Love alive in movies: Romantic comedies, tear jerkers among favorite Valentine’s Day flicks

It’s Valentine’s Day and as far as movies are concerned chick flicks rule the day.

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"How to Steal a Million" is a classic romantic comedy treat.

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"The Princess Bride" is a funny and adventurous chick flick.

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"Pretty Woman" will show at the Historic State Theater on Valentine's Day.

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"You've Got Mail" is one of two Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks romantic comedies.

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"P.S. I Love You" stars Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank.

There’s no shortage of Valentine’s movie marathon material. I prefer a good, old-fashioned romantic comedy rather than a dramatic tear jerker. Here are some suggestions, starting with a few classics.

When I think about classic romantic comedies, I always think of Audrey Hepburn movies. My favorite is a film she made with Peter O’Toole called “How to Steal a Million.” In the film, her father forges artwork. When one of his pieces goes on display she persuades O’Toole to help her steal it so her father won’t be exposed as a forger. It is one of my personal favorites.

I also love “Roman Holiday,” “Charade,” “My Fair Lady” and, of course, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

Other fun, non-Audrey classics are “It Happened One Night,” “Philadelphia Story,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “His Gal Friday” and another one of my all -time favorites, “Father Goose.”

In the 1990s a romantic comedy could handle the box office against an action flick and made household names of actresses like Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock.

Some of the greats in this era include “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “Notting Hill,” “Runaway Bride” and “Pretty Woman.”

Organizers at the Historic State Theater must like “Pretty Woman” too, showing it at 7 p.m. tonight. A special $20 couples’ ticket gets moviegoers two movie tickets, one large bag of popcorn, two fountain drinks and a special sweet treat. Regular tickets are $3. There also is a drawing for a basket of goodies from Moonlight Serenity Body Products and a prize package from Sugar Fashion Cakes. Call (270) 234-8258 for information about the event.

From 2000 until now, a good romantic comedy has been rare but I’ve seen a few in this time frame.

Notable favorites are “Two Week’s Notice,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “The Proposal,” “About a Boy” and a Christmas favorite “The Holiday.”

I also have to add “P.S. I Love You” to this list because it has my celebrity crush, Gerard Butler, in it. His best film is not a romantic comedy but could be a chick flick, “Dear Frankie.” Even though it doesn’t fit into this category but I mention it because it’s worth a watch and is a sweet film.

Cartoons aren’t typically what you think of as romantic comedies but Disney’s “Tangled” fits into this category as well. Although an animated film, it’s different from Disney’s typical princess film and has a definite romantic comedy feel to it.

But my favorite of all time has to be “The Princess Bride.” This movie has humor, romance and swashbuckling entertainment. It’s also on my most quoted list.

So there you go, a list of suggested romantic comedies for today’s Valentine’s Day viewing.

But I’ll probably go watch the new “Die Hard” movie. Nothing gets your mind off Valentine’s Day like Bruce Willis taking down some bad guys.

Becca Owsley can be reached at (270) 505-1741 or bowsley@thenewsenterprise.com. For movie reviews visit her
reporter page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Becca-Owsley/96924584861.