Celebrating the coming of a brand new year is always fun. And while you’re waiting for the ball drop at Times Square to welcome 2022, you might want to squeeze in a movie or two with your family and friends. Here are five heartwarming movie recommendations to watch on New Year’s Eve while you stay cozy at home.
New Year’s Eve
The romantic comedy film New Year’s Eve features a star-studded cast including Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Héctor Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sarah Paulson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Til Schweiger, Jake T. Austin, Hilary Swank, and Sofía Vergara. The film is set in New York and tells the intertwined stories of New Yorkers on New Year’s Eve. Some of the main characters involve a singer who gets stuck in an elevator with a New Year’s Eve hater, a rockstar who tries to rekindle his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, two pregnant women on a race to give birth to a New Year’s eve baby for the hospital’s prize money, and a dying patient who wishes to see the ball drop in Times Square. New Year’s Eve is directed by Garry Marshall who also brought us Pretty Woman and the holiday movies Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. If you want to feel the classic New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square while staying safe at home, this movie is the one to watch.
When Harry Met Sally
This classic romantic comedy film When Harry Met Sally, written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner, includes New Year’s Eve in the plot. The story follows Harry and Sally, played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, and their decade-long platonic relationship. In an article published by Vanity Fair to celebrate the 30th year of the film’s debut, they said, “When Harry Met Sally… is a collection of finely hewn set pieces—nearly all of which pivot around nothing more than a conversation.” BBC even hailed the movie as the “greatest romcom of all time” in one of their articles. In the same article, director Rob Reiner shared the main idea behind the film’s plot saying, “The whole idea behind this film was to really examine how men and women bump up against each other during the dating dance that they do.” The Guardian also made a review of the film and praised the movie’s writer. “Ephron re-invented the metropolitan romantic comedy, taking it from writers like Woody Allen and Neil Simon and melding it with the more modern concept of the “relationship” comedy, something with more emotional literacy.”
About Time
If you’re in for another feel-good romantic movie, About Time, directed by Richard Curtis, who gave us Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, follows the story of Tim (Domnhall Gleeson), who has the ability to time travel like his father (Bill Nighy) and other men in their family. Tim falls in love with Mary, played by Rachel McAdams, and woos her with the help of time travel. As his story progresses, he struggles and tries to go back in time to change his future. The movie is similar to The Time Traveler’s Wife, and Variety mentioned this similarity in their film review. “The About Time evokes a sense of deja vu, not least for anyone who’s seen The Time Traveler’s Wife, a conceptually similar love story that also co-starred Rachel McAdams.” The Guardian‘s review of the film praised the movie’s ability to bring out certain emotions, saying, “Richard Curtis’s time-travelling venture might be naff in places but it’s genuinely moving.” They added, “About Time wants us to put aside our cynical reservations and accept an extra pint from the milkman of human kindness.”
Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne
If you enjoyed Charlie Brown Christmas, and the Peanuts franchise in general, you can stream the latest holiday special Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne on Apple TV+. The story centers on Lucy Van Pelt, who struggles to deal with her grandmother’s absence on Christmas which leads her to think she is unlovable. Lucy, therefore, tries to throw a big New Year’s Eve party with her friends to compensate and prove she is lovable. Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne has a sentimental tone to it that can resonate more with adults but kids can enjoy the film as well. Los Angeles Times published an article comparing the newly released TV special and the classics. The article mentioned how Charles Schulz’s “slapstick sequences” are well executed in the new special. “Although it lacks the handmade charm of the Lee Mendelson-produced, Bill Melendez-directed specials of old, the animation, by Canada’s WildBrain Studios, deftly captures Schulz’s line, rounding out characters with subtle lighting effects, so that they handily inhabit a world appropriately more 2-D than three. Slapstick sequences, which Schulz had a gift for suggesting on the page, are smoothly executed.”
About A Boy
The comedy-drama About a Boy follows a wealthy and responsibility-free bachelor Will Lightman and a young boy, Marcus, who come to an agreement for each to get what they want. The two meet on New Year’s Eve and Marcus pretends to be Will’s son to attract single moms at a single parents community group while Marcus wants Will to date her mother. The story centers on how the two characters learn lessons from each other. The film stars Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, and Rachel Weisz and is directed by brothers Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. About a Boy was adapted from the 1989 novel of same name by Nick Hornby and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hugh Grant and Toni Collette were also nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for their performances in the film. Empire’s review of the film praised Grant’s performance in the film saying, “Admirably lacking in sentiment, this is a comedy-drama with a steady supply of laughs. Those who thought Grant’s performance was the best thing in Bridget Jones should enjoy his turn here.”Rachel McAdams
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