Gimme 5: Favorite Love Stories
August 6, 2010 60 Comments
Me and My Sister Donna!
Me and My Sister Donna!
I figure I’d go from posting your 5 favorite hotties last week (some great feedback on that one everyone — much thanks!), to something a little bit more sentimental this time around.
This “Gimme 5” is in honor of my super-awesome and beautiful sister, Donna who is getting married in exactly one week. CONGRATULATIONS, DONNA AND RICH!!! As you can imagine, there’s all this love in the air and I wanted to keep that vibe going and fuse it into my humble little film site. And really…who doesn’t love a good movie romance anyway? Some of the most popular movies belong to the ‘romance’ genre: romantic comedies, sweeping epic romances, romantic mysteries, adventure, and on and on. And yes, Annie Hall would no doubt be in my Top 5, but in the spirit of trying to mix things up, I’ll leave it out this one week. But just once!!!
So for this week, keep that summer lovin feelin’ and:
GIMME 5 FAVORITE LOVE STORIES!!!
I will start… 
1. City Lights (1931)
Chaplin’s timeless classic where his Tramp falls for a beautiful blind girl
2. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Hepburn and Grant make a terrific couple in this screwball comedy
3. Il Postino (1994)
Combine this beautiful love story (with the breathtaking Maria Grazia Cucinotta) and my favorite poet, and it’s easily one of my favorites
4. Serendipity (2001)
Yes, it’s utterly fantastical and cheesy — and I fall for it every time.
5. Reds (1981)
A gloriously filmed romantic epic of John Reed (Warren Beatty) & Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) is passionate & inspired
Honorable Mentions: Beauty & the Beast (1991) and The Fisher King (1991)
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Hmmm, it’s gonna be tough to whittle it down to 5 but let’s see:
• Dear Frankie: Lizzie & The Stranger
• Return to Me: Gracie & Bob
• Roman Holiday: Princess Ann & Joe Bradley
• The Painted Veil: Kitty & Walter
• Sense & Sensibility: Elinor & Edward
I can easily list up to twenty on this topic! 🙂
Ooooo, Sense and Sensibility — excellent choice, Ruth! Nicely done! I really like Painted Veil too….Have yet to see Dear Frankie. Thanks for chiming in, as always!!!
Oh you MUST see Dear Frankie, Peter. I just posted my least fave movie by my fave actor, which is Gerard Butler, and even the guys were giving him a pass for The Ugly Truth BECAUSE of this movie. Methinks you’ll enjoy it.
thanks, Ruth! I will put it in my queue and read up on it asap!
mr.eramo, you look funny in the picture!!!!!!
you know i might say “BOY MEETS BOY”, bbbbbbbbut maybe not.
THOSE BOY ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
GAY!!!!!!
1. Phantom of the Opera
2. dare I say it, but… Oldboy? ;]
3. King Kong
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Love Actually
I really like Love, Actually. I never cared for Benjamin Button. You are very strange for mentioning Oldboy in this category, but I see what you mean….thinking outside the box…I like it!
You know how I know you’re gay?
How?
You like Phantom of the Opera.
lol excuse me? I loved Phantom of the Opera
O and yea, B.Button as a movie was very so-so, I decided to put it up there cause i thought it was a real unique type of romance
1. Frankie and Johnny
2. Moonstruck
3. (500) Days of Summer
4. The Notebook
5. An Officer and a Gentleman
Cool that someone mentions Moonstruck! My friend Becky’s been egging me on to watch it as I have it from Netflix since last week.
Moonstruck is actually a really cute film. Even better if you are Italian (more relate-able, I guess). Excellent screenplay.
Love (500) Days!!! Very sweet, although Zooey is a bit of a bitch to poor Joseph. Frankie and Johnny is a nice story and Pacino just rocks in it….I’m a guy so I don’t like The Notebook very much at all. 🙂
1. 500 Days of Summer
2. Titanic
3. Shakespeare in Love
4. Chasing Amy
5. Il Postino
Their odd choices, but I loved them all!
Loved 500 Days – great/original film. We agree on Il Postino, of course. I could not stand Chasing Amy. i saw your review on your site….I had major problems with that one. Good list here, man.
Lovely on Chasing Amy
I found that film to be very insulting. Kevin Smith is not a very good writer and I hated that film.
Wow! Tell me what you really think! Ha!
1. Romeo & Juliet
2. Dirty Dancing
3. You’ve Got Mail
4. Twilight (just for you Peter!!!) LOL
5. West Side Story
P.S. I love you…great movie but I cried hysterically!!!
I also LOVE Serendipity!!!!
And how could I forget Rachel and Ross. =)
who are rachel and ross?
i wish this site had a like button… because this comment is worthy of a “like”
Tara, this is horrible….You’ve Got mail??? Really???!!! If it’s any consolation, West Side Story, I really enjoy. I hope you are not referring to the Leonardo version of R&J here. And yes, Serendipity rocks!
I respect your choices Tara, as always…but we have such opposite taste!!! Still love ya though!
