Friday, September 12, 2008

Let's all say...AHHHHHH



Maybe it's because the weekend's almost here but I've been thinking about movies and it's been a long time since I've been to one. My last movie was Mamma Mia (which I looooved btw). The other day I was talking about Disney movies and being a complete sap about tearing up over them.

I'm a girl who loves a good romance movie but considering what I do for a living that's not all that surprising. I love movies that make me sigh, make me cry, and make me go ahhhhh!!!

Now I'm not completely crazy. I can't narrow my favorite romantic movies to just one. Dang, I probably have several dozen favorite all-time tear jerker, romantic flicks but I'm going to try to name a few anyway. Dr. Zhivago was one of the most romantic movies. Don't know if you've see it but it's an oldie. Beautifully made, scored, and well, just everything. Omar Shariff played the young doctor Yuri during the Russian Revolution and through a twist of fate meets the peasant girl, Lara (played by Julie Christie). You KNOW their love affair amid war and difficult times, isn't going to end well but the whole thing is just so romantic anyway. The movie is full of troikas and ice palaces, action and undying love. And some of the most beautiful music.

It's one of my favorites along with Gone With the Wind. Yeah,I know, another movie about war. But it's also about love and perhaps one of the sexiest scenes ever made was the one where Rhett carried Scarlett up that loooooong flight of stairs. Unforgettable.

Now, I'm probably seriously dating myself but when I was a young teen, Love Story was the big DATE MOVIE. Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw portrayed the perfect college lovers. He gave up his life of wealth and priviledge to marry the sassy girl from the wrong side of the tracks. This movie was so popular and everybody knew the famous line...love means never having to say you're sorry. Sappy, I know, but every guy in town took his girl to see that movie just so he could hold her close as she dissolved into tears at the end. AHHHHH. My kind of movie.


Now I don't have a picture of this movie but I seriously love the period flick Sense and Sensibilities with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslett and Hugh Grant. Based on the Jane Austen novel, this is my kind of romance. It's, to me, unforgettable. The scene at the end with Emma Thompson's character and Hugh Grant's hero has me...sniff, sniff...weeping. EVERY TIME. There's just something about her character holding it all together for everyone else. Telling her sister about her broken heart isn't something she would do. She holds everything deep, deep inside. And just when she thinks all is lost....well, you'll have to watch the movie.

So grab a box of kleenex, a bottle of wine, and some of the best chocolate you can find and tell me what YOU would watch when you want a romance fix.

23 comments:

Laura J. said...

Regina--

I loved Mama Mia too. The guys weren't very good singers, but still Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan, who cares. I'm going to see the Broadway version in a couple of months when it comes on tour near me. My husband, not so thrilled (once at the movies was enough for him), but I've convinced him we are going and there are songs in the stage version that weren't in the movie.

Now my favorite romantic movie that I will watch over and over again is Notting Hill.

I also love the old Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies. Pillow Talk will always be a favorite. Despite that the couple are never shown have sex, it's the chase and catch of these movies that make it so romantic.

Amy Ruttan said...

I love all those movies, except Gone With the Wind. I can't stand it. I'm sorry but there are many a times I want to bitch slap Scarlett O'Hara. To me she is a TSTL heroine.

I do want to see Mamma Mia, BADLY! I think it's hilarious that Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy) is playing the gay guy. ROFL.

Molly Daniels said...

I also can't wait to see Mama Mia:)

Right now, The Notebook is my fav. Daughter laughes everytime I start crying. She's 14 and doesn't get it yet.

Anny Cook said...

OOoooh, I LOVED that version of Sense and Sensibility!

A movie that people don't think of as a romance right off--Dances with Wolves was excellent.

Regina Carlysle said...

I didn't really care all that much that the singing wasn't great. I was fun and snappy. And of course, checking out Pierce and Colin made it all worth it. Also loved the relationship between the WOMEN. They soooo rocked.

Regina Carlysle said...

I KNOW Amy. Isn't that funny??? The whole movie just touched on so many things. OW/YM, lost love, crazy things we do when we're young. All of that.

Regina Carlysle said...

Lots of people count The NOtebook as their fave. I love that one too.

Regina Carlysle said...

Anny, I ALMOST listed Dances With Wolves. It's not just historical adventure but a real love story. Wonderful.

