KEY POINTS:
Valentine's Soundtracks - by Herald music reviewer, Scott Kara
For serious wooing, or the soundtrack to that candle light dinner try...
Johnny Cash - Rose of my Heart (from last year's album America V: A Hundred Highways).
The most beautiful song I've heard in years and the
line "you are the rose of my heart...you are the love of my life" will get you, and your loved one in the mood every time you play it.
And you can't beat Al Green and his latest collection, Definitive Greatest Hits, is the one to find them all on. Although, be careful because his songs could have ambiguous meanings. For example: Let's Stay Together (well, yes, I thought we were going to) and I'm Still In Love With You (was there any doubt in the first place you idiot?).
And Lets Get Married maybe a little heavy on presumption so only use if you're sure of your feelings and their feelings too.
Also try Chaka Khan, who is best known for I Feel For You, but with the use of the word "feel" could have slightly sleazy connotations. So here's a suggestion: her 1975 song Sweet Thing, with the band Rufus, is a sweet and sure fire winner.
Valentine's Wardrobe - by Viva editor, Fiona Hawtin
What to wear on Valentine's Day? The young and firm-skinned can get away with as little as possible. For the rest of us, channel the boudoir dress of Veronica Lake and get yourself some silk La Perla lingerie. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a decent Elle Macpherson bra and knickers - so long as they match. A pair of spiky stilettos so high you can hardly bear to stand is also compulsory. It doesn't matter that you have to lie about in them, in fact, that's rather the point. This gear is for draping yourself over a chaise longue in. And if you only wear red lipstick once a year, this is the day to break it out. Oh, and a cloud of Agent Provocateur. It's the most seductive perfume going.
Valentine's Movies - by Herald film reviewer, Francesca Rudkin
* The Classics
Gone with The Wind (1939), and Casablanca (1942)
These are the kind of films you can watch over and over again and never tire of. Both are romantic melodramas set amidst war, and are filled with some of the most memorable performances, overly dramatic moments and quotable lines in cinema.
* The Date Movie
Any film featuring Hugh Grant.
While Hugh Grant might be renowned for finding romance on the side of the road, he's always adorably charming on screen whether he's playing a polite, fumbling Englishman, or a naughty rogue. His films are light, fluffy and funny, appeal to both sexes and aren't going to incite any arguments! Pick from Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, About a Boy, Bridget Jones Diary, Love Actually or if you are in the mood for a Jane Austen try Emma Thompson's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.
* The Tear Jerker
As It Is In Heaven
If you are in need of a cathartic cry, then this should do the trick. Make sure you have tissues on hand, as this Swedish film is as tragic as it is uplifting. It's a story about a famous international conductor who returns to his small childhood village in the far north of Sweden where he makes friends and enemies, and surprises himself by finding love.
