Monday, June 09, 2014

love stories





With the release last weekend of The Fault in our Stars...and it's big box office success, I have been wondering.
What are the most popular love stories in cinema?

Not romantic comedies.

We know and love those and can name them all and recite lines from them.

But plain old love stories.

Not Twighty love stories either.

I think of Romeo and Juliet.  The most famous love story of all time.

The Notebook.

Love Story.

Fault in our Stars.


We have the wonderful Jane Austen movies and the very romantic Jane Eyre.
But these movies don't really attract the general teen population and are mostly made of television.
Too bad.  Cause they are wonderfully told love stories. (the best)





Which makes me think about my interest in the royal romances...
These are not romantic comedies....

These are straight forward love stories starring pretty ladies and men would would be king.










And btw,
we enjoyed the book and the movie The Fault in our Stars.

Besides being charming and sweet and terribly sad, it gave us some great issues to discuss.

The movie beat Tom Cruise and X-men at the box office.

This was no surprise to us.  The book is beloved....and now so is the movie.


Can you think of other 'pure' love stories that have been made into successful films?


Kids LOVE to quote this movie.

My favorite quote is;

"The world is not a wish granting factory."


Encourage one another,
Donna











43 comments:

  1. I read TFIOS this week, in fact I finished it last night. At first I was "meh" about it, since I had just finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and I hadn't quite left the more grown up world of British over 60 folks. Around 1/3 the way in I was hooked, completely - it is a special book and I look forward to the movie. I am thrilled it beat out the special effects flicks.

    As for love stories, they often have a bit of comedy mixed in. Those are the ones I love best.

    I was just thinking about Miss Potter and how she came so close to finding happiness, to have it snatched away. I really love that movie, and love her scenes with Emily Watson (the sister) and the gal who played her chaperone !!

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    1. Oops, Miss P is not an example of a book to film. I am stumped!

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    2. Miss Potter. I want to watch that again. I love that movie. But it was not greatly received. The bridges of madison co?? I read the book but didn't go see the movie. The adultry bothered me. It's even a play on broadway now.

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    3. Just finished my first Munich burger. Not bad.

      I tell you, I did love Meryl Streep in the film, (and loved the book), in spite of the breaking of vows on her part, and the fact that I am not a big Eastwood fan. The movie was so beautifully filmed and acted. I think it was a good portrayal of the book.

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    4. Me again, waiting for the check ... did you read Time Travelers Wife? I really liked the book but the film, not so much.

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    5. Anonymous4:24 PM

      Susan, I also loved the book Time Travelers Wife (in spite of how confused it sometimes made me!) and was a bit disappointed in the movie, too!

      Mary Z

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    6. The Book had chapter headings with the date (year) which was super helpful !

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  2. I have only seen the movie. Lincoln Square!!!! Emma and I went to the Thai restaurant they mentioned In the book.

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    1. Cool :-D!!!!! It was a pretty movie but the book (to me) was uniquely enjoyable.

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  3. WALK THE LIne …..such a great love story

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    1. Anonymous12:53 PM

      My husband and I watched that movie the night we got engaged. : )

      Sarah P. from Iowa

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  4. Anonymous1:20 PM

    Gone With the Wind, A Walk to Remember, The African Queen, The Graduate, Coal Miner's Daughter, Cold Mountain (loved the book best), Sarah Plain and Tall, The Secret Garden and the musicals The King and I, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music. All good love stories from novels even though I most always love the books best and some more than others. Fun!
    love and prayers, jep

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    1. Great movies!

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    2. Anonymous4:25 PM

      Jep, my favorite scene is A Walk to Remember is when Mandy Moore sings the song on stage during the musical. I LOVE that song. :)

      Mary Z

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    3. Anonymous4:27 PM

      Jep, my favorite scene in A Walk to Remember is when Mandy Moore sings the song on stage during the musical. I LOVE that song!

      Mary Z

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  5. Anonymous1:34 PM

    My favorite is Out of Africa after the book by Karen Blixen chronicling her love story with Denys Finch-Hatton. Of course it ends sadly, but the the chemistry between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the movie is so wonderful and the scene with him washing her hair with pitchers of water out on the tundra is, in my opinion, the most romantic scene in any movie ever. Oh, and when he takes her flying in his plane out over the vast African planes and they look at each other through their goggles and hold hands up in the air. Sigh. Now I want to watch it again.

