Valentine’s Day MOVIES: My Six Favorite Valentine’s Day Films to Watch (Based on Sighs, Tears, and Tissue Box Factors)
By Gina L. Caliboso
I’m without a Valentine this year – AGAIN. But for some reason, Valentine’s Day is just a fun, silly, and romantic kind of day for me. I look forward to it every year. It’s the reading of the cards at the Hallmark Store. How I’m always looking for any Star Wars themed Valentine’s Day card. How I was debating this year whether I should go see “Casablanca” on the big screen by myself. But as I came up with this list, I don’t need to have a date or a sweetheart to feel love and romance. I’ve got these movies on my DVR, it should be a good day after all.
Runner Up #6
6) Fools Rush In (1997) – (Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry)
In this movie, Isabel Fuentes has a one-night stand with New Yorker Alex Whitman. The two are expecting a baby and decide to get a quickie marriage. This can only happen in Vegas. There are the blatant differences in culture as illustrated in language, religion, and family values, but in the end, you are rooting for the two to get together despite all the differences.
There is a great line shared between Isabel and her great-grandmother, Nanita. “You will never know true love unless you surrender to it.” It’s true. Surrender and a complete leap of faith make love worth it. I cry every time at this scene.
5) Sleepless in Seattle (1993) – (Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan)
This film uses the word ‘magic’ quite often. As described by my sister, I am a woman with an ‘old soul’ who believes in soulmates. ‘Sleepless’ doesn’t necessarily leave me as teary eyed as my other favorite films. Instead, this movie draws more on the silly grin, sigh, and ‘oh I can’t wait’ to meet him desire of meeting my soulmate. There are two favorable moments from this movie that need mentioning.
First, it’s the scene when Sam (played by Tom Hanks) talks about the “Dirty Dozen.” He and Victor Garber talk about the Dirty Dozen as if it’s a chick-flick. The two cry about the scene with Trini Lopez. It makes me laugh every time.
And, secondly, and I might get some differing opinions on this, but I enjoy the scene at the airport between Sam, Jonah (his son), and Victoria (the woman Sam is dating). Sam just says good-bye to Victoria and he looks up to see Meg Ryan’s character, Annie, come out. It’s that single, solitary moment that gets captured about thinking about the ‘perfect woman.’ Wonderful scene. Very sweet.
4) Grease (1978) – (John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John)
Danny Zuko and Sandy Oleson. A T-Bird and a goody two-shoes. Good girl Sandy falls for Danny during the summer, unaware that he is a T-Bird. It’s a sing along movie. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” by Olivia Newton-John is a great song and makes me reminisce about my crushes. I also thought I’d go to a high school where I could meet my Danny Zuko. No such luck since I went to an all-girls Catholic school. No tears in this love story. It’s more like a feel good and ahhh, finally, they get together. I love the scene where Sandy has transformed into a leather-clad, curly haired bad girl, and she says to Danny, “Tell me about it, stud.” Then, the number for “You’re the One that I Want” starts. I’m smiling as I think about that number.
3) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – (Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi)
It’s a rather odd film to put on this list, but I include it because I sympathize with the female characters in this film; they were all bound to adhere to strict social, moral, and gender codes because they were women. The three main woman characters couldn’t express themselves or be themselves out of societal limitations.
First there is Jen-Lo, the gifted martial artist, is expected to marry into a good family. Because of her gender and social position, she couldn’t learn martial arts openly and wasn’t free to love the man of her choosing.
Jen-Lo’s nanny, Jade Fox, is a scorned woman. It’s revealed she killed Li Mu Bai’s master because he didn’t want to teach her martial arts. For Jade Fox, she was good enough to be used for sex, but not taught martial arts. She stole the Wudan manual and tried to learn on her own, but was unable to translate the higher forms. She apprenticed Jen-Lo, but Jen-Lo soon surpassed her.
Finally, there is Shu Lien. She is in love with Li Mu Bai, but is unable to act or express her love because she mourns her former love, who was also friend of Li Mu Bai. Out of respect, she does not pursue her love for Li Mu Bai.
So, how could the story of all this repressed, unrequited love be a Valentine’s Day movie? It’s women kicking ass without men. I thought that was obvious.
2) Moonstruck (1987) – (Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis)
I sigh, cry, and laugh every time I see this movie and I can’t bring myself to delete it from my DVR recordings. Two times in the movie, Loretta’s mother, wonderfully played by Olympia Dukakis asks if she loves him (the first being Johnny, played by Danny Aiello and the second being Ronny, played by Nicolas Cage). When she says yes, Loretta’s mother says, “That’s too bad.”
But it’s the declaration by Ronny Cammareri that deserves a full quote:
Ronny Cammareri: Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn’t know this either, but love don’t make things nice – it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren’t here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die. The storybooks are bullshit. Now I want you to come upstairs with me and get in my bed!
La bella luna! I think of this movie whenever I look up and see a full moon. I smile, I sigh, and I get a little teary-eyed. But the full moon always has that affect on me. The moon is a powerful omen on all levels.
1) Casablanca (1942) – (Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman)
I know that the tag line is supposed to be “Here’s looking at you, kid.” But my favorite line from the movie talks about Paris and I’m a Paris kind of girl. When the film shows the history between Elsa and Rick in Paris, I just melt – as if I were butter while I watch this film, I would melt. Humphrey Bogart’s character Rick looked so happy, so joyous with Elsa. But to know they didn’t end up together, I just sigh, cry, purse my lips and wonder, “But you love him! You’re married?!” Towards the end of the movie, Rick says to Elsa, “We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.”
So, there you have it, six of my favorite Valentine’s Day films. Watch any one of them with your sweetheart, or by yourself. I can guarantee you’ll either be crying, laughing, or sighing. And on Valentine’s Day, those aren’t such bad things.
Happy Valentine’s Day!