Love in Films

Happy February, folks, it’s the month of annoying weather and expensive chocolate. On a non-movie-related note, stores fill up with Valentine’s Day decorations as soon as Christmas is over, which I think is weird because we celebrate it for about a day. Anyway, to celebrate love all month, we’ll focus on ten movies about cheesy, stupid love. Four funny romance movies, three more serious romance movies, two showcasing love through hardships, and one film that I love! There is a possibility for overlap for those middle two groups, but when you watch them, you'll understand my categorization. A lot of pretentious people who take film too seriously think that romance is a genre inferior to others, but I know that they’re 1. Allergic to fun and happiness, 2. Not free thinkers, and 3. Close-minded.  I refuse to let you be close-minded, sad, and stupid. Pick a struggle. You’re welcome.

Rom-coms and com-roms:

1. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

I love this movie a lot, and I’m sure you do too. There is a super cool girl who knows a lot of things, Kat, who tries to avoid falling for this weird, cocky Australian guy, Patrick. One of his friends says he’ll pay Patrick to try and get a date with Kat, because Kat is known for being a bit mean and antisocial. But in a cool way. By the end of his endeavors, Patrick realizes that he actually likes being around Kat and would do it for free. By the end, Kat is so fed up with Patrick’s antics that she writes a list of his ten worst characteristics. It's great. The one main couple is awesome, but we also get a bonus couple. Something about learning French. J'aime beaucoup ça. Anyway, I was incredibly inspired by Kat, the main character, and decided to write a love poem of my own. Of course, dedicated to my one true love. Here it is:

I hate the way you steal my time, and the way nothing compares. I hate the way you rule my life, and your use of dramatic flair. I hate your big dumb scary scenes, and when your anticipation climbs. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme. I hate it. I hate the way you bring a story to life. I hate it when you’re a disc I buy, I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry. I hate it when you refuse to load, and the fact that you can't play in school. But mostly I hate that I don’t hate you. Not even a little bit, not even at all. 

TLDR: I love movies. 

And I really do love this movie, I think it’s perfect for any time of the year, but because it's a rom-com, it’s perfect for our fun-filled February film fest. 

2. 13 Going on 30 (2004)

Being a teenager is so difficult. I mean, everyone around you is suddenly really weird and everything is confusing. Don’t you ever wish you could be older? Skip the hardships of being young and go right to being older, maybe right to being thirty? Thirty, flirty, and thriving. Thirteen-year-old Jenna Rink for sure would agree with this wish; in fact, she actively wishes for it after a particularly hard day. Much to her surprise and confusion, her wish is granted. She is transported into the future, right to her life as a thirty-year-old. At first, she loved it. Being an adult is fun, it's free, it's fantastic. But she begins to realize that a lot has changed during the 17 years she skipped out on. Mainly, she’s seemingly not in contact with her very best friend and lifelong next-door neighbor, Matty. Her friends now, if you could even really call them that, are stuck up and borderline evil. Jenna goes on a conquest to fix her life as a thirty-year-old, bringing the kindness and happiness that she seems to have lost growing up, back into her adult life. She hopes that Matty is included in this joy, but he’s about to get married and doesn't really want much to do with her. Will Jenna ever get to go back to her 13-year-old life? And if she does, will she be able to change the way her future plays out? Will she be able to prevent the rift between her and Matty? I sure hope so.

3. Bottoms (2023)

Comedy with a side of romance peaked in 2023 when Bottoms came out. Pun absolutely intended. Josie and PJ are unpopular, unliked, and awkward teenage lesbians with absolutely no game. I don’t really relate to them because I am not at all like that (I mean people like me), but I still find their story entertaining and endearing. They are dead set on getting girlfriends by the end of their senior year of high school. At the end of summer, they run into their bomb expert classmate, Hazel, and tell a joke to her that was taken a bit too seriously, snowballing into a crazy string of lies, all while they form and run an after-school fight club. This movie is absolutely ridiculous, from the football players wearing their full uniforms (cleats included) at all times to the array of exaggerated characters. This uniquely raunchy comedy is a wonderful play on a typical high school comedy movie. It’s perfect for literally any day, but if you’re looking to laugh this V-day, I think this 90-minute miracle will make your day. Or your year. Or your life. It definitely made my life.

