DVD Cover for MY BLOODY VALENTINE.
© Paramount Home Entertainment
Love, Mania Style
By: Robert T. Trate, ColumnistDate: Tuesday, February 12, 2008
At every video store I’ve ever worked, there was always one thing that was the same. We were always instructed to list our favorite titles that would coincide with that month’s holiday. Personally, ‘Gremlins', ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Better off Dead’ were three holiday (Christmas) staples. I would love to stand and watch people scratch their heads at the titles under “Bob’s Choices”. They would really have to think sometimes and once in a blue moon someone would ask why that particular title was up there. For Valentine’s Day here were a few of my choice favorites:
- Rocky 2 – Most people think it’s all about boxing. Just like the first ‘Rocky’ (only more so in the second) without Adrian’s love Rocky is nothing. She wants him to win and he does. I mean come on, the guy trained for like two weeks and beat the champion of the world? Love really does conquer all.
- Bram Stoker's Dracula- Dracula travels “oceans of time” to be with his one true love. Then her reincarnation, Mina, actually falls in love with him. If you are not heart broken when she lops off his head, you’re the Vampire not Dracula.
- The Empire Strikes Back – Han is shackled and ready to go into the carbonite. The music swells, Chewbacca howls and Leia says, “I love you” and because he is the coolest guy in the galaxy (and about to become it, literally) Han says, “I know”. Possibly the greatest romantic exchange in science fiction history.
- An Affair to Remember – I know, I know not really “Love Mania Style” but a classic nonetheless. Plus the ladies always go for it when you show a softer side to your movie collection. Besides, Cary Grant is the man. Consider it a privilege to watch the master in action.
- The Last Temptation of Christ- Simply because it bothered people we had it in the store. It was the early nineties after all. Still, it is a story about a guy who loved this girl and was ready to give up everything for her. Not too bad as love stories go.
So there you have it. Titles from the back corner of my mind that I would scratch onto the dry erase board at work. What titles would you have listed? Wait, being that this is Valentine’s Day, what movie titles actually have the word Valentine in it?
Valentines Day Titles featuring the word “Valentine”
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
Does it bother anyone else that the character’s voices are always different? Since I noticed that I can’t really bring myself to watch anything but the ‘Great Pumpkin’.
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
See Jason Robards and George Segal bring one of the bloodiest gang hits of all time to life; directed by none other than Roger Corman.
‘My Bloody Valentine’ is probably one of the best Grindhouse movies of the nineteen eighties that wasn’t trying to be a Grindhouse movie. It would have made a perfect trailer in Tarantino and Rodriguez’s ‘The Grindhouse’. Too bad it is a whole movie. Trust me, it is the worst parts of John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ and Michael Cimino’s ‘The Deer Hunter’ blended together. It is excruciating.
See beautiful people act poorly then get hacked to pieces. Starring none other than Denise Richards, Katherine Heigl, Marley Shelton and David Boreanaz. All before they were actually “stars”.
ACTION / ADVENTURE / KUNG FU/ THRILLERS / WESTERNS
2012: Doomsday
The Front Line
Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone [Blu-ray]
Lethal Force
Pandora's Clock
The Royal Tramp Collection
Shaolin Intruders
We Own the Night
We Own the Night [Blu-ray]
ANIME
Dragon Ball Movie 3-pack
Glass Fleet, Vol. 4
Kanon, Volume 2 (with Box)
Kanon, Volume 2
Kurau: Phantom Memory Vol. 6: To Split Infinity
Naruto Uncut Boxed Set, Volume 6 (Special Edition)
Naruto Uncut Boxed Set, Volume 6
Night Shift Nurses Kranke, Vol. 3
Night When Evil Falls, Vol. 1
Pokemon Season 1 Vol. 3
Project Blue Earth SOS Vol. 1: Invasion!
Samurai Deeper Kyo Complete with Game
Speed Grapher, Vol. 1 - One (The Viridian Collection)
Speed Grapher , Vol. 2 - Two (The Viridian Collection)
Tactics Box Set
CARTOONS
Batman & Mr. Freeze - SubZero / Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Double Feature)
George of the Jungle: The Complete Series
Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders / Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (Double Feature)
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - The 15 Winners
COMEDY AND LOVE Mania Style
The Apple Dumpling Gang / The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
The Wiz (30th Anniversary Edition w/ Bonus CD)
Zapped!
HORROR
Blood Vision
City of Rott
Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan
Esmeraldero
Furnace (Unrated)
Hate2 O
Primal
Red Room
Soul's Midnight
TV LAND
Blade The Series - The Complete Series
Dallas - The Complete Eighth Season
The Dragnet Collection, Vol. 1
The Equalizer - Season One
Lone Ranger Collection
BOX SETS
Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 4
(Charlie Chan in Honolulu / Charlie Chan in Reno / Charlie Chan at Treasure Island / City in Darkness) (4DVD)
Four Swords: Shaw Brothers / Box Set
Stanley Kramer Film Collection
(Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / Ship of Fools / The Member of the Wedding / The Wild One / The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T)
