Valentine’s Day is a persnickety holiday. It’s great for some people and a little bitter for others. Realizing that, we have scoured the various streaming services and come up with a dozen great love stories that range from cheerful to anguished, from gooey to cynical, and from Jane Austen to zombies. Break out the popcorn, chocolate, and champagne and enjoy!

Blue Is the Warmest Color (Netflix)

The Criterion Collection

★★★★☆

In Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013), newcomer Adèle Exarchopoulos gives a memorable performance as a young woman who becomes aware that she desires female companionship, and specifically the companionship of a mysterious, sexy blue-haired girl called Emma (Léa Seydoux, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Spectre). The movie threatens at one point to collapse into stereotype, but then it recovers, passing through many years, charting the ups and downs of their relationship.

Yet it’s a sensual movie, not just in its depiction of the sex scenes, but also in its depiction of food, friends, and thoughtful discussions. Kechiche cleverly mirrors certain sequences and images (a parade, the color blue, etc.) so that scenes contain extra emotional tones. You might watch it for the steamy NC-17 scenes, but you’ll stay because it’s an outstanding movie.

Destination Wedding (Amazon Prime)

Regatta

★★★★☆

A wry, cynical romantic comedy with a good heart, Destination Wedding (2018) pairs Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, who have already proven their chemistry in several movies, dating back to Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992. They play Lindsay (Winona Ryder) and Frank (Keanu Reeves), strangers on their way to a “destination wedding” in San Luis Obispo; they instantly dislike each other, and argue in witty, barbed dialogue. Of course, they will eventually become irresistibly drawn to one another, and they relentlessly analyze their options even as fate takes a different course.

Possibly inspired by masters like Eric Rohmer and Yasujiro Ozu, writer/director Victor Levin frames the characters in sustained, chapter-like sequences, featuring the ridiculous planned events of the wedding, and breaks them up with lovely “pillow shots” to underscore the beauty of the scenery. It’s an unsung gem.

Funny Face (Kanopy)

Paramount

★★★★☆

If one can forgive the 30 year-difference between romantic leads Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn (Hepburn was so sophisticated and regal that she never seemed right with co-stars closer to her own age), then Stanley Donen’s Funny Face (1957) is one of the latter’s most delightful films, a colorful, kaleidoscopic musical decorated with the art of photography. Astaire plays a Richard Avedon-like photographer who discovers a brainy, philosophy-loving bookshop clerk and makes her into his latest model. Thus begins a conflict of intelligence versus emotions, brains versus beauty, but veering towards doe-eyed romance.

It’s heightened by a fine collection of George and Ira Gershwin songs as well as Ray June’s deep, expansive Oscar-nominated cinematography. The film received additional nominations for writing, art direction/set decoration, and costume design.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hulu)

20th Century Fox

★★★★★

One of the greatest of all Hollywood directors, Howard Hawks was known for being able to tell a great story, usually about group dynamics and codes of honor, in any genre—from screwball comedy to Westerns and detective stories. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) was one of his only musicals, and true to form, it’s a treat. Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe star as Dorothy Shaw and Lorelei Lee, a couple of lovely ladies who board a ship for Paris to potentially find husbands.

Lorelei is drawn to men with money (Monroe sings the iconic “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”), while Dorothy loves chiseled physiques (Russell sings “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” with an entire team of U.S. Olympic athletes). But fate, of course, has other plans. Even for its time, and even in its broad, cartoonish way, the movie is quite sophisticated, getting away with plenty of sly playfulness in terms of sexual desire, gender roles, and empowerment. The hapless males in the film include Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, and Taylor Holmes.

In the Mood for Love (Kanopy)

The Criterion Collection

★★★★★

The Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Kar-wai has dabbled, like his contemporaries, in crime and action and martial arts films, but he also had broader ambitions. He reached arguably the pinnacle of his career with the achingly unfulfilled romance In the Mood for Love (2001). Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai (who had both appeared in Wong’s earlier films Days of Being Wild and Ashes of Time) play neighbors in a restrained, ornate 1960s-era Hong Kong.

