In Verona, Italy, Romeo-besotted girls still leave notes on the wall next to Juliet's balcony asking for love advice that women are employed to answer. Sophie, a New Yorker researcher played by a live-wire Amanda Seyfried, answers one herself. It was left in 1957 by Claire (Vanessa Redgrave), who enlists Sophie to help her find Lorenzo Bartolini, the boy she left behind in her teens. It's unapologetic schmaltz, deftly directed by Gary Winick (Tadpole) as if it really meant something. Redgrave is incandescent, and casting Franco Nero as Lorenzo was inspired. Nero and Redgrave had a son soon after they co-starred in 1967's Camelot, but they didn't marry until 2006. Watching art imitate life provides a charm that can't be faked.

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”