Movies for lovers & everyone else
From true love to every emotion in the deck, here are films perfect for your date night, ladies night, brodown, and family fun night.
There’s more than love to this season of film. There’s Bogie saying, “Play it, Sam” (no “again” please). There’s the Dread Pirate Roberts saying, “As you wish.” There’s a rogue android saying, “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain…”
From true love to every emotion in the deck, here are films perfect for your date night, ladies night, brodown, and family fun night.
“Casablanca”
Feb. 13 & 14, Brattle Theatre
Wasn’t it in “Casablanca” where Humphrey Bogart’s Nick says to Claude Rains’s police captain Renault, “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a wonderful bromance?” Sure, “Casablanca” is about love but it’s also about friendship and loss, kindness and defying the will of the Nazis. So, yes, you can bring a date, but this movie works just as well (actually, probably better) if you bring a bro or a gal or a pal or just practice self care and bring yourself. Maybe this can be the beginning of a wonderful tradition where you see what is arguably the greatest film ever made every year at the Brattle’s annual screening. brattlefilm.org
“The Princess Bride”
Feb. 13 & 14, Brattle Theatre
Hey look, another romance film that doubles as a story about friendship. Of course, “The Princess Bride” has everything: fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles. Fall in love with what is arguably the greatest film ever… Oh, shoot, used that line. Fine, fall in love with what is one of arguably the greatest films ever made or see the story book romance a tenth time (but maybe only the second time on the big screen). brattlefilm.org
“Notting Hill”
Feb. 13, Coolidge Corner Theater
I’m just an arts writer standing in front of a reader telling them that “Love Actually” is a better film than “Notting Hill.” But who am I to tell you “Notting Hill” isn’t all that? Follow your heart and watch Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant fall in love in the most adorable neighborhood in London. coolidge.org
Science Fiction Movie Marathon
Feb. 16 & 17, Somerville Theater
OK, you hate romance. You hate love. You hate friendship. How about monsters that eat cities and androids that dream of electric sheep? Boston SciFi, the longest-running genre film festival in the States, includes 10 features including world and US premieres. It caps its 50th year with the epic 24-hour movie marathon featuring some legendary (and legendarily bad) flicks. A few of the titles in the marathon: “Godzilla Minus One,” “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” “Barbarella,” “Star Trek IV,” and “Blade Runner.” bostonscifi.com
New York Love Stories
All month, online via the Criterion Channel
All February, Criterion Channel streams some of the best NYC romances put to film. Looking at the city from the ’70s to 2000s, this collection features smashes such as “Moonstruck” and “The Goodbye Girl” next to cult classics including “Something Wild” and “Down With Love,” a delightful and virtually forgotten send up of Doris Day and Rock Hudson films starting Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. criterion.com
Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger in a scene from “Down With Love.” (Photo courtesy of The Criterion Channel)