Movies for sweethearts this Valentine's Day

JAKARTA (JP): Plans to spend Valentine's with your significant other today? A candlelit dinner at a star-rated hotel restaurant or dancing the night away to romantic music may tickle your fancy.

But if these ideas leave your pocketbook screaming with pain, then a trip to the movies -- that equally fine and decidedly cheaper opportunity for intimacy -- is recommended.

At least two movies playing currently -- Titanic and Touch Me -- are made to have lovers sniffling and snuggling up closer.

Titanic. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet. Director James Cameron.

This international hit, costing more than US$200 million, hit Jakarta two day after New Year's, and immediately started packing them in at local movie theaters.

There is no sign of the popularity juggernaut coming to an end, especially after the movie swept 14 Academy Award nominations. It was nominated in the key categories of best picture, director (Cameron), actress (Winslet), supporting actress (Gloria Stuart) and cinematography.

Even though DiCaprio, the James Dean of his acting generation, was conspicuously absent from the nominees, Titanic is a must-see film, if only to ensure you can add your two cents' worth to any discussion on its merits, or lack thereof.

If, in some impossibility, you do not know the storyline already, it is an epic, action-packed romance set against the ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, the most luxurious liner of her era.

This ship of dreams ultimately carried more than 1,500 people to their deaths in the ice-cold waters of the North Atlantic in 1912. Before all the tragedy unfolds, two teenagers, Rose DeWitt Bukater (Winslet) and Jack Dawson (DiCaprio), forge love and passion, which echoes across the years into the present.

Touch Me. Cast: Amanda Peet, Michael Vartan, Kari Wuhrer, Peter Facinelli, Erica Gimpel, Greg Louganis. Writer/Director: H. Gordon Boos.

Its title might suggest something funny, romantic or a tad bawdy. In fact, Touch Me combines the romance of a love story with the power and importance of Philadelphia.

Set in contemporary Los Angeles, it introduces us to Brigitte Maddox (Peet), a beautiful young woman who supports her acting career by teaching aerobics in an upscale beachside health club. After she wins the lead role in a play, her personal world collides with that of Adam Halperm (Michael Vartan), an international playboy who runs the health club and is heir to his father's fortune.

Brigitte and Adam initially clash but there is an undeniable attraction between them. They begin a passionate romance until Brigitte receives a phone call which forever changes her life. She embarks with Adam on a personal journey in this unforgettably powerful story of true love.

Most Wanted. Cast: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jon Voight, Jill Hennessy, Paul Sorvino, Eric Roberts, Robert Culp. Director: David Glenn Hogan.

Sgt. James Dunn (Wayans) is caught in a deadly conspiracy of deceit and revenge in this action-thriller. Dunn, a decorated Gulf War hero and highly trained sharpshooter, is convicted of killing a superior officer.

Sentenced to die, he is visited by Lt. Col. Grant Casey (Voight), leader of an elite assassination squad code-named "Black Sheep".

As the payment for his freedom, Dunn is given an assignment to shoot a reclusive industrialist involved in deadly biotechnology.

Unfortunately, the hit goes terribly wrong.

Tomorrow Never Dies. Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Michele Yeoh. Director: Roger Spottiswoode.

OO7 is back in the handsome form of Brosnan, this time paired with Hong Kong's Yeoh, Bond's first Asian leading lady since You Only Live Twice back in 1967.

Vietnam provides the exotic locales as Bond does battle with the baddies, including a marauding helicopter on a downtown Hanoi street. It is in the classic Bond mold -- thrills, spills and tongue placed firmly in cheek.

The Assignment. Cast: Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Kingsley. Director: Christian Duguay.

After Bruce Willis' turn in The Jackal, this is the second recent movie to focus on the legendary terrorist called Carlos.

In this version, Annibal Ramirez (Quinn), an upstanding American naval officer and family man, has the unfortunate distinction to be a dead ringer for the killer.

After being mistaken by intelligence agents for the Jackal, Ramirez is used as a pawn by them to draw the real terrorist out of hiding.

It is the most difficult assignment, and one from which he may never return.

Starship Troopers. Cast: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer. Director: Paul Verhoeven.

Light years away, the world is at war with a race of giant alien insects, and a massive spraying with Raid will not do the trick. Little is known about the bugs, except that they are intent on destroying everything on earth.

Bring on Johnny, a mobile infantry member who decides he is unsuited for army life. That is until his family is killed by an attack by the vicious critters, and he sets out to get revenge.

In his quest, he is aided by the unlikely named Dizzy Flores (Meyer), who has long harbored a crush on him.

Will love rear its pretty head along with the ugly ones of the bugs? Go see for yourself with your own loved one to keep you company. (sim/brc)