So you have time to get your Netflix on

The Valentine's books post made me start thinking about favorite romantic movies and I think we should cover those too. I asked movie buff GH if he has a favorite romantic movie, to which he told me that guys do not think of movies in those terms. So then I asked if he has a favorite regular movie which contains a male-female relationship that inspires odd little stirrings known as feelings within his breast. The closest I got was Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So there you go.

But here are the ones that come to my mind, and I'd love to hear yours. It should come as no surprise that a lot of these are film adaptations of books I already love.

ps. It was really, really hard to narrow this down.

My Top 10, in chronological order.

A Room with a View (1986), also known as Movie with the Best. Kissing Scene. Ever.

Groundhog Day (1993). Love the moment when Bill Murry tells the sleeping Andie McDowell, "I don't deserve someone like you. But if I ever could, I swear I would love you for the rest of my life."

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Pride & Prejudice (1995 or 2005). Pianoforte Look. 'nuff said.

While You Were Sleeping (1995). When Sandra Bullock talks to the comatose Peter Eyebrows Gallagher, she asks, "Or have you ever, like, seen somebody? And you knew that, if only that person really knew you, they would, well, they would of course dump the perfect model that they were with, and realize that YOU were the one that they wanted to, just, grow old with." I think we've all been there. Also, please ignore Bill Pullman's hair.

Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Emma (1996). "I rode through the rain! I'd ride through worse if I could just hear your voice telling me . . . that I might have some chance to win you." Back when Daltongirl was my boss at BYU, I snuck onto her computer and changed the settings so that a picture of Mr. Knightley appeared at startup and this sound byte played. I flatter myself I was quite the technical genius in those days. And that there was definitely not enough security on those computers.

You've Got Mail (1998). "That caviar is a garnish." Also me and Sakhmet agree that it's ridiculous when Meg Ryan rumanites about how she lives a "small life--meaningful, but small." Owning your own Manhattan business and attending caviar & wine parties with the book publishing elite is not living a small life. Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping, there's a small life. "All day I sit in a booth, like a veal."

Notting Hill (1999)

Amelie (2001) Paris? Check. Gorgeous red & green palette? Check. Sweet, inventive, funny story? Check check check.

About a Boy (2002). The romance here takes a bit of a back seat, since Hugh Grant has to grow a heart (and grow up) first.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

North & South (2004). "Look back. Look back at me."

Jane Eyre (2006)

Lars and the Real Girl (2007). I don't know if I fell more in love with Lars or with the town that was so sweet to him.

I know there are other wonderful classic love stories (like the screwball romantic comedies of the 30s and 40s) but these are the ones I pull out over and over again.

Also, it's interesting to look at the timeline here. I hear critics talking about how The Age of the Romantic Comedy is over and from looking at my list that certainly seems true. Not one typical romcom from the last 9 years is on there. I've had to turn to the SLAs and the quirkier stuff to find characters and relationships that are actually compelling. It may be that my tastes are changing, but I don't know that that's true, since I still love those 90s movies. Does anyone else have any thoughts on that?

Posted in: Sumptuous Literary Adaptations