10th: Love and Basketball

After so many tear-jerking movies, this is one that even the boys are probable to enjoy. Despite not ending with a Big Game, “Love and Basketball” can still be considered a sports movie, and due to its romantic side, it may be unique in its league. It’s a thoughtful and touching story about two kids who grow up loving each other, and the game. “Love and Basketball” is about how you can either be in love or play basketball, but it’s tricky to do both at the same time.

The film doesn’t preach for equality for women in sports

romantic sceneThe film mostly avoids overblown drama and it doesn’t preach for equality for women in sports. What it does, is point out that if you’ve ever wanted something really badly then you must be willing to put any amount of work into getting it, and if you share this idea too, then give this movie a try!

The story follows a young couple who navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics. Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood.

As they grow into adulthood, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. They’ve followed the game all their lives and have no small amount of talent on the court.

As the story unravels we see Quincy and Monica struggling to make their relationship work while at the same time pursuing their dream of playing they into stardom in big-league professional ball.

Directorial debut of Gina Prince-Bythewood

The film is the directorial debut of the writer Gina Prince-Bythewood. The director’s feel for characterization and her knack for ambience keep ”Love and Basketball” on the move, until we realize that in fact it’s not really about anything.

It’s in the small touches that bring this movie to life, and it’s rare that directors can pull off this kind of thing. For all its clever basketball metaphors, the movie does best when portraying the hard work that goes into love and happiness.


9th: When Harry met Sally

This movie finds an answer the age old question: “Does sex make it impossible for men and women to be true friends?” The plot revolves around the relationship between Harry and Sally who meet in college, then pursue their own lives until they reconnect ten years later.

movie scene from When Harry met SallyIt takes them 12 years to fall in love. “When Harry Met Sally” redefines the romantic comedy. The dialogue, memorable quotes, flawless acting and directing, the sparkling chemistry between two actors, this movie is a near-perfect story of two opposites who, over time, grow to realize just how compatible they really are.

The Story

Harry meets Sally for the first time at the University, when they team up to share the driving for a trip to New York. Both plan to start their careers in the city – she as a journalist, he as a political consultant.

Along the ten years of their friendship, they get together from time to time and each is involved in their own relationship, until at some point when her boyfriend has left and his wife wants a divorce.

They keep on meeting until they realize they like one another, and they become friends. But at this point issue of sex gets in between them, as Sally insists that sex always gets in the way.

Harry and Sally are supported, along the way, by their best friends, who met on a blind date arranged by the former two. But while Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby choose to go with the flow, Harry and Sally are tougher customers, fighting happiness every step of the way, until it finally wears them down.

“When Harry Met Sally…” is a definite must see. Directed by Rob Reiner, starring Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally, this film is Rob`s most conventional, in terms of structure and the way it fulfills our expectations. What makes it special is the chemistry between Crystal and Ryan, both actors being able to suggest genuine warmth and tenderness.


8th: The Best of Me

While this movie has not met with good reviews over the time, The Best of Me remains a heart-wrenching tale, a romance with dramatic twists and with some positive messages, most notably the power of forgiveness and the importance of being with someone who brings out the best in you. It revolves around a second chance at true love as high-school sweethearts are reunited after 20 years.

Story of Dawson and Amanda

James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan, the best of me movieThe Best of Me tells the story of Dawson and Amanda who find themselves reunited when they return to their small town for the funeral of a mutual friend.

Their bittersweet reunion reignites but soon they discover that the forces that drove them apart twenty years ago live on, posing even more serious threats today. This epic love story captures the enduring power of our first true love, and the wrenching choices we face when confronted with elusive second chances.

It is a very sweet love story. As we watch the plot unfold between Amanda and Dawson as adults, we are given flashbacks to them as teenagers, whose actions lead to where they find themselves today.

The Cast

“The Best of Me” has a great cast: the couple James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan, who play the current version of our star-crossed lovers and Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato as their 1992 teenaged selves. All four are charismatic and easy to watch, with a natural and engaging connection inside both couples regardless of timeline.

This film takes some getting used to and some further consideration beyond what’s happening on the surface. It might just seem like another Romance, but if you give it a bit of thought you discover there`s more to it than that. The film challenged a lot conventions. It’s interesting, to say the very least, and is well worth the watch.


7th: Casablanca

Casablanca is without a doubt one of the most beloved American films. The classic and much-loved romantic melodrama is in a class all of its own and defies any standard categorization. The story is a masterful tale of two men fighting over the same woman’s love in a love triangle.

Story of Rick Blaine

award winning scene from CasablancaIt`s the story of Rick Blaine, owner of a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of WWII. His cafe has become a heaven for all refugees of the time looking for ways to escape to America.

One day, he is approached by a famous rebel and his wife, who turned out to be no other than Rick`s true love who once deserted him. The conflict of the love triangle starts now, as Ilsa wants her husband to flee to America and at the same time to remain herself in Casablanca together with her former lover.

What makes it so special?

The movie is great genre mix, never equaled by another film. We might remember it as a romantic film at first, but it is also a drama involving terror, murder and flight. The story, as would be natural, has its devious convolutions of plot.

The performances of the actors are all of the first order, but especially those of Mr. Bogart who is the cool, cynical, efficient and super-wise guy who operates his business strictly for profit but has a core of sentiment and idealism inside and Miss Bergman, surpassingly lovely and natural, who lights the romantic passages with a warm and genuine glow.

Why should you watch it?

Casablanca brings together some of the very finest character actors that Warner Brothers could muster and a rich, detailed screenplay studded with an indecent number of sparklingly quotable lines. It is a movie to play again, and again. It is about a man and a woman who are in love, and who sacrifice love for a higher purpose. This is immensely appealing. Seeing the film over and over again, it will never grow over-familiar. It plays like a favourite musical album; the more you know it, the more you like it.


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