by guest writer Elizabeth Eckhart
Candy hearts, crooning records, and the standard, innocuous Hugh Grant faire might be the stuff of Valentine’s Day for many. But for some people, whether they’re single or just in relationships with fellow weirdos, Frank Sinatra and Two Weeks Notice just aren’t going to cut it. We need something with substance, and if not substance, then at least zombies and explosions.
Here is the Valentine’s Day viewing list for those whose
tastes skew a little differently. Proceed with caution...
A criminally underrated morbid comedy which brilliantly
showcases Michael Myers’ range. The film features Myers as Charlie, a Jack Kerouac style beat
poet in San Francisco, who falls in love with a bartender named Harriet (played
by Nancy Travis). The two become smitten, and ultimately decide to get married.
Everything is fine, until Charlie begins to uncover Harriet’s strange history,
mainly the long line of ex’s who were hacked to death (although there was never
substantial evidence to indict Harriet). Is Charlie’s beau a crazed serial
killer, or is there perhaps more to the story? Excellent writing, and stellar
performances from Meyers as both Charlie and Charlie’s bombastic Scottish
father make this a real comedic gem. There is even a specialedition DVD which was just recently released.
4. Warm Bodies
Zom-coms
are definitely in vogue now, and Warm Bodies is one of the best that’s
been made yet, due to its richly developed characters and spot-on comic timing.
The story takes place in a world still reeling with the aftermath of a
zompocalypse. A zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult) who falls in love with a girl
name Julie (Teresa Palmer), and forms an even stronger attachment to her after
he eats her boyfriend’s brains and absorbs his memories of her. In R’s defense,
the boyfriend was trying to kill him. It’s a bizarre and touching comedy which
manages to tickle the gag reflex (it does get pretty gruesome) and tug on the heart
strings. You can stream it in it’s entirety through the DirecTV website.
The couple that slays together stays together. Or at least
this cult film from the late sixties would lead you to believe. The film tells
the real life story of the “Lonely Hearts Killers”, Raymond Fernandez and
Martha
Beck, a pair of deranged lovebirds who swept across the United States in
the forties, and killed as many as 20 women. The film has all the charm of a
Russ Meyer film, plus a morbid, and deeply confusing, love-story. Ray affirms
his love for Martha before they are both executed on the same day. Hand me a
tissue...The DVD can be tricky to find, but you can stream the film through sites like Hulu.
Have you ever considered a romantic romp with someone old
enough to be your grandparent? I mean, without the promise of a major
inheritance. In this film, young Harold (Bud Cort) is forever changed after he
meets a spritely 79-year-old name Maude (Ruth Gordon) at a complete stranger’s
funeral. The two of them build a relationship consisting of hanging out in
graveyards, stealing cars, and going to carnivals. Along the way, we learn
about Maude’s dark past in Austria during the reign of the Third Reich, and we
come to learn that her exuberance and free-spirited nature owes much to the
hardship she endured in her youth. Does it have a particularly uplifting
ending? No. But what it does have is ample laughs, and a wonderful soundtrack
performed by Cat Stevens. Beyond laughs and Cat Stevens, it also raises
some pretty provocative questions about coupling and love. What does it mean to
love someone? Is too much emphasis placed on social status, age, external
beauty? You get the idea. Best part: it’s available for instant
play on Netflix!
1. True Romance
The film tells the story of Kung-Fu movie obsessed Clarence
(Christian Slater) who meets and falls in love with Alabama (Patricia
Arquette). When Clarence learns that Alabama is a call girl, he has a vision of
Elvis (played by Val Kilmer) who instructs Clarence to defend Alabama’s honor
by murdering her pimp. The two get themselves in over their heads, and
afterwards their path is one paved with the stuff of classic action films. It
features all of the things you’d expect from a script penned by Quentin Tarantino
(the obscure pop culture references, the blatant nods to classic genre films,
hyper stylized violence, etc.), plus, cameos from virtually every celebrity
under the sun. You can watch the newBlu-Ray.
