Tag Archives: Valentine’s Day

Weirding Up the Romance: Cult Classics for V-Day

Posted on by Colleen Claes
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Originally posted on Examiner.com and my Open Salon blog.

Why watch the upcoming Valentine’s Day with an overload of trite story lines and actors when you can watch these strange cult films instead? Yes, cult classics can tell stories of romance and sex…Just don’t expect it to be mainstream love.

Some of the best romantic couples on screen were the most interesting and complex ones found in films that had a cult status. Below are some recommended cult films, or films that have strange and fascinating couples.

Weird up the romance this Valentine’s Day weekend with the following movies:

  • Harold and Maude (1971). Beware – This first one is probably the weirdest. Hal Ashby directs this black comedy in which a 19-year-old boy (Harold) begins a relationship with a 79-year-old woman (Maude). And yes, it turns sexual. The film is surprisingly heart-warming, but in a way that involves themes of death, friendship, and human connection. Don’t let the storyline scare you – It’s worth the watch.
  • Fight Club (1999). Whether or not the film Fight Club - directed by David Fincher – is a cult classic is debatable and depends on who you ask. But the audience appreciation (which happened after its DVD release) much resembles the cult “fight club” gang that makes up the movie. Why is it relevant for a cult classic V-Day weekend? Two words: Marla Singer. Played by Helena Bonham Carter, she and Edward Norton’s character (The Narrator) find each other through support group meetings – and both of them are imposters. The story takes many surprising twists and turns, but ultimately, this destructive pair is one you can’t forget.
  • Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Though not a box office success, a select many have come to love this off-beat love story directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Another dark comedy, Adam Sandler breaks out of his typecast and surprises with this performance as Barry – a loner with severe rage issues. He meets Lena (Emily Watson) after she tracks him down with the help of one of his seven sisters, but many complications start to challenge their new romance. By the end of the film, it’s clear that their connection is due to their individual oddities, which help them understand each other in ways that no one else could. Not your average pair, but an intriguing one nonetheless.

So there you have it! Non-Hollywood films with couples that can shake up any Valentine’s Day movie plans. Have a film in mind that I didn’t mention? Share it in the comments!

Valentine’s Day & Hollywood, Sittin’ in a Tree

Posted on by Colleen Claes
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Let me preface this by saying I’ve never really cared about Valentine’s Day. Sure, I want to do something for the holiday, but I don’t make a big hoopla about it. Honestly, most of my excitement for a Valentine’s Day celebration goes towards the molten chocolate cake I’ll order for dessert. (No offense to the significant other.)

Like all the cynics say around this time of year, it’s a made-up holiday for the greeting card industry to profit off of. Well, Hallmark might wanna watch out – because Hollywood producers and celebrities want in on it too. Take this year’s un-creatively titled Valentine’s Day, for instance. Opening today in theaters, this film is taking the ensemble cast and multi-storyline concepts to a new level, and is almost solely designed for Valentine’s Day couples in need of a date movie.

I mean, just look at all those famous, pretty faces in that pink heart on the poster! How could people not see it?! Unfortunately for these producers and the “director of Pretty Woman,” physically dragging my boyfriend (and myself) to the theater to see this seasonal one-weekend wonder is not my idea of a good Valentine’s Day. But that’s just me. I am curious to see in the box office results how many couples felt it would make for good V-Day plans. Or, more realistically, how many people just went because they had nothing else to do and their significant other thought it would be “cute.”

Now by the trailer, I understand that I’m supposed to believe this romantic comedy with multiple plots is different. It has the cynics, the women who hate Valentine’s Day, the ones who don’t have a perfect relationship, and the ones who think they are alone on this romantic holiday. But…I’m still not buying it. For me, it looks like a much-cheapened Love Actually (a movie I thoroughly enjoy) that’s riding on the coattails of the charm from the brilliant shorts collection, Paris je’taime. (And by the way, if you really want to stay in and watch some good stories about romance, check those ones out.)

Yes, a lot of movies come out around Valentine’s Day. But this one is too narrowed to the holiday, and seems to lack the meat and guts of a good, enjoyable film. (Don’t believe me because I haven’t seen the movie myself? Just read all the bad reviews.)

I guess it’s not just the direct Valentine’s Day marketing that bugs me. Whenever I see trailers for movies like Valentine’s Day or Tooth Fairy, or some completely horrible-looking generic action film, all I can think is: That’s where the money’s going? That’s what producers spend their time on? Really?

I’ve been called a “movie snob” and someone who’s “difficult to please” when it comes to films before, but for me it comes down to the sad reality of what we’re not seeing. By releasing movies like these, funding and promotions are going to pointless projects like Valentine’s Day – a film that is only relevant and marketable for one weekend – instead of God-only-knows what brilliant screenplay is just sitting on a script reader’s desk collecting dust.

“Eh, this one’s too hard to grasp, too complicated,” I imagine them saying. Push it aside, shrug, and make Valentine’s Day with 30 famous PYTs instead. That’s what really gets me.

But hey, it’s Hollywood after all. What more should I expect? And if Valentine’s Day was really made just for profit and sales, then what better partner for it than Hollywood? This, it seems, is a perfect match.