Rarely has movie love been handled with both the dreamy indulgence and the cynicism that James Grey pulls off in Two Lovers. It’s a pity that the film, which premiered nine months ago at Cannes and is now rolling out on VOD and in theaters via Magnolia, has been pegged in time as the allegedly final film of star Joaquin Phoenix. In this meditation on class passing and infinite adolescence, set mainly in Brighton Beach with a few giddy sojourns to Manhattan, Grey creates a mood pocket, as it were, that’s distinctly out of time. Working off a series of contrasts that’s very true to its New York setting, Two Lovers is implicitly concerned with the way romantic relationships give us an opportunity to slide back and forth across class lines; if that motion temporarily offers the potential for an erasal of personal history, our ultimate stations in life can’t be escaped.

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Its rare that a moment in a deeply flawed film completely signifies (and transcends) its tone deafness, but at one point in the preternaturally ridiculous, surprisingly star-studded, hatched well before the Recession panic Confessions of a Shopaholic, John Goodman, who’s made a side career of late playing dad to kids who drive fast and spend a lot, looks out at the a small New Jersey bay where he likes to come with his family. He stands next to his beautiful daughter, the “shopaholic” of the title, and offers a bit of perspective. He says, looking into Isla Fisher’s deeply vacant, always pleading eyes, “If the US can be billions of dollars in debt and survive, you can too.”

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Because we can’t *possibly* allow the designated day for the monetization of affection to pass by without comment, let’s spend it living vicariously through romantic triumphs and tragedies of Marlene Dietrich!

Above: watch Marlene reduce a respected professor into a giddy, giggling schoolgirl in The Blue Angel! Below the jump, watch Marlene herself succumb to the madness of obsession, literally throwing caution to the wind, rejecting her life as a kept woman to join the gypsies who trail behind Gary Cooper. Unfortunately, the unadulterated clip doesn’t seem to be online, but that scene is tacked on the end of this crazy fan-created Morocco montage set to Marliyn Manson doing “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Enjoy!
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• Anthony Kaufman investigates the “little mini-studio” of producer Paul Mezey, the man behind a host of notable recent indies, including Sugar and Momma’s Man. What’s Mezey’s secret? Location. Says the Pennsylvania-based producer, “I would have sunk long ago if I had to raise a family in New York.”
• Future of Classic points to Classic Cinema Online, a site which offers almost full-screen streams of public domain classics and foreign films. Like the 1936 version of Sweeney Todd, for starters.
• Lady Wakasa informs us that the Film Society of Lincoln Center will be screening a new print of one of Louise Brooks’ early films, Beggars of Life.
• This is where we start getting smutty: Tilda Swinton took her 29-year-old boyfriend to the BAFTAs whilst “68-year-old John Byrne, her partner of 18 years, stayed at home in the north of Scotland, looking after the couple’s ten-year-old twins Xavier and Honor.” Why can’t she have a reality show?
• Finally, “in honor of Valentine’s Day,” i09 has “started asking random people to tell us about their science fiction sex experiences.” I guess I’ve never had a “science fiction sex experience”, because I have no idea what that means.

Via The Reeler comes news that Wong Kar Wai’s My Blueberry Nights, the Hong Kong auteur’s English language debut, which opened the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, has been bumped from its Valentine’s Day release date to early April. Release date delays of multiple months are rarely considered a positive sign––especially when we’re talking about a film that was mostly excoriated by the international press at the one and only film festival at which it screened––but in this case, I don’t know.

The Weinsteins haven’t started to promote Blueberry in earnest, so it’s not like they’re throwing away money already spent. There’s plenty of datey competition the first two weeks of February (although, it should be noted, nothing remotely arty or adult), with TWC’s own Diary of the Dead slotted in as Valentine’s counter-programming on the 15th. If nothing else, moving Blueberry to April gives the struggling Weinsteins time to support it without dividing their resources, which is what I blame for their inability to effectively platform either Control or I’m Not There.

But in that case, why not put it at the end of the month and try to relaunch it at Tribeca––a festival that, at least historically, LOVES throwing big, stupid premieres to launch star-studded product? Maybe this is actually a sign that Tribeca meant it when they said they were going to downsize and generally try to be less ridiculous. If so, good news all around!

OK. Here’s the Spout V-Day question: Is there such a thing as a romantic flick that leaves you feeling the way you want to feel about romance?

I realize there are as many answers to this as there are different types of people, but I’ve been thinking about it, because I’m stumped as to how to spend Valentine’s Day. I feel like I want to ignore it, as always, because of its sad status as a Hallmark holiday. But at the same time, I’m in love! It seems like I shouldn’t let the day go by without some recognition and celebration of love. So…where does that leave me? No trying to get into a favorite restaurant for dinner…no expensive gift…maybe handmade card, a bottle of wine, and a romantic movie at home?

It’s a nice plan, but most movies labeled “romantic” could also be labeled “cheesy.” Do you agree? My friend Ryan does. He happened to be nearby as I was writing this, so I asked him if there are any movies that he’d want to watch with his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. He mentioned films like The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Last Kiss. “There’s so much more in those movies that helps me connect in real ways to my real relationship,” Ryan said. “I don’t want to just feel good, I want to find something meaningful that I can learn from in a movie.”

My brother Bill (who’s a bit of a romantic in all the best ways) puts his favorite romantic flicks into two categories: “They either capture that idealized romance, or they are very realistic about romance and the difficulties of people actually coming together into a relationship.” He mentioned A Room with a View, The Accidental Tourist, and Moonstruck at the top of his list, along with others: All the Real Girls, The Princess and the Warrior, In the Mood for Love, Before Sunset, Out of Sight, and The English Patient.

Two other things Bill mentioned that I found insightful:

“I do love the period love stories quite a bit, and those are more idealized…It somehow seems we’re more okay accepting the idealized romanticized love story in period garb, like it’s something that doesn’t as much belong in our time.” And: “Even the definition of a ‘Love Story’ is difficult, because that suggests that it must be the main subject of the movie, and I think many of my favorite love stories in movies are not the main point, they’re side episodes or side characters.”

Very true. Maybe that’s key for me in finding a romance movie to watch–the romance should be a side story, not the heart and soul of the film. Warm and fuzzy romances mostly make me feel embarrassed to be crazy-in-love. In some ways, they go as far as to diminish the whole idea of love.

But my purpose here is not to knock the importance of feel-good films (or the importance of feeling good in general). Whatever your preference is when it comes to romantic flicks, check out these lists on Spout if you’re looking for something to watch tonight with your special someone.

Romance (or How I Learned to Fall in Love) by e_machiela

Lover’s Lane by spoutgirl

Romance Films by kunfu-koala

Date Movies by gothere

Romantic Comedies I Love by aktyson

Favorite Romantic Comedies by coppermaus