Photo courtesy of IMDB
Written by Emilie Kefalas
What do about 95 percent of films released since the birth of modern cinema have in common? Sorry, it’s not that they all have opening credits.
The answer is love. No, I don’t mean every movie ever made was done so with love (though I’d certainly hope so). Nearly every plot in cinema revolves around an idea of love, whether it’s relationship love, self love, family love, friend love or pet love. It’s sappy, I know, and drawn out like water from the same reservoir of romance. Still, we shamelessly pamper ourselves in the predictability of rom coms and chick flicks, because love is the most relatable human emotion. All other feelings run through its nucleus.
As far as I know, every variation of a love story has already been told once if not four times, but each filmmaker’s execution and intention is unique. With chilly temperatures outside, Valentine’s Day presents the perfect excuse to spend a shameless amount of hours curled up with a box of Conversation Hearts and Dove chocolates watching romantic comedies. I’ve compiled a playlist featuring my favorite Valentine’s Day-approved viewing material (“Fifty Shades of Grey” did not make the cut). Bonus: All of these films have unbelievable soundtracks.
“Valentine’s Day” – In vogue of “Love Actually,” “Pretty Woman” director Garry Marshall began his attempted trend of making Hallmark holidays the center of a series of intertwining plot lines with this 2010 display of celebrity name poster power. The plot is not completely off in Hallmark-land (though it is set entirely in Los Angeles), and in the end you feel you’ve consumed a satisfying portion of February 14. The cast is fabricated of Hollywood semi-royalty (this is pre – “Les Miserables” Anne Hathaway), and the plot has plenty to gush over if you’re looking for a lighter film fair on the heartstrings. A couple humorous bits include a “lunch date” gone awry, a couple teenage Taylor’s (Swift and Lautner, that’s how old this film is) and Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Garner stuttering out their feelings while staring at each other.
Cuddle Factor: Three out of Five Stuffed Teddy Bears
“While You Were Sleeping” – Chicago never looked more doe-eyed and dimpled than the time a young Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman bonded while his brother was in a coma. Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (our girl Sandy) is a lonely transit employee who saves her crush, Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher), after he’s mugged on a metra station platform on Christmas Day. While visiting Peter at the hospital, Lucy is mistakenly identified as his fiancee. Before she can address the blunder, Peter’s family takes her under their wing, during which she falls for Peter’s brother, Jack. New York is great, but for me, Chicago in the winter is the quintessential backdrop for long walks along the river, meetings on the tracks of the “L,” and family bonding at Northwestern Hospital. Directed by Jon Turteltaub, the film features the most charming ensemble ever cast in a film set in the Midwest. Just like Lucy by the film’s end, we feel like we’re part of the Callaghan family.
Cuddle Factor: Four out of Five Stuffed Teddy Bears
“When Harry Met Sally” – The capstone of all comedies, period. One of the adoring qualities about this Rob Reiner/Nora Ephron lovechild is its calendar flexibility. You can watch it around Christmas or New Year’s, but no plot element draws the line at either of those seasons. Ephron’s story handles the tricky baggage of friendship versus love interests in spades thanks to her near flawless script and Reiner’s dynamite cast. When aspiring journalist Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) drives from Chicago to New York with cynically hilarious Harry Burns (Mike Wazow – excuse me, Billy Crystal), they have no idea how their lives will sporadically criss-cross for the next twelve years.
Cuddle Factor: Seven out of Five Stuffed Teddy Bears
“Sleepless in Seattle” – Maybe it’s my inner writer who is subconsciously drawn to Ephron-scripted films (and those set in Chicago, where this film’s first few scenes take place). Regardless, like “When Harry Met Sally,” we have Meg Ryan playing journalist Annie Reed and a young, pre- “Toy Story” Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin who moves with his son from Chicago to the northwest following his wife’s death. The romantic quality is through the roof for those who have ever fantasized about getting together with some stranger featured on a radio show’s therapy hour (no, not “Fraiser”). The love displayed is a tear-worthy combination of budding romance and father-son devotion.
Cuddle Factor: Five out of Five Stuffed Teddy Bears
BONUS FILMS: “The Princess Bride,” “How to Marry a Millionaire,” “He’s Just Not That Into You,” “The Notebook,” and last but not least, “An Affair to Remember.”
Happy viewing and happy Valentine’s Day!