You will always love me! 😉
1. remember me
2. notebook
3.grease
4.p.s i love you
5.romeo and juliet
yes, grease is a good choice. Didn’t even think of that one. Romeo and Juliet is awesome — but not the Leonardo one – love the Zefferelli version. Nice list, Patrizia!
I had a little bit tougher time with this one, but here are the 5 I came up with…
Singles
Rebecca
Jerry Maguire
The Princess Bride
Vertigo
These are excellent choices, man. Singles is a terrific film and Rebecca is my all-time favorite Hitchcock movie. Princess Bride love story is a good one. Nicely done…
Awww, how sweet, my brother!! Thank you!!
Here are my love story picks…
1. The Notebook
2. True Romance
3. Serendipity
4. When Harry met Sally
5. Say Anything
True Romance — sweet pick! Harry/Sally, also known as Annie Hall II. Love Serendipity!!! Well done, my sister…and CONGRATS!!! SO EXCITED!!!
Good topic! I don’t think I can put these in any ranking because I could watch them all over and over again…
Beauty and the Beast
Gone With The Wind
Ever After
Elizabethtown
The Notebook
GWTW and Beauty and the Beast are wonderful!!! I hated Elizbethtown! Need to see Ever After.
And honorable mentions of course…
Definitely Maybe
You’ve Got Mail
Sleepless in Seattle
Titanic
The Sound of Music
I think 5 was not enough… this could have been a top 10
1) King Kong.
2) Raging Bull (second wife)
3) Quiet Man
4) Rocky
5) Sleepless in Seattle
King Kong. Well played.
Nice picks Raul! Hooray for Raging Bull. and Rocky. The 2nd best love story of the movie: Cuff & Link
Oooo, Quiet Man. Nice one. King Kong is a smart choice. Of course Rocky. OF COURSE!!!
This is a nice antidote to my top 10 today: http://www.top10films.co.uk/archives/2347
…congrats to Donna and Rich! Glad they didn’t fall into the trap of my above list!
Love stories have always been a difficult sell for me but there have been a few that have risen above the rest:
1. The Apartment
2. Cinema Paradiso (which would also include the love (friendship) between the cinema projectionist and the young boy)
3. Annie Hall
4. PS. I Love You
5. When Harry met Sally
I was wondering about Cinema Paradiso, which is one of my all-time favs…but I went more with man/woman love for my 5. You are awesome for citing Annie Hall, but should feel much shame for picking the movie that tries to rip it off in Harry/Sally! 🙂
Apartment is classic….well done!
P.S. I Love You was surprisingly good, and I can’t even stand Hilary Swank!
ewwww!!!! I don’t mind her but that film bothered me somehow. HA!
Thanks so much Dan!!!
Ooh Il Postino – great choice! Love that one.
So many favorites, so in no particular order:
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Casablanca
Before Sunrise/Before Sunset
Titanic
A Very Long Engagement
Honorable mentions: Gone With the Wind (of course), The Sound of Music, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Oh and I have a new favorite love story – Rocky and Adrian
Ha!!! Yes, I seriously considered Rocky because as everyone knows, Adrian is what makes him tick!
Adrian is KEY…
now I have it in writing…You said it. Adrian is key. Precisely. Thank you!!!
Adrian IS key! I don’t know how anyone could argue with that..
Great choices (though I was never crazy about Titanic, which to me doesn’t age very well at all). Wuthering Heights is a terrific pick. And Daniel Day-Lewis — yea!!!!
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn Part 1
Breaking Dawn Part 2
=)
I know you will be thrilled with my list.
LOL…I love them!
You have serious issues….
I KNOW! I DON’T UNDERSTAND!
Losers.
Liz you don’t have to hide it any more. I know you are a closet twi-hard. Just admit it. Twilight = best love story of all time! I’m sure Peter would agree!
yea…no! 🙂
Oh you picked Reds. That is so tragically romantic of you!
1. Terminator………Sarah and Kyle. The short lived love affair that I hold all other chemistry induced fictional interactions to standard with.
2. Ever After………it may be flighty and I’m showing my girlie side here, but it is one of the few “chick flicks” that I simply adore. Updated and smart, yet still romantic.
3. The Way We Were………….Oh Hubble. Redford and Streisand kill this one for me. I still call every girl I know named Katie. KUHKUHKUHKAaaaatie……no one ever gets it, and while this one doesn’t make me shed tears, it does make me wilt inside.
4. When Harry Met Sally, I don’t care how predictable this choice is, this film is still brilliant, and still funny, and still relevant aside from the hairstyles. It’s a great story about how falling in love isn’t necessarily full of magic and moonbeams.
5. Splendor In The Grass………….Tragically romantic and one of my favorite Natalie Wood performances………closely considered with This Property Is Condemned with me as well.
Oh and runners up were The African Queen, Titanic, Barefoot In The Park, and The Little Mermaid!
Great picks Heather. African Queen. I wish I put that one on my list.
Splendor in the Grass almost made it to my 5. Love that film!!! Great choice. I watched the Way We Were hoping for so much, but it didn’t really speak to me. And yes, Reds is phenomenal and always gets to me. Thank you, Heather — and thank you for always giving your fav 5!!!