A fun post, for a change

One of my weekly internet routines is to visit Jezebel.com on Wednesday to read the comments for their weekly tabloid threads (Jezebel has an amazingly witty bunch of regulars there). Lately, I've avoided going there on Wednesdays because the tabloids have been so demoralizing that I take my frustration and irritation to work with me the following day. So I'm trying out Saturday. But before I could find the tabloid thread, I came across a thread about Entertainment Weekly's list of the 25 best romantic movies of the last 25 years - actually, it was a thread designed to piss off The Notebook fans even further (apparently, it didn't make the cut).

I love lists like this although I am rarely happy with their compilations. I was happy to see that Moonstruck, Jerry Maguire, Edward Scissorhands, and Amelie on the list, but some of the others... There's Something About Mary? Ghost? Pretty Woman? Make no mistake, I loved There's Something About Mary and I liked how Ted was revealed to be the right man for Mary, but the movie wasn't romantic to me, save for that reveal. It was funny as fcuk, which is more than any of today's recent romantic comedies can say, but come on. And Ghost and Pretty Woman... these two movies are the reasons why I won't see The Notebook. In recent years, I found that movies that my fellow females love are the ones that I can't stand. I blame shows like Friends and Ally McBeal for desensitizing them and thoroughly trying my patience to such an extent that I can't trust female-driven television shows or films. For me, romance is not about some guy engaging in blood-letting/self-mutilation in order to prove his worthiness to a self-absorbed, cowardly, fuss pot of a woman. Romance is about being in the moment and recognizing that seemingly small gestures could mean everything to the one loving or being loved.

So I decided to have a little fun and post my list of the 5 most romantic movies of the last 25 years. And I have to say, it was remarkably easy, plus clips of these films were readily available on YouTube.

In no particular order:



Love and Basketball (2000)
Written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

This has to be my favorite because it caught me completely off-guard. I was attending a film festival at my alma mater and strangers kept coming up to me saying that Love and Basketball was a must-see. Even the festival director told me that I had to see this. One of the rare times that I listened to female strangers singing the praises of a movie and damn if they weren't right. I don't care for sports; I don't care for sports movies, but Love and Basketball knocked it out of the park. Monica and Q, both passionate basketball players, have to navigate through their professional ambitions and their personal hangups in order to get what they really want out of life. Rarely are two lead characters equals, and in my opinion, current HW fare could serve themselves well if they used this film as a romantic template.




Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Written by Christopher Hampton; directed by Stephen Frears

For me, this movie will always serve as a cautionary tale about writing off a movie too soon. I saw this in the movie theater at age 14; I was mortified by John Malkovich's behavior. Actually, it was more like thoroughly grossed out. What a difference three years made. When we graduated from high school, my sister and I pooled our gift money together and bought a VCR together and we decided to rent Dangerous Liaisons and damn, it was good!!! Being a little more fully cooked can do wonders to any moviegoer. And 20 years after it's initial release, it's still one of the sexiest, romantic movies I've ever seen. I rented it again, just after enjoying Malkovich in last year's Burn After Reading. Malkovich has a knack for playing pricky characters, but unlike Osborne Cox, his Valmont was a petulant, spoiled, unrepentant cocksman, game for deflowering convent virgins and well-bred proper women. A TOTAL PANCAKE FRYER!!!

When Valmont decided to seduce the pious Madame Tourvel, played beautifully by Michelle Pfeiffer, it was one of the most delicious battle of wills ever. However, the scene when Valmont thought he was moving in for the kill, Madame Tourvel, unbeknownst to her, doomed him. He saw her vulnerability and internal conflict, but for the first time, he felt the gravity of being responsible for someone else's well-being. So he unhooked her confining clothes (which was pretty damn sexy), summoned a maid, and left Madame Tourvel's quarters. And like any sensible woman, Madame Tourvel ran like hell. Sadly, her escape didn't last long and both were felled by Valmont's vanity and colossal ego.



Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard; directed by John Madden

What can I say? Some of the most playfully romantic scenes in film. Reminded me of Santa Barbara's golden years.



Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Written by Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus and Kuo Jung Tsai; directed by Ang Lee

Sure, this film boast some of the best fight sequences ever, and yes, the struggle between young lovers, Jen and Lo, were compelling but Michelle Yeoh's Yu Shu-lien and Chow Yun Fat's Li Mu-bai stole the movie. Honor served them well while fulfilling their warrior duties, but they both ended up devastated when their mutual love for each other was confessed far too late. Lesson? There must be a balance between impetuous, unapologetic passion and duty and responsibility.



Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore

Although there is an unrequited storyline between Toto and Elena, the real love story was between Toto and Alfredo. A fatherless child, Toto found a loving substitute in Alfredo, the projectionist at a local movie theater. A love of film and an uncompromising loyalty bonded these two unlikely friends and the finale is a major tearjerker. However, if you must see Cinema Paradiso, avoid the director's cut; the additional material involving Elena doesn't add anything to the overall story. In fact, it felt all kinds of wrong.