It’s February (or well the end of it now) which means Valentine’s Day, which means romance, and romantic movies. Keeping up with my theme of the month, which if you haven’t guessed it yet, is romantic movies, I’ve watched over a dozen films dealing with love.

Now some were good, some were bad, but overall I enjoyed spending a month with love. I hope you enjoy the movies I chose to watch, and maybe one of them is your favourite. In this list below are movies I’ve watched for the first time so don’t be surprised if you don’t happen to see The Notebook here, or P.S I Love You (which by the way I hate that movie).  So here to start us off is When Harry Met Sally…

When Harry Met Sally…: The story, as the title suggests, is when Harry meets Sally. Sally is a friend of Harry’s girlfriend at the time and has been asked to drive him to New York. They spend 18 hours in a car driving from Chicago to New York, and hate each other. They continue to meet each other throughout the years, and slowly start to become friends. As their friendship grows, their feelings for each other become apparent, but will they decide to be together? Will it even work out? Can a man and woman have a friendship without sex? You just have to watch to find out. The plot was somewhat cheesy, and clichéd, but it’s the dialogue that was what makes this film a great film. It’s witty, and fun, and you just keep watching to see if they will get together or not. Overall, it’s a more realistic take on a love story.

Love Actually: This film follows the lives of many couples throughout Britain. The premise of the film is to show that love actually exists; sometimes in the places you least expect it to be found. The Prime Minister finds his love, a married couple has issues about their love, two people who speak completely different languages find love, actors find love, and even a kid finds his true love. There are a lot of small stories of love that start to intertwine a bit near the end, but overall are their own separate plotlines. The film is a long one, and one that kinda drags at times, and the acting isn’t the best, but for the most part with all the plotlines going on at once it has to be that long. It’s not a mushy romance of a film either, but a very witty and funny film. It’s set around Christmas time, so it’s probably not wise to watch it any other time then Christmas, but through half the film you forget it’s Christmas. Overall, a funny well crafted film, it could have been better by not having so many different stories because it gets confusing who’s who, but still a good film!

Definitely, Maybe: William Hayes is in the middle of his divorce when his daughter Mia asks him about how he fell in love with her mom. She asks him in hopes of him falling back in love with her. So he tells her the story leaving names out, so Mia, and the viewer, have to figure out, out of the three women Will’s love, which one is her mom. As the film progresses the viewer roots for one of them, and you only find out who Will ends up with if you watch until the end. It’s a cute film, filled with cheesy love stories that don’t seem so cheesy in retrospect. The fact that they added a child into the film is its selling point. Abigail Breslin adds cuteness, and likeness to the film that without her would have made it boring, and unoriginal. As well can’t forget that Ryan Reynolds brings his cute baby face to the film as well. Overall, it’s a sweet and engaging film that is perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Water for Elephants: The film is a flashback into the life of Jacob Jankowski; a man who lost both his parents and his home in the same day jumped a train and joined a circus. Because he was educated in medicine, he became the animal vet, where he made good friends with an elephant, Rosie. His boss has a mean temper and treats everyone badly, even his wife Mariena, whom Jacob falls more and more in love with. This leads to a disastrous end, and ending that will shock the viewer. The ending is amazing; it’s what you watch the movie for. It’s not only sweet, but it’s suspenseful. The film is very long, and very slow for the most part; the acting isn’t the best either, but if you make it to the end, that’s where the magic of this film is. A cute love story is thrown into a mess of a film. Overall, the plot takes a long time to get to the point, but once it does, beauty!

Remember Sunday: Gus had an amazing life; he was becoming the next Einstein with his work until it all came crashing down around him. Molly works as a waiter getting by the best she can. Bad luck seems to strike her until she meets Gus. Only their relationship isn’t as easy as it sounds. Every day Gus doesn’t remember who Molly is due to an aneurism. The film is the trials of their love affair, the ups and downs they both face, together as a couple, and alone. The plotline is cute and romantic, and quite tragic too. The film hits you right in the heart with its heartfelt message. Alexis Bledel is a very talented actress who played the role of Molly so well. Zachary Levi played Gus very convincingly well. Overall, it’s a sweet romantic film without the comedy!

Love and Other Drugs: Jamie is a pharmaceuticals sales rep who goes from hospital to hospital selling new drugs that are on the market when one day he meets Maggie, a girl with Parkinson’s disease. They don’t want to get attached until one day; they both realize they can’t live out each other. The film at first seems like it will be about a string of one-night-stands but as you get deeper into it, you realize the intricate love story that happens between the two. It’s not easy, and Maggie doesn’t like depending on other people, but Jamie wants to be there for her. It’s a sweet movie, a little corny, a little cheesy, but super sweet and romantic. The plotline is good and keeps the viewer entertained, and the characters feel real, so overall it really was a good movie.

Blue Valentine: Starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams comes the story of Dean and Cindy, two dysfunctional people who come from broken homes, but try to build a life for themselves. Cindy sees all the potential in Dean, though he doesn’t use any of it, while he thinks of her as the smartest person he knows. The film jumps back and forth between the past and the present, it can get a little confusing in the beginning, and it’s a little jarring, but it does help to move the plot. The overall plot is okay, you could go your whole life without watching this movie and be okay with it. The ending doesn’t feel finished even though the viewer can understand the implication. The whole film moved kind of slow, which made it at times a little boring to watch. The acting felt a little lazy too. The best part was watching Dean and Cindy fall in love, that was cute and worth watching, especially with Ryan Gosling. Overall, you can skip this film, or watch it for Ryan Gosling, your choice.

