Great Date Movies

*Originally published on 6/27/08


So you've approached that guy or girl that you've been eyeing since they walked in, asked em out and got the yes. The question is what do you do? Coffee or a meal is nice, and weather permitting a walk would work too. More often then not though, you'll fall back to the old dating staple, movies. Why not? It's laid back, it's a good way to gauge interests and there's opportunity to just curl up and get comfortable.
Now the only problem is you have to pick a movie. She wants to watch The Notebook and he wants to watch Predator. Surely there are movies out there that can appeal to both male and female while still setting a date appropriate atmosphere. You would be correct, if you're not sure where to start here is a list of movies that are worth considering.

Hitch: I saw this yesterday. It was quite amusing. Will Smith brings his usual charm to his character. Oddly enough, I don't think his character ever went "Aww hell naww" but I suppose that's for the best. I'm certain that this movie will make both of you laugh quite hard. Some of Will Smith's lines seem a bit forced, like he's trying to be profound when he's really not but that's really the only flaw. The characters are all ones we can either relate to, or at the very least are similar to others we know. It has positive messages for both single men and women. It also has the love interest of Kevin James' character doing the robot, and I gotta say nothing beats seeing a comely woman doing the robot.

Enchanted: Harry Knowles (the head critic over at aintitcool.com) got all giddy over this movie and with good reason. This movie is so heartwarming and uplifting it's ridiculous. The movie's big three (Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey) all bring strong performances to the characters. If this movie doesn't make your date feel all warm and fuzzy inside then they probably have no soul. Honestly, with the exception of The Princess Bride this is the best date movie Hollywood has produced, which brings us to my next suggestion...

The Princess Bride: A classic, I love this movie and not just because it has Andre the Giant (though that helps). It's a classic fairy tale come to life with humor, action, and romance. The perfect date movie, hands down.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? This one's a little less romance based but it makes with the funny. Bob Hoskins plays off his animated costar quite well. It's a silly movie with a good mystery plot. Christopher Lloyd brings a chilling performance to Judge Doom. It has cameos by almost every classic cartoon character making it a great way to indulge your inner child. Also, Jessica Rabbit's rendition of "Why Don't You Do Right" totally blows the pants off the original song.

Ghostbusters: It's Ghostbusters, what more do you need to know? One of the greatest movies ever made, how can anybody not like this movie?

American Pie 2: More for the teen/college crowd. The first one had its moments but this one remains my favorite of the trilogy. All the characters become more fleshed out and it has more heart then the other two movies put together while also being the funniest entry in the Pie series.

Edward Scissorhands: Another one of my favorites. It has a great soundtrack provided by Danny Elfman, and Tim Burton at his bizarre best. Like Enchanted and Princess Bride it has a fairy tale vibe that works really well both for the film and for setting a nice date atmosphere.

Garden State: Zach Braff's first foray in to film making. I greatly enjoyed the movie although as my college roommate pointed out, it was rather episodic. Zach and Natalie Portman have plenty of chemistry (her character is downright adorable while we're on the topic). It's funny and the soundtrack is dang near perfect.

The Exorcist III: I know, it's a complete 180 atmosphere wise but horror movies have been a staple of dating for some time so I would be remiss not to include one. This obscure gem is focused more on creepy atmosphere then pea soup vomit. It plays out more like an episode of The X-Files, so much so that when they get to the exorcism, you don't even care, you want more creepy atmosphere. This is partially due to the fact that the film originally didn't have an exorcism at all (the novel it's based on didn't either) the studios forced it in to justify the title so it literally is tacked on. The movie makes up for it with one of Brad Dourif's strongest performances playing a psychotic killer. All the scenes with him are just gold..creepy unnerving gold.