Films that won’t leave you ‘in the mood for love’

Juan Barquin/Columnist

Love is in the air, everywhere you look – whether you want to embrace that feeling or poison the air so you don’t have to deal with it – Valentine’s Day is on its way.

You could drag your unwillingly partner to see another unbearable Nicholas Sparks adaptation, like “Safe Haven,” but considering none of the characters have Ryan Gosling’s beard from “The Notebook,” I’d say it’s not worth your time. Action loving couples could always dive out of some helicopters and into a “Good Day to Die Hard” screening, or you could even compromise and watch both films if that is what you’re into.

As someone who hasn’t ever been a fan of Valentine’s Day, even while in a relationship, I can’t say I find anything particularly special about it. So rather than cater to everyone who is heading out with their partners this Thursday night, I’ll be dishing out two recommendations for the season of love that won’t necessarily leave you “In the Mood for Love” – which is conveniently the title of an excellent romantic drama that I’d definitely recommend.

A man named Alvy Singer once said, “Love is too weak a word for what I feel – I luuurve you, you know… I luff you, two F’s…” That is just the kind of crazy romance everyone falls into sometimes. Woody Allen’s incredibly memorable Best Picture winner “Annie Hall” doesn’t just give a hilarious look at the relationship between a neurotic man and the woman he loves, but it’s the film that defined the modern romantic comedy.

Regardless of what that might seem to imply, “Annie Hall” is far from traditional. The movie plainly shows the reality of a relationship, from the very first meeting, with all its ups and downs. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are as pure an image of romance in the seventies as it gets, and their performances only add to the wonderful hilarity that this film brings forth.

Love comes in all forms, and often enough we find ourselves not wanting the greatest love affair of the century, just a simple connection with another human being. Along comes Sofia Coppola, the director of an intimate little film “Lost In Translation,” to show that sometimes the most beautiful relationship is one where two people can simply sit back and enjoy each other’s company in the silence of the moment.

In this movie, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray play two lost souls in a Tokyo hotel who meet during sleepless nights. Coppola doesn’t need to present specifics or details about the two, only that they are married and questioning their happiness. The quiet conversations that occur between the two are deeper than what most couples dream of having. Subject aside, there is also plenty of humor in the film.

There is an intimacy to “Lost in Translation” and “Annie Hall” that most films never achieve and that many dream of having. Yet this openness in the relationships unfolding onscreen is precisely what makes them so accessible and easy to relate to.

Don’t get yourself down in the dumps because you’re sitting at home this Thursday night. Instead of submitting yourself to what will likely be reruns of that “Valentine’s Day” travesty with every actor ever on television, sit back and watch “Annie Hall” or “Lost in Translation.” There’s a good chance you’ll be having more than a few Valentine’s dates ending in Kafkaesque sexual experiences.

-juan.barquin@fiusm.com

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