    Debbie Z.

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    1. Anonymous1:37 PM

      Oops, meant to type African plains.

      Debbie Z.

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    2. Hi Debbie, I just heard this afternoon on the classical station the theme for out of Africa, and was thinking while I listened of the scene in t plane and the holding of hands .. so powerful. I didnt make the connection between that movie and this post - Der.

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    3. Good one!!! Oh that scene....so beautiful it hurts.

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    4. Anonymous10:47 PM

      Hi Susan, I love that theme so much. This is what is so cool about the Internet. You are in Germany, listening to a movie theme I love so much, and we can chat about it. It makes the world so small and even though we have never met, we have a connection. I just know if all the Quiet Life readers could get together, we would just have a blast.

      Debbie Z.

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    5. {{{LIKE}}}

      I could not agree more!

      It really is a small world after all :-)

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    6. I watched it when I was too young, I guess. I totally didn't get it. Total snooze. This one and The English Patient. Maybe now that I'm older and wiser [hah!] i'd understand….

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  6. An Affair to remember!!!!

    They are all so old. Not much in last 50 years.

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  7. I think of Sweetland. A different kind of love story...different kinds of happy (-:

    Haven't read the book yet, so I will wait to see TFIOS until I do. How many hankies do I have to bring?

    Happy Monday,
    DI

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    1. I just read about Sweetland - I'm intrigued - do you recommend it, Di?

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    2. It is a favorite of mine. Yes, I highly recommend it. I do like slow movies...and subtle movies. This is not an "in your face" one.

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    3. Sweetland is one of Donna's favorites! I watched it on her recommendation and LOVED it. It's very, very special.

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  8. Anonymous3:58 PM

    At our house we have been watching Hallmark Hall of Fame movies from the library and several have been love stories, but I don't know if any are from books. I read a good first YA book written by the author from the library last month: I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan and it was a beautifully written love story. There are some amazing YA books and writers. I also read The Rosie Project and I understand that is going to be made into a movie. It will depend on who the actors are for it to be a good movie, IMHO. (I feel so with it knowing to write that email speak) love and prayers, jep

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    1. LOL!

      BTW, You are totally in the know, miz jep!

      Thanks for the book tips

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  9. Anonymous6:07 PM

    Another is Man in the Moon. It was Reese Witherspoon's first movie and such a touching love story -- among other plot lines.

    Mary Z

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  10. Now I must watch Out of Africa again. LOVE LOVE Miss Potter! Sorry but I think The Notebook has horrible acting and is so cheesy. Just me.

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    1. But the couple as elderly people and she with Alzheimer's is precious, to me anyway.

      I personally love Rachel McAdams - she was in Time Travelers Wife, by the way.n

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  11. Anonymous12:30 AM

    Out of Africa. Absolutely.
    regards-jamie

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  12. Someone mentioned, "Sarah, Plain and Tall." Loved the book and the movie. I tried to find it on dvd and was not successful, so we borrow it from interlibrary loan about once a year.

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  13. Anonymous8:00 AM

    No one picked the Princess Bride?? The movie and the book both :)

    Lori K in Boston

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    1. Hi Lori,
      While you know it is my favorite...I would consider The Princess Bride as a romantic comedy. The book is especially funny. :o)

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  14. An Affair to Remember, Jane Eyre, Cold Mountain, Desiree, Stella Dallas, Waterloo Bridge, The Notebook ... wow ... so many that I have the urge to have a "love fest marathon" some hot/humid weekend when it's better to stay indoors! Good post, Donna. Linda

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  15. Dr. Zhivago! Probably.. oh, what's that movie called.. Christian Slater… Roses is in the title.. is it Bed of Roses? Sweet and sad.. Mary Stuart Masterson… love it. Hard to categorize straight romances for me, because I totally watch romantic comedies over romances any day of the week…. but those are the two that float to the top!

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  16. Sense & Sensibility & Pride and Prejudice. ah... sigh....

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