We are not going to lie. It took us forever to write this review. Not that Jane and Thor don’t make a cute couple, but honestly, what chance is there for an immortal Norse god and a slightly shy, entirely human lady scientist? As if that weren’t enough of an obstacle, the story ends with Thor back in Asgard, Jane still on Earth, the Rainbow Bridge broken, and no way to…well, bridge the gap. How do you rate a couple’s chances when circumstances seem so stacked against them?

By ignoring the circumstances! That was what we finally decided.

So, are Jane and Thor The Reel Thing? We think they just might be. The two certainly have instant chemistry. Being hit by a research vehicle is apparently the way to this Asgardian’s heart. After the initial attraction, Jane is perhaps a bit put off by Thor’s arrogance, but once he stops thinking of humans as the little people, things heat right up again.

There are some definite differences between them. Jane is sweet, brainy, and a little quiet while Thor is more the type to wield his hammer first and ask questions later. But the two do share a certain charming innocence. Jane’s research is driven by a genuine and endearingly child-like sense of wonder. For a thunder god, Thor bears a remarkable resemblance to an overgrown golden retriever puppy. Somehow it really makes them seem like they belong together.

If they can get that Rainbow Bridge issue sorted out, we foresee a happy ending for them, dividing their time between Earth and Asgard, raising a passel of demi-god children, and occasionally saving the universe. This Reel Thing is no myth!

By chance we happened upon this lovely coming of age story set on a British council estate when it was first released in theaters. When it came up in a recent conversation, we decided we really needed to watch it again. It’s still just as charming as we remembered, and we went away cheering and hopeful for these two young boys in love.

We meet Jamie Gangel as he’s ditching PE to come home early from school. When asked why by his lioness of a mother Sandra, he says something vague about not liking football (aka soccer). “Since when?” his mother demands. He has no answer, since he doesn’t want to tell her that he left school early because he’s being picked on, again, for possibly being gay.

Things are no easier for next-door neighbor and classmate Ste Pearce. He may be one of the lads at school, but at home, he’s the convenient whipping boy for his drunken father and drug-dealing brother. When he runs off and declares that he’s not going back, he’s found by Sandra, who brings him home with her. Space is limited, so he ends up sharing a bed with Jamie, which leads to intimacy and revelations for both boys.

Ste, the one who is more surprised by his feelings of attraction and affection for another boy, has the inevitable freakout the next morning. But he soon enough figures things out. When Sandra realizes what’s going on, she too becomes upset, but she makes her peace with the fact that she’s never going to have grandchildren and throws herself into being supportive. God help anyone who messes with her boy, because she will totally cut them.

We don’t pretend that the road ahead will be easy for Jamie and Ste. It’s a small world on a council estate. Not everyone is going to understand their relationship. Ste is terrified of what will happen if his father and brother find out. They’re both young, and they’re just figuring everything out. Plus, there’s Sandra’s new job, which means that she and Jamie will be moving away.

Still, both Jamie and Ste are kind and loving and courageous. And so very smitten with each other. We cherish the idea of Sandra taking Ste along with her and Jamie since she’s already practically adopted him anyway. With a fresh start, away from Ste’s father and brother, and under the protective eye of Sandra, we like to imagine the boys coming into their own, growing into men who are proud and open about who they are, the connection between them maturing into something solid and enduring.

Who says first love can’t be the Reel Thing?

Another from k’s top ten list – a classic romance and probably one of the happier Hitchcock endings.

The probability of this couple attaining 5 reels after our initial encounters with them seems unlikely. George Fortescue Maximillian de Winter comes from a long lineage of wealth and privilege; he grew up at Manderley, an enormous castle on the coast of England, he’s traveled, he’s attended the finest schools. His manner is at once confident and assured as well as stern and forbidding, even surly at times, and he is extremely private. His future wife is his complete opposite in every way – shy, deferential, easily flustered, forced to earn her keep as a traveling companion to a bossy, overbearing American woman. The fact that she does not even have a name says a lot about how she views her place in the world. And yet it is just her timidity, youth and innocence -a sharp contrast to the jaded sophistication of his first wife – that charms him and prompts him to ask her to become the second Mrs de Winter.

You’d think with the first wife dead and no kids around to remind you that “You’re not our mom,” life would be a breeze for the new Mrs. de W, but not so. Her introduction into Maxim’s world is an uneasy one; she must learn to navigate a minefield of household staff, the protocols of the rich, and – above all – Maxim’s past, her predecessor, the mysterious Rebecca. She makes mistakes on a daily basis and her efforts to fit in are continuously sabotaged by the sinister Mrs. Danvers, head of the household and a woman disturbingly determined to keep Rebecca’s memory alive at any cost.

