Video shopping for Valentine's Day viewing

Continuting my theme of romance based pop culture delights,we head on over to movies. Romance films get a really bad rap for sentimental storylines, overdone acting and weird premises like falling in love with dead(or nearly dead)people. These movies,however,are my own personal picks and may strike some as a tad weird or sappy but hey,we all have different takes on affairs of the heart-why else do they make boxes of assorted chocolates for?




CROSSING DELANCEY

This movie just came out on DVD and if you have not seen this yet,please do so. You won't regret it. Amy Irving stars as Isabelle,an upscale bookstore clerk hoping to be the love of a snooty writer's life but her grandmother has other ideas. She consults a local matchmaker(played with cackling glee by Sylvia Miles)who arranges a date between Isabel and Sam( Peter Riegart),the neighborhood pickle man.

Isabelle finds the whole notion of matchmaking to be absurd but goes along with it to please her Bubbie,who turns out to have a good eye for a decent man. The movie is a sweet low key but charming film(based on a stage play)that doesn't wrap up the plot in a neat little bow but gives you a good idea of where it's going. A sweetheart of a sleeper film.



NOTTING HILL

Julia Roberts is the current queen of the romantic movie scene and while Pretty Woman gets tons of kudos,I prefer this quirky flick instead. Hugh Grant is one of the few big name actors in the world who can pull off a regular guy type of role believably and his stint here as travel bookstore owner William Thatcher is so endearing. Roberts does a nice job of playing someone like herself not as a send-up or a cartoon but as a real person,just a "girl,standing in front of a boy,asking him to love her."







TRUE ROMANCE

A movie written by Quentin Tarantino,directed by Tony Scott,with a plot about a comic book store clerk and a hooker on the run with a cache of stolen drugs may not sound like a film to snuggle with your honey on the sofa to watch but,trust me,this is a love story for the ages. Clarence(Christian Slater)and Alabama(Patrica Arquette)are the sweetest couple you'll ever want to meet. They hook up at a Sonny Chiba double feature and instantly connect. Even with all the gunplay and major league showdown action,the love between those two is the real heart of the story.



LOVE AT FIRST BITE

This vampire comedy from the late 70's is fun for many reasons; Artie Johnson is a brillantly demented Renfield,most of the jokes are still snappy and this is the first vampire romance I've ever seen that doesn't end with the leading man getting staked for his troubles. George Hamilton and Susan St James make for a lovely couple and Richard Benjamin as a modern day Van Helsing rocks as the third wheel.

A word of warning to those who have already seen this movie;for some reason on the DVD,the song"I love the nightlife" that plays in the key dance scene between Hamilton and St. James has been replaced by a generic tune. Why,I don't know-the song can be heard on the original trailer for LAFB,which is a bonus feature. My advice is to mute the sound during that scene and have your IPod or CD player play the song instead.




CASABLANCA

Gotta represent the old school and there's no better example than Casablanca. Bogart,Bergman,"The Germans wore grey,you wore blue",As Time Goes By,"I'm shocked,shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!",the "hill of beans" speech,....is there really a need for me to go on?



Casablanca is the perfect pic for a Movie Night with your significant other but I would be alittle more flexible on the rules than Lorelai is with Luke: