The Most Romantic Movie Moments...well, more or less...

I don’t know about you, but I embrace the fact that we live in a culture that operates twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and requires 24/7 reporting of all that occurs in the culture. Why? Because were it not for the need to fill endless hours with video and audio and trivia to keep TV viewers and radio listeners and web surfers coming back for more (which is, of course, what the TV, radio and Web people promise their advertisers to close the deal), we would never get to enjoy such inane and, at the same time, delightful pastimes as finding out what CNN.com thinks are the 10 most romantic movie moments.
And this is no snob lament in disguise. I really do love this stuff. First of all, in my work in radio, it gives me, literally, a bottomless glass to drink from when it comes to having something to talk about besides the time and five day forecast.
Second, it gives me the chance to share my two cents about their two cents and then post it here on the Web, where it will, ideally, help to bring surfers back to the blog (which is, of course, what I promise advertisers to close the deal.)
Third, it gives me (and you, I can only assume, although I’m loathe to speak for you) a chance to forget lousy self-image for a few minutes and feel totally superior to, in this case, the CNN writers who got to make the choices. Nothing like a little “what the hell were they thinking?” flying out of your mouth to give the day an extra sparkle. Not to mention the opportunity to write, hopefully, witty satire at the expense of the opinionaters (“…..I thought the way Cary Grant kissed Ingrid Bergman in Notorious was totally romantic…but you’re saying it was BOGIE and Bergman in Casablanca..what’s up with that”? “..I was misinformed,” the writer replies with a wink and a nod)
Okay. So, without further ado, here, directly from CNN.com, is THEIR list of the top ten most romantic movie moments:

1. Casablanca(Michael Curtiz, 1942)Yep, it's a no-brainer. In a world full of slushy, happily-ever-after rom-coms, Bogie and Bergman find true romance in heartache, sacrificing their romance for the greater good. Bogie's "hill of beans" speech still gets us every time. Oh, the tragedy! Still, they'll always have Paris ...

2. City Lights(Charles Chaplin, 1931)Truly, madly sweetly: Blind flower-girl Virginia Cherrill recognizes Chaplin's tramp when she presses a coin into his hand. Deeply moved, as the scale of his sacrifice dawns on her, she wells up -- as did we; his expression shifts from shame to tentative delight. The most touching film moment of all time?

3. Roman Holiday(William Wyler, 1953)Audrey Hepburn's princess falls for Gregory Peck's noble hack (surely that's an oxymoron!) -- but while the ending is bittersweet, it's the playful scene at the Mouth of Truth, with its pitch-perfect comic timing, that captured our hearts.

4. From Here to Eternity(Fred Zinnemann, 1953)"Nobody ever kissed me the way you do." Army sergeant Burt Lancaster and troubled wife Deborah Kerr find refuge in their torrid, adulterous affair; the heat between them is tangible. With the tumultuous waves crashing over the embracing couple, Zinnemann creates one of old Hollywood's most iconic images.

5. Amélie(Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)A sheer moment of joy, as Amélie (Audrey Tautou) zooms through Paris on the back of Nino's (Mathieu Kassovitz) bicycle. The laughing couple freewheel down the cobbled streets past Sacré Coeur, filled with the delirious exuberance of new love. Ah, c'est l'amour.

6. Annie Hall(Woody Allen, 1977)The highlight of Woody Allen's confessional masterpiece is Annie's (Diane Keaton) first meeting with Alvy (Allen) at the tennis club where we're blown away by her vitality, ebullient charm and fresh contrast with Allen's wound-up, navel-gazing New Yorker. La-di-da, la-di-da, la la!

7. La Dolce Vita(Federico Fellini, 1960)Fellini's beautifully choreographed tableau in the Trevi Fountain sees young journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) rendered helpless as buxom screen goddess Sylvia (Anita Eckberg) draws him into her spell. A paean to those fleeting moments between sunset and dawn when reality slips away to reveal something altogether more magical. Talking of which ...

8. Before Sunrise(Richard Linklater, 1995)They've no time for mix-tapes, so Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) head to a record store's music booth to acid-test their compatibility. In its confined space, they nervously avoid each other's eyes, so painfully aware of each other's physical presence. A moment that evokes strong memories of those sweet first-love connections.

