Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge
So, it's another Valentine's day. And we're still in home quarantine. Darn! The pandemic is sabotaging everything in our love life. With the world still shutoff to everything, meeting prospects is a remote possibility this year. I mean, yeah, it thoroughly dwindled into obscurity. 😒
But sulk not! We can be single and still happy this Valentine's day 😂
The epidemic of Valentine's day
So, what would be this year's V-day feel like to everyone? Single or taken? Perhaps, Love in the bubble, a celebration at home, is the safest option.
As years go by, Valentine's day appears more like a day of business gimmicks than a special day to express love and affection to loved ones.
It's quite a reputation among all celebrations in a year. If you're in a relationship, there's a constant pressure of what to buy, what to do, where to go with a partner. Repeating the same anxiety of getting the day right every year.
If you're a single, well, it's a day that you'll feel the sting of singlehood. Everywhere reminds you that everybody in this world is already with somebody, except you. 😒
But don't mop, you'll get used to it. LOL!
We're still in the pandemic time and people are not expected to fill the street with PDA. And most likely will just stay at home. And those in a relationship might just observe the day apart from each other.
Yeah, the pandemic makes all of us "single" this Valentine's day because we're still in a community quarantine and parties and gatherings are still prohibited.
What are we going to do on February 14?
Why not do some movie marathon instead? Romantic movies are also chocolates for a woman's heart that we can sweetly devour at home on February 14.
It's Sunday after all! A great day to dive into the canon of feel-good movies that warm our hearts and relax our thoughts. With these selections, one can feel the warmth of romance all over again without the risk of heartbreak.
These selections are some of the best movies we in all ages we have around. Light-hearted, warm to the senses, classic, and feel-good stories. You'll feel its unique intensity of love and the sweet pulsating vibe of emotion that makes you swoon in romance all over again.
1. Moulin Rouge (2001)
One of the best musical films ever to come out from a film studio. This is a must-see film this Valentine's day because it makes us dream of falling in love all over again.
Dream about life in vivid colors, dream about finding love, dream about meeting someone who could sweep off our feet and let us feel the softness of the world filled with affection and tenderness.
A scene in Moulin Rouge
The film will take you everywhere under the mystical backdrop of lights and fantasies in a wave of wonder and extravagance of a Parisian cabaret. It is a full-scaled musical drama filled with a heart-stopping theatrical magic. And yes, feel love.
It stars Nicole Kidman as Satine, a beautiful courtesan who has a secret illness and Ewan McGregor as a struggling writer and poet who hopelessly in-love with Satine. Together, they will bring the audience into a splendid story of love, struggle and rivalry.
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor
This is one of my favorite musical films. The songs performed by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor are enough to warm your heart this Valentine's day.
My favorite part is when Ewan McGregor sang Elton John's classic "Your Song". So awesomely performed it became one of my favorite songs of all time! You tend to believe that true love really exists not just in imagination.
Moulin Rouge celebrates 20th anniversary this year. Still, the film is so refreshing in my thoughts, have not watched a musical movie as good as Moulin Rouge in years.
This Means War (2012)
No, this movie is not about wars and hardcore action, it's about the hilarious love rivalry between two bestfriends, macho CIA agents, Frank (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) who discover, to their dismay, that they are dating the same woman.
This film still gives me a hell of laughter no matter how many times I would re-watch it. No boring moment. All spices of a warm and hilarious film are in. American spy crossing the parameter of romance and comedy.
It's the story of the two CIA agents who formed a close bond doing their hardcore spy jobs together. When they got back to the office, they shared anecdotes, excitement and thrill about the woman they are about to date.
The hilarious rivalry
They are challenging each other to reveal the latest objection of their fantasy and when they showed their laptop together and revealed the identity of the woman, they got the shock of their lives when they discovered they're talking the same woman.
Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) is a personification of almost all girls in the world when they hit over 30. Impatient to find love, bored and lonely and can't wait to hook up with someone. So, she enlisted herself in a dating website.
Chris Pine as Frank and Tom Hardy as Tuck in This Means War
What follows next is a game of breaking the stereotype of rivalry and jealousy in romance. You would love to absorb the smartness, hilarity and fun of these two hunky CIA agents trying to seduce and win Lauren.
One of them will eventually end up Lauren at the end of the movie, just guess who. Yeah, one of the most entertaining romantic-comedies I have ever watched so far.
