Today’s the Big Day…or big day depending on how you feel about it…here’s a list of films you can watch with your spouse, significant other, friend with benefits, mistress, whatever…keeping in mind that early biblical martyrs were named Valentine.

Criteria? Well, let’s say that not all of them will have a happy ending, nor will they all be mainstream films. I’ll be posting five films throughout the day. The ladies may not agree with all of them, but they can take solace that it’s from the heart, for whatever that’s worth.

20. Wild at Heart (1990) – Not for the faint of heart. David Lynch directed this film and that’s about all you need to know. Sailor (Nicholas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern) are on the run from Lula’s overbearing mother and some other nasty people, including Willem Dafoe and Diane Ladd. Definitely quirky and violent, the film follows sort of a Wizard of Oz plot with Cage impersonating Elvis at various points. Don’t try and figure it out, but I guarantee you’ll never forget this one. Available on VHS and DVD.

19. Working Girl (1988) – If you look at this film very carefully, you’ll discover that everyone cheats or is dishonest in some degree. Secretary employee Melanie Griffith stars in her first major lead role opposite Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. After her boss and mentor Weaver screws her over, Griffith misleads Weaver’s beau Ford into thinking she’s a high powered Wall Street broker to get even. They fall in love, and Ford dumps Weaver…pretty accurate description of the eighties decade. Available on VHS and DVD.

18. Sabrina (1954) – Another business driven romance. Corporate exec Humphrey Bogart tries to dissuade his rogue brother (William Holden) from jeopardizing his upcoming wedding by hooking up with the chauffeur’s daughter (Audrey Hepburn). The only reason he cares is because Holden’s fiancée is part of a huge corporate merger with her family. This film is interesting because it shows Bogie in a totally comedic role. It was remade in 1995, once again starring Harrison Ford in Bogart’s role. Available on DVD.

17. The Way We Were (1973) – Kind of an unlikely romance between an All-American WASP guy (Hubbell) and a Marxist Jewish girl (Katie), but it worked mainly because the guy is Robert Redford and the girl is Barbra Streisand. But it’s also pretty good, juxtaposing political differences and personal success while trying to maintain a happy relationship. Streisand was very, very good. There was a script written for a sequel with Hubbell meeting his estranged daughter (a radical like her mother), but it never got past the written stage. Available on VHS and DVD.

16. Harold and Maude (1971) – This one may be even weirder than Wild at Heart, but it’s weird in a comedic way, albeit dark comedy. Harold (Bud Cort) is a repressed twenty year old who discovers the bright side of living through seventy-nine year old free spirit Maude (Ruth Gordon). Not exactly what today’s cougar hunters have in mind, but the overall message of choosing to live your life instead of someone else’s is a point often missed in relationships. Director Hal Ashby was married and divorced before he was nineteen. Available on VHS and DVD.