Spending time together, they come to realize that their respective spouses—never actually seen in the film—are having an affair. The two begin to see each other frequently, trying to decide what happened and how, and attempting to understand their feelings. Not unexpectedly, they begin to become attracted to one another, but are unable, or unwilling to act. The fierce, aching emotions under the clamped-down surface provide the movie’s immense power, while the deceptively still visuals belie Wong’s fluid, dynamic style.

Let the Sunshine In (Hulu)

Sundance Selects

★★★★★

One of the best films of 2018 by one of the world’s best filmmakers, Claire Denis’s Let the Sunshine In (2018) is rather unlike her earlier films (Beau Travail, White Material), paying less attention to characters with a certain space and more attention to a character’s state of mind. Juliette Binoche gives a dense, subtle performance as Isabelle, a woman who is involved with many different men, but continually hopes to find her one true soulmate.

The men are poor lovers, married men, an ex-husband, or simply men with whom she doesn’t connect (or do not connect with her). The movie brilliantly plays with movie-influenced notions of what love means; there is a movie-ready romantic moment on a dance floor that doesn’t quite go where she hopes. It ends with a quite long, tour-de-force sequence wherein a fortune teller (Gérard Depardieu) keeps Isabelle’s hopes alive; this audacious sequence even continues while the credits roll!

Love & Friendship (Amazon Prime)

Amazon Studios

★★★★☆

Writer/director Whit Stillman made his career with sophisticated, erudite comedies about educated, well-to-do urbanites, so it makes perfect sense that he could transfer his talents to the adaptation of a Jane Austen novella; the result is more bracingly personal and human that most dry costume dramas. Love & Friendship (2016) stars Kate Beckinsale—at her very best—as one of Austen’s most acidly funny characters, Lady Susan.

She visits her brother’s estate in the hopes of landing a wealthy husband and begins flirting with her sister-in-law’s younger brother (Xavier Samuel). But her grown daughter (Morfydd Clark) turns up, complicating things, so Susan tries to fix her up with the blathering, nitwit Sir James (a scene-stealing Tom Bennett). As a highlight, Susan sometimes reports her progress to her American friend (Chloe Sevigny). Stillman gets playful behind the camera, introducing characters with freeze-frames, and opening up the genre’s usual stuffiness with a fresh airiness.

Serendipity (Hoopla, Roku)

Miramax

★★★★☆

This one’s a sweet, charming, lightweight love story that received mixed reviews at the time of its release, but still has its admirers. Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) meet, reaching for the last pair of gloves while Christmas shopping at Bloomingdale’s. They spend the evening together and feel a strong bond—and a strong sense of destiny—but Sara insists that if it’s really meant to be, they will find each other once again. She writes her number in a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera, and it’s up to Jonathan to find it in one of the city’s used bookstores.

Serendipity (2001) was a victim of fate during the time of the 9/11 attacks, and it was one of the movies whose images of the twin towers were digitally erased. But its romantic takes on both New York and San Francisco, as well as its funny supporting cast (Molly Shannon, Jeremy Piven, Eugene Levy, etc.), make it worth a look.

13 Going on 30 (Hoopla)

Columbia Pictures

★★★☆☆

A selection from my own significant other, 13 Going on 30 (2004) is a fantasy romantic comedy in that it relies on magical or supernatural elements to get it going. At age 13, Jenna is humiliated by a clique of powerful schoolgirls, and wishes she were older. The wish is granted. She wakes up, just shy of age 30 (and played by Jennifer Garner), but with her 13-year-old brain intact. She has no idea how to be an adult or what has happened in the world in the intervening years. Fortunately, sweet, handsome doofus Mark Ruffalo is on hand to help.

It’s pretty shopworn and predictable, but it’s also a nice, gentle example of female empowerment, and Garner gives 100 percent to her performance, pulling off precisely what Tom Hanks did previously in the similar Big. And it’s hard not to smile when Jenna starts up a group “Thriller” dance to liven up a dull party. Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, and Kathy Baker co-star, and the late Gary Winick directed.

