Top 5 Winter Holiday Classics

Unlike Will in About a Boy, ‘tis the season I start getting excited about watching some of my favorite films…or at least, a few I enjoy revisting during the winter holiday season.  Even though the holidays might not play a significant role in each, I’ve listed 5 that remind me of this season from Thanksgiving to New Year’s.

In no order of importance, here are 5 films I like watching on my couch, Christmas tree in sight.  Warning: Hugh Grant makes 2 of my top 5.  Love Actually not one of them.

  1. The British Classic – About A Boy 2002

Hugh Grant finally gets a role he can sink his teeth into – a character very much like his true self, IMHO.

Watch how he deals with a request to be guardian of his best friend’s child:


  1. The Critics Choice – The Royal Tenenbaums 2001

Loved by critics and fans alike, this film is one of the best films of this century so far. And Gene Hackman’s last great performance.

Watch the dysfunctional tribe of (former) geniuses bounce off each other:


  1. The New Classic – Silver Linings Playbook 2012

The film that introduced the world to the charisma and chemistry of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

Watch them argue over which one is crazier:


  1. The 80’s Classic – Planes, Trains & Automobiles 1988

Steve Martin at the top of his game, John Candy as the painfully funny source of his irritation.

Watch Neal Page (Martin) snap and lay into Del “the shower-curtain ring guy” Giffith (Candy):


  1. The Y2K Classic – Bridget Jones’s Diary 2001

Blind dates, one-night stands, crazy fitness fads – this film captures what is means to be awkwardly single at the end of the 20th/start of the 21st  century.

Watch “Brenda” make one of the worst speeches of all-time:

I’d love to hear which films remind you of the holidays – and which ones you especially like watching this time of year.

Happy holiday viewing!

What does your top 5 look like?  Which films do you enjoy revisiting this time of year?

Advertisement