Oscar-Nominated God of Love Director Luke Matheny Offers 4 Must-See Films for Valentine's Day

[Director's Note: Don't watch any of these unless you've already seen Casablanca, It Happened One Night, The Apartment, Philadelphia Story, Moonstruck, English Patient, Charade, Annie Hall, Broadcast News, Brokeback Mountain, Roxanne, When Harry Met Sally... or Teen Wolf.]

Joe vs the Volcano

Luke says: "I always seem to be defending my love for this movie, but I don't care; I think it's amazing. It's funny, sweet, romantic, strange and completely unpredictable. Tom Hanks is perfect. Meg Ryan is perfect three times in three different roles. And the screenplay from John Patrick Shanley has dialogue that is utterly unlike anything else in movies."

Paris Blues

Luke says: "This is only available on VHS, I think. And Turner Classic Movies only plays it very rarely, but look out for it. Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier are expat jazz musicians in Paris, where they meet and fall for U.S. tourists played by Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll respectively. Lots of great chemistry between the two couples and good bromance chemistry between Newman and Poitier. The movie has some nice French New Wave-ish touches in its style, and Louis Armstrong is great as a Louis Armstrong-ish trumpet legend named Wild Man Moore. It also features a great jazz score from Duke Ellington.

Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Luke says: "This is a great madcap comedy from Preston Sturges about a small-town banker (Eddie Bracken) who does everything he can to get his beloved Trudy (Betty Hutton) out of a jam when she has a little too much fun with a bunch of G.I.'s on leave. This is the best romantic-comedy couple ever, and Bracken is, for my money, a criminally overlooked comic genius."

The Bodyguard

Luke says: "By the time this movie came out, Whitney Huston had been so omnipresent for so long that I barely noticed her, and completely took her for granted. I rediscovered the movie a few years ago, and it turns out that she actually is amazing. Her diva thing works well with Kevin Costner's introversion, and they get to fall in love against the backdrop of a pretty compelling -- if familiar -- thriller plot. This movie is the No. 1 guilty pleasure for me and my girlfriend. I recommend re-enacting the bizarre samurai-sword scene with someone you love.

Luke Matheny is the Oscar nominated director of God of Love. He's currently working on a feature film comedy script called Ron Quixote.

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