I ❤ U: Valentine’s Day Gifts Inspired By Focus Films
Show your movie lover just how much you love them
Each February 14, we scramble to find new ways to show our beloved how much we love them. After roses, chocolates, jewelry, spa days, and cold hard cash, what else can you give? If you love movies as much as your lover does, pick a gift inspired by one of their favorite Focus films. We pulled together a list of possible presents inspired by some of our most romantic movies. Have a different idea for a Focus-inspired offering? Send us your own Focus film Valentine’s Day gift on social with the hashtag #BeMineFocusFilms.
One Day | A present for keeping present
Lone Scherfig’s romance One Day —adapted from David Nicholls’ international bestseller—checks in on Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) every year on the same day for nearly 20 years. As they move from friends to frenemies to lovers to spouses, One Day illustrates fully Shakespeare’s observation that “the course of true love never did run smooth.” But don’t wait to once a year to check in with your beloved. Aimee Chase’s One Question a Day for You & Me: Daily Reflections for Couples: A Three-Year Journal provides a way for both of you to map out the course of your own love by jointly answering a question each day. From the mundane (“What did you eat for breakfast today?") to the profound (“What makes you feel loved?"), you’ll find many “one days” to define your relationship.
Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in One Day and the book One Question A Day for You and Me
Moonrise Kingdom | Make your love reel
Set in 1965 on the fictional New Penzance Island, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom celebrates young love in world awash in retro fashion and sun-dappled imagery. When Suzy (Kara Hayward) and Sam (Jared Gilman) escape to a deserted cove—all the while being tracked down by the adults in their life (played by Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and more)—they bring along the things that mean the most to them (a favorite book—like The Light of Seven Matchsticks, binoculars, a portable phonograph). If they’d had it, they no doubt would have brought a viewfinder with reels of images recounting their adventures. Retroviewer gives you the chance to create your own Valentine’s Day reels and click through them in your own Moonrise Kingdom.
Moonrise Kingdom's Sam and Suzy plan their escape & Retroviewer
The Place Beyond The Pines | Take a picture, it lasts longer
At the start of Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines, Luke (Ryan Gosling) discovers that he is a father when he reconnects with his old girlfriend Romina (Eva Mendes). The young family capture their joy at being together at a roadside ice-cream stand with the help of a disposable camera. However fleeting that afternoon was, its memory and the photo that chronicles it will last for years, connecting Luke to an ambitious cop (Bradley Cooper) who will have a tangible effect on his son Jason (Dane DeHaan), who was just a baby when the photo was snapped. Today, of course, you could use your phone, but why not recreate the romance of The Place Beyond the Pines with a disposable camera, like the Fujifilm Quicksnap, whose photos you’ll keep forever.
Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes create a permanent memory with a disposable camera in The Place Beyond The Pines & Fuji QuickSnap
Phantom Thread | Sew them how you feel
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, the prickly self-consumed fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) finds himself all stitched up when he meets Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps), the strange woman who becomes his muse, his lover, and his future wife. While you may not have the talent or time to design a whole season of outfits dedicated to your beloved, certainly you can risk needle and thread to sew a valentine. The crafts site Makezine offers a step-by-step guide on how to sew your Valentine's day card this year.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Vicky Krieps in Phantom Thread & Makezine valentine
The Theory of Everything | Find your shining star
James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything recounts the remarkable life and love of Stephen Hawking (in an Academy Award®-winning performance by Eddie Redmayne) who met his wife Jane (Felicity Jones), found his place in the firmament of theoretical physics, and developed ALS, all around the same time. While theorizing the origins of stars, Hawking depended on Jane to keep his real world in orbit. Want to show your celestial love here on earth that you look up to him/her? Name a star after your loved one. You could use any of the many web-based services who offer to sell you a naming certificate—none of which are recognized by real astronomers. How much easier to walk out under the night sky with you beloved and pick one.
Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything & stars to give your beloved
Broken Flowers | For broken hearts
In Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, Don Johnson (Bill Murray) takes a literal trip down memory lane as he visits his former loves (played by Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, and Tilda Swinton) in attempt to discover if he might have a long-lost son. This year, if you are more in the mood to celebrate the loves that didn't last than one blossoming now right now, take the floral tradition in a different direction. Instead of broken flowers, maybe get black roses for yourself. This elegant, albeit macabre bloom can be found at specialized florists. If you prefer a non-perishable variation, Amazon offers an artificial black rose bouquet.
Bill Murray revisits old loves in Broken Flowers & black roses bouquet
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Never going to let you go
Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind appropriately begins on Valentine’s Day when a lovelorn Joel (Jim Carrey) takes a train out to Montauk to spend the day alone on a snowy beach. But fate intervenes when he meets the uncannily familiar Clementine (Kate Winslet) on the train. As the tale spins its fantastic yarn, we learn that before they had each other erased from their memories the two strangers had been lovers. This Valentine's Day, show that unforgettable person in your life that you will never lose them with a special memory stick. There are various heart-shaped lockets with drives in them and even a special Mr. and Mrs. Love drive in a wooden box.
Get Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind now on iTunes or at Amazon.
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & memory stick locket
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