The Ultimate Oxymoron - A Guys List of the Most Romantic Films Ever

In my fit of absolute deplorable husbandry I got to thinking what movies are the most romantic through my eyes...you know, in the head and heart of a fella, a guy, a dude, a man, me...dufus squared. What movies make me grin with a soft swoon and some wishful thinking?

Serendipity - It helps that Kate Beckinsale is absolutely adorable, but the hook is set with a backdrop of NYC and a close to ideal friendship between John Cusak and Jeremy Piven.

Little Manhattan - Shouldn't love always feel like this?

Before Sunrise - It's only a fantasy if it never happens.

Humboldt County- Sometimes a love story only starts with the girl.

Almost Famous -Falling in love is a lot more than just boy meets girl. Sometimes it's boy meets the wrong girl.

Before Sunset - Julie Delpy's "meltdown" scene is drenched in the way love must feel when it's just out of reach.

Beautiful Girls - It doesn't get much more familiar for most of us than Timothy Hutton realizing what he has.

Stealing Beauty - Only a Tuscan landscape can overshadow a young Liv Tyler.

Casablanca - "She's coming back, I know she's coming back." Not always Rick, not always.

For Love of the Game - If she's the right girl there isn't much that matches the completeness of what she can give you...maybe nothing.

This list, as incomplete as it might be, suddenly and with the strength of a Joe Louis smack to the jaw, reminds me that there is no great California love story. Of my two favorite places in the planet -- New York City and California -- there are infinitely more romantic stories on those Manhattan streets than there are on those Southern California beaches. Maybe someone should get busy writing the great California love story.

Maybe I should get busy typing less emasculating things?