Your Love Coach

Romance Fest

I was going through my collection of DVD’s and VCD’s and re-confirmed time and again what an incurable romantic I am. Hey, that’s why I’m a love coach!

There’s nothing like good ol’ fashion romance on the screen to bring on the mood. So if you are pursuing someone who’s totally clueless about your feelings for them, or in a relationship that needs a bit of love boost, or simply looking for feel good movies, then I suggest you plant yourself and the object of your affection (or be by your lonesome) in front of your 30-inch screen, microwave the cheese popcorn, plonk the potato chip bags on the floor, line up your sodas, ice cream tubs and boxes of Kleenex and switch on the DVD player!

Here are my picks for the most romantic films ever!

1. Stealing Heaven (1988)
Leads: Derek de Lint and Kim Thomson
I had to watch this film back at university, because I was taking up a degree on literature. The film is based on true to life events. Abelard, a respected philosopher and teacher in 12th-century Paris, is hired to tutor the intelligent and beautiful Heloise. They soon fall in love, but must hide their affection because Abelard is sworn to celibacy. It has some graphic scenes, so I suggest no minors in the room should be present when you watch this.

2. Love Story (1970)
Leads: Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw
A film adaptation of Erich Segal’s Love Story. This made famous the saying “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Two college students from different backgrounds start out disliking each other. But you know what they say - there’s a thin line between love and hate. Oliver is a rich Harvard law student who meets Jennifer while she was working at Radcliff’s library. They eventually go out on a date, fall in love and well… I’m sure you know what happens next. But it still makes a good film. Lots of Kleenex!

3. Ghost (1990)
Leads: Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore
Probably one of the most watched foreign films ever in the Philippines, next to Titanic. Who could ever forget the hairstyle sported by Demi Moore copied by every girl on the planet? Or the pottery scene/lovemaking? And Unchained Melody which became a national anthem? Revisit Sam and Molly’s paranormal love story and you won’t be sorry.

4. Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)
Leads: Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard
A story of two lost souls who find each other rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers of New York. The film is an adaptation of Truman Capote’s novel, which may not be as faithful as it could have been. But who cares? Forget the novel and watch the film. Guaranteed you’ll be singing ‘Moon River’ for days to come! But seriously, it’s one of the best romantic films I’ve seen.

5. Roman Holiday (1953)
Leads: Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck
It’s a simple case of a Royal Princess being bored with her regal lifestyle. She seeks freedom - from her boring assistant, the long lines of dignitaries she needs to shake hands with, a diary dictated by her duties from sun up to sun down. Eventually she manages to escape, and experiences life as a commoner. With a journalist in tow, she enjoys her carefree life for as long as she could, except she falls in love. So what does she do? Watch the film and enjoy going around Rome as you watch love blossom between the two main characters.

This film was adapted by a Filipino movie outfit via the movie Basta’t Kasama Kita, starring former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres and Aga Muhlach. This version has a different take on the whole plot and the original is still way better.

6. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Leads: Jacques Perrin, Marco Leonardi and Philippe Noiret
Would you believe me if I tell you I have seen this film over 40 times? That’s how much I love it. It’s a tale of a young boy, Toto, who grew up in a Sicilian village, fascinated by the cinema that he spends all his time at the theatre, where he develops a deep friendship with the projectionist, Alfredo. He grows up and falls in love. What happens after that is something you need to find out by watching this film. It has subtitles. I guarantee, you will enjoy this film so much. Again, you will need lots of Kleenex.

7. An Affair to Remember (1957)
Leads: Debra Kerr and Cary Grant
This film I have only seen over 30 times. Among all the Love Affair films (the original released in 1939, then An Affair to Remember in 1957, then the 1994 Love Affair starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty), this is the best. Only the female character’s name does not change - Terry McKay. For some reason, they keep changing the name of the male protagonist. But it’s more or less the same. Two people meet aboard a ship. They each have partners waiting for them once the ship docks, and so they decide to meet up after 6 months at the top of the Empire State Building should they find themselves still in love with one another. Obviously tragedy strikes and the plot thickens. No matter how many times I watch this film, it still has the same effect. I sigh and cry a bit, but it all ends happily.

This is the film that the character of Meg Ryan keeps talking about in Sleepless in Seattle.

8. Somewhere In Time (1980)
Leads: Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour
True, it’s a bit sci-fi in the beginning as Richard Collier, a playwright, uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time, after an old woman goes up to him after seeing one of his plays and gives him a pocket watch and says, “Come back to me.” This haunted him for sometime until he sees a portrait of a very beautiful woman hanging in a hotel. He succeeds in finding her in the past and shares with her the most wonderful days and nights of his life. But that’s not where it ends. Find out why this film prompted me at the age of 13 to pursue a career in film making.

9. Dirty Dancing (1987)
Leads: Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey
It’s a film that really needs no introduction. Suffice to say it’s a coming of age film, but a bit more adult. It’s about the summer Baby and Johnny fell in love, and when they inspired each other to discover pieces of themselves they never knew existed. Who can ever forget, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner”? And hey, what about all that dirty dancing, eh?