4. The Princess Bride (1987)

The film mainly follows star-crossed lovers, Westley and Buttercup, as they lose each other early on in life. They’re destined to fail because Buttercup is a beautiful maiden and Westley is a mere farm boy. Westley sets off to claim his fortune one day, but he never returns because his ship was attacked by a group of pirates, known for being ruthless and leaving no survivors. Buttercup is left to marry an ugly and annoying prince. Motivated by love, she runs away at the last minute, and along the way, finds a group of misfit pirate guys. A very small man with an inconceivably bad grasp on the English language, a very, very large man with a big heart, and a Spanish swordsman on a mission to find a six-fingered man who killed his father. The four of them run into an untrustworthy man in black, and the five of them go on an adventurous runaway journey, trying to escape the prince Buttercup was supposed to marry. This movie is really one of those perfectly funny and sweet romantic movies; it’s a cult classic for a reason. The Princess Bride is a great way to warm your heart during these cold winter months.

Love through hardships:

5. La La Land (2016)

Mia and Sebastian meet in traffic, again in a jazz bar, and then again at a party. They can’t seem to stop running into each other; it’s like they’re meant to be in each other's lives. Both parties are struggling artists living in Los Angeles. Mia is an aspiring actress. She struggles to stand out amongst her peers: something always goes wrong at her auditions, somebody is always just a bit better than her. Sebastian loves jazz, probably more than he loves anything in the world. The jazz he loves is classic, and he dreams of opening a jazz bar where he keeps the music as it should be, without any kind of modern twist. They’re reluctant at first, because of their busy lives, but Mia and Sebastian eventually start dating, and it seems perfect. No relationship is without fault, though, and over time, their love for the arts they struggle so hard to find success in puts stress on their relationship. They have trouble fully committing to each other, as it feels like they cannot exist freely in their relationship while staying fully committed to their art. Eventually, though, things start to look up, and they might just succeed in balancing their love for each other and their love for their lifelong passions. This film is not only an emotional rollercoaster, but it is also absolutely beautiful. It very briefly held the title of Best Picture at the Oscars in 2016, until the announcers realized they had committed the biggest Freudian slip crime in cinema history. The actual winner was Moonlight. But the point still stands, La La Land is one of the most visually pleasing films I’ve ever seen. The use of color in the film is mind-blowing, and the attention to detail paid off, because every frame of this movie could be framed and hung on the wall of an art gallery. 

6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)  

Do you have a memory you really want gone? Maybe a bad day or an embarrassing moment? In this film, a company exists where all of that is possible. Joel and Clementine used to be in love, but love is tough, and they weren't willing to fight too hard for their relationship. After breaking up, Joel finds out that Clementine is going to have her memories of their relationship erased, and decides to do the same. Part of the process is recording everything about it that you can remember, so that they can remove those memories from your head. The people in charge of Joel’s operation have a wild night, and instead of removing the memories from his head, they replay in backwards timeline order. Joel, in his mind, is reliving all of these memories with Clementine. As he goes back to earlier memories, he realizes that he doesn't want to forget her, and now has to fight his way out of his head and back awake to stop the operation. Does he make it out and back to Clementine? Or is their love lost forever? 

7. Waves (2019)

The first half of this film follows a complicated journey through love. A high school wrestler, Tyler, who hides an injury and pushes himself through his season. He and his girlfriend, Alexis, are a great couple. For the most part. Some big changes happen, and they’re faced with a tough decision. After disagreeing on how to go through with this decision, they fight, which puts stress on their already-strained relationship. Later, at a party, Tyler calls Alexis, with plans to talk about and work through their issues. But they’re high schoolers at a party, they’re intoxicated, and intoxication gets the best of Tyler. The first half ends with Tyler and Alexis’ relationship. The second half of the film also follows a complicated journey through love, but it's a growing love, rather than a dying love. We follow Tyler’s sister, Emily, who’s very different from her brother. She’s sweet and quiet and nice. She spends the end of her school year dating one of Tyler’s teammates, Luke, who is different from Tyler and most of the wrestling team. He’s awkward and closed off, but the two of them grow close and decide to go on a trip to visit Luke’s father. This film is so wonderful and so beautiful. It breaks you down and builds you back up again. It’s a journey through the ups and downs of love–one could even say, the Waves of love.

