February is here again, which means Valentine’s Day is only days away.
If you’re like me (painfully alone and single 5ever) you’re probably dreading watching everyone around you receive flowers and chocolates and abnormally large stuffed animals (which I, admittedly, have always secretly wanted) while you sit alone in your room, stuff your face with ice cream and watch a movie.
As this is how I’ve spent every one of my Valentine’s Days, I like to consider myself an expert in the field of watching movies by yourself while your friends are off being wined and dined. And as the expert, it is my responsibility to take you under my wing and guide you to the very best, non-chick flick (well, for the most part) films to help you cope with the lack of love in your life.
You’re welcome.
**Recommendation #1:** _“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”_
Joel (Jim Carrey) discovers that his recent ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has undergone a treatment to erase him from her memory. Hurt, Joel retaliates and decides to have the procedure done on him, erasing Clementine from his mind.
Joel and Clementine’s relationship is told out of order as Joel’s memories of his love are erased. But as Joel’s memories are being obliterated, he starts to realize that he doesn’t want to forget Clementine, no matter how badly things between them ended.
This is without a doubt my favorite movie of all time. It’s a funny, heartbreaking, captivating story about love and loss, and it only gets better the more times you watch it. It’s perfect.
**Recommendation #2:** _“(500) Days of Summer”_
“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story,” the narrator says as he introduces you to Tom (the incredibly dapper Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is brutally dumped over pancakes by Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the girl he believes to be “the one.”
We’ve all been there, JGL. We feel you. Summer is a bitch. Love is a bitch.
Like “Eternal Sunshine,” Tom and Summer’s relationship is told out of sequence, following Tom as he tries to get over the end of his relationship and move on with his life.
“(500) Days of Summer” is a cliché-free breakup movie that tells the truth about relationships — someone’s feelings always get hurt, but life eventually moves forward. After viewing, I highly recommend listening to the flawless soundtrack again and again, at least for the next couple of days. There’s something therapeutic about it.
**Recommendation #3:** _“The Princess Bride”_
Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles … What else could you ask for from a movie?
“The Princess Bride” is a classic. If you, for some inexcusable reason, haven’t seen it, you should stop reading this and spend the next hour and a half watching Westley (Cary Elwes) thwart evil princes, albinos and Rodents Of Unusual Sizes to be reunited with his true love, Buttercup (Robin Wright).
It’s hilarious and sweet and filled with corny lines like “Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.” It’s adorable.
**Recommendation #4:** _“Moulin Rouge!”_
Christian, a writer with a “ridiculous obsession with love” (played by my favorite flawless Scot, Ewan McGregor) falls for Satine, a courtesan (Nicole Kidman) whose services have been exclusively bound to the Duke, forcing the two to keep their affair a secret.
Director Baz Luhrmann, known for big, shiny spectacles such as “Romeo + Juliet” and “The Great Gatsby,” creates a world of color and music and flamboyance. Pimps sing “Like a Virgin,” the girls of the Moulin Rouge perform a techo can-can to Fatboy Slim, and Christian serenades Satine with Elton John’s “Your Song.”
The movie is cheeky, fun and strikingly original. Though, if you’re a crier and/or a hopeless romantic like I am, there’s a good chance you will bawl your eyes out at the end. Be warned.
