Here’s what I’ve noticed. No matter the situation, there’s usually a song that fits just right. If you’re happy, sad, angry, or in love – there’s a song for every emotion, situation, or relationship. The same is true about movies. My girls and I have a girls’ trip planned in the next couple of weeks and we’ve already chosen a movie that’s a must-watch for the trip. We’ll be in Arizona, naturally, we’re having a Waiting to Exhale screening.
Today is Valentine’s Day, everyone is focused on love. Whether it’s a relationship or self-love, there’s a movie for that. I went down a rabbit hole thinking of movies that gave good Valentine’s Day vibes. I narrowed my list down to six. From friends turned lovers, the love of girlfriends, or a voyage of loving yourself, I got you.
Love Jones
An aspiring writer (Nina) and an aspiring photographer (Darius), share an instant connection after meeting at a club in Chicago. They bond over music, photography, and poetry. They fall into a sexy romance. (Full disclosure: this is probably where my love of coffee shops, head wraps, and poetry nights began.) However, when Nina decides to move to New York and give her ex-fiancé another chance, Darius is heartbroken. Their love affair seems to be over before it even really begins.
The Notebook
So many people have referenced this movie over the years. In all these years, hadn’t seen it. I read the book recently and then watched to movie. I get the hype. It’s quite the love story. In 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun and rich girl Allie are teenagers in love. But her parents don’t approve. After years apart, Allie becomes involved with another man and is engaged to marry him. They reunite before she’s set to get married and they both realize their feelings never changed.
Waiting to Exhale
Navigating through careers, family, and romance, four friends bond over man troubles. Savannah and Robin are in relationships with married men, each believing the men will leave their wives for them. Then there’s Bernadine who ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria finds love with a new neighbor. Their friendship is the theme carried throughout this movie. It’s such a good movie to watch with girlfriends. Hence the note above.
Eat Pray Love
Liz Gilbert thought she had everything she wanted in life: a home, a husband, and a successful career. Then she gets divorced. This life change brings her to a turning point. She’s challenged to figure out what is really important to her. In a huge effort to step out of her comfort zone, she takes off on a quest of self-discovery that takes her to Italy, India, and Bali.
Brown Sugar
Sidney and Dre are best friends. The foundation of their friendship and their careers can be traced back to one thing… when they fell in love with hip-hop. Now some 15 years later, she is a revered music critic and he is a successful music executive. Both come to realize that their true life passions will only be fulfilled by remembering what brought them together in the first place… hip-hop.
