For What It's Worth


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Authors After Dark Spotlight: Jess Haines

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Please join me in welcoming author Jess Haines to kick off the first of For What It's Worth's Authors After Dark author spotlights.

I present to you the perfect Valentine's Day post! Go buy some chocolate (if your sweetie didn't already get you some today...BAD sweetie! BAD) & curl up for a romantic movie marathon with these great picks.

My Top Ten Romantic Movies
By Jess Haines

Hello there! Jess Haines here. I’m the author of the urban fantasy H&W Investigations series: HUNTED BY THE OTHERS , TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, and DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS. Karen was kind enough to invite me to come share my (at times, admittedly god-awful) taste in romantic movies with you in honor of Valentine’s Day. Most of them are romantic comedies, and far from considered the cinema “greats,” but―hey―I love ‘em anyway!

So, without further ado, here is my list of my top ten favorite romantic movies!
_____________________________________________________________










10. Dangerous Beauty
A peasant girl in Venice falls in love with a nobleman who is obliged to wed another more to his station. He turns her down, letting her know that, despite ruining her reputation by spending so much time with her, he can never marry her. Her revenge? To become a courtesan and taunt him with her cleverness and sensual nature, and how desired she has become by the elite of Venice society. This is a wicked, sexy movie based on a real story (The Honest Courtesan).











9. Bed of Roses
Despite the stalker-y, Edward Cullen vibe given off by Christian Slater’s character in this movie, it’s really very sweet. Being given so many roses that you could literally fill a house with them is one of the most romantic gestures I’ve ever seen on film. It’s got drama, angst (angst-angst-angst), and is one of my favorite Slater films. You know, from before he went to jail and was caught with all those drugs. (Christian Slater Talks Addiction)











8. Just Friends
This romantic comedy stars Ryan Reynolds. I’m just going to admire the pretty for a moment.

Okay, I’m back. I love this movie. It’s silly, funny, and even though at times it has some cringe-worthy Something About Mary-vibes to it, it never fails to make me laugh. Plus, the friends-to-lovers trope has always given me warm fuzzies.











7. Win a Date With Tad Hamilton
Speaking of friends to lovers, I love―LOVE―this movie. That scene with Tad (Josh Duhamel) taking off his shirt and chopping firewood? *fans self* Also, this is the least annoying role I’ve ever seen Topher Grace in. I never would have thought of him as romantic lead material until I saw this movie. He plays the perfect geek suffering from unrequited love. It does a great job of balancing the serious stuff with the ridiculous in a great, heartfelt way.

Plus, the chopping firewood scene. RAWR. (Link to wood splitting scene)

Karen: I know I was supposed to drool over Josh in that scene - but I fell a little bit in love with Topher's character instead. What can I say, I like the geeks lol)












6. Roxanne
Like Topher Grace, you wouldn’t think actor/comedian Steve Martin―particularly wearing a huge, prosthetic nose―could be considered romance material, but he does a spectacular job of pulling it off here. This movie is funny, silly, and does a fantastic job at proving that looks aren’t everything.











5. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Okay. I know what it looks like―a raunchy horror, right? That’s what I thought when I first saw the cover and description, but it turns out this is actually a romance disguised as raunchy horror-comedy! It’s terrifically cheesy and funny. Best of all, it co-stars Alan Tudyk (aka, Wash from Firefly/Serenity). Not for the faint of heart, but if you’ve got a weird sense of humor and appreciation for silly cinema like I do, this is a great, must-see movie.











4. The Princess Bride
C’mon. You knew it was coming.

Karen: I believe I have watched this movie at least four times just in the past month. One of my all time favorites.











3. Don Juan De Marco
This is a romantic comedy starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando. Depp’s character believes he is the famous lover, Don Juan De Marco, and spends his time trying to prove it to his psychiatrist, Marlon Brando. Don Juan proves he is the world’s greatest lover by telling about his adventures, both in and out of the bedroom. Wackiness (and a ripple effect of sexiness) ensues.











