Happy birthday to BAM’s Blog!

On Feb. 14, 2008, I posted my very first entry on the brand-new BAM’s Blog: a list of my favorite films appropriate for Valentine’s Day viewing.

Since, the blog has become home to nearly 9,000 posts and more than 38,000 comments.  For the past two years, the blog has earned more than 1 million page views a year and developed a loyal fan base.

This year, we’ve continued the tradition of posting a Valentine’s Day DVD list, which you can view here.

As part of our custom around here, we’re also collecting various items for an upcoming prize-pack. Watch for more information about that soon!

Thanks for helping to make BAM’s Blog a success!

-BAM

"Stardust"

Way back on Feb. 14, 2008, I posted my very first entry on the brand-new BAM’s Blog: a list of my favorite films appropriate for Valentine’s Day viewing.

The list was conveniently subdivided into different categories so that lovebirds of every feather could find the ideal cinematic treat for Valentine’s Day.

Some traditions are worth keeping, so here is the 2012 edition of BAM’s Blog recommended Valentine’s Day movies. It’s been updated to include a few new films that I’m loving on this day of devotion. As an added bonus, I previewed the list Monday in the Life section of The Oklahoman, on NewsOK and here on the blog; here is the full, official list.

So for this middle-of-the-week Valentine’s Day, curl up with your valentine and a good DVD, Blu-ray or Netflix stream:

"The Philadelphia Story"

Romantic comedies

The films in this category must be both uproariously funny and aw-inspiringly romantic. For all the rom-coms coming out of Hollywood, it’s telling that this part of the list gets updated the least:

“It Happened One Night” (1934): An out-of-work reporter (Clark Gable) and rebellious heiress (Claudette Colbert) take a bumpy road trip in Frank Capra’s Oscar-winner.

“The Philadelphia Story” (1940): Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant get entangled in a love pentagon in this classic screwball comedy, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies.

“North to Alaska” (1960): For those fans of John Wayne or a good Western, check out this romantic screwball story about a pair of pals, Sam (Wayne) and George (Stewart Granger), who strike gold in Alaska. When Sam returns to Seattle to fetch back George’s French fiance, he finds she has married another. Determined to head off his buddy’s broken heart, Sam recruits a gorgeous French prostitute named Angel (Capucine) to become George’s new lady-love. Soon, Sam, George and George’s teenage brother Billy (Fabian) are all vying for Angel’s affections.

“When Harry Met Sally” (1989): Hilarity ensues as Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) move from loathing to friendship to love.

“While You Were Sleeping” (1995): Lucy (Sandra Bullock) forms a crush on a handsome man (Peter Gallagher), saves his life, is mistaken for his fiancee and falls for his charming brother (Bill Pullman).

“Bridget Jones’s Diary”(2001): Brit Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) tries to improve her life and find real love in this chick flick.

"Jane Eyre"

Happily ever after

Fairy tales and other fantasies appear here; in this category, the path to true love may be perilous, but love eventually wins the day:

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961): True love develops between professional escort Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) and kept man Paul “Fred” Varjak (George Peppard) in the iconic film from the late, great director Blake Edwards, a Tulsa native.

“Ladyhawke” (1985): A knight (Rutger Hauer) and his lady fair (Michelle Pfeiffer) must break the curse set on them by an evil bishop (John Wood). Just try to ignore the dated ’80s soundtrack from The Alan Parsons Project collaborator Andrew Powell. (I’m just sure music in the 12^th century didn’t use quite so many synthesizers.)

“Pretty Woman” (1990): The movie that elevated Julia Roberts to superstardom features the redhead as a down-on-her-luck prostitute who is hired by a rich, disconnected businessman (Richard Gere) as his escort for various business and social functions. Naturally, they fall in love and make each other better people and all that.

“Serendipity” (2001): Suspend your disbelief and enjoy Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara’s (Kate Beckinsale) efforts to find one another after their magical first meeting. The film recently was released on Blu-ray, for extra lovely viewing.

“Stardust” (2007): Neil Gaiman’s fairy tale for grown-ups has all the necessary ingredients: an enchanted kingdom, wicked villains and, of course, a happy ending.

“Enchanted” (2007): An evil queen’s (Susan Sarandon) spell sends a wide-eyed animated fairytale princess (Amy Adams) to the mean streets of real-life New York, where she charms everyone, including a cynical single dad/divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey).

“Letters to Juliet” (2010): An American girl (Amanda Seyfried) vacationing in Italy finds and answers a 50-year-old letter to Juliet. In the process of helping the writer (Vanessa Redgrave) find her long-lost true love, the young American gets her own chance at real romance.

“The Tempest” (2010): Many universal themes are involved in what is widely considered one of Shakespeare’s last and best plays, including betrayal, revenge, forgiveness, and yes, love. Director Julie Taymor’s adaptation features a gender switch in the main role of the wizard Prospero, with Dame Helen Mirren making the magic as Prospera. But the love story between Prospera’s innocent daughter Miranda (Felicity Jones) and the courtly Prince Ferdinand (Reeve Carney) remains unchanged and romantic as ever.

