5 Unforgettable Date Nights from Cult Classics for Valentine's Day Inspiration
Not sure how to make your date a memorable one? You can get an idea from one of these flicks.
Ukulele dances, trips to Ikea, and mini-vacations to the coast are not our weekend plans – we are simply recalling the most iconic dates from the movies.
1. 500 Days of Summer, 2009
The first dates with a new partner are always the most romantic. Whether it's a movie, a bar, or... Ikea.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel played one of the most iconic couples of the 2000s. And even though their relationship didn't end with a romantic happy ending, since the director decided to take a more honest look at relationships, we'll definitely remember their date.
The lovers turned the most ordinary trip to Ikea into a real amusement park, playing the perfect family, making out and trying to figure out how a whole Chinese family materialized in their kitchen.
2. Blue Valentine, 2010
It's dangerous to watch Derek Cianfrance's movie without Kleenex: you could drown in your own tears. And this heartbreaking drama started out as a life-affirming romance.
Dean spent a long time trying to win Cindy's heart, insisting on a date – and he finally got one. And how can you forget their walk in the neon lights and the charming dances of Michelle Williams' character to the ridiculous accompaniment of the ukulele?
Such a simple and soulful first date is hard to forget. And knowing the trials that lie ahead for these two, we just want to freeze this moment in our minds and not remember how it all ends.
3. Before Sunset, 2004
Richard Linklater's entire Before trilogy is a 20-year date, the story of a fateful meeting between a young American writer and a French woman.
The date begins in Vienna in Before Sunrise, and continues in Paris in Before Sunset, where the memory of love at first sight is tested by a new reality: he is married, his life is going to hell, and the most beautiful woman of his life walks, breathes, and lives in another city.
Before Sunset is an honest and poignant movie about the disappointments of growing up and how ambition robs us of love.
4. Crazy, Stupid, Love, 2011
No matter how hard Jacob tried to win Hannah's favor, nothing worked. But one day, after a fight with her boyfriend, Hannah decided to go on the offensive. And now she's at Jacob's house, repeating the famous leap from Dirty Dancing and trying to find out who photoshopped her new acquaintance's torso.
It's the kind of first date you can only dream of: the director has managed to convey the moment of sudden mutual sympathy, when you don't really need anything except a long heart-to-heart talk and sarcastic jokes about a $10,000 massage chair.
5. This Is 40, 2012
Judd Apatow understands how the world of romantic dating works when the relationship is a hundred years old and kids and worries eat up most of your free time.
This Is 40 is an autobiographical rom-com. After listening to a family therapist and deciding to take a break from everyday life, a husband and wife of twenty years go to a resort to spend a few carefree days and remember everything they love about each other.
In This Is 40, a small resort romance unfolds between people who have known each other for decades, and this ability to surprise one's partner is the main quality that distinguishes all happy couples from the rest.