True Romance (Crackle, IMDB Freedive)

Regatta

★★★★☆

After the arthouse success of Reservoir Dogs, and before the phenomenon of Pulp Fiction, this early Quentin Tarantino screenplay was sold to a big studio and directed by Tony Scott. Scott seemed to realize what he had and didn’t do much damage to it. True Romance (1993) is an exciting, extremely clever crime story filled with movie love, great dialog, and—amazingly—a heartfelt love story that works.

Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) goes to a Sonny Chiba triple-feature on his birthday and meets Alabama (Patricia Arquette). Even though she was a call girl hired by Clarence’s boss, the two fall immediately in love, and Clarence vows to get her things back from her pimp, the vicious Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman). Unfortunately, he accidentally grabs a case of cocaine instead. The incredible cast includes Michael Rapaport, James Gandolfini, Brad Pitt (hilarious as a stoned pothead), Val Kilmer (as Clarence’s conscience-like vision of Elvis), Bronson Pinchot, Samuel L. Jackson, and Saul Rubinek. There’s also an astonishing face-off between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken.

Warm Bodies (Tubi)

Summit Entertainment

★★★★☆

Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, 50/50) adapts the novel by Isaac Marion and directs the warm, hopeful Warm Bodies (2013) a zombie comedy that is actually a sweetly effective romance. Nicholas Hoult plays a zombie called “R,” who can’t speak, but who narrates in his head; Hoult’s expressive eyes help convey his thoughts even when his words can’t. He shambles around an airport with his pal “M” (Rob Corddry), looking for brains. He dines on Perry (Dave Franco), finds himself absorbing Perry’s memories, and even begins developing feelings for a human girl Julie (Teresa Palmer). He convinces her to seek safety in his hideout, an abandoned airplane filled with things he’s collected, and Julie weirdly begins to see something human in the zombie.

But don’t worry, zombie fans, more brain-eating is on the way. Inspired by Romeo and Juliet, this one is remarkably free of cynicism, a genre mashup that somehow finds something new. The delightful Analeigh Tipton co-stars as Julie’s friend Nora.

Witness (Kanopy)

Paramount

★★★★☆

Another lovers-on-the-wrong-sides-of-the-tracks story, Witness (1985) throws together a hard-boiled big city cop, John Book (Harrison Ford), and a proud, inexperienced Amish woman, Rachel (Kelly McGillis) for romantic sparks. On a visit to the city, Rachel’s son Samuel (Lukas Haas) witnesses a murder. Book interviews him, and discovers that the killer is a cop. Book is attacked, realizes that he’s compromised, and takes mother and son back to Amish country to hide. While his wounds are healing, Book begins to learn the simple Amish ways and, despite being from two different worlds, becomes smitten with Rachel. (The sequence with Sam Cooke’s “[What a] Wonderful World” is a keeper.)

The Oscar-winning screenplay is pretty simple, but director Peter Weir gives the movie a dreamy slowness, aided by Maurice Jarre’s haunted, aching score, immersing us in two of his favorite themes: out-of-place characters, and clashing cultures. Danny Glover co-stars, and Viggo Mortensen appears in an early role. The move won a second Oscar for Best Editing, and was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Ford), Cinematography, Score, and Art Direction.

In a nutshell, there’s nothing about the Mobvoi TicWatch E2 that you haven’t seen before. It has a 1.4-inch AMOLED display and a bulky 13mm case. It’s water-resistant up to 50 meters so you can take it swimming, and it has a heart-rate sensor. It’s powered by the Snapdragon 2100. It has a respectable 415mAh battery, and it runs the latest version of Wear OS.

What’s impressive about the TicWatch E2 isn’t its specs or features. It’s not even anything it does. It’s that for $160, you can get a Wear OS device that has all of the latest software features, dutifully tracks your steps and exercise, lasts all day, and looks like a watch that costs a hundred dollars more. While we’ve been waiting for a Pixel Watch or some other high-end Wear OS device to challenge Apple Watch at the high end, Mobvoi has done something Fossil, Huawei, and Samsung haven’t: Made a full-featured Android smartwatch that’s practically an impulse buy.

