Romance+Movies

toc =Definition= (provided by an online dictionary) ro·mance (r-mns, rmns) //n.//**1.** **a.** A love affair.**b.** Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love: They kept the romance alive in their marriage for 35 years.**c.** A strong, sometimes short-lived attachment, fascination, or enthusiasm for something: a childhood romance with the sea.**2.** A mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful: "These fine old guns often have a romance clinging to them" Richard Jeffries.**3.** **a.** A long medieval narrative in prose or verse that tells of the adventures and heroic exploits of chivalric heroes: an Arthurian romance.**b.** A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place.**c.** The class of literature constituted by such tales.
 * 4.** **a.** An artistic work, such as a novel, story, or film, that deals with sexual love, especially in an idealized form.**b.** The class or style of such works.**5.** A fictitiously embellished account or explanation: We have been given speculation and romance instead of the facts.**6.** //Music// A lyrical, tender, usually sentimental song or short instrumental piece.**7.** **Romance** The Romance languages.

=An Overview= Romance movies or “chick flicks” as they are often called revolve around the developing plotline of the movie’s protagonist and his or her romantic relationship with another individual. Almost every other film genre includes some romantic relationship between major and minor characters; these relationships do not have to be a central aspect of the plotline of the movie however.

Romance movies almost always have a happy, predictable ending that results in the two main characters falling in love and becoming significant others. The endings to romance films are often ridiculed for being cliché. It is rare that they do not end up together. Romance films take the audience on a tour of the growing relationship between the protagonist and his or her love interest, almost as if the audience was there in person to see it happen from beginning to end. There is always an obstacle of some sort to overcome in the relationship between the characters, such as a devastating break up, one of the characters foolishly cheating on the other, feuding families, and a temporary separation.

These movies often cause the audience to cry due to a mix of emotions: sadness for the heartbreaking events that can occur, anger towards a character, or happiness for the two lovers. Romance movies are feel good, sappy movies that give hope to audience members that someday their love lives will result in a similar perfect ending.

Romance films do not have to revolve around the relationship between a man and woman; nowadays homosexual relationships are becoming central aspects to romance film plotlines. Some examples of romance movies are Romeo and Juliet, Love story, Titanic, The Notebook, and Brokeback Mountain.

There are four main types of romance movies: romantic comedies, romantic dramas, romantic fantasies and teen romances. Examples of these types of movies can be seen below. (Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index, 2006). Other types of romance movies are: fairytale romances, romance classics, romantic docudrama (real love stories), romantic musicals, romantic thrillers, romance tragedies, Shakesperean romances, and romance dramedies (Battle, 2006).

=Romantic Comedies: Top 10 at the Box Office= (Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index, 2006)
 * Rank || Title (click to view) || Studio |||| **Lifetime Gross** / Theaters |||| Opening / Theaters || Date ||
 * 1 || [|**My Big Fat Greek Wedding**] || [|IFC] || **$241,438,208** || 2,016 || $597,362 || 108 || [|4/19/02] ||
 * 2 || [|**What Women Want**] || [|Par.] || **$182,811,707** || 3,092 || $33,614,543 || 3,012 || [|12/15/00] ||
 * 3 || [|**Hitch**] || [|Sony] || **$179,495,555** || 3,575 || $43,142,214 || 3,575 || [|2/11/05] ||
 * 4 || [|**Pretty Woman**] || [|BV] || **$178,406,268** || 1,811 || $11,280,591 || 1,325 || [|3/23/90] ||
 * 5 || [|**There's Something About Mary**] || [|Fox] || **$176,484,651** || 2,555 || $13,740,644 || 2,186 || [|7/15/98] ||
 * 6 || [|**Runaway Bride**] || [|Par.] || **$152,257,509** || 3,240 || $35,055,556 || 3,158 || [|7/30/99] ||
 * 7 || [|**As Good as It Gets**] || [|Sony] || **$148,478,011** || 1,837 || $12,606,928 || 1,572 || [|12/23/97] ||
 * 8 || [|**Bringing Down the House**] || [|BV] || **$132,716,677** || 2,910 || $31,101,026 || 2,801 || [|3/7/03] ||
 * 9 || [|**Coming to America**] || [|Par.] || **$128,152,301** || 2,064 || $21,404,420 || 2,064 || [|6/29/88] ||
 * 10 || [|**Sweet Home Alabama**] || [|BV] || **$127,223,418** || 3,313 || $35,648,740 || 3,293 || [|9/27/02] ||

