DVDs for V-Day: Love Stories

I'm a hopeless romantic and as such, I can't help but be drawn to epic romance stories. I'm not too big on campy rom-coms (though I've seen too many of them) and I'm not into second chances (true love gets it right the first time). I'm into stories about deeply honest, pure love that goes to no ends to make sure that it is fulfilled. It also helps if someone tragically dies at the end.

This Valentine's Day, I'd like to ask you to suspend disbelief for a few moments and indulge in these moving, deeply emotional stories about love.

4) COLD MOUNTAIN

While Inman (Jude Law) and Ada (Nicole Kidman) are separated throughout most of the film, it's their enduring distant love that pulls you in. Although conscripted in the American Civil War, Inman can't help but follow his heart back to Ada, even if it means deserting the war. Meanwhile, as he treks his way back to her, Ada is left to worry about his safe return, while mourning the death of her father and trying to work the family farm without him. It's a story about hope and faith in a love that endures what feels like endless time to findally be reunited.

3) THE NOTEBOOK

It's tough to put The Notebook on this list without fear of being cliché, but I have to do it. There's a reason that this movie resonates as one of the greatest modern love stories of all time. It's about a guy, Noah (Ryan Gosling), who's unrelenting in chasing his true love, Allie (Rachel McAdams), when things being to fall apart after their picture-perfect summer. Through years of pain and waiting, Noah is unyielding, making for a very bitter-sweet ending.

2) KITES

This underrated Bollywood movie has been one of the most surprising movies I've seen in the past couple years. While it seems much of Bollywood dismisses it because it's so different from their usual fare (no dance numbers, a mix of languages, and extremely rebellious), it's gone mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world who don't look out for Bollywood exports. J (Hrithik Roshan) is an American who marries immigrant women to get them green cards, but when he marries Mexican woman Linda (Bárbara Mori), he feels there's something more there. Meanwhile, she's actually engaged to someone else and plans for divorce once the arrangement is through. But after discovering their true feelings, divorce is out of the question. Of course, her fiancé doesn't take it well and the two flee the country, running from guns and threats and car chases, until they can finally be alone together.

1) MOULIN ROUGE

This is my favourite movie ever. Of all time. Just watching the trailer nearly makes me teary. It's the most epic love story I've ever seen. Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a "penniless writer" who falls in love with Satine (Nicole Kidman), a courtesan and star of the Moulin Rouge night club. Of course, their love can never be; her job prevents her from falling in love, especially with someone who can't afford to keep up with her demands. But their love is destined to be and despite all odds, they see it through. Aside from being a beautiful story, it's also got some of the most stunning set and costume design, along with truly convincing acting. It is the most emotional movie I've ever seen.

Michelle's Top 10 of '10: Part 2

5. Kites 

Technically, Kites is a Bollywood film, though with its mix of Hindi, Spanish and English, it's not so obvious. And almost by absolute necessity as a Bollywood export, this film is also a love story. But before you start to draw assumptions, let me straighten this out: this is not your typical Bollywood love story. OK, yes, it's overly dramatic and highly unlikely and at times, predictable, but it's really a film about true love to the nth degree in all it's purity and commitment. It's the odd film that comes along every so often to quench the thirst of hopelessly romantic cinefilles. The love between Jay (Hrithik Roshan) and Natasha (Barbara Mori) is so real and palpable that the film goes to surreal extremes to express it. Let me put it this way. This film is depicts true love in the most humanly way: it shows us what really happens when your heart explodes.

4. Splice

Science is frightening. Not just because I'm not very good at it, but because of the outcomes it can yield. In the case of Splice, that's a cross-human hybrid: a creature that loves and learns and feels, just like we do, though is not quite like us. This film is about boundaries and where exactly those boundaries exist. In this, it brings into question what exactly it means to be human - or not. It's an extremely unnerving film. It's disturbing and terrifying, though beautiful in it's ability to prod us with questions: Should this creature exist? Is this an experiment? Or has this become a relationship? Is this a being that needs to be loved? Or should this creature be killed? And where exactly did we cross the point of no return? 

3. Chloe

If you're on the fence about Amanda Seyfried, Chloe can almost surely set you straight (though may do the opposite sexuality-wise). I'm not sure I can describe her role better than I have before:

"Chloe is a spider. She weaves together a strangely sticky, embroidered web between relationships, imagination and suspicions, inviting unsuspecting prey to step foot in her domain, but along the way, gets caught herself. Seyfried is chilling as the closely-shadowing weaver. She's convincing and expressive as Chloe, who we see as old beyond her years but not hardened. She's fragile but brazen."

Working with Seyfried are the also brilliant Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, tightening dramatic tension throughout the entire film until it's ready to snap.

2. Nowhere Boy

This John Lennon biopic is about the Beatles, despite what you may have heard. Can you honestly say that a film about one-half of possibly the greatest song-writing duo ever, who wrote the majority of The Beatles' songs, making them an international phenomenon, is not a film about the Beatles? But Beatles fans aside, what makes this film engaging is the whirlwind of confusing and dramatic family dynamics in Lennon's (Aaron Johnson) life in the midst of his adolescent, although mature, life. It's not really a film about the music (though there are a few scenes that hint at the brilliance to come), it's a film about the fragments that made the man who made the music. You do not need to be a Beatles fan to love this film (though I admit, it does help), you just need a taste for family secrets, hidden lives and watching loved ones break each others' hearts.

1. Inception

I like to think. And Inception is a film for those who hobby thinking: For those who stay up late at night in bed running through what ifs, hows and whys, this film is just for you. There is so much at work in this film that helps to create such a beautiful masterpiece that maybe I should just spew it all out: talented ensemble cast, gorgeous cinematography, brilliantly layered narrative, stunning visual effects... If you're asking for more, you're insane. While the world we see in this film is like a puzzle, the film itself a set of fragmented shards that fit together perfectly, though welcomes the viewer to pick them apart.

All photos: allmoviephoto.com