Everyone can write up a list of their favorite gangster, war, or even Western films, but what about a genre as barren as romance or romantic comedies? It's not so easy! Anyways, most movies have a romantic relationship of some kind, so "romance" is defined as anything where it's the dominant theme of the work. Here's my list; 1. Les Bonnes Femmes 2. Love Exposure 3. That Obscure Object of Desire 4. The Princess Bride 5. Divorce Italian Style 6. Gone with the Wind 7. Revolutionary Road 8. Overboard 9. Queen Margot 10. Love at First Bite Honorable mentions- 10 Things I Hate About You, True Romance I'm going off my Criticker account, but while I think nine and ten were good, they were way down on my list. Focus- What are your favorite romantic and romcom films?
Chick flicks and romances are two very different things. One is saccharine bullshit, the other is a chance to hit true feeling. Rarely there is a real gem swimming around in the miasma of melodrama and contrived dialogue though. I much prefer relationships in movies with something else going on as well. Chemistry is tough to capture. At the very least some semblance of substance between two people. Bonus points if it's a completely maladjusted relationship. Palahniuk even called Fight Club a romance. A few that I dig: 1. The Fountain (criminally underrated and heartbreakingly beautiful. I cannot stress this one enough) 2. Closer 3. Casino Royale 4. Basic Instinct (fuck yes it counts) 5. 21 Grams 6. Door In The Floor 7. Coppola's Dracula You'll note most of these either end in tragedy or the relationship is entirely twisted. Life imitates art. Honorable to the end of Bridges of Madison County because that bitch should have gotten out of the truck. Despite that flick being mind numbingly boring that ending punched me in the nuts. FUCK.
(500) Days of Summer counts as a romance given what happens? I see it as a thoughtful drama. I couldn't agree more about The Fountain, so underrated and beautiful imagery throughout. I also think Big Fish is an underrated film. I've seen it once but the impression has lasted. Does Match Point count? That's a great fucking move by Woody Allen. My favorite romantic comedy is Closer. Great movie. Wait? It's not a comedy?
Excuse me if i repeat what someone else has already said, but I want to make this "of all time" 1. Gone with the Wind 2. Breakfast at Tiffany's 3. The African Queen 4. Love Actually 5. Amelie 6. Roman Holiday 7. Romancing the Stone 8. Ghost 9. Forrest Gump 10. 100 Days of Summer I also want to add "Sabrina", but I feel like this list is too Audrey Hepburn bias as it is.
I'll just link to my review. Anyone here watched "Lars and the Real Girl"? Heard good things about that one.
Actually I liked 500 Days of Summer because of what happens. I'm perfectly fine with romances in films ending it realistic ways. For me thats what hits a chord.
This brings up a good general point. To me, the ending was to "500 Days of Summer" was neither realistic nor unrealistic. I say that because throughout the whole film, we never once understand who Summer is. Her suddenly committing so soon after a break-up could be either realistic or completely implausible. She's a doll, some writer's hazy ideal of hipster perfection, not a living, breathing character. In essence, she is no one at all. Tom, while a very typical cliche of an early 20s, insecure, nerdy guy, is nevertheless a real person. In terms of romance films, that's very typical. You have a banal, simplified, but nevertheless living male character, and a female character that is nothing more than a lifeless stage prop. Maybe part of the reason is that it allows female viewers to imagine themselves in that role, being loved by the guy? At any rate, it's very rare that there is a worthwhile female character in these films, although I think it's true of most of the ones I listed.
Blech. 500 Days of Summer is probably the only romantic movie I've ever heard of where more guys liked it than girls (at least that I know of). I hated that movie. Summer was insufferable and the ending was entirely implausible. The whole time I was watching it, it felt so obvious that the writer was writing it just to get back at some girl and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that that was, indeed, the case. (Then when I saw The Social Network and the girl in the beginning said something along the lines of "You're going to go through life thinking girls don't like you because you're a nerd, but they don't like because you're an asshole" I thought back to 500 Days.) Closer is a great movie, but I'm not sure I would call it a romance... As for my choices: An Education (Which is in the end, I guess, not much more of a romance than Closer...) Atonement Away We Go Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (The best.) Funny Face Love, Actually (I'm actually getting a bit tired of this movie, but it can't not be mentioned) Roman Holiday Slumdog Millionaire Up (Even if it's just for that five minute montage...greatest romance story of all time) Huh, I feel like I should have more...I love romance movies...I'll probably add some later.
