By Zahra Arshad
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, which means most people are scrambling to book the perfect restaurant. But if your goal this year is to avoid the crowds and clichés, whether that’s alone or with the love of your life, it can be more fun to curl up with a great movie. With so many romance movies and rom-coms out there, it’s hard to pick out the ones worth watching. We’ve put together a list of classic films to get you in the mood for romance.
Romeo and Juliet (1996)
The classic, tragic love story. Romeo and Juliet is a modernised version of William Shakespeare’s infamous play featuring rival families the Montagues and Capulets. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the leading roles, the pair instantly fall in love when Romeo crashes a party and turns their worlds upside down.
Titanic (1997)
Another love story doomed from the start. Titanic is a romance-disaster film following seventeen-year-old aristocrat Rose, and Jack Dawson, a charming poor artist who wins third-class tickets to board the ill-fated R.M.S. Watch as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s characters fall in love aboard the ship during its disastrous maiden voyage.
Valentine (2001)
A film for horror fans who are celebrating Valentine’s Day. This slasher film starring Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, and Katherine Heigl is loosely based on the novel by Tom Savage. The film follows a group of women being stalked by a man whom they tormented during their childhood, while preparing for Valentine’s Day.
Love, Actually (2003)
A Christmas-themed romantic film featuring an ensemble cast of Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Laura Linney and Alan Rickman. This rom-com favourite follows the lives of eight couples, during a frantic month before Christmas. It plays out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place one month later. Watch as the couples connected by love deal with their own lives.
Valentine’s Day (2010)
The perfect film for Valentine’s Day for those true romantics out there. This film follows a series of interconnected stories on Valentine’s Day. As the holiday unfolds, they experience first dates, long-time commitments, youthful crushes and connections to old flames. The film has an ensemble cast starring Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Taylor Lautner, Emma Roberts and Taylor Swift in her film debut.
Beauty and Beast (2017)
For those Disney fans out there… Beauty and the Beast is a beautiful love story that unravels following a cursed prince and Belle, a village girl who sees the beauty within the beast becomes his friend and only companion. They must fall in love before the last petal falls off an enchanted rose or the beast will stay just that, a beast. Featuring an ensemble cast of Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans and Kevin Kline.
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