1. TITANIC (1997)
PLOT: 17-year-old Rose falls in love with the poor but kind Jack in the famous R.M.S Titanic
WHY IS IT GOOD?
As much as I want to avoid cliche stuffs, I really can't exclude Titanic from this list. It's super iconic with its classic 'forbidden love between the rich and poor' story. The actors are all beautiful, the evil guy deserves to be hated, everyone is rooting for Leo and Kate's (or Jack and Rose's) love to have a happy ending. It works very well with mainstream audience. A lot of other movies in the future uses references from this movie because of how iconic it is. The opening is great, the whole storytelling about Rose and Jack journey is lovable, and the ending is just awesome. You will definitely be carried away with how beautiful the story is. Plus, who doesn't fall for the young heartthrob Leo DiCaprio.
As much as I want to avoid cliche stuffs, I really can't exclude Titanic from this list. It's super iconic with its classic 'forbidden love between the rich and poor' story. The actors are all beautiful, the evil guy deserves to be hated, everyone is rooting for Leo and Kate's (or Jack and Rose's) love to have a happy ending. It works very well with mainstream audience. A lot of other movies in the future uses references from this movie because of how iconic it is. The opening is great, the whole storytelling about Rose and Jack journey is lovable, and the ending is just awesome. You will definitely be carried away with how beautiful the story is. Plus, who doesn't fall for the young heartthrob Leo DiCaprio.
2. ATONEMENT (2007)
PLOT: Famous writer Briony Tallis' tells a story of how her false accusation that she made when she was thirteen towards her sister's lover affected their lives throughout the years
WHY IS IT GOOD?
This is probably one of my favorite romance movies of all time. The story itself can be categorized as an adult story because of its complexity. It explains how two people can be in love, and how a child can accuse without knowing its consequences or even try to understand the whole situation. The movie explores each character, making you see them completely, especially Briony from time to time. You get to understand how she grew up, what she has become, how she changed while growing up. You get to feel all sorts of emotions while watching the movie, accompanied by its amazing score. It's definitely not a simple romantic drama movie, and definitely not a usual ending.
3. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
PLOT: A couple tries to do all they can to move on from one another by undergoing a medical procedure to erase the other person from their minds.
WHY IS IT GOOD?
Phew, that's a long title, isn't it? Indicating a weird movie, a super good movie, a movie you're not interested to watch? Yeah, I thought it's either really bad or really good too back then. But thankfully, it's really good. We all know Jim Carrey as the funny guy while Kate Winslet is already famous for romance movies since Titanic. But they both have great chemistry here and played their characters really well. This movie focuses more on Joel's (Jim Carrey) point of view. And because he undergoes a medical procedure to erase Clementine (Kate Winslet) from his mind, you get a whole movie about everything that's going on in his mind when the procedure happens. A movie about inside someone's mind trying to move on. Can you picture the visual and the storyline already? Yup, it's like scrambled egg. The setting, the weather, the surroundings, and the clothing don't always connect to one another. It's ridiculous if you don't know what's going on. But, trust me, it's not weird at all and you won't cringe or frown in confusion because it's all in his mind so it makes sense. It's uses the point of view of their minds to show how hard it is to move on instead of just 30 minutes of a gloomy-looking guy on a street, indicating he can't move on. And trust me again, you'll love the ending.
4. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)
WHY IS IT GOOD?
This movie first takes place in 1960s and move forward during the characters' lifetime. So you must know at that time, gay couples or people suspected to be gay is very pressured. It was very hard for Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) to express their love or even to just stay in touch. They have to conceal everything from everyone, basically living in fear while unwilling and unable to let go of one another. Director Ang Lee made a daring move to create this movie in 2005 but he did a very good job. He focuses more on how desperate they love one another in this very hard situation and time. You'll feel sorry for the couple while experiencing their sadness too. Everything seems to be so hard and cruel on them when all they want to do is love each other. It's a tragic forbidden love story you can't miss.
5. LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)
WHY IS IT GOOD?
