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— by Ben Cosgrove
The movies have always been an ideal venue for outsized displays of love (and lust), and with the upcoming release of "Tristan & Isolde," one of the truly epic love stories of Western mythology makes its way to the big screen. You see, Tristan (James Franco) loves Isolde (Sophia Myles). Isolde loves Tristan. Isolde is married to the nobleman, Lord Marke (the always excellent Rufus Sewell). Combine, stir and wait for combustion. In the spirit of love-makes-you-do-crazy-things romance, here are a few great cinematic love stories — some of them doomed, some of them inspiring, some of them heartbreaking and all of them on DVD. Get out your handkerchiefs.
 "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004)
The only thing more astonishing than this film's visual and intellectual audacity is how scarily accurate it is in its depiction of the havoc that love can wreak. Memories blur, fade and merge; time stops and starts and stops again; houses literally implode under the unbearable weight of broken
hearts. Yep, love hurts.
We've been there.
"Spider-Man 2" (2004)
Superhero thriller? Sci-fi masterpiece? Love story? All three? However you want to categorize this one, the phrase "love is blind" might as well be its tagline. Come on! How long was it going to take for Mary Jane to realize that Peter is Spidey? But all cynical griping aside, we're happy to report ourselves among the millions who found the gradual unveiling of this romance to be one of the greatest teases in recent movie history. And we mean that in the best possible way.
"Lost In Translation" (2003)
If Sofia Coppola's meandering meditation on identity and passion did nothing else, it at least nailed its key plot element: the utterly believable attraction between 50-something Bob (Bill Murray) and 20-something Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). Rarely has a lack of sex onscreen been so sexy.
"Amélie" (2002)
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Maybe in the past few years there's been a more perfect matching of an actress to her role than Audrey Tautou as Amélie. But if so, we missed it. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's graceful fable of the good-hearted woman who finds love while helping others is as close to a modern romantic classic as we have these days — and the weird thing is, like most fables, it somehow feels truer than real life.
"O" (2001)
You get the sense, watching "O," that Shakespeare would probably have approved of this adaptation of "Othello." Featuring Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles and Josh Hartnett playing teen versions of the Moor, his soul mate Desdemona and the murderously false friend Iago, respectively, "O" is a "message movie" that achieves the near-impossible: It enlightens and entertains. Extra kudos to Hartnett, whose performance as the back-stabbing Hugo is perfectly smarmy and charming. What more can we ask of such a snake?
"Crazy/Beautiful" (2001)
"Crazy/Beautiful" is one of those teen movies that actually manages to respect its audience's intelligence while keeping in mind that adolescence is the best of times — and the worst of times. Kirsten Dunst is Nicole, the hard-drinking, sexually adventurous daughter of a congressman; Jay Hernandez plays Carlos, a serious, hard-working Mexican-American who dreams of attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Their attraction to one another is immediate, and the elemental differences in their upbringings and outlooks only add to the film's compelling sense of tension, discovery and, at times, doom.
"Casablanca" (1942)
What's there to say? Bogart, Bergman and "As Time Goes By"; trains, planes and the French Resistance; Nazis, casinos and lots of booze; and more classic lines of dialogue than any other 10 films combined. People always say a great movie is one that gets better with each viewing, but this is a rare film that, somehow, miraculously, really does. Six decades after its release, "Casablanca" is still the greatest romantic Hollywood movie ever made. Period. Here's looking at you, kid.
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Photos: 20th Century Fox
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