My List Is Better Than Your List Trinity: Top Ten Romantic Movie Moments by L.P.

Argh, this category was tough for me...

1. The Notebook: "What happens if a car comes?" "We die."

I believe this is the real moment very early on—maybe not when Allie falls in love with Noah—but when she thinks it's possible she could. After explaining to him how busy (read: repressed and planned) her life is, Noah asks her what she does for herself, and of course, she's reluctant to answer. That's when The Goz takes her into the street to lie in the middle of the road and watch the traffic lights change color, something he and his father used to do (a meditative Zen-like experience, it seems). Nervously, Allie follows, confessing that painting is the thing she does for herself. They share the silence, lying next to one another perfectly still, and watch the lights as if gazing up at the stars. It's a quiet, beautiful moment, and everything after that is really wonderful.

2. Brokeback Mountain: "You may be a sinner, but I ain't yet had the opportunity."

It's honestly rough to pick one moment from this love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name story, and while the quote is just before "the tent scene" (the one that made Mark Wahlberg say "nuh-uh" and shake his head real fast cuz he was all "creeped out" when he was offered a role in BbM), let me share three mini moment-lettes: Ennis weeps in an alley after they come down from the mountain and Jack leaves; their cuddling in bed together after reuniting; Ennis breathing in every inch of Jack's smell off of that shirt.

3. WALL-E: "Directive."

Again, WALL-E and EVE's interactions are generally very cute throughout, but the cash-money moment is at the end when EVE takes WALL-E's hand, they "kiss" and WALL-E's memories are restored. It's like a Prince Charming / Sleeping Beauty moment, but with super sweet adorably awesome robots.

4. Titanic: "Are you nervous?"

Nothing culminates Jack and Rose's whirlwind affair like that steamy car scene. Leo is so tender, but you know Kate's getting the business (or at least future-Oscar-award-winning-actress acting like she is) when that hand gets the window fog all handprinty and smeary.

Runner up moment: Jack drawing Rose naked. Again, tender, artistic, and in complete contrast to Douchy Zane.

Second runner up moment: Yes, I'm sorry. Pretending to soar across the ocean at the front of the ship. It's just that good.

5. Harold and Maude: "So I'll always know where it is."

As Harold and Maude are leaving the fair, Harold pulls out a stamped coin from his pocket. Giving it to Maude, she looks at it, and remarks that it's the nicest gift she's had in years. Stunningly, she then chucks it into the water nearby (thus the quote above). The moment is romantic in a kind of existential way: things are meaningless except for the attachments we place on them, and people are strangers unless we take the time to honestly know and love them by loving life. In that one brave gesture, Maude teaches Harold that love is not something that should be neatly molded by force, carefully guarded, and then stored away, but something that should be wide, open, shared, and visible all around you.

6. Love Actually: 'Will it make him better?"

Probably the hardest moment to defend as "romantic," but the quiet heartbreak is enough to justify it for me. Laura Linney's character finally gets a chance to be with the man for whom she has quietly pined away for years. Her brother, mentally ill and institutionalized, constantly interrupts her life, calling her at any hour of the day to come and comfort him; as a result, she gets used to putting her emotions on hold. Confronted with the choice of pursuing her happiness and honoring her obligations to family, she makes a painful choice—the romance is obviously not in her love for her brother, but rather in her quiet, agonizing struggle as she leaves the man she loves.

7. Moulin Rouge!: "Come What May"

When Satine (Nicole Kidman) sings the "secret song" to Christian (Ewan McGregor) just before she dies, their duet still makes me choke up a little.

8. Cruel Intentions: "Colorblind"

Otherwise known as the escalator scene, when Reese Witherspoon's Annette, in a mad dash to leave everything behind, sees Ryan Phillipe's Sebastian waiting for her at the top, all blue-shirty, brooding, and gorgeous.
And then:
Annette: "I'm impressed."
Sebastian: "Well, I'm in love."
[They kiss, camera swirling around them and the busy, crowded station.]
Me: *swoon*

9. Punch-Drunk Love: "I'm lookin' at your face and I just wanna smash it. I just wanna fuckin' smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze it. You're so pretty."

Perhaps the most off-beat but pitch-perfect moment on the list, as emotionally repressed Barry (Adam Sandler) confesses his love to the tender Lena (Emily Watson). There's something about this scene that conjures so many conflicting emotions; it's passionate, it's weird, but it's also so wildly sincere.

10. Lars and the Real Girl: “None of this is easy—for any of us—but we do it—oh! We do it for you!”

(Goz sandwich!) Lars becomes angry when his sister-in-law tries to take Bianca (his doll girlfriend) to a town meeting (as Bianca, oddly, has become a very popular civic figure); his sister-in-law explains that because Lars loves her, Bianca is in turn beloved by the town through his example. It's really the first time we see Lars so emotional and so genuinely in love with Bianca that he gets agitated and jealous. It's beautiful and heartwrenching at the same time.

There. Finally.