It’s Valentine’s Day this week, which means, of course, some suggestions for movies about love, in all its many shapes and forms.
For one-stop Valentine’s Day viewing, there are several streaming services that have created channels dedicated to romance. Fire up Paramount+ for the “Peak Romance" collection, with curated carousels dedicated to Modern Love, Classic Romance, '90s, Twisted Romance, 2000s Rom-Coms, and a whole collection of reality dating shows.
Some highlights include the dizzy screwball action-adventure “The Lost City,” the lo-fi amusement park indie “Adventureland,” Hitchcock’s European romp “To Catch a Thief,” perennial ‘90s nostalgia fave “Clueless,” Paul Verhoeven’s erotic thriller “Basic Instinct” and Nancy Meyer’s swoon-worthy house-swap rom-com “The Holiday.”
Over on HBO Max, it’s the “Share the Love” spotlight page, which has curations including Swipe Right, Swipe Left, Delightful Rom-Coms, Swoon-Worthy Dramas, LGBTQ+Love, Black Leads in Love, Forever Friends, Love Across Time and Space, '80s Heartthrobs, '90s Sweethearts, 2000s Flings, We Heart a Classic, and TV Dates. Check out the ensemble comedy “Crazy Rich Asians,” the classic “The Philadelphia Story,” the charming '90s rom-com “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the iconic “Casablanca,” Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet,” and the John Hughes fave “Pretty in Pink.”
But sometimes you need something even more specific for Valentine’s Day, so here are some suggestions for any mood or situation.
For a rowdy Galentine’s gathering, you can’t go wrong with a double feature of “Magic Mike” and “Magic Mike XXL,” both streaming on HBO Max. And for a true crime twist looking at the dark side of the all-male revue, fire up the series “Welcome to Chippendales” on Hulu, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Murray Bartlett.
Embracing the single life? Rent the delightful French comedy “My Donkey, My Lover & I,” starring Laure Calamy as a woman who hits the Stevenson Trail in southern France looking for love, and finds herself along the way. Rent it on iTunes, Amazon and Kino Now. Other recent favorites about complex independent women include the Norwegian dramedy “The Worst Person in the World” (streaming on Hulu and Kanopy), “Frances Ha” (on Netflix, Kanopy and the Criterion Channel) and the dizzyingly charming Sapphic French rom-com “Anais in Love,” streaming on Hulu or available to rent.
“Anais in Love” would also fit the bill for those interested in a queer love story, as well as Andrew Haigh’s whirlwind romance “Weekend” (Criterion Channel, Tubi, Kanopy), Luca Guadagnino’s summer love “Call Me by Your Name” (Netflix), Todd Haynes’ lesbian romantic drama “Carol” (Tubi, Kanopy, Freevee) starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, Celine Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Hulu, Kanopy), Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning “Moonlight” (Showtime, Kanopy) and Wong Kar-wai moody Buenos Aires-set romance “Happy Together” (Hulu, HBO Max, Criterion Channel).
Going through a breakup? There is only one answer: Michel Gondry’s surreal “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” starring Jim Carrey as a man trying to forget his ex, Kate Winslet. Stream it on Prime Video, or rent it elsewhere.
Need a cathartic cry? The Korean documentary “My Love, Don’t Cross That River,” about an elderly couple living out the last years of their lives and lifelong partnership, will leave you in a puddle. Stream it Kanopy, Tubi or rent it elsewhere.
Maybe something edgy and dark is more up your alley. Stream Kathryn Bigelow’s sexy ‘80s vampire romance “Near Dark” on Shudder or AMC+, or Tony Scott’s sexy '80s vampire romance “The Hunger” on HBO Max. Monster hunter? Pair Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning “The Shape of Water” (Freevee or rent) and Wes Craven’s “Swamp Thing” (Tubi). For a cannibalism-core double feature, rent Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” on all platforms, and stream Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” on Netflix.
For period romance lovers, add “Mr. Malcolm’s List” (Showtime) to your rotation of “Emma” (Freevee), “Pride & Prejudice” (Peacock and BritBox) and “Sense and Sensibility” (rent on all platforms), or just fire up “Bridgerton” on Netflix.
Trying to impress a cinephile? You can’t go wrong with a Park Chan-wook double feature of the obsessive detective romance “Decision to Leave” (Mubi or iTunes/Amazon) and his erotic period romance “The Handmaiden” (Prime). Or go for a Francophile double feature celebrating the two sides of Catherine Deneuve, in “Belle de Jour” (HBO Max, Criterion Channel) and “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (HBO Max, Criterion, Kanopy). There’s also Paul Thomas Anderson’s unusual, fashion-forward romance “Phantom Thread” on Netflix, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps.
Finally, for the best bro-mance currently available to stream, look no further than the Indian action epic “RRR” streaming on Netflix. It’s three hours of the most beautiful friendship between two massive Tollywood stars, Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr., plus the most eye-popping, physics defying action sequences directed by S.S. Rajamouli — and an Oscar-nominated song and dance number! It’s everything you could want, and much, much more.
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(Katie Walsh is the Tribune News Service film critic and co-host of the "Miami Nice" podcast.)
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