And yet, as their lives begin to unravel and more and more secrets are brought to the surface, the new Mrs. de Winter begins to find her strength, and we begin to see a woman that is indeed equal to her husband. Rather than cower by the challenges she is confronted with, she rises to them, and we see the steel beneath the soft exterior. In the midst of their crisis, after she has finally learned the truth about Maxim’s past, he takes her face in his hands and says “It’s gone forever, that funny young, lost look I loved. In a few hours, you’ve grown so much older.” And while it is true, it is not necessarily bad. She has suddenly grown into the role of Mrs. de Winter, stronger, more self-assured, more confident of her husband’s love and her ability to take care of him. And suddenly we can see these two making it for the long term.

Once that pesky Mrs. Danvers is out of the way, we think it will be smooth sailing for these two.

We watched this recently on cable and had forgotten how truly great it is. The movie is chock-full of funny, endearing characters and great dialogue – you don’t want to miss a moment. But does a perfect movie mean a perfect couple? In this case we say Si!.

Loretta Castorini is in her late thirties, widowed and living with her parents in Brooklyn. Anxious to move on with her life; she accepts a marriage proposal from mousy mama’s boy Johnny Cammareri. She’s not in love, which according to her mother Rose is a good thing, but he’s a good man and he’ll take care of her. Johnny immediately leaves for Italy to break the news to his mother, and asks Loretta to invite his brother, whom he no longer speaks to, while he’s gone. Little does Johnny know that it will be Ronny, his estranged, angry younger brother, that will capture Rose’s heart.

Within hours of meeting the two embark on a passionate affair, and not a full day passes before the tempestuous Ronny declares his love for the older, cautious Rose. Guilty over her betrayal of her betrothed, determined to put the affair behind her, Rose agrees to accompany Ronny to the opera – the thing he loves second in the world only to her – if he will agree that it will be the last time that they see each other.

Of course things don’t work out that way; before the evening is over Loretta has realized that it is Ronny she loves and Ronny that she is meant to be with. Her immediate embracing of his second love – opera – as well as the lengths she goes to to gussy herself up for the evening make Ronny love her even more. And Loretta can’t deny or resist her physical attraction to him.

The final scene in which Loretta and Johnny part ways over breakfast in front of her nutty but loving family is one of the great moments in movie history. But does that mean that Loretta and Ronny deserve 5 reels? Absolutely. We think the fiery Ronny is the perfect balance to the sensible Rose – she’ll help keep him grounded and he’ll help her to develop her wilder side. They will fight – a lot. Over bills, over kids, over her parents, over everything. But at the end of the evening, when it’s just the two of them, they’ll put on the opera records, open a bottle of wine, and remember that giant moon that brought them together.

This couple was by special request from reader John M:

What are the chances that a couple will find true love when the man insults the woman the first time they meet? Excellent! At least if the couple is Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Although Mr. Darcy may not have been in the humor to give consequence to young ladies slighted by other men and Elizabeth could safely promise us all never to dance with Mr. Darcy, these two have been inspiring dreamy sighs since 1813 for good reason.

Our favorite on-screen incarnation of the couple is the 1995 BBC production starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. To answer the question “Are Mr. Darcy and Miss Bennet The Reel Thing?”, C. gamely volunteered to rewatch all five hours of the two-DVD set. (She prefers to call this dedication rather than a convenient excuse to avoid her other work.)

In many ways, this couple really shouldn’t make sense. His pride truly does lead him to behave rather obnoxiously when they’re first acquainted. His initial proposal must bear the dubious distinction of: “Worst Way To Ask A Woman To Marry You Ever.” Prejudice definitely gets in Elizabeth’s way. If she weren’t so dead set against Darcy, she might see through Wickham’s rather audacious lies much sooner.

To be sure, they know no actual good of each other until about three-quarters of the way through the movie, but as Elizabeth says: Nobody thinks of that when they fall in love! And anyway, isn’t one of the great things about relationships that they help us grow and change? Falling for Elizabeth prompts Darcy to recognize his failings of pride and to endeavor to become a better man. Learning the truth about Darcy (and in the process, Wickham) opens Elizabeth’s eyes to the blind spots in her own judgment.

We wholeheartedly award the Darcys 5 reels. Whenever we’re feeling less than optimistic about life, we like to imagine them happily settled at Pemberley, perfect companions to one another as only two people who are true equals can be, with Jane and Bingley, Georgiana, and Mr. Bennet their frequent guests. It’s this happy ideal that will make Darcy and Elizabeth an inspiration to romantics everywhere for another two hundred years to come.

Yes, we know this isn’t a movie couple but come on – it’s the Royal Wedding! The first event like this in 30 years. And we are happy to award Will and Kate a very enthusiastic 5 Reels.

We’re not even going to analyze them. Congrats to the Prince and his new bride!

Meddlesome though she may be, there is still something incredibly endearing about Emma Woodhouse. Her actions are all completely misguided and yet there is no doubt that she acts out of love.

