During the summer, romantic movies—comedic or otherwise—have usually been just “he said, she said” counterprogramming to all the robots and superheroes blasting the box office. This season, what “he” said is getting more screen time. The focus in “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” is on Matthew McConaughey as a philandering photographer who is visited by the spirits of his past trysts—all the way back to his first love (played by Jennifer Garner). It was new ground for McConaughey, who democratically tussled with Kate Hudson on screen in “Fool’s Gold” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.“

CHARLOTTESVILLE College freshmen quickly learn that “hooking up” means engaging in a physical relationship with someone who you may or may not have known beforehand and with whom you have little or no expectation of a future re lationship. The last few years have been especially big years for hooking up, not because college students are hooking up more, but because academics, journalists, and doctors have begun writing about it.