Valentine’s Day has come and gone but you’re still feeling romantic so here’s my top 15 favorite romantic movies or movie romances… I don’t know, I like them and I hope they like me just as much! First up: a classic romantic comedy and its remake, that’s right, Sabrina (1954) and Sabrina (1995). The original was written and directed by Billy Wilder whose filmography we should all know by heart. Wilder’s Sabrina starred Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, and you’re thinking why would anyone want to remake this all-star classic? Don’t ask why, just watch the Sydney Pollack remake starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear. It’ll be worth your time. No, the remake is not better than the original but it is good and I do hope you’ve seen both or are planning on watching them soon!
Next up on the list is the Meg Ryan section a.k.a. Nora Ephron section which also has a Tom Hanks subdivision. When Harry Met Sally… is the movie I reference most when friends can’t figure out why they can’t be friends with people of the opposite sex. I’ll let you in on a little secret- the sex gets in the way. This modern classic romantic comedy was written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner and starred Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby. Probably Carrie Fisher’s second best movie, behind The ‘Burbs, this rom-com was just what we needed to leave the 1980s behind us and kick start the 1990s. The 1990s was the decade of love for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (not sure what either of their spouses thought of this) as they started in Joe Dante’s Joe Versus the Volcano before meeting up again in two films written for the screen and directed by Nora Ephron 1993′s Sleepless in Seattle and again in 1998′s You’ve Got Mail. Sleepless in Seattle, or An Affair to Remember without the ocean, was the second Meg Ryan movie to feature Harry Connick Jr.’s golden tones (When Harry Met Sally… was the first) on the soundtrack. You’ve Got Mail, or The Shop Around the Corner remake, came to us at a time when we needed to know how to have an online relationship and basically bridged the gap between the 1990s and 2000s. What will the decade of the 2010s be without Meg’s guidance?
Now we’ve reached the Hugh Grant part of our romantic journey, beginning with 1994′s Four Weddings and a Funeral written by Richard Curtis (we’ll see him again) and directed by Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco). Richard Curtis also scripted 1999′s Notting Hill and starred Julia Roberts alongside Hugh. 2002′s About a Boy was adapted for the screen by the Weitz brothers from Nick Hornby’s novel and taught us that no man is an island. Richard Curtis wrote and directed Hugh in 2003′s Love Actually a wonderful rom-com and holiday film starring Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thomson, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney and Alan Rickman. Love Actually in my opinion is the only star-studded cast to successfully pull off the rom-com.
Since we’ve been in merry old England with Hugh Grant what better time to reveal two recent romantic films with foreign appeal- Paris, je t’aime (2006) and Amelie (2001). Paris, je t’aime has your love story in it — it has to, with 18 different stories being told in all! Based on the subject of love in Paris the film is actually a collection of short films by sometimes famous directors such as Gus Van Sant, the Coen brothers and Alexander Payne, starring Steve Buscemi, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, Natalie Portman, Gerard Depardieu and Ben Gazzara. Paris, je t’aime is definitely a film in a league of its own. Amelie, I really don’t know where to begin other than saying Amelie has more style in minute 2 than most directors have in a lifetime and if you don’t fall in love with Audrey Tautuo then you’ve truly got a heart of stone. Please don’t have a heart of stone.
Rounding out our list is Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (don’t be a dead shark) and Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which I would never delete from my memory. Finally there’s Ewan McGregor starring in the homage to 1950s romantic comedies Down With Love and also starring in the only musical I like- Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! see I didn’t have to include Pretty Woman to have a hooker with a heart of gold on this list! romance! film! loveliness! am I right? am I wrong? would my favorites ever breach your top ten? leave me a note in the comments section! LYMI
hm…i think we're going to have to have a girl's view of best movie romances. i'll get something up tomorrow.
alas I'm no Melvin Udall