So you're single and it's Valentine's Day. The love of your life isn't returning your phone calls, text messages or threatening carrier-pigeon communiqués, so why not rekindle your love affair with cinema?
Here are some movies that are perfect for such a wretched day.
"Better Off Dead"
Not your average '80s teen comedy by any stretch of the imagination: a teenaged John Cusack tries to kill himself multiple times after his girlfriend leaves him, then he befriends the French exchange student next door and has a climactic ski race with his ex's new boyfriend. It's also one of the wackiest films ever made and a personal favorite.
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
There are a lot of things we want to forget. I'd name some, but I'm saving them for another list. In "Eternal Sunshine," Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet undergo a procedure to forget the tumultuous time they spent together. Innovative director Michel Gondry and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman have constructed a film with a strange premise, yet it is so emotionally true that it will probably make you cry.
"The Brood" / "Possession"
Feeling bitter? Then treat yourself to a double feature of two horror (or so you're lead to believe) films inspired by the respective directors' divorces. In David Cronenberg's "The Brood," a man investigates his wife's experimental psychiatric therapy as it relates to murders being committed by deformed mutant children.
In Andrzej Zulawski's "Possession," Isabelle Adjani leaves her husband, Sam Neill, for mysterious reasons. It's all angry, violent marital drama until Adjani gives birth to a space creature from hell in a Berlin subway tunnel.
"Happy Together"
Great Hong Kong actors Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Leslie Cheung play gay lovers in Argentina as they reach the bitter end of their relationship in "Happy Together," a story perfect for Kar Wai Wong's brand of sad, beautiful art films. A must for anyone who's ever experienced a devastating breakup.
"Brokeback Mountain"
Perhaps you're just looking for a good cry after downing that whole bottle of merlot. Look no further than Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," a heartbreaking tale of forbidden love between two cowboys (Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger). Maybe you've heard of it? It boasts gorgeous cinematography in addition to a love story that is more universal than you think.
"A Better Tomorrow"
If romantic love is not for you, then how about the strictly platonic love between a man and his best friend as they shoot a bunch of people? John Woo was the master of tough guy love before he squandered his talent in America, and "A Better Tomorrow" is vintage Woo. Chow Yun-Fat is the coolest gangster on Earth (take that, Denzel) as his partner-in-crime, Ti Lung, attempts to reconnect with his policeman brother, Leslie Cheung. Did I mention there's lots of shooting?
"A Woman is a Woman"
Maybe you're an attempted intellectual who has alienated everyone (welcome to my world). How about a smarty-pants French film on Valentine's Day, then? The beautiful Anna Karina plays a striptease dancer who wants to get pregnant, but her husband refuses, so she enlists his best friend. Jean-Luc Godard's third film is a French New Wave rendition of a musical comedy, a perfectly playful combination of theory and whimsy.