Simple looks get it done

Unlike the playful translucent model it replaces, the Mobvoi TicWatch E2 is entirely ordinary. The device is dressed in all-black, with no available color options. While the darkness gives the E2’s bezels a somewhat slimming aesthetic, like nearly every other Wear OS watch, it’s a bit on the big size. At 13mm it’s a touch thinner than its predecessor but still chunky overall.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

The E2’s plastic body, while extremely light, has a sheen that’s somewhat reminiscent of the finish on more expensive metal watches. The silicone band has a soft, almost leather-like feel, and it’s comfortable to wear all day, even during long stretches of exercise. Compared to other sport straps, the TicWatch E2’s band is more breathable and didn’t leave any sweat rashes on my wrist when wearing it tightly, as I tend to do.

The 1.4-inch AMOLED screen is bright and crisp, and looks particularly good with Wear OS’s new system-wide dark UI. An embossed bezel around the screen adds a touch of style, while a chamfered edge makes the whole package seem slimmer than it is. Rounding out the relatively minimal design is a solitary button that either launches the app screen or returns to the watch face, depending on where you are.

Old chip gums up the works

The TicWatch E2 runs the latest version of Wear OS, so you get the new Assistant feed screen, Google Fit face, and general UI improvements. It’s not a huge revamp, but it makes a big difference over the TicWatch Pro I tested last year, even though both watches use the same long-in-the-tooth processor.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

Google’s transition to Wear OS has made a point of improving the viability of older hardware, namely devices powered by the Snapdragon 2100 chip. As a result, swiping and scrolling on the E2 feel more natural than they did under Android Wear. Additionally, the new Assistant-powered feed and Google Fit shortcut to the left and right of the face, respectively, cut down on the need to launch apps constantly, but Wear OS is still very much in need of a top-to-bottom overhaul.

It’s when you need to launch an app that the TicWatch E2’s processor shows its age. The updated platform can compensate for only so much; tapping an app to open it consistently took at least a second or two and exhibited clear lag even after a reset. Screenshots took forever, and simple tasks like returning to the watch face were just as painfully slow. After a few days, I found myself avoiding apps altogether as a result.

Actual all-day battery

But while the TicWatch E2 would surely benefit from the newer 3100 processor, slow app launching is hardly a deal-breaker for the E2. Unless you buy an ultra-discounted Moto 360 on eBay or a sensor-challenged hybrid, you’re unlikely to find a $160 smartwatch that does as much as the E2 or lasts as long.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

Nearly every Wear OS smartwatch promises “all-day” battery life with everything active (continuous heart-rate tracking, always-on display, etc.), but the E2 is one of the few that consistently delivers true 24-hour battery life without sacrificing features. Actual all-day battery life might not seem all that necessary when you’re only awake for 16-18 hours a day, but it will matter once Mobvoi pushes sleep tracking on the E2, a rarity among Wear OS watches. The company says the feature will include automatic sleep detection once the over-the-air update arrives, so that extra battery life will certainly make a difference.

Unfortunately, however, you’re not going to be able to push the E2 too much longer than a day or so, as it doesn’t include the same impressive battery enhancements found on the TicWatch Pro. On that model, there is a unique second screen that lets it literally last for a week, but the E2 only has a standard Battery Saver toggle that sacrifices the always-on display, haptic feedback, Wi-Fi, and other features for a couple hours of battery life. Mobvoi could squeeze out a little more time by implementing a night mode that shuts down raise-to-wake and notifications overnight, but as it stands, my watch consistently bothered me in bed.

Water resistance, but no NFC

For swimmers, the TicWatch E2 is also rated for 5 ATM water resistance, meaning you can dunk it in 50 meters (165 feet) of water. Mobvoi has also built in automatic detection for swim style, laps, and running, but it doesn’t extend beyond those two activities. A lengthy spin class went completely unnoticed by both Fit Workout and TicExercise, though the watch did a fine job of tracking my motion and steps throughout the day, thanks to its continuous heart-rate monitoring and on-board GPS.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

For my money, I’d rather have NFC than GPS, especially because there’s a Sport variant with a count-up bezel for $20 more. GPS might make sense on that model, but it’s a little unnecessary here—the lack of LTE means you’re probably going to have your phone around anyway. As it stands, you can’t use Google Pay with the E2, which will likely keep some people from buying one.