Emma Woodhouse lives in 19th century England, and according to her creator, Jane Austen, is “handsome, clever, and rich.” She considers herself an expert matchmaker and spends her days planning elaborate liaisons for her friends. The results are always disastrous, for though Emma is convinced she knows what’s best for everyone, she is oblivious of their true wants and desires, as well as her own. Her close friend Mr. Knightley watches with both amusement and dismay, for he can see clearly what Emma cannot. Yet being in love with her tries to guide her as best he can.

Emma loves him too, but doesn’t realize it until it is almost too late. When she discovers that her close friend Harriet Smith has also developed feelings for Mr. Knightley, and believes that he reciprocates, she suddenly realizes that she doesn’t want to lose him. Fortunately for Emma, in the end he declares his true feelings to her and the two marry.

So is it an ending that we agree with? Actually it is. We really love the relationship between Emma and the handsome and charming Mr. K – he is unflinchingly honest with her but never cruelly so. We love the scene in the park when he gives her a dressing down for her flippant treatment of poor Miss Bates; it clearly pains him to hurt her and yet he knows that it is the only way to maintain their friendship. And his proposal to her is another one of our favorite moments.

Both are attractive and well off, and they share the same social circle. Both are happy people that genuinely care about their family and friends, and they both seem quite content in their little corner of the world. We think that they will have similar views about where and how to live, and how to raise their eventual family. And with any luck, Emma’s past mistakes with her friends will have taught her not to meddle in the romantic affairs of her children.

Of course the Knightleys would be long gone by now, but we feel quite safe in saying that their union was a happy and long-lasting one, filled with long talks, laughter, plenty of good arguments, and lots of little Knightleys.

Another example of a couple that barely spend 15 minutes of screen time together; nevertheless we feel that we saw enough to give Lizzie and Nick high reels.  They had good physical chemistry, and of course, there’s those adorable twins (although even parents as capable as these two must shudder at the thought of teenage Lindsay Lohans).

Lizzie and Nick met and married many years ago but the hotheaded young newlyweds quickly found life together intolerable – plenty of passion but too much pain. They decided to separate; each taking one of their identical twin daughters with them. Nick settled in Napa and became a wine magnate; Lizzie fled home to the UK where she became Elizabeth James, the Vera Wang of England. Neither one has told their daughter about their spouse or that they have a twin. It is not until the girls turn 10 that they finally meet at a summer camp, and plot to get their parents back together.

While the outcome is inevitable it is one we agree with. There is no doubt the love and attraction are still there and both seem to have matured considerably so the angry, hairdryer-throwing tantrums will hopefully be a thing of the past. And of course they have a shared love of their two daughters.

There’s a small matter of geography to be sure but as both Nick and Lizzie are both well off and successful we think they’ll make it work.  She’ll probably move to California but take the girls on trips to Europe.  The four of them will be a happy, successful, well-traveled family.

For those of you who prefer the original (which we also give 5 Reels):

Yes, definitely. He wrote a song for her, for God’s sake! And sang it to her on a plane. Add in the fact that they were both believable and adorable as a couple. And that first test kiss was magical.

They’re friends; they know how to play and have fun together. They clearly adore each other, and would do anything for each other. On top of writing her a song and putting himself in debt to his best friend Sammy for a first class plane ticket to Vegas, Robbie is willing to get a job, help her arrange her wedding details, fight her despicable fiance to defend her honor, and ultimately sacrifice his own happiness for hers when he thinks that Glenn is the one she truly loves. As for Julia – the joy she feels as she pretends to receive guests at her wedding to Robbie lights up her whole face.

Plus – no one should have to go through life as Julia Guglia.

Call us romantic but we definitely see him holding her hair back for another 50 years.

Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column for the local British paper. She is also desperately in love with Jasper Bloom, a selfish co-worker that has just announced his engagement to another woman while continuing to prey on Iris’s fragile heart. Anxious to get away from the man and the job, she impulsively agrees to swap houses for the holidays with Amanda Woods, a successful movie trailer producer from LA (reviewed in an upcoming post).

There she meets Miles, a kind and kooky film composer who is assistant to Amanda’s ex. Miles is in a relationship with a young actress, but he and Iris quickly become friends. When Miles discovers that his girlfriend has been cheating on him, Iris is there to help him through it; she in turn allows herself to open up to Miles about her own heartache. It is not long before the two begin to look at each other in a new light.

The only obstacle we see to this relationship is distance; barring that we think Iris and Miles can go the distance.  They are friends, they genuinely care about each other, and they make each other laugh.  They’ve both had their hearts broken (OK, who hasn’t) and appreciate finding someone that truly cares about them.  Having both fallen for bastards they can now both appreciate quality. They are both real.  She loves what he does for a living and they both love old movies and music.  And they both appreciate other people for who they are.

We can envision them living happily in LA or even New York, with 2 smart kids and a circle of interesting friends, stepping out hand-in-hand on Sunday nights for a movie together.  We definitely see Iris and Miles making it though another 50 holidays together.