10. Titanic (1997)
Leads: Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio
James Cameron’s $200 million account of the world’s worst shipping disaster is also a classic tale of doomed love across the social divide. On an ocean liner bound for New York, a bored young English aristocrat, Rose, discovers life through the eyes of the only man to ever make her fall deeply in love, her soul mate Jack, a penniless Irish charmer. Re-visit what true love means when you watch this film.

11. Story of Us (1999)
Leads: Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis
Ben and Katie were head over heels in love with each other, so they got married. Fifteen years later, already with two teenage kids, they find that they have grown apart and decide to file for divorce. But the thing with true love, it’s not easily shaken. All relationships go through their share of trials and challenges. The Story of Us is a heart-warming film about how love can endure if two people want the same thing.

12. Bridge of Madison County (1995)
Leads: Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep
I first learned about the novel in 1993 while I watched Oprah. The topic of the day was ’soul mates’. She invited the writer Robert James Waller to talk about this beautiful novel. I read the book and fell in love with it. The words are so lyrical and Waller is a master at this. Though the movie does not capture the entire magic of the book, it doesn’t fail to convey the meaning of deep, true and long lasting love. My suggestion before going to your nearest Blockbuster, read the book first. It makes the experience of watching the film even better.

13. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Leads: Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock
Speed may have made Sandra Bullock a star, but it’s While You Were Sleeping, where she played lonely token collector Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, that made her America’s Sweatheart. What I love about this film is that it shows people that although we may find ourselves pining for someone who doesn’t even know we exist and whom we think is the love of our life, the universe surprises us by introducing someone in our life who is even better than the one we’ve been pining for. I also like the part where Jack tells Lucy that they’re going to Florence, because she’s never had a stamp on her passport and that’s the one place she’s always dreamed of visiting.

14. The Promise (1979)
Leads: Kathleen Quinlan and Stephen Collins
Like Oliver and Jennifer, Michael comes from a rich family, while Nancy from a poor one. They’re both in college and madly in love. Unfortunately, Michael’s mother disapprove of this ‘misalliance’ and so the couple decide to elope. They meet a car crash and Nancy’s face is totally destroyed. Michael’s mother goes to see her and proposes to get her face fixed if she promises to leave her son. She agrees for fear that Michael wouldn’t love her anymore. Michael is told that Nancy died in the crash. They find each other again, after all the US may be big, but not that big for people truly in love, and this time Nancy is using the name Marie. What happens next is for you to find out. It’s one of the best classic films.

15. City of Angels (1998)
Leads: Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan
This one we all know to be truly a suspension of disbelief. How does an angel fall in love? Forgetting Seth is an angel who’s looking after Maggie, how can we not want to fall in love with someone who trades immortality for the person they love? Like Seth said, “One moment with someone you love is better than an eternity without them.’ Aawww…

16. Notting Hill (1999)
Leads: Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant
“I’m just a girl. Standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” Come on, how can we forget those lines? A true Cinderella tale, only the Cinderella is a man. But that’s not a problem, right? This film is, in my opinion, another classic. I have watched it over and over and over, I never tire of it. This was why a few weeks back I went to Notting Hill in search of the marketplace. It’s time to re-live the romance of Anna Scott and William Thacker. Go rent it or buy it. Whatever you do, don’t forget to pick up a copy of ‘She’ by Elvis Costello. Love that song!

17. The Notebook (2004)
Leads: Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling
Noah and Allie - another star-crossed lovers. This novel by Nicholas Sparks may have some of the elements of The Bridges of Madison County, but it is different in so many ways, too. I have read the book first before watching the film and it didn’t disappoint. Their love story spans 50 years. I find that though this movie may have its bearing in real life, it’s more fairytale-like. Nonetheless it brings that warm, fuzzy feeling and another one of those you’ll be needing a couple of Kleenex here and there. Do watch it. It’s on my list, isn’t it?

19. Shining Through (1992)
Leads: Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas
It’s the proverbial story of woman loving a man more than he does her. But that’s only in the beginning. Set in the second world war, it was a time of uncertainty. Men being men, and Ed being part of the military, he had a duty to his country to fulfil. However, Linda was simply motivated by her love for him that she puts her life on the line in order to help him succeed in his mission. Again, a tale of love that spans decades, though only the few months of it are actually told on screen. After the movie, you will feel the nostalgia and start humming, “I’ll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places…”

20. A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
Leads: Keanu Reeves and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
A sweet romantic film - love the old fashioned way. Victoria and her knight-errant, Paul, meet on a bus in time for the grape harvest at her family’s vineyard. Stomping on grapes is the farthest thing on her mind though, being pregnant without a husband and all. When Paul offers to help her out, things get complicated. They fall in love. It would have been ok, except Paul was still married. How they resolve their tangled hearts is told in this very beautiful and picturesque film.

So what are you waiting for? You want romance? Hit your nearest DVD shop now! And don’t forget to tell me what you favourite romantic film is and why. Also, if you do watch one of the 19 I’ve listed here, let me know what you think. Best of all, if nothing else, it’s a pretty good list for you to purchase as Christmas or birthday or anniversary pressy for the object of your affection!

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