Create your very own DIY Winter retreat this weekend!  Prepare some hot chocolate and Baileys, make a warm batch of cookies and have a relaxing and fun night in with these quirky romantic movies from online film critic Marc Eastman of Are You Screening.

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Return to Me: Though it has a story summary that is hard to relay with a straight face, the actors are wonderful, and the light-hearted story is infinitely watchable.

A Man and a Woman: Though odd and quirky (and more than 40 years old), the film is as engaging today as it ever was, and is still one of the most realistic portrayals of two people meeting and falling in love ever filmed.

Benny & Joon: The wild Depp character is clearly a central focus, and the fun makes things accessible, but there’s a great sensibility involved as well. The romantic qualities sneak up on you.

Some Kind of Wonderful: John Hughe’s resume includes movies that come to mind more readily, but this one shouldn’t fall completely by the wayside. While others may focus on the romance in the movie, this one has great messages about “we know what we’re doing least when we think we know what we’re doing most.”

The Young Victoria: When you can deliver romance through people who fell in love largely by letter, you’ve captured something about how to share emotion. What makes this a real romantic winner is the punch you get at the end, because they don’t especially act like moon-eyed lovers during the film… just like most people who are really in love.

Green Card: It’s hard to go in a stronger romantic direction than accidentally falling in love with someone you don’t like, which is why the idea isn’t a staple of romantic films. But, as a general metaphor for not having control over such things, few movies talk about love more clearly.

Truly, Madly, Deeply: This is the sort of movie you don’t want to say too much about, but it’s the story of a woman who has lost her boyfriend. Well, he died. In spite of this, she finds him again, as he returns in ghostly form, and goes about living with her again. While, in a sense not particularly filled with romantic overtones, there’s something incredibly romantic about everything that happens… even the really unromantic things.

Chocolat: A fairly unique spin on romance, this one has much to say about moral rules and propriety, and is almost a general tale of love, romance, and life, rather than any specific romance (though there is one). It’s a fun film on its own, but it is also wildly clever in what it has to say about living romantically.

Wings of Desire: This late 80s multiple award-winning film was ruined utterly by the late 90s Nic Cage remake City of Angels. Do not let that film influence you. Everything good about this film was lost in the translation.

Moulin Rouge: It’s a romantic story about making a romantic story, and the real sell is that the emotion switches gears so often and so dramatically. An incredibly fun film and full-blown experience.

Save the whole list:

What’s your favorite romantic movie?

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