Romance

They arose early and got themselves all decked out: she in a midcalf dress of some soft beige, he in a jacket and tie--the first tie Scott Roston's roommate had ever seen him wear. Scott Roston and Karen Waltz raced to Las Vegas on Feb. 4 in his leased red Toyota two-seater and were wed in a $25 civil ceremony in a marriage commissioner's office enlivened by some blue and white artificial flowers. Then they raced back to Santa Monica.

L.A. Affairs chronicles romance and relationships. If you have comments to share or a story to tell, write us at home@latimes.com . Submission guidelines can be found here . To read more stories, past L.A. Affairs columns can be found in our archives .

What if Shakespeare had it wrong about love in "Romeo and Juliet"? In fact, what if all of us have it wrong and our ideals of love and romance are hopelessly awry? Although we are supposed to be celebrating our love for that special someone on Valentine's Day, perhaps the time has come to reconsider the concept of romantic love, at least as it has been conceived in Western societies. As we busily track down red roses, the best chocolates and the finest champagnes, we need to ask whether, in the pursuit of the perfect romance, we haven't declared war on true love.

Springtime may bring thoughts of visiting Paris, but for Southern Californians without the time or means for a transatlantic getaway, there's the City of Lights, City of Angels film festival. Starting Monday, the 17th annual event at the Directors Guild of America will bring 38 French features to L.A., including the North American premiere of Danièle Thompson's new romantic comedy, "It Happened in Saint-Tropez. " Starring Monica Bellucci and Kad Merad in a romp about two cousins who fall in love with the same man, "It Happened in Saint-Tropez" will open in Paris just five days before kicking off the L.A. festival.

There was no shortage of drama at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Five countries boycotted, either because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary or the tension in the Middle East over the Suez Canal. Hungarian athletes hauled down their flag in the Olympic Village and tore off the Communist emblem. A water polo encounter between the Soviets and Hungarians had to be stopped because of violence.

When Mary's relationship of 10 years broke up, she ate a quart of ice cream and tearfully swore she'd never love again. Within months, she was living with another man. Rebound romance. Most people experience it at some point in their lives. TV star Roseanne recently divorced Tom Arnold only to turn around and walk down the aisle with her bodyguard. Can these relationships lead to happiness or is Rebound Row simply a dead-end street?

Hours before the Hollywood premiere of "Dear John" earlier this week, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks was sitting in the expensive hotel room he'd been put up in, continually glimpsing at his iPhone as it lighted up with phone calls and text messages. "That's my literary agent," he said. "And now here's a producer from the film." Sparks, 44, had flown in earlier that day from his home in North Carolina for the opening of the fifth movie adaptation of one of his books. The sixth, "The Last Song," starring Miley Cyrus, is due out in April, and an adaptation of his novel "The Lucky One," already in the works, will potentially make seven.

Dear Amy: I have often heard that a great place to meet guys is at the grocery store. Well, they were right. I ran into a cute, interesting guy at my local grocery. We struck up a conversation as we were weaving around the store. I have to admit that I'm a little shy and not well versed in dating, so I didn't know how to extend this chance meeting into a date. I feel I would be coming off as desperate by giving out my number to someone I just met. In addition, we both had frozen food in our carts, so it's not as if I could have invited him out for coffee.

There's a legend surrounding Rome's Trevi Fountain -- toss a coin into the water and you're ensured another visit to the Eternal City. Movie producers must have been throwing coins into the Trevi for years because Hollywood keeps returning to Rome to shoot comedies and dramas dealing with love and romance. The new Disney romantic comedy "When in Rome," starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel, is just the latest film to use the Eternal City as its backdrop. In fact, there have been so many films set in Rome that there are two others with the same name: 1952's "When in Rome" is a quirky buddy film about a young priest (Van Johnson)

Moonface A True Romance Angela Balcita Harper Perennial: 222 pp., $13.99 paper

"Upstream Color" is as enigmatic as filmmaking gets - not in a casual way, but determinedly, even willfully. Being completely understood at first glance is not on creator Shane Carruth's agenda, but while this may sound upsetting, it turns out to be quite the opposite. Carruth, whose cult favorite "Primer" won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004, is unwavering about telling his stories his own particular way, and he's so good at it that he pins us to our seats even when we're not exactly sure what's going on. Maybe because we're not exactly sure what's going on. For to watch the haunting, disturbing "Upstream Color" is to feel like you're inside not one of your own dreams but someone else's, a dream that's both compelling and unnerving in ways you can't put your finger on. Part science fiction scare movie, part offbeat romance, part completely unclassifiable, "Color" is also one-man filmmaking of a remarkable sort.