2. Ever After
This movie gets me, every time, without fail. It’s interesting to see the Cinderella fairytale given a new twist, where you can see how this story might actually have happened and had a basis in actual historical events. Plus, it’s just plain awesome to witness Danielle (Drew Barrymore) get sick of her stepmother’s crap and grow an epic backbone.











1. While You Were Sleeping
Without a doubt, this is my favorite romantic movie. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched it. Lucy (Sandra Bullock) thinks she’s in love with Peter (Peter Gallagher). She sees him every day when he goes to work since she works the turnstiles at the train station. When he gets knocked unconscious, someone at the hospital calls her Peter’s fiancĂ©, and it sticks―which is how she meets Peter’s brother, Jack (Bill Pullman) and actually falls in love.

It’s the most heartwarming and adorable movie I’ve ever seen, and I can’t recommend it highly enough to my friends of the feminine persuasion (dudes may want to give this one a pass).
____________________
So that’s it! What do you think, ladies? What are some of your favorite romantic movies?

Visit me on the web:

Thanks again for having me, Karen! And a very Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

Karen: Thanks Jess! I had SO much fun with this post. It made me nostalgic for some of my favorite movies (Don Juan De Marco, Ever After, The Princess Bride, Roxanne, While You Were Sleeping) and added a few new movies to my must see list ( Dangerous Beauty, Bed of Roses, Just Friends, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton and I must be weird but the one I'm most interested in is Tucker & Dale vs Evil)

Giveaway! Because it's Valentine's Day and I love you all - I'm giving giving away a copy of any one of Jess's books: Hunted by the Others, Taken by the Others or Deceived by the Others.


Leave your name and email or twitter handle so I can contact you in comments along with answering Jess's question: What are some of your favorite romantic movies?

International entries ok if your country is listed here
ENDS 2/20/2012 at 12:01am - winner announced 2/20


This giveaway has ended - winner is Missie B!

13 comments:

  1. there are some great movies on this list!!

    happy valentine's day!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have two all-time favorite romances and they couldn't be more different. When I want to laugh, it's time for When Harry Met Sally. When I went intensity and beautiful scenery ( both male and female), it's The Last of the Mohicans that does it for me every time. Happy Valentines Day.
    Jen(at)delux(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Princess Bride and While You Were Sleeping are great ones, but I've always loved adventures like Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones, which are adventure romances. I also loved One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney, and Notting Hill.

    Barbed1951 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, that is a fun mix of romantic movies. Some of my favorites are The Notebook, Love Actually, and Reality Bites. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love GONE WITH THE WIND, NOTTING HILL, LOVE ACTUALLY & heaps more.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not entering the giveaway! Just wanted to say that I LOOOOOVE Ever After! Eep! Great interview/spotlight. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Princess Bride and Ever After are definitely two of my favorite movies...and yes *very* romantic!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You are showing 2 of my 3 favs in your list. Don Jaun DeMarco, Ever After and last but not least Ghost. I have back up DVDs of all three in case something happens to one. 0.o I know I'm weird. :)
    Thank you for having this giveaway!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love Princess Bride and Ever After, I own both on dvd, and I watch them when I see them on tv every time. Pretty in Pink, hey, I'm a child of the 80's!! Underworld, there's romance there! Thanks!!

    Artesia at comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great picks! I totally agree with "While You Were Sleeping", "Ever After" and "The Princess Bride". I haven't seen the Ryan Reynolds just-friends movie, but I've been known to watch even really awful movies just for the sake of Ryan.

    Lately, I'm not watching romantic movies so much as watching romantic foreign tv dramas. Let me tell you, Korean dramas bring the serious romance, even across the language barrier. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. My favorite romantic movies are The Notebook (which never fails to make me cry) and When Harry Met Sally (which always makes me laugh)!!!
    I love them noth equally, thanks for the giveaway!

    moll89@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just Friends is one of all my all-time favorite movies! The hubby and I watch it every Christmas to get in the Christmas spirit :)While you were sleeping & Ever After are big sigh-worthy movies too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. *squeeeeee* Yay! Thanks so much Karen. This made my day!! :)

    ReplyDelete