5 romance movies that will perfectly bring your summer to a close

Based on the 1983 novel by Mark Helprin, A New York Winter’s Tale tells the, erm, tale of Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) a criminal who was adopted as a child by an evil demon gangster, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe). When he’s all grown up as a gruff Irishman, Peter falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay) only to find out she is dying. When Peter ditches the gang for his lady so he can try and save her, they all set out for revenge. Ooh-err. This magical romance even throws in some cameos from Will Smith as Lucifer (AKA the devil) and a twisty ending, that’ll have tears a-jerking from your eyeholes. Fun fact: Steven Spielberg bought the film rights in 1983 soon after the book was released. Get it from Amazon

Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a book-writer or novelist, as they prefer to be called, exploring Paris with his lady friend. The problem is that this lady friend likes stuff, and not arty stuff like Gil, but shiny, expensive and materialistic stuff. During a late night walk (SPOILER: it’s at midnight) Gil is swept back in time and ends up partying with some cultural heroes from the past, which makes him realise how unhappy he is with his present-day life. Expect snooty arty types and Owen Wilson to pull off his classic role as the laid-back scruffy bemused guy. Fun fact: Woody Allen (who made the film), won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for this film. Get it from Amazon

Leonardo DiCaprio, Beyonce on the soundtrack and that “cheers” meme - the Great Gatsby is responsible for some pretty great things, oh yeah and the book is some sort of classic, or something. But the movie is very decent and saves you having to read pesky words. Based Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel, the film tells the glitzy tale of Jay Gatsby a mysterious millionaire - a bit like an olden day Zayn Malik, but less loathsome - who is obsessed with the beautiful young lady Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan). Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is the up-and-coming writer who’s profiling Gatsby and his exploits - and you can almost forget that he’s not meant to be Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The film – which is directed by the same fella responsible for Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge - departs slightly from the book, which isn’t a bad thing, as this is the 5th time it’s been brought to the big screen. Fun fact: Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire have been real-life friends since childhood. Bless. Get it from Amazon

This epic war romance is epic in all senses of the word. It centres around Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) a spoilt southern lady and depicts her life growing up in the deep south, then surviving through the civil war and ensuing reconstruction, as the United States was pieced back together following the war. Scarlett is lusting after handsome man, Ashley Wilkes, but the only problem is he’s married to his cousin, that’s how they did things back then, you see. But her life take a different turn when she meets Rhett Butler, (played by the moustached Clark Gable) who tells her she should be “Kissed and often, by someone that knows how”. What a smooth-talker. The film scooped up a whopping TEN Oscars, so it must be pretty good, right? Fun Fact: Gary Cooper turned down the role for Rhett Butler and said: "Gone With The Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history." LOL. Gutted, Gary! Get it from Amazon

When you’re talking about Gone With The Wind, Casablanca is never far away. Mainly because both are classics. Set during World War II, an expatriate meets a former-lover. So far, so good. But things awry Rick Blaine is forced to choose between the woman he loves and helping her hubby escape Casablanca so he can continue to fight the Nazis. That’s a massive life-decision, which is probably too serious for us to describe as “a pickle”, but the pickle of a situation depicted in Casblanca helped it scoop an Oscar for Best Picture. And, of course, the film has one of the most famous lines of dialogue ever: “Here’s looking at you, kid.” Fun Fact: In the ‘80s the film's script was sent to lots of major studios under a fake name. Some readers recognized the script, but many turned it down saying it was "not good enough" to make a decent movie and didn’t have “enough sex".