“Jane Eyre” (2011): Director Cary Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”) and his talented young cast, including Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Bell, bring fresh energy to the often-adapted gothic tale. Every aspect of the narrative is heightened: The mystery crackles with suspense, the romance smolders with sensuality, and the coming-of-age story flares with intensity.

"(500) Days of Summer"

Bittersweet treats

If you need or enjoy a good weep, one of these films just might be for you. Some of the endings are kind of happy, others are a bit tragic, but love is what makes the world go ‘round in these tales:

“Casablanca” (1942): Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman give up their passionate love affair to save the world from the Nazis. Sigh. A classic.

“Roman Holiday” (1953): I don’t think you can have a romantic DVD list with too much Audrey Hepburn, so I’m also recommending this classic gem starring the elfin actress as a sheltered and restless princess who gives her handlers the slip and finds love and adventure with an American journalist, played by the dashing Gregory Peck. In the end, they can never be together, but they’ll always have Rome.

“Like Water for Chocolate” (1992): Tita (Lumi Cavazos) and Pedro (Marco Leonardi) are desperately in love, but tradition prohibits Tita, the youngest daughter in her family, from marrying, instead condemning her to a lifetime of caring for her tyrannical mother (Regina Torne). The Mexican movie was nominated for a 1993 Golden Globe for best foreign language film.

“Titanic” (1997): Writer-director James Cameron’s blockbuster romance/disaster about a poor young artist named Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is struggling to get home to America and a beautiful socialite named Rose (Kate Winslet) who is being forced to marry to solve her family’s financial issues and how they fall in love just before their grand ship hits an iceberg will get an appropriately epic 3D and IMAX theatrical re-release on April 4. But if you can’t wait to let your heart go on the adventure, you can always set sail a little early in the privacy of your own home.

“Once” (2007): A Dublin, Ireland, street musician (Glen Hansard) and talented Eastern European immigrant (Marketa Irglova) make beautiful music together, but she has a husband and he has a girlfriend. Will they become a duet or go their separate ways? The movie, which won a best original song Oscar for the gorgeous theme “Falling Slowly,” has been adapted for the stage and is set to debut soon on Broadway.

“Becoming Jane” (2007): Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) falls in love with roguish Irishman Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy) in this speculative romance. Austen never married, so that’s a hint that all will not go well.

“(500) Days of Summer” (2009): In his feature film debut, Marc Webb, director of the upcoming reboot “The Amazing Super-Man,” cast off the wretched conventions of modern- day romantic comedies, telling an emotionally resonant love story with a nonlinear plot line, amazing soundtrack and strong performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

“Up” (2009): The Oscar-winning computer-animated tale by the Pixar geniuses has zany talking dogs, a crazy colorful flightless bird and the vivid spectacle of a house sent aloft by millions of balloons. But the heart of the poignant story is a grieving widower (voice of Ed Asner) making the trip he and his late wife planned but never got around to taking. And it’s a more stalwart soul than I who can make it through the montage of Carl and Ellie’s life without crying.

"Gnomeo & Juliet"

Family-friendly fare

So what if you have a couple of tykes snuggled between you and your sweetie on the couch? You can still enjoy a romantic movie that’s appropriate for the whole clan:

Any of the Disney “princess” movies: The ones with my favorite heroines include “Mulan,” “Aladdin” and “Tangled,” along with “Beauty and the Beast,” which is still showing in 3-D in some movie theaters.

“The Princess Bride” (1987): Westley (Cary Elwes) refuses to let pirates, a prince or even death come between him and his Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright).

“Shrek” (2001) and “Shrek 2” (2004): Grumpy ogre Shrek (voice of Mike Myers) and his Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) discover that their love isn’t based on society’s rules of beauty. And that’s OK.

“WALL-E” (2008): A lonely trash-compacting robot finds a hand to hold with a sleek probe droid in another of Pixar’s winners for best animated film.

“Gnomeo & Juliet”(2011): I’m not one to classify movies as guilty pleasures; I firmly believe different films have different purposes and there’s no point in feeling guilty if a stupid comedy makes you chuckle or a big-budget actioner gets your pulse pounding. But I feel a bit sheepish in admitting that I was utterly charmed by Disney’s transformation of The Bard’s greatest tragedy into a zanily animated, happily-ever-after comedy about a pair of garden gnomes (voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt) who fall in love despite the feud between their respective color-coded families of backyard knick-knacks. Watch it with your kids and be prepared to giggle a lot and have Elton John songs stuck in your head for days.

"The Terminator"

Romance and weapons

Say you enjoy your romance mixed with plenty of action, maybe even some cinematic gunplay. Consider yourself locked and loaded with these films:

“The Terminator” (1984): Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) travels across time to save Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He travels across time for her! Now that’s romantic.

“True Lies” (1994): A mild-mannered wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) gets drawn into the action and danger when she discovers that her seemingly boring husband (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is actually an elite government spy.

“Desperado” (1995): It’s got Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek falling in love between all the flying bullets, so this actioner offers everyone someone quite nice to look at.

“Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005): Shawnee-born Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have smokin’ chemistry as assassins on opposite sides.

