Page 18 • Thursday, February 12, 2004
FEATURES
The Pendulum
For Valentine’s Day, enjoy subtle comforts of home theater
Forget dinner and movie: Stay home, curl up with loved one, enjoy some choice DVD's
Daniel P. Finney
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (KRT)
Hello, young lovers.
Sure, flowers, candy
and jewelry are nice,
but what better way to encourage
snuggling up on the couch than the
gift of a good, romantic DVD?
Here’s a list of fairly recent
heart-tugging romantic films avail
able on DVD that you might have
missed at the multiplex but would
be a perfect Valentine’s Day gift
for your favorite sweetie.
“High Fidelity” (2000, Disney,
$19.99) - John Cusack plays a
well-meaning but often bumbling
lover of both women and pop
music who tries to mend his rela
tionship with a longtime girlfriend
(Iben Hjejle) by revisiting the sins
and failures of relationships past.
Jack Black turns in a hilarious per
formance an annoying rock music
snob working at Cusack’s record
store.
Perfect for: KDHX listeners
and Vintage Vinyl regulars.
Quote; “Did I listen to pop
music because I was miserable? Or
was I miserable bccause I listened
to pop music?” - Rob (Cusack)
“Love and Basketball” (2000,
New Line Cinema, $14.99) - Two
childhood neighbors (Sanaa
Lathan and Omar Epps) build a
relationship together while their
love for basketball drives them
apart. Director Gina Prince-
BytheWood, a former collage ath
lete, tells a great modem love story
while intertwining the passion of
athletics, the role of women in
sports and .society, and inner-city
upbringings.
Perfect for: Any significant
other who owns an authentic NBA
jersey.
Quote: “I’m a ballplayer.” -
Monica (Lathan)
“Wings of Desire" (1988,
MGM/UA, $24.99) - This magnif
icent German film details the lives
of two angels (Bruno Ganz and
Otto Sandler) who observe human
ity. Ganz’s Damiel becomes infat
uated with a beautiful trapeze artist
(Solveig Donimartin). After get
ting advice from another former
angel (Peter Falk, playing him-
Courtesy of movies.com
“Chasing Amy,' starring Ben Affleck
and Jason Lee, is a perfect movie to
watch on Valentine's Day.
self), Damiel gives up angelhood
to pursue love in the human world.
Perfect for: Regulars at an inde
pendent theater.
Quote: “To smoke, and have
coffee - and if you do it together,
it’s fantastic.” - Peter Falk
“Almost Famous” (2000,
Dreamworks Skg, $14.99) - A
teenage writer (Patrick Fugit) lusts
after the beautiful, flighty and
unattainable Kate Hudson as he
goes on assignment for Rolling
Stone magazine following a hot
new band. Fugit essentially plays a
young Cameron Crowe, the film’s
writer and director, who spent his
teen years interviewing rock gods
such as Neil Young while writing
for RS. The sweet story couples
hilarious and telling inside bits
about 1970s bands on the road - a
more serious and tender “This is
Spinal Tap.”
Perfect for: Baby boomers who
get misty-eyed talking about the
‘70s.
Quote: “Never take it seriously,
you never get hurt. Never get hurt,
you can always have fun. And if
you ever get lonely, you just go to
the record store and visit all your
friends.” - Penny Lane (Hudson)
“Run Lola Run” (1999,
Columbia/Tristar, $19.99)
Franka Potente plays Lola, a
young German woman who runs
through a series of real-time
adventures to save her boyfriend.
“Chasing Amy is writer-director Kevin Smith's best film
and an interesting take on post-modern sexual lifestyles.
Perfect for: Those who like Smith’s films but could do with
fewer jokes about flatulence and genitalia."
who has gotten on the
wrong side of a mob in a
deal gone bad. Lola’s
attempts aren’t always
successful, and the day
plays out over-and-over
“Groundhog Day”-style.
(In German with subti
tles.)
Perfect for: The lover
who knows the differ
ence bet'^een techno,
electronica and house.
Quote: “A football is
round, a game lasts 90
minutes. That’s for sure.
Anything else is merely hypotheti
cal. Off we go!” - Herr Schuster
(Armin Rohde)
“Defending Your Life” (1991,
Warner Studios, $19.99) - Albert
Brooks dies in a car accident and
enters a holding area in the after
life where a panel of angels judge
whether or not he can enter heav
en. Brooks meets Meryl Streep,
and the two spirits hit it off. But
Brooks hasn’t exactly led a useful
life, so he might have to go back to
Earth for a do-over.
“Defending Your
Life” is a beautiful
take on the afterlife
and what really mat
ters in all life.
Perfect for: New
Age spiritual types.
Quote: “So,
you’re great people
to work with, this is a
great present, and I
wish I could squeeze
you all into one pret
ty woman. And if
you’d like to go to
my office, I’ll try.”- Daniel Miller
(Brooks)
“Some Kind of Wonderful”
(1987, Paramount, $19.99) - Eric
Stoltz is a high school senior
obsessed with the most popular
girl in school (Lea Thompson)
while his best friend (a tomboy
played by Mary Stuart Masterson)
pines for him. Perhaps writer-
director John Hughes’ best film.
Perfect for: The sweetheart who
thinks ‘The Breakfast Club” is
Promotional photo
Kate Hucbon's gves a
rnemor^iepeikwnarKe
in "Almost Fanxxjs."
Courtesy of lmdb.com
John Cusack stars in “High Fidelity’ wi&i Jack Black and Iben Hjejle. "High
Fidelity" chronicles the life of Rc^ Gordon, a fx>p music guru who can never
be comfortable in a relationship. The move is perfect for "KDHX listeners and
Vintage Vinal regulars."
akin to “Citizen Kane.”
Quote: “Don’t go mistaking
paradise for a pair of long legs.” -
Watts (Stuart Masterson)
“Playing By Heart” (1999,
Miramax, $14.99) -A small film
about a series of couples and their
struggles with love and life.
Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe
are a pair of club-hopping Gen-
Xers. Gillian Anderson struggles
with relationship collapses as Jon
Stewart pursues her. Sean Connery
and Gena Rowlands play a long
time married couple coping with
the frailties of age.
Perfect for: The significant
other from a big family of any gen
eration.
Quote: “Don’t look at me with
that tone of voice.” - Paul
(Connery)
“Say Anything” (1989, Fox,
$14.99) - Lloyd Dobler (John
Cusack) is a lovable high school
outsider who musters the courage
to ask out the smartest girl in
school, Diane Court (lone Skye),
who is an outsider in her own way.
Love blooms during their final
summer, but Diane’s scholarship
to England and the sins of her
father (John Mahoney) get in the
way. This is one of the best roman
tic films of all time.
Perfect for Those who believe
rock 'n’ roll will save their mortal
soul.
Quote: “I gave her my heart,
she gave me a pen.” - Lloyd
(Cussack)
“Chasing Amy” (1997,
Miramax, $19.99) - Ben Affleck
and Jason Lee play up-and-coming
comic book artists whose friend
ship is enough to sustain them until
Affleck meets and falls for Joey
Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones).
There’s just one small problem:
Adams is a lesbian, sort of.
“Chasing Amy” is writer-director
Kevin Smith’s best film and an
interesting take on post-modern
sexual lifestyles.
Perfect for: Those who like
Smith’s films but could do with
fewer jokes about flatulence and
genitalia.
Quote: “This is all going to end
badly.” - Banky (Lee)