Planning your Valentine’s Day celebration? Perhaps your plans include dinner and a movie? If so, we’ve got you covered…well, the movie part. Colleen Glenn, Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies Program, shares her list of top romantic movies.
5. The Shop Around the Corner (dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan in The Shop Around the Corner http://thespulibrary.tumblr.com/
In this playful, classic rom-com, co-workers Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan spar and trade insults relentlessly, each not realizing that the object of their disgust is also the object of their affection, via anonymous pen pal letters. Sometimes, this movie teaches us, the right person is right before our very eyes. This film was such a hit that it was later remade as You’ve Got Mail (1998), but the original features more gravitas and more onscreen chemistry between the leading actors.
4. Silver Linings Playbook (dir. David O. Russell, 2012)
Things get heated between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, an edgy rom-com/drama that exposes the dark and bright sides of emotional attachments, as well as the neuroses at the core of (most of) our family circles. Not only do Lawrence and Cooper sizzle onscreen, but also the pair brings a refreshing honesty and vulnerability to their flawed, but charming characters.
3. The Princess Bride (dir. Rob Reiner, 1987)
The Princess Bride movie http://www.hsac45.com
Weaving adventure, fantasy, comedy, and, of course, romance, The Princess Bride remains one of the most delightful movies ever made. The fairy tale features larger-than-life characters—brave heroes, cowardly villains, witty pirates; magical and dangerous locations—the Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, the Pit of Despair; and a tremendous cast, including Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, and more. But most of all, the film captures the essence of true love, as Cary Elwes and Robin Wright discover that nothing can stop it, not even Death.
2. Intolerable Cruelty (dir. Coen Bros, 2003)
In this oft-overlooked Coen Brothers comedy, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones prove that love is a battlefield as they bluff, flirt, dupe, and repeat in a series of deceptive maneuvers that would frighten even the most skillful of poker players. Sparks fly between this attractive pair as they attempt to get the best of one another (and one another’s assets). A must-see throwback to the old screwball comedy formula!
See "Colleen Glenn's Six Not-To-Miss Halloween Flicks"
1. Casablanca (dir. Michael Curtiz, 1942)
“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine…” So mutters cynical ex-freedom fighter Humphrey Bogart as Ingrid Bergman walks into his café in Casablanca on the arm of another man—and not just any man, but a famous resistance fighter being hunted by the Nazis. The ex-lovers’ unexpected reunion sets off a chain of unpredictable and unforgettable events in what is perhaps the quintessential Hollywood romantic drama. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
Does Colleen include any of your favorites? What is she missing? Stay tuned for part two by Film Studies Program Director John Bruns.