The Best 1) Casablanca (aside form KIM's denouncement of it, its still my favourite script of all) 2) Gone With the Wind 3) Wuthering Heights 4) It Happened One Night 5) Hua Yang Nian Hua (a.k.a "In the Mood for Love") 6) As Good as it Gets 7) The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 8) Roman Holiday 9) 10 10) The Apartment Honourable mention: Overboard. I saw it in the theatre as a kid, and Hawn and Rusell are as great on-screen as they are off. The film is sweet, fun and most of all very funny with a fantastic, old fashioned Hollywood-style ending. Probably the best "Date Movie" you could watch at home. The Worst: Romeo + Juliet (1996) What a nauseating, headache-inducing pain in the ass this film is, from Baz "Douchebag" Luhrmann's idiotic "More is Better" school of filmmaking. Heavy-handed treatment and jump-cuts every five seconds that would make a ninja throw up. Setting it in "modern" (as is "Really Gay") dress is peculiar but not interesting, which sums up this entire film to a tee. Insults both The Bard AND the soundtrack it is not worthy of. Pure, overracted crap. What a waste. The English Patient Aside from being gorgeously shot, this is an exercise in pure patience (not a pun) combating pure boredom, even more insulting this defeated Fargo for Best Picture of it's year. Hell, I'd give it to Jerry Maguire before this unecessary epic aimed specifically at women. Ghost Corny, tear-jerker melodrama with bad performances, lots of tissues, and a 200 million dollar domestic gross. Second-rate script with unecessary climax, basically this film is one long, tedious tease of a film.
I don't disagree with the description particularly, but I think you might be overly slighting the film based on that. What you see as a perennial trap of the genre (no argument from me as to it being a repeated trend) was in my opinion an intentional plot device of the movie. A major part of the film is that we see Summer largely through the eyes of Tom, and that part of Tom's problem is that he over-idealized and simplifies Summer. He sees almost a caricature of what he wants Summer to be. Thus, it's not a truly fleshed out portrayal, because Tom himself doesn't really interact with her as such. She's 'some writer's hazy ideal of hipster perfection' because she's Tom's hazy ideal of hipster perfection.
I want to see what happens to the first person who suggests The Notebook. My vote is for Up, an example of love through the ages, and what ultimately matters in the end. It made my cold and cynically heart actually feel something .
I haven't actually seen them (want to, haven't got around to it), but I find it peculiar that no one's list featured Before Sunrise / Before Sunset. I seem to remember them reliably popping up on such lists, particularly amongst the film nerdy sort. Also, if we're counting Up, I would also nominate WALL-E. That shit was fucking adorable. I also think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind deserves high praise, although given KIMaster's proclivity towards hating anything and everything with a whiff of hipster and/or cutesy to it, I see a verbal smackdown coming my way.
It's far from the only reason. The review I linked to above goes into the other faults of the picture, some of them equally bad and lazy. This was just the one I could tie to a larger point about the romance genre. Except for the scene of Tom's expectation versus reality at the party, what we're seeing is still an objective part of reality. There isn't anything to suggest otherwise. And Summer is a doll during this whole time, even when Tom temporarily hates her, or later, when he comes to terms with the end of their relationship. That is, when his infatuation drops. That's not deep symbolism. It's just lazy writing. By the way, the third film I listed, "That Obscure Object of Desire", has the same themes of idealization/disenchantment, but never does it prevent the female from being a real person, instead of a hipster dream. Haven't watched it, but among animations with that theme, this was an excellent short; Edit- Haven't watched it, actually. Pretty interested in the picture, though.
A few of my favorites have already been mentioned: (500) Days of Summer, Away We Go, 10 Things I Hate About You and Love, Actually. I would also like to add in no order of importance: -Juno -He's Just Not That Into You -Pocahontas -Catch and Release -P.S. I Love You -The Time Traveler's Wife
I'm not sure that it's a romance per se, but Up in the Air was one hell of a movie. And, in relation to KIMaster's point, had multiple complex female characters. ....really?!
The Fabulous Baker Boys is worth a look, ditto for the Woody Allen musical Everybody Says I Love You (seriously, it's a really good film.. I know!).
Yes, really. Perhaps it's because I have nostalgic feelings associated with reading the book when I was 14 for future reference, but I enjoy this movie thoroughly every time I watch it. Or perhaps it's because my roommates and I are usually in an "I-hate-men-so-let's-drink-away-our-feelings" state of mind whenever we watch it.