Movies To Close Out Your Year With And To Begin Anew

1) Four Rooms

Funny side note, this piece was actually spawned from a conversation about this exact movie. Now, I’m aging myself here a bit, but I was lucky enough to catch this film in theaters on Christmas day. It’s a fun set of stories crafted by the hottest indie directors of the time including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Each story takes place in separate hotel rooms on NYE, and they are all tied impressively together by a stellar performance courtesy of the uber talented Tim Roth portraying the bellhop.

2) Trading Places

Ah, Eddie Murphy at his best, and the always talented Dan Ackroyd. This is a comedic classic of the early 80’s that is not wholly a NYE movie per se, but it does feature a hilarious and memorable climactic scene that revolves around the yearly holiday. This is a fun romp that will lift your spirits should you ever find yourself feeling low, as I find most 80’s movies have a similar effect.

3) Godfather 2

Again, this is not technically a NYE movie, but it counts in the category seeing as it has one of the most memorable NYE ‘kisses’, courtesy of the great Al Pacino, of all time. A kiss that nobody should ever hope to get. This is a fantastic movie in every sense of the word, and in some way, it outshines its predecessor. It’s part of a grander trilogy (well maybe not the third one), but if you only were ever to watch one of these movies, let this be it and enjoy the fantastic NYE scene.

4) Boogie Nights

Ok, there is a bit of a trend on this list. I’m bending the rules a bit classifying these movies as NYE movies, but that’s only because they feature spectacular NYW party scenes that are part of a bigger picture. P.T. Anderson, the director of this magnificent movie, crafted a spectacular NYW party scene for the ages. He’s a talent has left an indelible mark on the movie industry, and with this film it’s clear to see why.

5) Strange Days

A classic sci-fi adventure movie directed by the great Kathryn Bigelow takes place at the end of the millennium. She put together a fantastically tense story that has the added global fears of Y2K injected into it. Remember the days where people were freaking out about that? It’s such an amazing movie to watch because it’s not only NOT dated, she in fact “predicted” things in this story that have actually come through today.

6) Oceans 11

No, not the remake with George Clooney and Brad Pitt, but the original one with the famous Rat Pack. It show’s Las Vegas in its glorious heyday and features the eponymous Rat Pack as a group of thieves set to rob the casino at midnight on NYE. This is a film that is of it’s time and shows the lovely cinematic mastery of 60’s filmmaking with saturated colors and grainy film look.

7) Can’t Buy Me Love

Here’s another film to sate you if you’re feeling nostalgic for the 80’s or yearning to be a part of it if you weren’t alive in the 80’s. This film positively exudes many of the 80’s tropes, and I’m inserting it into this list because it features an amazing NYE party scene. One where the main characters portrayed by Patrick Dempsey and the late Amanda Peterson. It’s a great movie about teen romance that would give you the yearning to recapture your childhood.

8) Citizen Kane

You’d have to have been born under a rock if you hadn’t heard of this film. Orson Welles’ film has been lauded and studied over in the years since. I mean, you couldn’t have gotten through film school without having to watch this film at least once. Welles’ had utilized so many revolutionary and ground-breaking camera techniques that set this film that set him apart from his contemporaries. He filmed a remarkable NYE party scene that has stuck with audiences over the decades since, so that being said, this film if watched for the first time today would still have all the feels.

9) Ghostbusters !!

Ghostbusters kicked down comedic doors by featuring some of the most iconic comedic actors of the time (sadly scheduling conflicts kept Eddie Murphy out), and blew away audiences. Well tack on a few years and ending the 80’s was Ghostbusters !! with the same group of talented actors and filmmakers coming together again, except this time it was on NYE. The geniuses behind this franchise found a way to weave the holiday into the narrative, so this is most definitely a NYW film, and one worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of comedic greats improvising, but making it look seamless.

10) 54

Ahh, disco in all its glory. Set in around the decadent environment that was studio 54, this movie glorifies all that was both good and bad about the 70’s. The cocaine, the sex, and the disco. Studio 54 was a party scene for the ages. This film captures that in stupendous fashion as it highlights the reckless abandon in which these party revelers reveled.  This move features a NYE party scene where most of the characters had moved on with their lives, but returned to the “hollowed” ground of Studio 54 to relive the party scene that the once writhed in. It’s a heartfelt scene that is sure to pull on the heart strings.

So there you go. There is my list of NYE movies that you might not have previously considered NYW movies in the classic sense, but you should give them a chance regardless. Or these are movies you’ve seen before but have never thought of them as NYE movies. Well, now is your chance to view them through a different light. Most importantly, I hope all the readers out there are having a fantastic time during the holidays and are getting to spend it with loved ones as they ring in the New Year. Now get out of here and go watch some movies!