Friends With Benefits: Can guys and girls just have sex without all the attachments that a relationship entails? Well Dylan and Jamie try to find out. Dylan is new to New York, and Jamie is a headhunter trying to get him to join a company. As times go by they become best friends who have sex. It isn’t until Dylan brings Jamie home to his parent’s house that things get complicated. The film is witty, cheesy, but most of all enjoyable to watch. The plot is pretty substandard, and not original, but it’s still a fun movie to watch. The actors who they got to play the roles, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, did an excellent job playing the two lovers. They brought originality to the film. Timberlake isn’t the best actor, but he did a fair enough job here. Overall, it’s fun, it at times is adorable, and is definitely watchable.

Say Anything: All Lloyd wants out of life is to be with Diane Court. One day when he gets the guts to call her and ask her out, she says yes. From then on they begin to date until things get complicated with her father who she is close with. Lloyd has to try a little harder to win her love, while competing with her father who’s been found out about stealing money from the old folks at his senior’s home. It’s cute to watch them fall in love so effortlessly. The plotline that surrounds her father is probably the best plotline and keeps the viewer watching as it’s interesting and engaging. Watching John Cusack’s character, Lloyd put so much of himself into being with Diane is heartwarming and sweet. Sure it’s cheesy at times, but still a great film that shows human emotions and believing in what you love. Overall, cute film that is dull to start with, but finds it’s footing.

Once: Once is an Irish film, filmed documentary style of a guy who plays guitar out on the street, and a girl who plays piano. One day their lives collide while he’s playing on the street one night. From there, their friendship blossoms into a romance, only not the cheesy, Hollywood romance. It’s a romance that is true, and passionate without all the shows of affection. Together the two of them land themselves into recording a demo so the guy can take it to London for a record deal. The film really focuses on he music, which is incredible music. The plot is a little slow going, but near the end really picks up, but it’s the music that really pushes this film along. Without it, the film would be dry and not enjoyably at all. Overall, it’s cute, not always engaging, but worth watching in the end. It’s not conventional and that’s what makes it a much better film.

Amour: The story of Georges and Anne, an old couple in their eighties who love each other. One day Anne has a stroke, leaving her paralyzed on her right side. It takes everything she has to keep living another day. Her husband Georges helps her every step of the way, through the bad days and the good days. The film shows how much Georges loves his wife; it’s very sweet. It’s a French film, with French customs and sometimes they say the weirdest things. Some dialogue is a bit odd, but for the most part it’s practical for the emotion that has to be shown. There is barely any sound in the film, actors speaking; background noises, and occasionally the piano playing are the only sounds throughout the film, which make it very quiet. Some scenes felt a little dry because there was no dialogue, just dead space and long shots of random parts of the house. Overall, it was a powerful film showing the struggles of getting old, and the power of love. Though visually it wasn’t the best film, the message that’s trying to get across is strong.

Never Let Me Go: In a world where people live brief lives is the story of Kathy, Tommy and Ruth. They all go to school together in an English boarding school. As they get older their lives change as they await their fates in what is known as the donations, giving away their body parts. From the beginning it looks like Kathy and Tommy will be together, but Ruth swoops in and steals him away creating a love triangle between them. It’s a well-done film, the acting is good, as well as the scene shots; some of the shots are just beautifully crafted. The score in this film adds to the actors’ performance that lets the viewer really feel the emotions of the film. The plotline is rather original, though it is an adaptation to a novel by the same name, it’s engaging and before you know it you’re engulfed in these characters lives. Overall, it was a great film, with great acting and a great music score.

Chasing Liberty: This film is your classic rom-com filled with cheesy lines, cheesy actors playing cheesy roles, followed by cheesy music; a complete cheese-fest. Anna Foster is the President’s daughter, and she is followed everywhere she goes. All Anna wants is to have a little freedom, so when she arrives in Prague she takes off with a guy on a moped to help her get away. She hides her life, and he hides his, but somehow along the way the two fall in love. Of course a few disastrous things have to happen before they can be with each other. Overall, the film is completely corny but it’s because of this that the viewer can’t help but get involved and spend the couple hours with this film. This film brings out the hopeless romantics, that anything’s possible.

Something Borrowed: It’s Rachel’s 30^th birthday, and she’s not happy with her life. Her best friend Darcy is about to get married… to Rachel’s law-school crush Dexter. After too many drink’s Rachel lets it slip that she had a crush on him, which leads to Dexter kissing her, and so begins their affair. The whole film is based around their affair, and whether Dexter is manly enough to tell Darcy. It’s a very basic film with a generic plotline that continues throughout the film. Nothing special happens that the viewer doesn’t see coming. You have your classic rom-com scene where the guy and the girl break it off, and one of them is walking in the rain remembering the good times and goes back for their loved one. The acting wasn’t that great either. Colin Egglesfield is a stiff actor so his role felt really forced and it just wasn’t fun to watch. Overall, the film wasn’t boring per se, but it was predictable, and unoriginal.

Warm Bodies: Based off the novel by the same name comes a film that comes off a little cheesy, but is actually pretty good. R is a zombie, he can’t really remember much, and he lives his life shuffling around a deserted airport. One day when he meets Julie, a human, he decides to save her because there is just something about her. As the film continues it shows how they start to fall for one another, and R begins to feel what it’s like to be human again. The film is cute, and they casted cute people to star in the film which helps. Obviously there are changes between the book and the movie, but everything the movie did was cinematically well done, from portraying the characters to the plotline. The music in this film really helped move the plot along, which added to the emotions to the film, which the novel couldn’t do. Overall, it wasn’t too cheesy, with just enough gore, and just enough comedy and romance to make it an enjoyable film.