Top 10 Films for Valentine’s Day! - Portrait Magazine, February 2010 Issue
Top 10 Films for Valentine’s Day!
By Angela Lee (22, Australia)
It’s Valentine’s Day this month - the one day of the year commercially designed to express your love to someone. Whether you enjoy the day because you have an awesome partner to share the occasion with, or despise it because you’re single and don’t need to watch the world around you get all mushy and lovey-dovey, it’s a pretty good excuse to curl up and watch chick flicks! So in honour of that, we’ve rounded up our top 10 picks of flicks for Valentine’s Day, regardless of whether you are single or taken!
#10. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Beyond the violence and the feuding families lies one of the greatest love stories of all time, the story of a couple whom most modern day romances can only dream of being compared to. Star crossed lovers who died too young and without a fair chance, immortalized in history forever – everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet. Sure Shakespeare can be a little boring and difficult to understand sometimes, but Baz Luhrmann has adapted this classic tale and placed it in a contemporary MTV-like setting, all whilst keeping Shakespeare’s language, so even if you don’t understand all of the words, you still know what’s going on with the fantastic actors, amazing backdrops, and rockin’ soundtrack!
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet Trailer:
#9. Amelie
Amelie
This might seem like an unconventional choice, but Amelie is a magical French film about the story of shy daydreamer Amelie Poulaine, who grew up with unloving parents. As a result, Amelie grows up to be shy and detached from the world. One day Amelie helps a stranger, and after seeing the reaction he had as a result, she decides to become somewhat a fairy godmother of the “rejected”, and dedicates her life to helping those around her and granting them happiness. As she helps others, it in turn helps her open up, and she too finds the meaning of love. Amelie is a fantastic film that makes us realise the significance of the simple things in life and how they can make us happy and sometimes even lead us to love.
Amelie Trailer:
#8. Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Sometimes we all need a little Disney magic in our lives, and what better Disney movies is suited to Valentine’s Day than this sweet film about two dogs from opposite sides of the railroad tracks, who fall in love. Forget the fact that the characters are cartoon dogs for the moment, and you’ll realise that this story is true to live and could easily translate into human life. We have the shy and beautiful well bred Lady, who one day meets the poor and street-smart but charming Tramp, and it’s love at first sight! Awww. This film is heart-warming and family friendly and definitely goes to show that love can conquer all!
Lady and the Tramp Original Trailer:
#7. Definitely, Maybe
Definitely, Maybe
The premise of this film may be about a divorced father telling his ten year old daughter how he met her mother, but really it’s a story about love and how you can fall in love with more than one person, and the fact that there’s always room for second chances in love. This is a clever romantic comedy that weaves a bit of a love mystery as we try and figure out which of these three great romances of father Will Hayes’ life led him to meet young Maya’s mother, and which of these romances will have a happy ending for Will. What’s also great about this film is that it’s not just about adult romances and also about the love between a parent and a child – Maya loves her father and just wants him to be happy and they go on a sweet adventure to get back Will’s lost love.
Definitely, Maybe Trailer:
#6. He’s Just Not That Into You
He’s Just Not That Into You
It doesn’t matter whether you’re attached or single or in between – this film has a bit of something for everyone no matter what your relationship status happens to be! When it comes to love and relationships, are you the rule or the exception? Do you even follow these so called rules? And do they really work? This film delves into the lives of five women and four men in the big city - all interconnected somehow – as they struggle to understand what makes relationships work in this modern day and age. If a guy acts like a jerk, does it really mean he likes you? Is it okay for a girl to call a guy? How do you know when you’re being clingy and obsessive that it borders on psychotic? And how does one deal with all these new technologies and social networking when it comes to dating? And are females and males really that different from each other? This is a great chick flick commenting on modern dating and definitely makes you wonder which bits ring true for you!
He’s Just Not That Into You Trailer:
#5. Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Bridget Jones is the embodiment of all ordinary single women – she’s flawed (she drinks and smoks too much), not ridiculously gorgeous, stuck in a job she doesn’t love, hassled by relatives, and can’t seem to find the right guy. Based on the novel by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary empowered women all over the world to either embrace being single or go out and take the initiative to find Mr Right! What’s so great about this story is that ALL the characters are flawed and that Bridget finds love when she least expects it and even then it takes her a while to realise that what she’s been desiring has been right there under her nose longer than she’s realised. Amongst all the romantic entanglements and relationship mistakes what you have is a simple girl who in the end gets her happy ending and finds someone who loves her just as she is. Awww! That’s all anyone can really want in life isn’t it?
Bridget Jones’s Diary Trailer:
#4. Be My Valentine Charlie Brown
Be My Valentine Charlie Brown
It’s Valentine’s Day for the Peanut gang and while this special may be seen as little cynical for a Valentine’s special list, it’s definitely a favourite of mine to watch on Valentine’s Day. Charlie Brown is depressed because no one has sent him a Valentine – all he wants is just one valentine and then he’ll be a happy chappy. The ever-clueless Lucy gets upset because Schroeder tells her he’ll never marry her, and so she smashes his piano. In the end, feeling sorry for being mean to Charlie, the snotty girls at school show up and give Charlie valentines – or at least attempt to when Schroeder interferes and tries to maintain Charlie Brown’s dignity for him. After all, who wants pity Valentines on Valentine’s Day? But at least Snoopy and Woodstock had a bit more fun with their Valentine’s Day. Despite it being a cartoon, this special is a great comment on the commercialism of Valentine’s Day and society, and is a short and sweet production to watch.
Be My Valentine Charlie Brown:
#3. The Notebook
The Notebook
If there is one tear-jerker romance you have to watch on Valentine’s Day, it’s The Notebook. Sure it might be a bit of a cliché to follow the pack and include this on our must see Valentines’ Day list, but you really can’t go wrong with this highly regarded romance. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook is about true love and the power of true love withstanding over many years. We’re introduced to an elderly couple in a nursing home, where the man is telling the woman a story - it’s the 1920s and young socialite Allie is on vacation in a small town for the Summer when she meets local boy Noah. After an interesting introduction, the pair soon begin to fall in love with each other. But Allie’s snooty parents disapprove and end the family vacation quickly and abruptly leave town, just after Allie and Noah have a big fight. Fast forward a few years to after the war and Allie is now engaged but chance brings Noah and Allie back together and they realise that they never stopped loving each other. We realise that Noah and Allie are the older couple in the nursing home and understand the beauty of love – it isn’t simple, but if you work at it, it’s worth it in the end.
The Notebook:
#2. Love Actually
Love Actually
Another ensemble feel-good romantic comedy that shows whether you’re young or old, all you need is love. The film follows eight different couples with different types of relationships in London just before Christmas. Yet Love Actually is not a love story, but rather a story about love, as we witness these characters fall in love, be hurt from love, open themselves up to love and take a chance on love. Love is permanent, love is temporary, love is intense, love is innocent, love is about being with the right person, love is about being with the wrong person, it begins and sometimes it ends. If you look around you’ll realise that love is all around us and indeed it is love that makes the world go round.
Love Actually Trailer:
#1. Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day
There are three kinds of people – those who buy into the hype that is Valentine’s Day, those who despise it with a passion, and those who don’t mind it and aren’t too phased about it. Regardless of which type of person you are, this movies is for everyone because we can all find something to relate to in it whether you love or hate this Hallmark occasion. Valentine’s Day is another ensemble film, following the lives of a whole bunch of interconnected people in LA on Valentine’s Day. There are sweet romantic gestures, marriage proposals, heartache and breakups, bitter singles, new love – a bit of something for everyone and definitely just the right kinds of cheese you need on Valentine’s Day!