Kate Upton and Diddy are not dating despite reports linking the two ultra-famous individuals. Upton, who broke up with Detroit Tigers Pitcher Justin Verlander around Valentine's Day, was said to be spotted kissing music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and "not hiding it" at a party he was hosting at Miami's Liv club March 24, according to the New York Daily News . The Sports Illustrated cover girl took to Twitter on Wednesday to debunk the...

Saoirse (pronounced SIR-sha, "like inertia") Ronan plays an alien and a human in the same body in the new romantic sci-fi film "The Host," based on a book by "Twilight" series author Stephenie Meyer. Ronan, who turns 19 in April, is already a seasoned thespian, with an Oscar nod for her performance in 2007's "Atonement. " Are you a fan of the "Twilight" vampire romance book and film series and its author, Stephenie Meyer? Is that what drew you to "The Host"? Yes, that was definitely one of the draws for me to work with Stephenie.

My Chemical Romance has broken up. Following a decade-plus run in which it ascended from the emo-punk underground to platinum-plated pop stardom, the New Jersey band announced its dissolution Friday night in a statement posted on its website . "Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing," it wrote. "We've gotten to go places we never knew we could. We've been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We've shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends.

An attractive, appealing cast, headed by two immensely likable male leads, propels director Danny Mooney's "Love and Honor," a romantic drama set during the heady summer of 1969. The warm if soapy script by Jim Burnstein and Garrett K. Schiff concerns Dalton (Austin Stowell), an upright Vietnam War soldier who, after landing in Hong Kong for a week of R&R, impulsively grabs a flight to Michigan to reconnect with Jane (Aimee Teegarden), the hometown girlfriend who recently dumped him by mail.

In "Language of a Broken Heart," we are asked to believe that romance novelist Nick (played by the film's screenwriter, Juddy Talt) knows how to write with authority about love without any firsthand knowledge of its real-life workings. It's a bit of a leap to think that an obsessive guy whose idea of courtship involves repeating "marry me, marry me, marry me" on the first date would be able to win enough women's hearts to climb the bestseller lists. But then, we're also told that Nick's own heart is just too big for most women.

Kate Upton, the suddenly annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model, might be playing hard to get. She might be trying to deflect attention from her supposed romance with Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Or she just might want some privacy. Whatever the case, the buxom blond appeared rather annoyed when answering a question on television Thursday about her relationship with Verlander. "I'm single," she said matter-of-factly during an interview (shown below) on a Fox morning show in Detroit.

Happy Valentine's Day. It's an occasion for romance and love, right? Yeah. But it's also an occasion for big business. The average American will pony up about $126.04 to mark the day, according to the National Retail Federation. That's up more than 8.5% from the $116.21 spent in 2011 (with guys shelling out about twice what ladies will pay). With that in mind, is anyone surprised that retailers routinely jack up prices for the spending spree? Have you checked out the prices at flower and chocolate stores?

The Los Angeles Philharmonic came up with the slogan “Romance at the Phil” for Thursday night's concert, which fell upon Valentine's Day. Indeed, the couples attracted by this premise looked dressier than usual for a weeknight -- and  there was a post-concert party where they could order Champagne, strawberries and other treats, and have their pictures taken with funny props, such as a Cleopatra headdress or a Viking helmet. But really, it was a bit of a marketing stretch to put the label of “romance” on a program containing Mendelssohn's “The Hebrides” Overture, Mozart's Symphony No. 29 and Richard Strauss's “Don Quixote” -- aside from the delusional Don's imaginary infatuation with Dulcinea.  Better to concentrate upon another welcome visit from Charles Dutoit, who was recently designated as conductor laureate of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Kate Upton, the suddenly annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model, might be playing hard to get. She might be trying to deflect attention from her supposed romance with Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Or she just might want some privacy. Whatever the case, the buxom blond appeared rather annoyed when answering a question on television Thursday about her relationship with Verlander. "I'm single," she said matter-of-factly during an interview (shown below) on a Fox morning show in Detroit.