For Valentine’s Day, enjoy subtle comforts of home theater

Forget dinner and movie: Stay home, curl up with loved one, enjoy some choice DVD’s

Daniel P. Finney / St. Louis Post-Dispatch (KRT)

Hello, young lovers. Sure, flowers, candy and jewelry are nice, but what better way to encourage snuggling up on the couch than the gift of a good, romantic DVD?

Here’s a list of fairly recent heart-tugging romantic films available on DVD that you might have missed at the multiplex but would be a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your favorite sweetie.

“High Fidelity” (2000, Disney, $19.99) – John Cusack plays a well-meaning but often bumbling lover of both women and pop music who tries to mend his relationship with a longtime girlfriend (Iben Hjejle) by revisiting the sins and failures of relationships past. Jack Black turns in a hilarious performance an annoying rock music snob working at Cusack’s record store.

Perfect for: KDHX listeners and Vintage Vinyl regulars.

Quote: “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?” – Rob (Cusack)

“Love and Basketball” (2000, New Line Cinema, $14.99) – Two childhood neighbors (Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps) build a relationship together while their love for basketball drives them apart. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood, a former collage athlete, tells a great modern love story while intertwining the passion of athletics, the role of women in sports and society, and inner-city upbringings.

Perfect for: Any significant other who owns an authentic NBA jersey.

Quote: “I’m a ballplayer.” – Monica (Lathan)

“Wings of Desire” (1988, MGM/UA, $24.99) – This magnificent German film details the lives of two angels (Bruno Ganz and Otto Sandler) who observe humanity. Ganz’s Damiel becomes infatuated with a beautiful trapeze artist (Solveig Dommartin). After getting advice from another former angel (Peter Falk, playing himself), Damiel gives up angelhood to pursue love in the human world.

Perfect for: Regulars at an independent theater.

Quote: “To smoke, and have coffee – and if you do it together, it’s fantastic.” – Peter Falk

“Almost Famous” (2000, Dreamworks Skg, $14.99) – A teenage writer (Patrick Fugit) lusts after the beautiful, flighty and unattainable Kate Hudson as he goes on assignment for Rolling Stone magazine following a hot new band. Fugit essentially plays a young Cameron Crowe, the film’s writer and director, who spent his teen years interviewing rock gods such as Neil Young while writing for RS. The sweet story couples hilarious and telling inside bits about 1970s bands on the road – a more serious and tender “This is Spinal Tap.”

Perfect for: Baby boomers who get misty-eyed talking about the ‘70s.

Quote: “Never take it seriously, you never get hurt. Never get hurt, you can always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, you just go to the record store and visit all your friends.” – Penny Lane (Hudson)

“Run Lola Run” (1999, Columbia/Tristar, $19.99) – Franka Potente plays Lola, a young German woman who runs through a series of real-time adventures to save her boyfriend, who has gotten on the wrong side of a mob in a deal gone bad. Lola’s attempts aren’t always successful, and the day plays out over-and-over “Groundhog Day”-style. (In German with subtitles.)

Perfect for: The lover who knows the difference between techno, electronica and house.

Quote: “A football is round, a game lasts 90 minutes. That’s for sure. Anything else is merely hypothetical. Off we go!” – Herr Schuster (Armin Rohde)

“Defending Your Life” (1991, Warner Studios, $19.99) – Albert Brooks dies in a car accident and enters a holding area in the afterlife where a panel of angels judge whether or not he can enter heaven. Brooks meets Meryl Streep, and the two spirits hit it off. But Brooks hasn’t exactly led a useful life, so he might have to go back to Earth for a do-over. “Defending Your Life” is a beautiful take on the afterlife and what really matters in all life.

Perfect for: New Age spiritual types.

Quote: “So, you’re great people to work with, this is a great present, and I wish I could squeeze you all into one pretty woman. And if you’d like to go to my office, I’ll try.” – Daniel Miller (Brooks)

“Some Kind of Wonderful” (1987, Paramount, $19.99) – Eric Stoltz is a high school senior obsessed with the most popular girl in school (Lea Thompson) while his best friend (a tomboy played by Mary Stuart Masterson) pines for him. Perhaps writer-director John Hughes’ best film.

Perfect for: The sweetheart who thinks “The Breakfast Club” is akin to “Citizen Kane.”

Quote: “Don’t go mistaking paradise for a pair of long legs.” – Watts (Stuart Masterson)

“Playing By Heart” (1999, Miramax, $14.99) – A small film about a series of couples and their struggles with love and life. Angelina Jolie and Ryan Phillippe are a pair of club-hopping Gen-Xers. Gillian Anderson struggles with relationship collapses as Jon Stewart pursues her. Sean Connery and Gena Rowlands play a longtime married couple coping with the frailties of age.

Perfect for: The significant other from a big family of any generation.

Quote: “Don’t look at me with that tone of voice.” – Paul (Connery)

“Say Anything” (1989, Fox, $14.99) – Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) is a lovable high school outsider who musters the courage to ask out the smartest girl in school, Diane Court (Ione Skye), who is an outsider in her own way. Love blooms during their final summer, but Diane’s scholarship to England and the sins of her father (John Mahoney) get in the way. This is one of the best romantic films of all time.

Perfect for: Those who believe rock `n’ roll will save their mortal soul.

Quote: “I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.” – Lloyd (Cussack)

“Chasing Amy” (1997, Miramax, $19.99) – Ben Affleck and Jason Lee play up-and-coming comic book artists whose friendship is enough to sustain them until Affleck meets and falls for Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones). There’s just one small problem: Adams is a lesbian, sort of. “Chasing Amy” is writer-director Kevin Smith’s best film and an interesting take on post-modern sexual lifestyles.

Perfect for: Those who like Smith’s films but could do with fewer jokes about flatulence and genitalia.

Quote: “This is all going to end badly.” – Banky (Lee)