So this year will be a lot more different for most people on this upcoming holiday. Valentine’s Day is where you see the streets filled with love. You see high schoolers giving giant teddy bears and chocolates, couples out for romantic dinners, and husbands buying flowers around closing time because everybody still has to work on Valentine’s Day. However, since we have been in a global pandemic for almost a whole year, going to school, going out to eat, and even going to stores is not something you see that often anymore. But if you are like me, a 20 something-year-old, emotionally unstable, rom-com loving loner, this Valentine’s Day is like any other. So, as tradition, every year I order take out, gift myself some heart-shaped box of chocolates, drink about a bottle of wine, and watch rom-coms, ‘till I end up believing that I’m happy as J-Lo was at the beginning of The Wedding Planner. But in all seriousness, Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love, love. So, if I’m not living it in the real world, I’ll live it through a TV screen. Here is a list of some newer and older love films that I love and look forward to watching… once again.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018), To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020), & To All The Boys: Always and Forever (2021) –
The third and final installment of the trilogy is releasing Feb. 12. For the past three years, these movies have reminded me of that high school love that makes you believe you are on top of the world when you have it, and the world is crashing and burning when you lose it. Man, to be 17 and in love, and thinking picking between a college or the boy who started to pretend to date you to make another girl jealous is the biggest decision of your life. However, TATB is going to be a series that will go down in rom-com history.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018) –
If you don’t cry during the wedding scene where she walks on an aisle flooded with water, and twinkling firefly or butterfly lights fill the room, and a stripped-down version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” plays, I mean… Do you even like love?
Love, Rosie (2014) –
This film has to be one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time. The best friend’s love story with them going through years of trying to be together, but you know, life gets in the way many… many times. But it ends with them finding one another, and finally, it being their time. I mean, it gives you hope from the saying, “right person, wrong time” … that maybe one day there will be a right time.
No Strings Attached (2011) –
*Disclaimer* This is a friend with benefits rom-com, so this is for 18+. However, this film is relatable and authentic, to how falling in love can be really scary. Enough that most of us run away from it rather than take the jump. And sometimes we lose something that could’ve been great. But this film ended with her choosing to jump, and sometimes when it is the right person, it isn’t so scary.
Valentine’s Day (2010) –
This movie is a cheesy, classic, but very cliche rom-com. It’s all about, you guessed it, love. It’s a movie called “Valentine’s Day” about Valentine’s Day, how could you not watch it on Valentine’s Day? (p.s. It has many of your favorite actresses and actors in it)
500 Days of Summer (2009) –
Now, this film is a real tear-jerker, cue “drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo, because that song would be Tom’s anthem. It’s a story about real love that doesn’t go your way. One of my favorite quotes comes from this movie and highlights the essence of relationships and what the movie is all about, “Just because she likes the same bizarro crap you do doesn’t mean she’s your soul mate.” The hard truth that not everyone you fall in love with will be yours forever.
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) –
I know I said Love, Rosie is my #1 rom-com, but this film will have to be the runner-up. The tales of many love stories end up with happy endings and some not so happy. It is a film that you can laugh, cry, and realize that Ginnifer Goodwin and Justin Long belong together. Also, you can learn some hard truths of when a guy is just not that into you.
The Break-Up (2006) –
So you can’t just watch love movies and not watch ones with heartbreak and unhappy endings. But believe me, when I say Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn capture the realness and rawness of relationships that sometimes have to end, but sometimes doesn’t have to mean it’s forever.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999) –
The iconic poem that we all can recite and would only recite to the late Heath Ledger- may he rest in peace. However, this 1999 love story is one we all wished we got to live. The boy who hates the world, and the girl who hates the world, realize they actually love one another. We hope that we will find a person who will serenade us with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” even though he was getting paid to do so at the beginning.
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) –
Well, this is a much older film, but it is a classic of another best friend love story that doesn’t end with them together. I enjoy watching this story, with the icon and rom-com queen, Julia Roberts, not getting the guy. It reminds me that sometimes, your best friend is not always the person you end up with and that if a blonde girl is involved, you already know who they all choose. (thanks to “drivers license”)
P.S. I highly recommend not listening to that song on Valentine’s Day. But I also recommend enjoying this Valentine’s, it might be different, but it doesn’t stop you from reminding the ones you love that you love them, and yes, that includes reminding yourself.