9. Lost in Translation(Sofia Coppola, 2003)Bob (Bill Murray), a movie star well past his sell-by date, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a neglected newlywed, are two lost souls who are cast adrift, and come together, in Tokyo. Their parting moment, when Bob whispers his secret farewell to Charlotte, is all the more romantic for its mystery.

10. When Harry Met Sally(Rob Reiner, 1989)Forget the orgasm scene in Katz's Deli. Forget the strolls in scenic Central Park. After ninety minutes of vacillating, Harry and Sally have one final bout of verbal sparring before they finally get it together for good. Now that's what we call New Year fireworks.

Now, right off the bat, we have to all agree to disagree. That is to say that top ten lists of anything are subjective. As the old saying goes, ***holes and opinions, everybody has one. And just like my existential philosophy professor used to offer, “there is no such thing as a right or wrong answer”. (yeah, well, then how come I didn’t automatically score a 4.0 in THAT class?)
Having said that, what moron could possibly compile a list of the top ten most romantic movie moments and exclude “Gone With The Wind”…and I’m not talking about the kiss on the bridge or the almost kiss in the parlor when she got the new hat.
Ladies, you know what I’m talking about don’t you?
Damn straight you do. The scene where the drunken Rhett picks Scarlett up and carries her, all vapored and everything, up that sweeping staircase to that room with the big four poster where Captain Butler will “not be denied”.
In place of this, we have Bill Murray whispering a “secret” in Scarlett Johannsson’s ear?
For all we know, he could have been doing ten seconds from Caddyshack just to crack her up.
Something profane about gophers, I’m thinking.
Okay. Picky, picky aside, I think while it’s obvious the CNN gang was trying to appeal to the masses (because more and more, everything we do in this culture is geared toward the lowest common denominator) and a list of obscure movie moments wouldn’t play to the big crowd (heaven forbid, we should be exposed to something cool that we might have not heard about!), I think, allowing for that subjectivity disclaimer I did earlier, there are some great moments from some pretty well known movies that would have been much more appropriate than some of those chosen.
For example…

“American Beauty”….when Thora Birch does the boob flash from her window while being videoed by Mr. “Sometimes Life Is So Beautiful, I Can’t Stand It”, what could have been a gratuitous sexual moment becomes a silent, and exquisite, expression of the simple need we all have to be vulnerable to each other…or, at least, someone.

“Braveheart”…when Mel Gibson kneels in front of his in-laws at the grave of his just funeral-ed wife, head bowed, asking without words for forgiveness, the trembling outstretched hand of his angry but compassionate father-in-law screams volumes about the power, majesty, tragedy and redemption of deep and true love.

“Gone With The Wind”…yeah, yeah, I know, we already mentioned the obvious moments. But, in a movie filled with romance, some moments have been overlooked…next time, watch for the moment on the porch of the old burned out house while Scarlett, Melanie, et al are feeding the battle weary troops. Then watch Olivia De Haviliand’s face when she looks up the road, seeing another soldier, assuming it’s just another of the many and then realizing that…………the transformation from “here comes another valiant home town boy” to “oh my god, it’s the man I love with all my heart” is poignant, effortless and says more about the hold that romance has over us than any ten shots of Demi Moore throwing clay pots…..

“Lady and The Tramp”…checkered tablecloth, bottle of red and a single strand of spaghetti…..nuff said (or ruff! Said…)

By the way, to CNN’s credit, they threw in a few “clinkers” too. Two of which I particularly enjoyed:

The English Patient(Anthony Mingella, 1996)"I've watched you - on verandahs, at garden parties, at the races ... " Ralph Fiennes turns stalker in Mingella's improbable mush-fest. And don't even start us on the bit where he runs across the desert. As Seinfeld's Elaine says, "Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already! Die!"

Titanic(James Cameron, 1997)Timeless romance? We think not. As Leo slips away, Kate Winslet's star-crossed lover cries, "I'll never let go, Jack. I promise." And then does -- scurrying as quickly as her hands will paddle her to the safety of a lifeboat, a warm blanket and a nice cup of tea. Ah, the relief.

Honest to God, I thought I was the only person on the planet who noticed that.

“My Heart Will Go On and On?”

Not so much, apparently.