Blogging A to Z: "R" Movies

I'll bet some of my opera friends were expecting me to write about Rossini. Well, I'm not that predictable! Instead, I'm writing about "R" movies. No, no, not R-rated movies -- movies whose titles begin with "R." Looking through my DVDs, I have surprisingly few "R" movies, seven all totalled, and two of them I haven't seen enough times to have a relationship with. The other five are all films I watch again and again.

Return to Me     (2000) Minnie Driver, David Duchovny, Bonnie Hunt, Carroll O'Conner. This is the sweetest movie! An old-fashioned romantic comedy, with plenty of tear-jerker moments as well. And the dog just kills me. For those who don't know the premise: guy's wife dies in a car accident, her heart is given to a young woman who eventually meets the widower. They fall in love, neither knowing that she has his wife's heart.

Remains of the Day     (1993) Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson.  I've not seen Silence of the Lambs, nor will I ever, but Hopkins' performance in Remains of the Day has got to be one of the finest captured on film. Emma Thompson ain't half bad, either. A frustrating, even infuriating, story any way you look at it -- romantically, politically, socially -- but that's what it's all about. In the last part of the scene below, all you see of Hopkins is his right arm, and he's saying the most mundane things to the sobbing, distraught Miss Kenton, but Hopkins' voice is so telling of what his character is desperately trying not to reveal, or even feel ... pure genius.

Romancing the Stone     (1984) Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito. This film is just a rollicking good time, but the sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, was pretty lame and silly in comparison, IMO. I love how Kathleen Turner tried to look plain for the first third of the movie!

Rome Adventure     (1962) Suzanne Pleshette, Troy Donahue, Rossano Brazzi, Angie Dickinson. The moral dilemmas Pleshette's character struggled with in this romantic travel adventure seem like teeny-tiny potatoes to us now, but in 1962, they were still dilemmas: spending the night with a man you weren't married to, going on a trip with him. For me, this "dated" view of such things makes the romance even more romantic. Besides beautiful-looking stars and a cinematic tour of Rome and northern Italy, this film also contains one of my favorite Italian pop songs of all time, "Al di là," sung here by Emilio Pericoli (ever so much better than the nasal Jerry Vale, whose recording of the song was a big hit in America).

Roman Holiday     (1953) Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert. Of course! What list of "R" movies wouldn't include this beloved classic, Audrey Hepburn's film debut, and one of the most memorable, bittersweet romances ever? Who better to play a princess than Hepburn? And I can count on only one hand the number of actors, living or deceased, who are/were handsomer than Gregory Peck. As handsome, quite a number, but not handsomer. If you've never seen this film -- FIE ON THEE!!!

I just found two other DVDs of "R" movies hiding in my room: Rebecca (1939), and A Room with a View (1985), both of which I love.