8 Great Movies For Valentine's Day
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 14, 2013 8:00PM
Nausea is not a feeling one should experience on Valentine's Day, yet that's exactly how we felt while reading the list of Best Valentine's Day movies in today's Chicago Tribune.
Now choosing Casablanca, When Harry Met Sally ..., and An Affair to Remember are a bit predictable, but they're all perfectly respectable fare for romantics at heart. However at the top of their list is Four Christmases (!), an inclusion which violates one of the immutable laws of cinema: no movie featuring Vince Vaughn can ever be considered romantic. Other missteps in their lineup include Twilight, Love Actually, Titanic, and (speaking of nausea) The Notebook. Really, Trib, that's the best you can offer? We can do better.
Amour
This amazingly intense end-of-life drama might be considered a slightly perverse choice for Valentine's Day. Yet it is one of the most heartrending depictions of love we've ever seen at the movies; at the film's conclusion our own significant other grabbed our hand and kept squeezing it even as the credits rolled. It's also playing at several area theaters.
Before Sunrise
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in the ultimate romance ... and while you're at it, do a double feature with its followup Before Sunset. The trilogy is completed with Before Midnight, which has been getting raves on the festival circuit and opens in wide release later this year. (Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are available for streaming on Amazon Instant and Vudu.)
Broken English
This Parker Posey movie didn't seem to get much attention when it first came out, but we think it's terrific. When we included it on the list of our favorite movies of 2008, we wrote: "A rare achievement: a movie that's completely romantic yet completely honest about love. It makes for some painful viewing. But true romance is painful, a fact which most mainstream movies on the subject fail to adequately capture." Don't worry: it does have a happy ending. (Broken English is available on Amazon Prime, Netflix Instant and Vudu.)
Casablanca
Okay, so the Trib certainly got it right by including this one. Never seen it with your sweetie? It's showing tonight at the Music Box, and the 7:30 screening includes a special “Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Sing Along.” (Casablanca is also available for streaming via Amazon Instant and Vudu.)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Logan Theater hosts a special screening of Michel Gondry's delicate romance tonight at 10:30. Charlie Kaufman's celebrated script is both funny and touching as it explores the importance of memory in a relationship. (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is also available for streaming on Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant and Vudu.)
North by Northwest
The famous scene where Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint kiss on the train is a kind of romantic zenith, but as Saint confided to us, filming it was very workmanlike: "Well, the thing I was most concerned about was that I wouldn't step on his feet and he wouldn't step on mine. It's not too romantic, but that's truth." (North by Northwest is available for streaming on Amazon Instant and Vudu.)
The Palm Beach Story
This completely wacked out Preston Sturges comedy both begins and ends with a double wedding. In between is some of the best wordplay and funniest plot complications you'll ever see, including the Weenie King, the Ale & Quail Club, and a nerdy millionaire (played by Rudy Vallee) who's been given the pet name Snoodles. (The Palm Beach Story is available for streaming on Amazon Instant and Vudu.)
Weekend
That moment when you’ve stayed up all night talking and then had sex, and it’s morning and you wake up and you haven’t had enough sleep but your brain is fully activated, and you’re having a half-awake conversation that feels inane and then, almost without realizing it, you both say something that’s incredibly important? This movie is about that moment. (Weekend is available for streaming on Netflix Instant and Vudu.)
Now it's your turn: what are your fave romantic movies?