Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I'll take a little love actually ...

One of my all time favorite movies for Christmas is Love Actually.  

It's one of those "feel good" type movies.  

Feel good for one reason because Hugh Grant plays the lead.  He is so FINE to watch that you just begin smiling when he comes on screen with his bemusing charm.  And then there's Liam Neeson in all his manly ruggedness.

(Sigh)

Oh don’t go feeling bad for The Professor.  He likes Hugh and Liam just as well, but all in a manly sort of way.

This bittersweet script has a superb cast of actors revealing how love can come in different shapes and sizes, be passionate or dull, unexpected or predictable or just plain sneak up on you.


Some might find Love Actually a bit cloying and unrealistic, but hey, we have enough reality doses shoved in our faces daily.  Have you ever watched Jersey Shore, Housewives of Beverly Hills , Big Brother, The Bachelor?

Ugghhh!

So a little escapism with Love Actually and it’s delightful musical score is good for the soul.  The music itself just makes you want to get up and dance with your honey with songs like:

Jump (For My Love)
All I Want for Christmas
Songbird
God Only Knows
Both Sides Now
Love is All Around

To whet your whistle (did I just write that?), here’s some of the movie lines:

Colin: I am Colin. God of Sex. I'm just on the wrong continent, that's all.   
********
Tony: You'll come back a broken man.
Colin: Yeah, back broken from too much sex!
*******
Jamie's Girlfriend: Hurry up big boy, I'm naked and I want you at least twice before Jamie gets home.  
*******
Daniel: Tell her that you love her.
Sam: No way! Anyway, they fly tonight.
Daniel: Even better! Sam, you've got nothin' to lose, and you'll always regret it if you don't! I never told your mom enough. I should have told her everyday because she was perfect everyday. You've seen the films, kiddo. It ain't over 'til its over.
*******
Karl: Life is full of interruptions and complications.  
*******
Billy Mack: Let's get pissed and watch porn.
*******

Billy Mack: When I was young and successful, I was greedy and foolish, and now I'm left with no one. Wrinkled and alone. 
 *******

Billy Mack: Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!
 *******
Billy Mack: I realized that Christmas is... is the time to be with the people you love.
Joe: Right.
Billy Mack: And I realized that, as dire chance and... and... and fateful cockup would have it, here I am, mid-50s, and without knowing it I've gone and spent most of my adult life with a... with a chubby employee. And... and much as it grieves me to say it, it... it might be that the people I love is, in fact... you.
[pause]

Joe: Well, this is a surprise.
Billy Mack: Yeah.
Joe: Ten minutes at Elton John's, you're as gay as a maypole!  
 *******
Mia: It's an art gallery, full of dark corners, for doing... dark deeds.
*******
[neither understands the other's language]
Jamie: [in English] It's my favorite time of day, driving you.
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] It's the saddest part of my day, leaving you. 
*******
Karen: Tell me, if you were in my position, what would you do?
Harry: What position is that?
Karen: Imagine your husband bought a gold necklace, and come Christmas gave it to somebody else...
Harry: Oh, Karen...
Karen: Would you wait around to find out if it's just a necklace, or if it's sex and a necklace, or if, worst of all, it's a necklace and love? Would you stay, knowing life would always be a little bit worse? Or would you cut and run?
Harry: Oh, God. I am so in the wrong. The classic fool!
Karen: [voice breaking] Yes, but you've also made a fool out of me, and you've made the life I lead foolish, too!
*******
That last one always breaks me up, sniffle sniffle honk honk. Make sure you have some Kleenex nearby.

So what are some of your favorite holiday movies?

missing the mom gene