favorite movie #112 - holiday edition: last holiday

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #112 - Last Holiday (2006) - Queen Latifah has such charm that she can make any movie work, von this improbable but fun holiday romance. After seeing a test result that suggests she only has a few weeks to live, she decides to live it up, and sets off for a foreign holiday spa vacation. Her nothing to lose attitude endears everyone she meets. While there she finds out she isn't sick, manages to connect with her longtime crush (LL Cool J) and befriend the wacky hotel chef (Gérard Depardieu), who inspires her to pursue her dreams of opening a restaurant. It's a fun holiday fantasy film.

favorite movie #105 - holiday edition: the family stone

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #105 - The Family Stone (2005) - The Family Stone centers around Stone matriarch Diane Keaton and how she and her family react to eldest son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) bringing home his girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) to meet the family at Christmas — and to ask his mother for his grandmother's ring — to propose to her. This doesn't go over well with anyone, as Meredith is like oil to the Stone's water, particularly youngest daughter Amy (Rachel McAdams), who loathes Meredith at first sight. Holidays with the family can be stressful for us all, and I like how the Stone clan is quirky and tight, but also underneath all their sarcasm, full of love. Craig T. Nelson is wonderful as always as patriarch Kelly. He and son Ben (Luke Wilson) try to be supportive to the awkward Meredith. Tyrone Giordano does his best with the under-written role of Thad, another Stone son, who happens to be deaf and gay. Claire Danes shows up about midway as Meredith's sister Julie, to complicate things.

Sybil and Kelly Stone (Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson)

Sybil greets Thad (Tyrone Giordano)

Charades with this family are never simple. Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) tries to communicate with the Stones

favorite movie #103 - holiday edition: the holiday

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #103 - The Holiday (2006) - Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) are severely unlucky at love. To escape their most recent heartbreaks they switch houses on a home-exchange website for the holidays — Iris moving into Amanda's palatial L.A. mansion, where she meets musician Miles (Jack Black), and Amanda into Iris's charming, but very quiet Surrey cottage. Quiet, that is, until Iris's brother Graham (Jude Law) stops by looking for his sister. The Holiday on its surface is a fairly standard rom-com. You'd have to have never seen one before to not guess the outcome. What sets it apart from the pack is the charm of its four leads and the twin holiday backdrops of wintry Surrey and sunny Hollywood. There is also some great supporting work from Eli Wallach, who plays a Classic Old Hollywood screenwriter who teaches Winslet about meet-cutes and how to be a gal with gumption.

 

Holiday connection: Home and life swapping during the holiday season

favorite movie #93 - election edition: napoleon dynamite

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #93 - Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - The pace of this movie is as socially awkward and original as its title character, Napoleon Dynamite, played by Jon Heder. But once you get into it, you can't help but root for the strange Napoleon and his buddy Pedro, Deb, Grandma, and even Napoleon's annoying brother Kip.