Doesn't that scene at the end of Sense and Sensibilties just GET YOU??? I also loved the Kiera Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice. That scene where he's walking throught the mist toward her just makes me go...ahhhh.

Barb said...

Well, you've hit on it Regina. Gone With the Wind is my all time favorite movie. And that scene in Pride and Prejudice gets me every time. Just the music alone in P&P gets to me. One movie that can really make me cry is The Way We Were, at the end when he crosses the street 5 years after they divorce and she moves the hair off his forehead. *sigh*.

Regina Carlysle said...

Ahhh. Damn Barb. The Way We Were. SIGH. I got goosebumps thinking about that scene. If you liked P & P you really should watch Sense and Sensibilities. Beautiful.

Kelley Nyrae said...

Hands down, The Notebook. I love that movie. I'm a big romance movie addict. Pride and Prejudice was good, Titanic, Love and Basketball, A Walk to Remember, When a Man Loves a Woman. Can you tell I like movies that make me cry?

Regina Carlysle said...

Ahhh. Titanic. Sad but a wonderful love story.

Terri said...

How about LOVE, ACTUALLY? Along with NOTTING HILL, a favourite. Even if it does have Hugh Grant. I liked him in Sense and Sensibility, though I prefered Alan Rickman...

Regina Carlysle said...

I actually preferred Alan Rickman too. Love him.

I ran out and bought Love Actually the day it was released. As I said in the post, there were just too many to name. LOL

Dana Marie Bell said...

The Desk Set. There's just something about the way Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn react to each other in that movie that I love.

Regina Carlysle said...

I think that's why Tracy and Hepburn are such iconic figures. Their movies were LIKE that. Lots of battle of the sexes kind of stuff, snappy, fun dialogue.

Helen Hardt said...

I gotta agree with Amy -- Scarlett needs a heavy dose of bitch slap. I was so glad Rhett walked out on her, and frankly my dear, in my version, he never comes back, LOL.

Love all your other picks, though. My all time favorite? I'm not sure I could choose, but there are two that hold a special place in my heart, if only because I saw them both for the first time as an adolescent, and they were my initiation into romantic movies at a time when I was ready to feel the feelings, you might say. First is The Harvey Girls, starring Judy Garland, and second is The Sound of Music. I'm sorry, but that scene in the courtyard when Maria is going to leave and Captain Von Trapp comes out and tells her he isn't going to marry the Baroness -- it's stuff dreams are made of!

Helen

Anne Rainey said...

I'm the worst, I rarely watch romance movies. I'd rather watch a scary movie actually. LOL

Regina Carlysle said...

Oh Helen, I love that scene from The Sound of Music too and that beautiful WEDDING. SIGGGHHHHH

Desirée Lee said...

I'm weird, I know, but I love the affection between Jack and Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Carpe Noctem,
Des



Desirée Lee
Putting the Romance Back in Necromancy
http://www.desireelee.com
des@desireelee.com

Unknown said...

Hi, there, friend--I cry in lots of movies. Doctor Zhivago was my all-time favorite--I've seen it probably ten times--you don't want a good movie to go to waste.But some in which the whole world cried, I didn't. LOVE STORY was one of those--it didn't hit me like everyone else. I even cried in SEX AND THE CITY. The most recent highly emotional movie was ATONEMENT--and I bawled pretty much through the entire movie. It's a difficult one to watch--wrings the viewer completely dry.In recent years, I've to steer away from any movie that's heartbreaking or depressing or frightening--just wait for feel-good ones. and yes, I loved SENSE AND SENSIBILITY--even my dh liked it. Celia

Tonya said...

There are tons of movies I love that have the romance....The Notebook is my top fave. My husband has tried to get me to watch Doctor Zhivago for years....I'll break down and surprise him soon with a movie night but I was driving home last night and thought about Walk the Line....I loved that movie!!! That love was odd, but sooooo strong!!

K.M. Saint James said...

My best romantic film is Pride and Prejudice, over the top hero! Gotta love a man in that coat!

Sleepless in Seattle words for me as well. I like it better than An Affair to Remember because of the references back to the movie and because of Joshua (the kid). Love movies set in NYC -- well, at least this ones ends there.

And the remake of Sabrina. Gets me everytime when the proud man is humbled by the woman's love. Yep, how do I write that and always get it right on the page?