14 Romantic Movies I Love from the 2000's

Are these films all Oscar worthy? No. But I love them, and would stop and watch them again on cable any day. Not necessarily in order:

14. Down With Love. Ewan McGregor in a frothy musical. What's not to love?! The costumes and sets just make me smile.

13. Moulin Rouge. Ewan McGregor in an angst filled frenetic musical. What's not to love?! And it's Baz!

12. Amelie. A French film filled with whimsy.



11. The Holiday. Jack Black is sweet, but Jude Law redeemed himself to me (somewhat), and that took some doing. He's what we call mommy porn in this movie, and I just try to ignore Cameron Diaz.

10. Far From Heaven. Modeled after the melodramas of the 50's and just beautiful to look at, too.


9. Lost in Translation. Not everyone likes this film, but I adore it. Bill Murray is so great in this, and from someone who knows him, totally himself in it.

8. 40 Year Old Virgin. What could have been just a crass comedy, is actually incredibly sweet. The first of the Judd Appatow dynasty.

7. Pride & Prejudice. Nothing can match Colin Firth's mini-series, but this movie does a great job capturing the essence of the romance in a two hour film.


6. Bridget Jones Diary. Hilarious, and also you have Colin Firth spoofing his own performance as Darcy from the Pride and Prejudice mini-series.

Bridget: Wait a minute... nice boys don't kiss like that.
Mark Darcy: Oh, yes, they f**king do.

5. Twilight. Swoon! An excellent film version of the novel.

4. Once. A simply magical little film. The two musicians in the film became lovers in real life, although I heard they just broke up.

3. Brokeback Mountain. If Heath Ledger wins the Oscar for playing the Joker this year, it will partly for being robbed for his amazing portrayal of Ennis. I dare you not to cry when he clutches those two shirts, one inside the other.

2. Kate & Leopold. I absolutely adore Hugh Jackman in this movie as the Duke. It's my favorite film of his, and it tickles me pink that he and Liev Shreiber are reuniting in Wolverine, where Liev will play Sabretooth.

Leopold: I warn you scoundrel, I was trained at the King's Academy and schooled in weaponry by the palace guard. You stand no chance. When you run, I shall ride, when you stop, the steel of this strap shall be lodged in your brain.
[bag snatcher throws down the bag an flees, onlookers applaud]

Kate: Are you for real?
Leopold: I believe so.

1. Love Actually. I remember seeing this movie in the theater with a friend, and the first thing she said when it ended was, "I want to see it again!" There are so many great moments in this movie (Hugh Grant dancing!), but I love Colin Firth and his maid who only speaks Portuguese. He learns enough to come back and propose to her:

[in Portuguese]
Jamie: Beautiful Aurelia, I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person - because I hardly knows you - but sometimes things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof. And I will inhabit here, or you can inhabit with me in England.

Only Two Songs per Pic for Oscars

Last Oscars, the songs category had three songs nominated for one film. "Enchanted" had the songs: "Happy Working Song," "So Close" and "That's How You Know."- a feat that may never be repeated. The winner of best original song was "Falling Slowly," from "Once."

The number of original songs that can be nominated from a single movie will now be limited to two, according to a rule change by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The academy's governors approved the change late Tuesday.

"Dreamgirls" also had three songs that were nominated. That year, the Oscar went to "I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth."

After recent protests by some Oscar voters, the current two screenings of the eligible song clips (held in New York and Los Angeles) will be supplemented by DVDs of those clips, which will be made available to music-branch members unable to attend the screenings.