=Romantic Dramas: Top 10 at the Box Office= (Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index, 2006)
 * Rank || Title (click to view) || Studio |||| **Lifetime Gross** / Theaters |||| Opening / Theaters || Date ||
 * 1 || [|**Titanic**] || [|Par.] || **$600,788,188** || 3,265 || $28,638,131 || 2,674 || [|12/19/97] ||
 * 2 || [|**Ghost**] || [|Par.] || **$217,631,306** || 1,766 || $12,191,540 || 1,101 || [|7/13/90] ||
 * 3 || [|**Pearl Harbor**] || [|BV] || **$198,542,554** || 3,255 || $59,078,912 || 3,214 || [|5/25/01] ||
 * 4 || [|**Jerry Maguire**] || [|Sony] || **$153,952,592** || 2,531 || $17,084,296 || 2,531 || [|12/13/96] ||
 * 5 || [|**An Officer and a Gentleman**] || [|Par.] || **$129,795,554** || 1,050 || $3,304,679 || 346 || [|7/30/82] ||
 * 6 || [|**Cold Mountain**] || [|Mira.] || **$95,636,509** || 2,802 || $14,574,213 || 2,163 || [|12/25/03] ||
 * 7 || [|**Out of Africa**] || [|Uni.] || **$87,071,205** || 1,102 || $3,637,290 || 922 || [|12/20/85] ||
 * 8 || [|**Brokeback Mountain**] || [|Focus] || **$83,043,761** || 2,089 || $547,425 || 5 || [|12/9/05] ||
 * 9 || [|**The Notebook**] || [|NL] || **$81,001,787** || 2,323 || $13,464,745 || 2,303 || [|6/25/04] ||
 * 10 || [|**City of Angels**] || [|WB] || **$78,685,114** || 2,433 || $15,369,048 || 2,212 || [|4/10/98] ||

=Romantic Fantasy: Top 10 at the Box Office= (Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index, 2006)
 * Rank || Title (click to view) || Studio |||| **Lifetime Gross** / Theaters |||| Opening / Theaters || Date ||
 * 1 || [|**Ghost**] || [|Par.] || **$217,631,306** || 1,766 || $12,191,540 || 1,101 || [|7/13/90] ||
 * 2 || [|**City of Angels**] || [|WB] || **$78,685,114** || 2,433 || $15,369,048 || 2,212 || [|4/10/98] ||
 * 3 || [|**Groundhog Day**] || [|Col.] || **$70,906,973** || 1,742 || $12,517,672 || 1,640 || [|2/12/93] ||
 * 4 || [|**Splash**] || [|BV] || **$69,821,334** || 1,186 || $6,174,059 || 829 || [|3/9/84] ||
 * 5 || [|**Edward Scissorhands**] || [|Fox] || **$56,362,352** || 1,372 || $159,622 || 2 || [|12/7/90] ||
 * 6 || [|**Forever Young**] || [|WB] || **$55,956,187** || 1,710 || $5,609,875 || 1,710 || [|12/18/92] ||
 * 7 || [|**What Dreams May Come**] || [|Poly] || **$55,382,927** || 2,531 || $15,833,592 || 2,526 || [|10/2/98] ||
 * 8 || [|**The Lake House**] || [|WB] || **$52,330,111** || 2,645 || $13,616,196 || 2,645 || [|6/16/06] ||
 * 9 || [|**Just Like Heaven**] || [|DW] || **$48,318,130** || 3,543 || $16,408,718 || 3,508 || [|9/16/05] ||
 * 10 || [|**The Preacher's Wife**] || [|BV] || **$48,102,795** || 2,008 || $7,649,752 || 1,783 || [|12/13/96] ||

=Teen Romances- Top 10 at the Box Office= (Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index, 2006)
 * Rank || Title (click to view) || Studio |||| **Lifetime Gross** / Theaters |||| Opening / Theaters || Date ||
 * 1 || [|**Save the Last Dance**] || [|Par.] || **$91,057,006** || 2,570 || $23,444,930 || 2,230 || [|1/12/01] ||
 * 2 || [|**Step Up**] || [|BV] || **$65,328,121** || 2,647 || $20,659,573 || 2,467 || [|8/11/06] ||
 * 3 || [|**She's All That**] || [|Mira.] || **$63,366,989** || 2,654 || $16,065,430 || 2,222 || [|1/29/99] ||
 * 4 || [|**A Cinderella Story**] || [|WB] || **$51,438,175** || 2,625 || $13,623,350 || 2,625 || [|7/16/04] ||
 * 5 || [|**Romeo + Juliet**] || [|Fox] || **$46,351,345** || 1,963 || $11,133,231 || 1,276 || [|11/1/96] ||
 * 6 || [|**A Walk to Remember**] || [|WB] || **$41,281,092** || 2,420 || $12,177,488 || 2,411 || [|1/25/02] ||
 * 7 || [|**Pretty in Pink**] || [|Par.] || **$40,471,663** || 1,117 || $6,065,870 || 827 || [|2/28/86] ||
 * 8 || [|**The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants**] || [|WB] || **$39,053,061** || 2,583 || $9,833,340 || 2,583 || [|6/1/05] ||
 * 9 || [|**10 Things I Hate About You**] || [|BV] || **$38,178,166** || 2,311 || $8,330,681 || 2,271 || [|3/31/99] ||

=External Links=  An interesting article about romantic comedies.

=References= http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Romance "Romance Film." 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_film>.] "Box Office Results for Movies by Genre: Genre Index" 6 Dec. 2006 <[|http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/>.] Battle, Rain. "Romance Movies Help and Information" 6 Dec. 2006 <[|http://www.bellaonline.com/subjects/5778.asp>.]