Nerdophiles Picks: Top 15 Valentine’s Day Movies

Inevitably, you might find yourself watching a movie this Valentine’s Day/over the weekend. Here is my list of top 15 Valentine’s Day movies! Alternatively, you could just get your friends together and watch this for Single’s Awareness! (Let’s be real, I’m probably going to marathon these movies after I watch Season 2 of House of Cards).

Therese’s Top 15 Valentine’s/Romantic Movies

15. No Strings Attached (2011)

It might seem like your non-typical romantic movie, something that you probably put to the back of your mind, but honestly Ashton Kutcher made Natalie Portman a period-mix, with greats like “Even Flow”, “Red Red Wine”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “I’ve Got The World On A String”, and of course, “Bleeding Love”. That alone is enough to make me love this relationship. But the movie is funny and sweet, and honestly it doesn’t get enough credit for being a cute valentine movie.

14. Becoming Jane (2007)

You might be wondering why this is so low on my list, especially if you know me (because I am a hopeless romantic). But it’s because of just how damn sad this ending is. I want a satisfying romance, and Becoming Jane left me in tears. That’s probably why Atonement didn’t make it on to this list despite being a beautiful movie. But regardless, it’s a beautiful movie about one of the greatest romance novelists of all time.

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13. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Before he was the Joker in The Dark Knight, he was Patrick Verona. And who can forget when Heath Ledger sang on the bleachers for Julia Stiles? This movie is romance on so many levels, and proves that MTV can do a pretty great Taming of the Shrew. The cast is brilliant, and the story is classic. Also, I just couldn’t find a gif for this movie when I knew that this clip was out there somewhere.

12. The Notebook (2004)

I’m going to be typical and say I loved this damn movie. I’m also going to be hipster and say I loved Nicholas Sparks before he became big. But I do remember reading The Notebook and sobbing my eyes out on a plane to China and then subsequently sobbing my eyes out while watching this movie alone. It’s been known to make grown men cry, and that doesn’t surprise me at all.

11. A Walk to Remember (2002)

However, better by far, A Walk to Remember was my first introduction to Nicholas Sparks and it obviously had me and my mom sobbing at the end. Again, sad endings aren’t my favorite, but comparing their love to being akin to the wind is too perfect of a metaphor for me to discount the movie for a sad ending. Plus if nothing, watch this for Shane West’s unfortunate ugly-crying.

10. Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Jake and Ennis captured my heart and shattered it to pieces with such a heartbreak. I don’t know if I should have kept this as a Valentine’s Day movie, because I do end up crawling into a ball and crying after it. But it’s got such real romance that it would feel like a crime not to put this on the list. And yes, I did just put Heath Ledger on the list twice. I do the same to Leo, deal with it.

9. Love Actually (2003)

Yeah it was on our Christmas List but whatever, it’s a great Valentine’s Day movie too. Ensemble movies always do a good job of covering a variety of things, from young love to old love to parental love to sibling love to friendship. We all know it, and we love it all the same.

8. Warm Bodies (2013)

It’s a newer movie, but how much more romantic can you get with a “love conquers all” theme? Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer are adorable together, and have some of the best chemistry in a great twist on the classic Romeo and Juliet story. Plus the humor makes it a great date movie.

7. A Cinderella Story (2004)

You can bet your sweet ass I put this movie on this list. Any 20-something-year-old girl watched this movie and LOVED it. Hilary Duff has, and probably always will be, a sweetheart and Chad Michael Murray is a semi-tortured poet/high school jock, and Jennifer Coolidge is hilarious as the evil stepmother. The movie is so cheesy it makes me crave some nachos, but you can’t deny it’s got a certain charm.

6. Titanic (1997)

Ok, so maybe don’t watch this on a date night, since it’s like 3 hours long, but definitely watch it sometime. Hands down one of my favorite movies going all the way back to my childhood when I would pretend to be Rose and hope to find my own Jack. It’s another sad ending, but not really if we count the tear-jerking final scene (and of course, I do).

5. The Princess Bride (1987)

Mawwaige is not what brings us together today, but love is. This movie is a classic, and always fun to watch. It’s got it all: Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles! Doesn’t that sound like some fun? Inconceivable? I think not.

4. Paris, je t’aime (2006)

Yeah, yeah, it’s in a foreign language. If you’re going to complain you can just leave, because this movie is one of the most romantic movies I’ve ever seen. An anthology film that puts others to shame with a spectrum look on love. 12e arrondissement is my favorite, but they are all great. Plus it’s great for Valentine’s Day, since the film is divided into shorts.

3. Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Yup, I went there. I told you, you’d see Leo again. Ok, putting aside the fact that this is my favorite rendition of RJ, with the neon spattered lights, modern setting, and original text, this is also a gorgeous film, and a great retelling of the classic story. Romeo and Juliet are both still just as stupid, but watching Leo and Claire act together might convince you of just why these two teenagers were willing to die for each other.

2. Pride and Prejudice (2005)

And, I went there again. I’ve been pretty vocal about my hatred for Jane Austen’s literature, mostly because I feel like it’s overrated. But I am, in the end, a romantic at heart. And I can’t watch movies like Becoming Jane and Pride and Prejudice without feeling my heart strings pulled. Darcy is one of the greatest broody heroes of literature, and Lizzie is as clever and sharp as all great heroines should be. My mind might be thinking one thing about this romance, but my heart is definitely saying another.

1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return. This is hands down my favorite movie of all time. And I know, I told you I hate sad ending movies, and that’s why I ranked some movies on this list lower. But, this movie fulfills so many favorites of mine that that little point didn’t even matter. With a great message and a beautiful cast, this movie ranks as my top romantic movie for the holiday.

Honorable mentions are Amélie, Atonement, Edward Scissorhands, Ella Enchanted, Ever After, Letters to Juliet, Love & Other Drugs, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Phantom of the Opera, P.S. I Love You, Perfect Sense, The Princess Diaries, and RENT.

There are countless more romantic movies, and classics like Casablanca, When Harry Met Sally, and Gone With the Wind, but these are my own top 15. What would be yours?