Mobvoi warned me of “inconsistencies” with its heart-rate, and a promised update to fix it didn’t arrive before I finished reviewing it. When I manually checked my pulse, it seemed pretty accurate. What wasn’t, however, was Movbvoi’s TicMotion tech. Whether it’s the result of the wonky heart-rate monitor or the misreading of other sensors, my numbers were all over the place, with steps occasionally not getting counted at all, exercise sessions not registering at all, and calories burned showing wildly inaccurate estimates. So you’ll probably want to stick to Google Fit for fitness tracking.

Should you buy a Mobvoi TicWatch E2?

If you want to make payments with your watch, then you should spend your money elsewhere. There are loads of Wear OS watches with NFC chips on board, including the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro, which has all of the same features as the E2.

Christopher Hebert/IDG

But if you don’t mind taking your phone out of your pocket to use Google Pay, it’s easy to recommend the TicWatch E2. There’s nothing wrong with it that doesn’t also afflict every other Wear OS watch. And once it gets native sleep tracking, it’ll have a feature nearly every other Wear OS watch lacks.

So while you probably won’t love the E2, you’ll definitely like it. And when it comes to Wear OS devices, that’s good enough.

There’s no way to know just how low smart plug prices will go, as manufacturers continue to trim their costs—and retail prices—down to nearly nothing, but iClever’s $14 device is pointing the way. You’ll find even cheaper models, of course, but those devices are probably not something you should feel comfortable trusting your lamps and appliances to.

Upscale smart outlets such as Currant and ConnectSense also have their place, of course, but it’s understandable that not everyone wants to spend 60 bucks on a device that lets them turn a power outlet on or off with their cell phone. But to be fair, some of those higher-end devices offer features you won’t find at the low end, such as energy-consumption monitoring, support for Apple’s HomeKit smart-home ecosystem, and USB charging ports.

Enter iClever. At $14 per unit, this is a decidedly affordable smart outlet without a lot of frills, but it does get the job done and doesn’t look too terribly industrial along the way. Designed as a small rectangular brick, the three-prong iClever supports up to 15 amps. It features a small power button on its side and two LEDs embedded beneath its plastic. A white LED indicates the outlet is powered on, and a green LED indicates that it’s connected to the network.

Christopher Null

Note that the three-prong connector that attaches to the wall is off center, so the iClever juts out to the right of the receptacle instead of being centered over the wall plate. Fortunately, it’s slim enough to allow for two iClever outlets to be connected to the same duplex outlet simultaneously.

Christopher Null

This is a Wi-Fi outlet (2.4GHz only), and setup is completed through iClever’s Smart Life app. A manual included in the package walks you through this setup, but that may be a little confusing for some, in part because the instructions are printed in tiny type on a single sheet of folded paper, with numbered “pages” not exactly where you’d expect them to be.

More problematic, the manual is illustrated with screenshots of what appears to be an old version of the app, so the instructions don’t exactly line up. You’ll probably be able to muddle your way through without too much trouble, though.

After registering and setting your location, you’ll find some curious extras in the app, including the outdoor temperature, humidity, and a weather report. Beneath that, devices are assigned to rooms and can be quickly powered up or down from the main screen. If you open the settings for an individual outlet, you can set up a schedule or activate a “count down” mode, turning the device off on a one-time-only basis after a certain amount of time has passed.

Both interfaces are easy to use, as are iClever’s “smart” features, which let you control multiple devices simultaneously via scenes, or set up IFTTT-like rules to automate activities based on other conditions (such as temperature, humidity, weather, and so on). With a simple outlet like this, your automation options are limited, but iClever’s app does connect to Bluetooth and ZigBee devices in addition to its own gear, potentially allowing you more flexibility.

iClever