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29. High Fidelity
John Cusack atones for making other dudes look schlubby in contrast to Lloyd Dobler. His Rob Gordon makes the rest of us look good. As he himself notes, he's a fuckin' asshole, though not without a certain charm. Besides that credit, High Fidelity is also the rare Hollywood rom-com that's honest about long-term commitment. Rob's proposal to Laura should be bronzed.
Best scene to make a move: "Most of the Time." — PS
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28. Brokeback Mountain
Romeo and Juliet leaves us flat. It's just too dated, too bourgeois. But Brokeback Mountain, the story of two lovers who stand together against the hostility and ignorance of the whole world (between fishing trips), will give even the most heterosexual date the urge to write silly romantic poetry. Plus, Jake Gyllenhaal pulls off a moustache against all odds, which will make your date's ludicrous hair or accessories seem sort of okay.
Best scene to make a move: When Ennis and Jack punch each other goodbye — in the face — right before they part ways for four years. WD
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27. Sabrina
My girlfriend had just broken up with me, and I was stuck in Paris when I was supposed to be visiting her in Spain. The city's innumerable beautiful women caused me six degrees of pain, and the girl in the hostel who I asked to the movies was shipping back to Argentina before the next showtime, so I ended up seeing the truly romantic Sabrina all by myself, at the back of a little arthouse near the Sorbonne. (The girl at the counter was gorgeous too, incidentally, but I figured she'd already seen it). As for the film, it's Billy Wilder, Audrey Hepburn and a grumpy Humphrey Bogart, all at the peaks of their power. Needless to say, I barely kept it together, but looking back, I'm glad I went.
Best scene to make a move: The last scene. — Peter Smith
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26. An Officer and a Gentleman
A young Richard Gere smolders as rebellious Zack Mayo, a naval aviation officer candidate, in An Officer and a Gentleman. Mayo and his naval buddy Sid Worley waste no time in bedding two local factory workers, Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger) and Lynette Pomeroy. The ladies are looking for a way to escape their hometown, and can think of no better way than becoming "aviator wives." Drama ensues for both couples; while only sadness is in store for Sid and Lynette, romance is in store for Mayo and Paula.
Best scene to make a move: There's no better time than the final scene, as Mayo carries Paula out of the factory where she works, toward their new life together. It's foolproof: men in uniform put everyone in the mood. — KG
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25. Singing in the Rain
This giddy musical comedy tells the story of two beloved silent-film stars, played by Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen, who are struggling with the transition to "talkies" — struggling, because Jean Hagen's character has a speaking voice that could shatter glass. When Kelly's character falls in love with a sweet-voiced chorus girl, played by Debbie Reynolds, an ingenious solution presents itself. The film is practically a montage of memorable moments, but Gene Kelly dancing in the gutters during a rainstorm may be the finest expression of unadulterated joy ever captured on film. Who hasn't woken up the morning after getting laid and felt like swinging on a lamppost?
Best scene to make a move: To romance a reluctant Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly brings her to an empty soundstage, turns on a spotlight and a wind machine, and serenades her with "You Were Meant For Me." — GW
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24. The Descent
How many groups of spelunking hot women do you know? Probably none! To remedy this, watch The Descent, one of the best horror movies in recent memory. Six women get trapped in an uncharted cave populated by "crawlers," sallow human-like creatures that kill. It'll make you scream — a good tension-reliever. You'll want to squeeze someone's hand or arm during the scariest parts, which could happen spontaneously, or at least look like it did.
Best scene to make a move: After the cave collapses and the women realize they're stuck. It's early enough that you won't miss any of the crawler-action and the movie is terrifying enough that you won't want to let go once you're holding on to someone, so you'll get to stay entwined for at least a few more minutes. — S. Hepola
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23. Moonstruck
This is the romantic comedy for people who hate romantic comedies. Why? At every turn, the smart, sensible characters tell the sentimental, lovestruck characters they're acting like idiots — then sleep with them anyway. Cher plays Loretta, a middle-aged but still smokin'-hot woman who believes she'll never find true love because she has "bad luck," as evidenced by the fact that her first husband got hit by a bus. She agrees to marry boring Danny Aiello because she's eminently practical and knows no one better will come along. Then, when she's contacting family members before the wedding, she meets her future brother-in-law — the sweaty, tortured, Puccini-obsessed Ronny, played by Nicolas Cage — and falls hopelessly, inconveniently in love.
Best scene to make a move: When Loretta tells Ronny that she can't see him anymore. As snow begins to fall around them, Ronny tells her: "Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice — it ruins everything." Then he tells her she's going to sleep with him, and she does. — GW
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22. The Hustler
For sheer macho swagger, it's hard to beat Paul Newman wielding a cue stick and a cigarette. George Clooney wishes he were this charming. The Hustler is a perfect combination of macho poolhall debauchery and love story, though it all ends tragically. Newman is the classic antihero: Men want to be him, and frankly, women wish men could be him, too.
Best scene to make a move: Any poolhall scene. While they set up the shot, make yours. — S. Hepola
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21. Me and You and Everyone We Know
You have to love a movie that reminds you there's someone out there for everyone. When cab driver and video artist Christine (Miranda July), first meets shoe salesman Richard (John Hawkes), you'll be so grateful to be with your date (and not either of them), you won't be able to resist making a move. That's the perfect time, too, because you don't want to miss some of the later, funnier scenes involving Richard's two sons, two neighborhood girls and some very unusual cybersex. — KG |
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20. Manhattan
Woody Allen's romantic masterwork (no, it wasn't Annie Hall) is more about falling for a city than it is about real-life relationships. The Gershwin score, those long, loving shots of skyscrapers and bridges — it's a ridiculously soft-focus version of a place where homeless men regularly shit themselves on the subway. But Allen shoots Manhattan in the same way we fall in love: by focusing on the beautiful, and cropping all the trash and ugliness out of the frame.
Best scene to make a move: Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's flirtatious, rainy-day visit to the planetarium. — S. Hepola
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