frenemies?

Nate Archiband and Dan Humphrey dudes of GOSSIP GIRL are be definition, opposites.

Nate is the Upper-East Side preppy, Columbia 3rd generation legacy, lacrosse player, son of rich parents with political connections, and fully fine with mischief and manipulation.

Dan is from Brooklyn, he goes to NYU, the rock star dad, he's shy-ish, he's (generally with the exception of the last few weeks) not prey to the games of the Upper East Side, and he's brunette.

Then we have Serena, their love, their fair maiden. The free spirit, fashion maven, rich girl who just wants to be treated normal and stop appearing in page 6, even though she loves the attention.

Now that we know the players, we can discuss the twisted bromance/rivalry between Dan and Nate over the fair Serena.

While Blair and Serena's twisted love-hate-love friendship is a cornerstone of the show, showcasing the best and worst of friends who can get through anything, frenemies have come to the boys of GOSSIP GIRL girl as well. Nate and Dan didn't seem to get along. Then they gradually became friends (despite both dating Serena and both dating Vanessa (a whole other story)) and have a beautiful bromance going. But Serena's usual flip-flopped-ness has brought out a level of competition between these two relatively civil 20ish guys that makes Serena and Blair's fights look tame.

Is this what the modern day version of a duel has become? Both guys text their lady with the perfect date idea and decide who gets to be with her by her acceptance of the date? Not sure it works like that.