Rom Serious:

8. Eternity (2025)

What happens after you die? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation? Nothing? Surprise! It’s none of them. Larry found this out after dying one day. Don’t worry, he lived a nice long life with his wonderful wife, Joan. Larry wakes up confused on a train, and then when he arrives at a station, he grows even more confused. After it is explained to him that after death, you get to choose an Eternity. A place to spend the rest of forever. Paris land, Beach land, Wine land, literally anything you could think of. Do you remember Joan? Larry’s wonderful wife? Surprise again! She had cancer, which got her about a week after Larry’s passing. The two meet up in this weird train station and are deciding on an eternity to go to, when another man shows up, Luke. Surprise again! Joan was married when she was younger to a dude who died in a war. Luke has been waiting for Joan for a long long long time. Like a super long time. Joan is overwhelmed after meeting her other husband, but is ultimately happy to see him again. Luke and Larry cannot stop fighting; this fighting only grows after Joan suggests they all go to an eternity together. Because men are incapable of sharing, they ask her to choose one of them. Each husband gets a day in an eternity of his choice to prove to Joan that she should choose him. This woman cannot catch a break, but she finally makes a decision. Does she end up happy with this decision? Maybe. I’m not going to tell you so I guess you have to watch it. 

9. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Adapted from the very famous Jane Austen book of the same name, Pride and Prejudice is widely regarded as the greatest romance movie ever. People have called Mr. Darcy the “yearning final boss,” and I’d say he's definitely up there on the list of top ten yearners. Mr. Darcy is super rich. He’s cold and a bit aloof. Despite not being a very likable guy, people are throwing themselves at him in hopes of marrying his money. I mean him. Unfortunately for all of these women, Mr. Darcy is super in love with Elizabeth Bennet. Unfortunately for him, Elizabeth Bennet isn't super in love with Mr. Darcy. She’s pretty vocal about this. They don't live very close, but they do see each other at social events. Each time they see each other, Mr. Darcy falls more and more in love, and Elizabeth’s stance on him stays seemingly unchanging. Something something hand flex, something something rainy love confession, something something beautiful love. Besides the love story, you get some picture-perfect cinematography and a lovely classical score that immerses you in this 19th-century drama. 

Aislyn’s Love:

10. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

To close our love-month celebration, I’m recommending a movie that I love. You will also love this one. I’m not really giving you a choice here. Miles Morales just wants his old life back. He wants to go to his old school with his old friends and just make art, not be at some new smart kid school with a uniform and people he doesn't know. Changes are scary. One night, while out painting a very cool, totally awesome, probably super illegal graffiti mural with his Uncle Aaron, Miles is bitten by a spider. But he doesn't think much of it. He should’ve been skeptical, though, because he starts sticking to things and is suddenly tall. He is also at fault for the unfortunate haircut of one of his classmates, Gwen. Miles quickly figures out that he’s developed Spider-Man abilities. Which is weird, New York already has a Spider-Man. He ventures out to find this Spider-Man, but only gets a few moments with him before the hero is killed. Now, Miles thinks he has to navigate these new powers alone. Life is full of surprises. He runs into a man who looks just like the Peter Parker that just died, and the two of them figure out that this new guy, Peter B. Parker has been pulled out of his universe and into Miles’. They find that Peter B. Parker is not the only stray Spider-Man; there are actually four others with spider abilities– one of them being Gwen, the girl from earlier– and the six of them band together to try and find a way home. A very very very large man, named Wilson Fisk, built a particle collider that is responsible for both the death of his universe's Peter Parker and the arrival of the five other spider-people. Being in the wrong universe is hurting others, and the longer they're away from home, the worse it gets. Miles must quickly learn to use his powers and help his friends get back to their homes, which is much easier said than done. The gang makes hard decisions and faces incredibly tough challenges. Man, changes are scary. Changing schools must feel so much easier to Miles after this wild adventure. They just put this back on Netflix, so, as much as I hate Netflix, I urge you to watch this one right now. It’s literally one of the greatest films ever made. 

Did you love it? I hope you loved it? I do not take any responsibility for any emotional turmoil any of these movies might cause you; that’s just how life is sometimes. Movies through hardships. While you’re watching these movies about love, think long and hard about what you love. Film? These articles? A crisp theater soda? Whatever it is that you love, spend some time appreciating it this month. Also, for the record, I am aware that it’s Black History Month in February. Movies about Black history make me really sad, so you can watch those on your own time. I would never recommend anything that could ever possibly make you cry. You’re welcome. Remember to just say no to Big Streaming and see something in theaters this month! Regal has a lot of really good already-released movies going back to theaters in February. Including one from this list. Five bucks if you give me photo evidence of you going!!