|
 |
|
|
|
|
39. The Triplets of Belleville
Was there ever a more adorable film about cycling? Besides Rad, I mean. The story of the old woman determined to save her Tour de France-competitor grandson from the clutches of the French mafia can lead to some pretty sweet emo sex. (Unless your date has a calves fetish, in which case this movie will function as straight-up animated porn.) But the best thing about The Triplets of Belleville is there's no dialogue, so when you start making out halfway through, it's not like making out during Speed, for instance, where you have to awkwardly try to ignore Keanu Reeves' disembodied voice in the room with you ("Cans! They were just cans!").
Best scene to make a move: During the first swanky, down-beat musical performance by the triplets. — Will Doig
|
|
|
|
|
38. Run Lola Run
I just watched this movie with a date the other night, who agreed with me on two things: anarchy-chic fashion is due for a comeback, and Franka Potente should be made to run everywhere she goes at all times. Saving her boyfriend from certain doom, she makes commitment look terribly sexy — you know they'll still be having incredible sex on a nightly basis when they're old and grey. And while the bounce factor should be an issue in a film featuring ninety minutes of running in a tank top, Potente's breast-management is handled with German engineering — they're not lewdly flopping about, but she's not bound in a straightjacket either.
Best scene to make a move: When Lola decides to take the gun from Manni and help him rob the supermarket to get the money he owes his debtors. — WD
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
37. Kicking and Screaming
Arriving amidst a wave of Gen-X-type slacker comedies, Kicking and Screaming was largely dismissed upon its 1995 release, but retrospect shows it to be far more insightful than Reality Bites and its kin. Whereas Reality Bites, Empire Records et. al., were all caught up in how cool it was to be ironically disaffected, Kicking and Screaming was about the pain of ironic disaffectation; about how sad it is to be unable to voice your sincere feelings in anything but ironic terms. When Jane leaves Grover to move to Prague, he can only fume through comedy: "Prague! You'll come back a bug!" Most of the film concerns Grover's bitterness, and the matching aimlessness of his friends ("I'm nostalgic for conversations I had yesterday. I've begun reminiscing events before they even occur. I'm reminiscing this right now."), but flashbacks reveal the opening moments of his relationship with Jane, and they're every bit as tender, delicate, funny and sweet as the rest of the film is sharp.
Best scene to make a move: Wait for it. — PS
|
|
|
|
|
36. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A truly unique film, in that a) it's a rock musical, and b) it's actually good. Strike that — it's fantastic. We still don't quite understand the mysterious creative alchemy that separates John Cameron Mitchell's breakthrough from Rent and all the other Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-with-more-guitars musicals bringing the masses an understanding of bohemia, but whatever it is, it works.
Best scene to make a move: Early on, during the swelling, romantic "The Origin of Love." — PS
|
|
|
|
|
35. Star Wars
Warning: this one only works if your date watched it 500 times as a kid. Those who watch Star Wars for the first time as adults are usually bewildered; it is a movie that has been survived by more hype than it can ever live up to. But for those of us who were raised on it, Star Wars is the rare movie that has it all: it's a science fiction-Western-adventure story about a teenager who's called to save the universe from an evil empire with the help of a motley rebel crew.
Best scene to make a move: The triumphant celebration at the end, when Luke has blown up the Death Star and all the characters are hugging. Most of the sexual tension in this film is corrupted in retrospect by the knowledge that Luke and Leia are siblings. — GW
|
|
|
|
|
34. Annie Hall
This obvious choice is also a perverse one, since it's one long relationship post-mortem. It's also hilarious, sincere and joyful; very much worth the risk, since it could well set a valuable precedent of honesty in your relationship. Besides, you need the eggs.
Best scene to make a move: The lobster scene. — PS
|
|
|
|
|
33. The Science of Sleep
I once dated a boy because he was different from all the other boys — vulnerable, sad, delicate. I fell in love with the idea of helping this boy, assuaging his troubled mind. But I soon learned that thinking you can cure someone who is fundamentally damaged simply by becoming their steady, affectionate companion is arrogant and naïve. The Science of Sleep knows this, and the conclusions it draws about dating crazy people aren't exactly sexually stimulating. But just like the best date movies — Annie Hall, Before Sunrise, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — we love it for its honesty.
Best scene to make a move: As Stephanie discovers that Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal) has implanted a motor in her toy horse, allowing it to gallop. — WD
|
|
|
|
|
32. Urban Cowboy
This one has all the trappings of a stellar date movie: country accents, cowgirls and mechanical bulls. John Travolta and Debra Winger star as Bud and Sissy, two young Texans who meet at Gilley's Club, the local bar, and marry. They proceed to fight, ride the bull (also at Gilley's Club) and fight some more.
Best scene to make a move: Everyone knows that Bud and Sissy really belong together, so make your move during the middle of the movie, when they're fighting and fucking other people. Then, you can come up for air during the final bull-riding scene and heart-warming reconciliation. — S. Hepola
|
|
|
|
|
31. His Girl Friday
Revisiting the journalism comedy His Girl Friday can be strange; you always remember the banter and forget the dark plot about a man wrongly accused of murder. But then, it's really the banter that makes the film; as far as screwball, rapid-fire chemistry, Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant are tough to beat ("This is the greatest yarn in journalism since Livingstone discovered Stanley !" "It's the other way around." "Don't get technical at a time like this!")
Scene to make your move: Any single smooch comes at the risk of missing a dozen zingers, so wait for a break. — PS |
|
|
|
|
30. Rear Window
Hitchcock indulged his romantic side from time to time, and the playful courtship between young socialite Grace Kelly and seen-it-all photographer Jimmy Stewart adds a buoyant electricity to this tense thriller. Stewart's character is wheelchair-bound and occupies himself by spying on his building's other residents from his window. When he sees something suspicious, he and his fiancee start playing amateur sleuth — only to find themselves at the mercy of an actual murderer.
Best scene to make a move: The scene where Grace Kelly begins casually unpacking her suitcase in front of Jimmy Stewart, holding up her night clothes so very nonchalantly, telling him exactly what she plans on doing to him later that night without saying a word. — GW
|
|
|
|
|