“300” (2006): Sure, most of this pumped-up Greek legend is focused on big battle sequences and impressive pectorals, but King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) make one hot power couple.

“Thor” (2011): Chris Hemsworth quite ably supplies the brawn as the Norse god cast down to Earth, but Oscar winner Natalie Portman gets to be the brains as relentlessly curious and lovably disorganized astrophysicist Jane Foster in the movie version of the Marvel Comic.

“Drive” (2011): Director Nicolas Winding Refn’s sun- and blood-soaked slice of Los Angeles neo-noir isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you can handle some Tarantino-level outbursts of violence, you can marvel at the crackling chemistry between Ryan Gosling as the enigmatic Hollywood stunt driver/getaway wheelman and Carey Mulligan as the lovely, vulnerable, single-mom neighbor who opens his heart and changes his life without even trying. And yes, their kiss in the elevator is as sexy as you’ve been led to believe

-BAM

Check out the newly released trailer for the anticipated sci-fi adventure “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” adapted from the popular novel by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”), the movie stars Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Rufus Sewell, Anthony Mackie and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The movie opens in theaters June 22.

-BAM

Stoney Creek Records duo Thompson Square, which includes Miami, OK, native Keifer Thompson, burst onto the country music scene one year ago last week with its self-titled debut album, which has so far garnered a plethora of accolades, including 2011’s No. 1 Most Played Country Song, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not,” the follow-up Top 10 hit, “I Got You,” three 2011 American Country Awards and two 2012 Grammy nominations.

Now, the husband/wife duo of Keifer and Shawna Thompson return to country radio with its new single, “Glass,” a powerful, romantic ballad that The Washington Post hailed as a “poignant meditation on human vulnerability.”

On Tuesday, which is Valentine’s Day, CMT will exclusively world premiere the music video for, “Glass,” as part of a behind-the-scenes network special, “CMT Premieres: Thompson Square – Glass” at 8 a.m., with a re-air following at 9:45 a.m. Check out the video preview above.

The video also will air across CMT’s multiple properties including CMT.com, CMT Pure, CMT Mobile and the CMT Insider App.

Directed by Roman White in classic black and white cinematography, the artfully emotional video is a fitting tribute to couples everywhere this Valentine’s Day, from one of country music’s most celebrated new couples. The single, “Glass,” is available now on iTunes.

“CMT Premieres: Thompson Square – Glass” air dates/ times:

Tues. Feb. 14

8 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.

Wed. Feb. 15

7 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Thurs. Feb. 16

12:30 p.m. (immediately following CMT Top 20 Countdown)

Country music’s breakout act of 2011, Thompson Square pounded the pavement for 15 years in the music industry before landing a record deal with Benny Brown’s small independent label Stoney Creek Records (sister label to indie Broken Bow Records and home to Jason Aldean).

In only 12 months, Thompson Square has seen the release of its first album debut at No. 3 on the Billboard Country Sales Chart and its Platinum-plus selling single, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not,” reach No. 1 on both the Billboard and Mediabase Country radio charts, conquer the Billboard Heat Seekers Chart, spend 5 weeks at No. 1 on the Country Digital Soundscan Chart and remain the No. 1 Country Ringtone for 12 weeks straight.

Thompson Square ended 2011 as the “New Country Artist of the Year” (Mediabase) as well as Billboard’s #1 New Country Artist of 2011, in terms of sales. The duo also ranked as Billboard’s No. 6 New Artist of 2011 (sales – all genres).

“Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not,” was the “Most Played Song of the Year” at Country Radio (Mediabase 2011), was named iTunes’ “Country Single of 2011” and earned 2012 Grammy nominations for both Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/ Group Performance of the Year.

In December, Thompson Square returned home for the holidays as the second-most awarded act at Fox’s second annualAmerican Country Awards, winning the fan-voted trophies for Single of the Year by a Group; Single of the Year by a New Artist; Music Video of the Year by a New Artist (“Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not”).

In 2011, Thompson Square was named one of USA Today’s “Six Pack of Success” stories, was heralded as USA Weekend’s “Who’s Hot in Hollywood,” peaked at No. 3 on MTV’s Music Meter (all genres) and landed on Entertainment Weekly’s “Hot List.”

In their short time on the scene, Thompson Square has performed on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Conan,” “Fox & Friends,” NBC’s “The Better Show” and Fox’s Summer Concert Series, as well as been featured in USA Weekend, Entertainment Weekly, People Country, the Associated Press, MSN Wonderwall, Country Weekly, Southwest Spirit Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post and Billboard.

Additionally, the 2011 American Music Award nominee for New Artist of the Year is also the only duo to reach No. 1 on CMT’s Top 50 Artist Chart in 2011. Last year also found Thompson Square nominated for multiple Country Music Association and CMT Awards as well as playing to more than 1 million fans, many as part of Jason Aldean’s “My Kind of Party Tour.”

Currently nominated for, “Vocal Duo of the Year,” at the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards, Thompson Square will criss-cross the U.S. in 2012 as part of Lady Antebellum’s “Own The Night World Tour.” The tour will play April 7 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

For more information, go to www.thompsonsquare.com or www.lloydnoblecenter.com.

-BAM