This movie is kind of responsible in creating a new culture that until now, still isn't very successful. It's the culture of cramming dozens of different characters slightly interrelated to one another and all potrayed by famous actors. The movie Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve are the most known examples and no, they're not very good movies. But Love Actually is. Even though there's so many characters, all potrayed by famous and talented English actors, I wasn't bored at all. And I actually do care about each one of them. The love stories are all different. Some involves heartbreak, some happiness, some disappointment, and a bunch of other kinds of feeling So, they don't all have a happy ending or sad ending, they're all varied. If you watch it now, it'll be more interesting because a lot of those actors are famous for their roles in the movies released after Love Actually. Like, Keira Knightley. You probably know her more as Elizabeth from Pirates of The Caribbeans series instead of this one. So, it'll hype you up cause you know who they all are.
6. 50 FIRST DATES (2004)
PLOT: A playboy fell in love with a beautiful woman who has short-term memory loss which makes her memories only last for a day.
WHY IS IT GOOD?
A lot of people might disagree with me to put this movie on the list. It stars Adam Sandler who is known for his lazy jokes and the score for the movie in Rotten Tomatoes is 44 percent. But here's my unpopular opinion: I actually think the movie is good and I don't mind watching it more than once :") The plot itself is quite different and interesting. The girl always forgets about him on the next day. Released in 2004, when every rom-com movie has the same storyline (guy and girl meet, fall in love, something bad that is super simple happens, they separate for a while, get back together again in the most movie romantic, illogical, and easy way, happy ending), this movie is different. I don't think it's cliche at all. Everything is different and not mainstream. Overall it's really beautiful. And the ending? Not completely logical but logical enough to not be lame. Plus, Barrymore and Sandler made really great chemistry.7. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (2014)
WHY IS IT GOOD?
Yes, it has super simple plot, and yes, it's quite cliche. But still, deserves to be watched by all. I mean, cancer and love story? Definitely will be sad, right? But it fulfills you inner need of a cliche romance. It's good to watch if you want to see a blossoming beautiful love story of two young people. A little warning here, the movie might be slightly boring. But overall, the whole story builds the ending and to wrap it up, it's not so bad. I'd suggest you read the book first because it provides a lot more beautiful emotions. That'll help you enjoy and understand the movie even more. In conclusion, I put it on number seven here because it's a little boring but the story is beautiful. Also, brace yourself for the ending, people.
8. 500 DAYS OF SUMMER (2009)
PLOT: 500 days of the relationship and love between a woman who doesn't believe in true love and a guy who falls for her.
WHY IS IT GOOD?
The indie-ness of it really separates it from other romance movie even though when you conclude it, the story isn't that different. Zooey Deschanel shows how quirky and unpredictable Summer is while Joseph Gordon-Levitt depicts how a man can go crazy for a woman. Both created a really good and enjoyable chemistry. Thing is, the whole story is complicated and realistic in some ways. You experience what they experience because you understand them. The juggled storyline that goes from day 1 to day 200 to day 75 is also unique and surprise you about them even more.
9. CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE / FIRST LOVE (2010)
PLOT: A classic story of a 14-year-old school girl who falls in love with her handsome senior and tries her best to win his attention
WHY IS IT GOOD?
First thing first, it's a Thai movie, and it's also good. Despite having super classic and simple main plot, this movie kind of offers more. The subplot and how everything turned out to be in the end, are what makes it worth it to watch. You're not going to feel like you wasted 2 hours of your life just to watch a lame story because it isn't. It's funny, sad, touching, and sometimes full of happiness in some way. The characters are also quite relatable, especially for Southeast Asian girls whose lifestyles and schools aren't very different from Thailand. I relate to it very much because my school system and surroundings aren't very different from the one that the movie shows. Plus, the handsome senior is incredibly handsome, so I relate even more. Thing is, it's classic but it's not lame and there are twists you don't expect.
10. LA LA LAND (2016)
PLOT: A woman with a dream to be an actress falls in love with a man with ambitions of becoming a great jazz musician
WHY IS IT GOOD?To answer that question: how realistic the whole story is. Also, two gorgeous people falling in love while struggling to begin their career in different fields sure sounds interesting, right? By the way, everyone always praises its musical, its songs, and how director Damian Chazelle creates a 40s like musical in 2016, but I'll skip all that and focus on the romance. In this movie, we can all see how ambitious they are and how they have to go through so much just to live their passion, especially because it's never easy to be a famous actress and musician. The movie depicts downfalls and breakdowns in pursuing what you love the most while also trying to hold on to the person you love. Chazelle shows everything like how it should be. No sugar-coating anything. Beautiful things exist, as well as bad things. And the only way to deal with it is to face it and find the best solution even when it's bitter.
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