Saturday, April 26, 2014

What is the Most Romantic Movie Ever?

Love, lovely love.

Between a one-week revival of Casablanca and the release of the new romantic comedy The Other Woman, now is clearly the time for the most romantic movies of all time. I don't know. Maybe you don't agree.

So what is the MOST romantic movie ever made? More specifically, what is the most romantic movie to YOU? Everyone's idea of "romantic" is different. Me, I'm a Sleepaway Camp man.

34 comments:

  1. For my money, When Harry Met Sally has got to be up there. If nothing else, Billy Crystal's speech to Meg Ryan at the end of the movie regarding what he loves about her gets me every time. I love it so much!

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  2. Casablanca. That's the answer. Casablanca. What's this about a one week revival?

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  3. True Romance - c'mon, it's right there in the title!

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  4. Robin & Marian. Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn. A wonderful film, even if you get....something....in your eye at the end.

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  5. Casablanca is probably the answer, but Beauty and the Beast and It Happened One Night are definitely
    up there for me.

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  6. Casablanca is definitely up there, as is Notorious and its under-appreciated remake, Mission: Impossible II.

    I'd also like to give mad props to Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/the last five minutes of Before Midnight (someone really needs to point those crazy kids to a couples therapist, so they can learn to talk through their disagreements without losing their sh*t), Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre, The Princess Bride, Say Anything..., Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, A Very Long Engagement and Miracle Mile - Goose and Mare Winningham are truly one of cinema's great couples.

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    1. I'll throw a vote towards Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice and Say Anything...

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    2. I have yet to see that version of Jane Eyre, but I really want to. I love the BBC 2006 TV adaptation myself and of course the novel is just the best.

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    3. I had pretty much the same reaction to Joe Wright's P&P and Fukunaga's Jane Eyre: "Wow, that was a really wonderful two hours. That said, I don't think I need to spend any more time with any of these characters. Yep, I'm good."

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    4. Oh really? Haha well I once was Mrs Bennett. I recited an extract from Pride and Prejudice for my LAMDA exam and got to act as her for part of it. I have to say I highly enjoyed it. I also have a fondness for Mary. I think I always look forward to seeing what a new adaptation has done with that character. Mr Bennett is one of the best father's you can come across as well. As for Jane, at first she comes across as plain and dull, but inside she isn't that all I don't think.

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    5. In fairness, I did once read P&P some years after seeing the movie and having those thoughts, and really enjoyed it, so I'm sure I'll read and enjoy it again someday. I would now totally watch a five-hour miniseries cut of Joe Wright's version with that cast and overall production quality. Not in any hurry to watch the Colin Firth miniseries, though. Nor am I much inclined to read Jane Eyre. ;)

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  7. Way too many to mention. Off the top of my head: Annie Hall, Titanic, Pierrot le Fou, Rushmore (think about it), Blue Is the Warmest Color, Casablanca, Chungking Express, Jules and Jim, The Fly, Notorious, Harold and Maude, etc.

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  8. Misery, Oldboy and Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf. Don't judge my idea of romance man!

    No, really, I'm going to go with When Harry Met Sally and a samurai movie called Love and Honor, which is one of the few movies I can think of where a married couple is the one having the romance. Pretty sure it's on Netflix.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Honor

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    1. Love and Honor was really good. I also have the television mini series version of it. The companion films in the "trilogy", Twilight Samurai, and The Hidden Blade are also fantastic. Though I would chose the Twilight Samurai as the best of the three though.

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    2. I looked up a few blogs to see some more lists. I stumbled across one with Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf on there and I was quite surprised, but hey I won't judge.

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    3. I have the other movies, but not the mini series. I haven't seen the first two in a few years, but we just watched Love and Honor a couple of weeks ago.

      I honestly thought I was making a joke with V.Woolf. But this is the internet after all.

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  9. I'll have to go with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, even though it's really about the pitfalls and disintegration of romance it's still one of the best comments on love I've seen on film and it gets me everytime.

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    1. It gets me, too... that any Kate Winslet character would shack up with such an etiolated schlub of a male. Shake him off, Kate! :P

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  10. I would go with Takeshi Kitano's 2002 "Dolls" for romantic unrequited love.

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  11. A lot are putting Casablanca, but I'm giving my vote for To Have and Have Not. There, you can actually see Bogart and Bacall fall in love for real in addition to in the movie.

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    1. Those two are so great to watch and what a love story on and off screen! If you have seen some of the interviews, Lauren Bacall still speaks with such pure love of Bogie.

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  12. Legally Blonde, because it was my first date with Mrs. P.

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  13. How great is ROMAN HOLIDAY? It might not have the fairy tale happy ending, but the whole movie is just so genuine and lovable.

    I know you said a lot of not-very-nice things about THE PRINCESS BRIDE on the podcast, but it really the best “feel-good” movie ever made.

    Then there’s ATTACK OF THE CLONES. People say the romance was wooden and unrealistic, but I thought that, even though they were from two different worlds, I could truly feel the intense, unspoken passion burning between Count Dooku and Poggle the Lesser.

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    1. Roman Holiday is gorgeous. I agree it does feel so genuine every time I watch it! I don't think Doug was the most enthusiastic person about it but I don't remember them not saying a lot of very nice things. Especially Patrick who loved it if I remember correctly.

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  14. Gotta go with Time After Time. McDowell and Steenburgen have CRAZY chemistry, proven by the fact that they got married after meeting on this movie. It's always struck me as honestly beautiful that we are really watching two people fall in love onscreen.

    The Notebook? FUCK THAT. My ultimate screen romance is a flick with Jack the Ripper in it.

    I will now await an overwhelming number of women to break down my door.

    *dies alone*

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    1. I'm ashamed to admit it. But in addition to the previously mentioned Say Anything, Joe Wright's P & P, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I have a soft spot for The Notebook. I could do without all the old people stuff and just watch Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams fight and make up over and over.

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    2. If it wasn't for the framing present day story with Garner and Rowlands, I would have no problem with The Notebook; it's a fine example of that genre. I probably wouldn't watch it much, as it's not my thing, but it's well-acted and pretty good. Adding the other stuff seems like manipulative bullshit in order to give it a sheen of tragedy and make people cry.

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  15. To go with a Sleepless in Seattle reference, I'd say An Affair to Remember. Either that or The Dirty Dozen.

    "Jim Brown was throwing these hand grenades down these airshafts. And Richard Jaeckel and Lee Marvin were sitting on top of this armored personnel carrier, dressed up like Nazis..."

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  16. Here are a few favourites: Casablanca, Beauty and the beast, The Princess Bride, City Lights, Aimee and Jaguar, A Matter of Life and Death, Holiday (1936), Port of Shadows, Antonia's Line, In the Mood for Love, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Brief Encounter and The Apartment.

    A quote from A Matter of life and death: "Nothing is stronger than the law in the universe, but on Earth, nothing is stronger than love."

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  17. My wife tells me that the most romantic movie is The Princess Bride so yeah, my answer is The Princess Bride.

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