22 THE BODYGUARD (1992) So what if the damsel-in-distress bit has been cliche since the Brothers Grimm? Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston--playing a repressed former Secret Service agent and a sassy pop star, respectively--allow us to cast off any shred of feminist pretension and admit we want to be protected, dammit. Houston and Costner made us lose ourselves in the fantasy. And weeee will always love them for it.
23 LOVE & BASKETBALL (2000) Beyond offering a welcome respite from the pimps-and-ho's strain of African-American romance, Gina Prince-Bythewood's first feature is a sophisticated examination of first love. Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps)--she a tomboy, he a ladies' man--grow up as squabbling next-door neighbors in L.A., grow apart as hoops stars at USC, and, in the movie's "fourth quarter," get it together at the professional level. A world championship story about sacrifice and support.
24 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000) Get past the balletic battles, and Ang Lee's Hong Kong action classic is piercingly ardent, as vast and intimate as a myth. Younger audiences can swoon over the feisty courtship of Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen, while Mom and Dad can sigh at the lovelorn grace of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh.
25 BEFORE SUNRISE (1995) After meeting on a train, strangers Jessie (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) spend the day walking the cobblestoned streets of Vienna before his flight to America--and talk their way into bittersweet love. But the film is more than director Richard Linklater's ode to the Eurailpass: It's the grudging admission that beneath Gen-X's cynical exterior beats a vulnerable--and agelessly romantic--heart.
Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and other celebs pick their favorite romantic movies at www.ew.com (AOL Keyword: EW).
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