Today’s rom-coms are much different compared to classic ones from decades ago. They involve dating sites, profile photos, and unique stories that were never previously explored in the pre-digital age. Such is the case with two of the three rom-coms on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in March. The third is an early 2000s Jon Favreau film that, despite being panned by critics, was a box office success, largely thanks to its A-list ensemble cast.
What makes a good rom-com? It’s all about what you’re in the mood to watch. Sometimes, the cheesiest, most predictable rom-coms are what you really crave. These movies won’t be bringing home awards beyond a “best kiss” or something else superficial. But when the mood strikes, they hit just right.
Upgraded stars Riverdale’s Camilla Mendes as Ana, a professionally ambitious young woman whose circumstance leads to playing pretend. Ana impresses her boss and gets the chance to go to London to mirror the assistant. A planned sabotage against her backfires, however, when a kind airport worker decides to teach a lesson by offering Ana a flight upgrade. This, in turn, leads to a meet-cute with a handsome young man. As it turns out, William (Shadow and Bone‘s Archie Renaux) comes from a wealthy celebrity family. Ana does what any quick-thinking young career-driven woman might do in such a situation: pretend that she’s the art director, not the lowly intern/acting third assistant.
Marisa Tomei is a standout as Ana’s boss Claire, a version of The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestley for the art world. Upgraded was released last month but it has been receiving positive reviews. While there’s nothing ground-breaking about the movie, it’s a predictably decent film that checks all the required rom-com boxes.
Stream Upgraded on Amazon Prime Video.
Written by Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Dana Fox, Couples Retreat is a hilarious rom-com about a couple who try to convince their friends to come with them to a couples therapy resort, just so they can get the four-couple discount. They need to work on their marriage, but even if the others don’t, they promise the “therapy” part of the retreat is optional. The other couples reluctantly agree to join, and plenty of hijinks ensue. Mostly, it’s because it becomes clear that the therapy isn’t optional at all, and ends up revealing a lot about the couples.
Starring Favreau and Vaughn along with Jason Bateman (Air), Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Ken Jeong, John Michael Higgins, and Malin Akerman, Couples Retreat was widely panned by critics, but it was a massive box office success. The movie is what you’d expect from a Vaughn rom-com: there are no surprises. But it’s a perfect date night movie.
Stream Couples Retreat on Prime Video.
There’s a clear discrepancy between what critics think about Puppy Love and what audiences think, if numbers on review aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes are any indication. Fans have spoken loud and clear that combining a love story with dogs is rom-com gold. Grant Gustin’s Max takes his therapist’s advice and gets a dog to help him deal with his social anxiety and OCD. Nicole (Lucy Hale), meanwhile, is a commitment-phobe who, by happenstance, comes across a homeless dog and takes him in as her own. Dog owners tend to attract dog owners, and the story begins there, fueled by online dating profiles with their precious pups.
As a modern-day rom-com, it’s no surprise the story in Puppy Love involves swiping right and a blind date gone horribly wrong. But as the traditional rom-com formula would suggest, the pair find their ways back to one another again, though the reason might totally surprise you. An Amazon Freevee original, you can also watch Puppy Love via Amazon Prime with or without ads.
Stream Puppy Love on Prime Video.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.