1. Anya and Dimitri, ANASTASIA
Anastasia: Do you really think I'm royalty?
Dimitri: You know I do!
Anastasia: Then stop bossing me around!
Obviously I'm going to start with an animated film (nerd!) and this is one of my all time favorites. I love me some love/hate relationships (see 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7) - they always have the best banter. Add John Cusack's voice to one of the most appealingly drawn animated male characters and well...excuse me, I need to go swoon somewhere.
2. Kat and Patrick, 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU
Patrick: Well maybe you're not afraid of me but I'm sure you've thought about me naked, huh?
Kat: Am I that transparent? I want you, I need you, oh baby, oh baby.
Just watched this movie the other weekend and it completely reaffirmed my love for it. If you readers ever wondered what Ms Awesome/Fearsome was like during her college years, well, just watch this movie a few times and you'll get a general idea.
3. Miss Elinor Dashwood and Mr Robert Ferrars, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
Elinor Dashwood: What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hope. I have endured her exultations again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even for you.
Don't get me wrong, I love me some Mr. Darcy, but there is something about Elinor and Robert's love affair, so quiet and pragmatic, that makes this twosome my favorite Austen romance. Plus, Emma Thompson sobbing through Hugh Grant's confession of love is so wonderfully perfect.
4. Ron and Hermione, HARRY POTTER
"There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet." - The Deathly Hallows
Who doesn't love Ron and Hermione? I mean, really. Seven books of growing romantic tension and even Voldemort was begging for these two to get together. Though I'm a fan of movies, I will say that I prefer how they got together in the books. Girls, who doesn't love a boy who takes interest in your interests, whether they be knitting hats or saving house elves?
5. Tracy Lords and CK Dexter Haven, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
Tracy Lord: Oh Dexter you're not doing it just to soften the blow?
C. K. Dexter Haven: No.
Tracy Lord: Nor to save my face?
C. K. Dexter Haven: Oh, it's a nice little face.
Tracy Lord: Oh Dexter, I'll be yar now, I promise to be yar.
C. K. Dexter Haven: Be whatever you like, you're my redhead.
Talk about banter - these two have it in spades. Plus a little Jimmy Stewart thrown in for some incredibly adorable hiccups? Who can resist?
6. Calmity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok, CALAMITY JANE
Calamity: You're a knothead!
Bill: You're a faker!
Calamity: You're a bonehead!
Bill: Troublemaker!
Historical inaccuracies be damned, I am a big fan of this musical and its leading man. I think it jump-started my obsession with cowboys, but I dare you (be you woman or man) to look at Howard Keel in all his baritone glory and not get heart palpitations.
7. Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, BATMAN RETURNS
Batman: Mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it.
Catwoman: But a kiss can be even deadlier if you mean it.
Hands down my favorite Batman movie. In my humble opinion, Michael Keaton is the only person who really mastered the humor and inherent weirdness that I associate with a character like Bruce Wayne. His relationship with Catwoman is the only one that ever really made sense to me and I love how they play off each other in this movie, alternating between wanting kill and kiss each other.
8. Fran and Scott, STRICTLY BALLROOM
Barry Fife: There are no new steps!
Dancing. Sexy, sexy dancing. I don't really think I need to say anything more.
9. Princess Cimorene and King Mendanbar, SEARCHING FOR DRAGONS (Book Two)
"Just to be sure I have this right,” Cimorene went on with a blinding smile, “did you just ask me to marry you?”
“Yes,” Mendanbar said. “At least, that’s what I meant.”
“Good. I will.”
Mendanbar tried to find something to say, but he was too happy to think. He leaned forward two inches and kissed Cimorene, and discovered that he didn’t need to say anything at all.
If you've never read The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede, read it. Read it now! It is funny and clever and fun, not to mention there's a completely awesome romance between Cimorene, a princess who ran off to be the Head Chef and Librarian to the King of Dragons (I know, right?) and Mendanbar, a king with very messy hair who doesn't much care for all the royal protocol he's expected to follow. Naturally they fall in love and it is adorable.
10. Julia and Paul Child, JULIE AND JULIA (and real life)
Paul Child: You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life. I love you, my darling girl.
I've made no secret of my love for Stanley Tucci. To me, he is the tops. That gif above? That's me whenever he shows up in this movie. Since most romantic films are about people FALLING in love, we don't have nearly enough of stories about couples who have been together as long as they were and were STILL madly in love.
So that's my list, what about you? Who are some of your favorite lovebirds?
*This mostly comes from being a big old history buff and knowing way too much about the social and political history of this holiday. Once you see what goes into your Valentine's Day sausage, you just can't unsee it!