The Cutting Edge (1992)
OMG! Some of you might not even born yet when this film emerged in a theater more than two decades ago but this is one of the most beautiful teenage flicks I have ever watched. It was so huge in the box office that this film had so many versions in later years.
If you like the love-and-hate-then fall in love relationship in a film, this one will surely please your heart. The story is so cute and heartwarming, you are ready to fall in love again. I mean, it's 1990s where movie industry had really great films.
It's one of my favorite light romance films and the reason why I began to love the figure ice skating sport in World Olympics.
It starred Moira Kelly and D.B Sweeney, two Hollywood cuties you might have not heard in your lifetime 😄 but in the 1990s they are the hottest crushes in Hollywood.
Moira and D.B in The Cutting Edge
It follows the story of Kate (Moira Kelly), a rich, spoiled brat and ill-tempered world-class figure ice skater who is paired with a former hockey player, Doug (D.B Sweeney) for the American figure ice skating team bound for World Olympics.
They had met earlier, at the 1988 World Olympics. What made that meeting a little ugly to their memory was the circumstances. They collided while at the arena prompting Doug to incur a head injury.
The accident made him to miss his chance to join his team at the Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, in another world of sports, Kate's ice skating coach becomes impatient with her attitude as she drives off every Olympic partner she paired in the training.
In the last ditch of effort, her coach looks for someone outside the ice skating sports who does not know Kate's behavior. His search leads him to Doug.
I would not elaborate what happens next, it is up to you to discover. But the story will surely make you fall in love again. The love-me-hate-me stuff was so surreal!
It's one of the most beautiful rom-com films fashioned in a classic, not overrated screenplay. A must-watched this Valentine's day.
Down To You (2000)
The movie that I started to have a crush on Freddie Prince Jr. 😄 It's just so cute and mushy and oh so romantic.
It's a teenage flick with lots of tweetums scenes and yeah, it makes you fall I'm love all over again.
It's the story of Al (Freddie Prince Jr) and Imogen (Julia Stiles) who fell in love the first time they met.
But their relationship turned sour when their priorities collided, being young also took toll on how they viewed their relationship.
The chasing and pondering if they really love each other will make you swoon in young love once more.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
This is not entirely a romantic. It's more on adventure and action. But this film tops my list as one of the greatest films of all time, greatest than those three in the above list.
But for the sake of Valentine's day, I will just put it here in the fourth spot because, come on, we do not want to get serious this day of hearts.
The fight scenes are so magical and breathtaking, after all it's an Ang Lee film starring the ever versatile Hongkong actor, Chow Yun Fat, Malaysian martial art expert, Michelle Yeoh, and Chinese sweetheart, Zhang Ziyi.
It's one of the critically-acclaimed films of all time and even nominated in 10 categories including Best Picture in the Oscar awards. It garnered the Best Foreign Film award.
But more than the backdrop of adventure, martial arts, breathtaking stunts, gravity and imagination, is a story of loyalty and sacrificing love between Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) and Yu Shun Lien (Michelle Yeoh).
One of the fight scenes in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
It has depth and poetry woven in a thrilling story of adventure and unrequited love sets during the Qing Dynasty in China.
Li Mu Bai, a Wudang swordsman, and Yu Shun Lien, also a warrior, fell in love but kept their feelings hidden due to their mission to recapture the Green Destiny, a sword once belonged to Mu Bai's master.
Theirs is a classic story of sacrificing love put aside due to other responsibilities - like job. And when they finally decide to give it a go, destiny tears them apart.
Zhang Ziyi as Jen Yu
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is not one of those tragic films that leaves you regretting towards the end. It is a beautiful story of self-discovery and unearthing many possibilities (Zhang Ziyi), understanding the dynamic of true love, and doing what is right to balance duty and feelings.
It is a must-see film, something you should not missed watching this weekend. A classic film of unleashing one's imagination and dream.
If you are still looking for romantic-comedy films to watch this Valentine's day, here are my runners-up, equally entertaining and heartwarming.
- Nothing Hill (1999) - Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant
- Serendipity (2001) - Kate Beckenzale and John Cusack
- Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) - Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell
- Pride and Prejudice (2005) - Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen
- Before Sunset (2004) - Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy
Let's wallop in couch or in bed this Valentine's day and gobble these movies like chocolates to feel warm and love. Good replacement for romantic dinner, sweets and flowers.
Happy Valentine's day! 💖
0 Comments