It’s that time of year, you know, the one where people actually embrace and celebrate the passage of time as opposed to, well, fearing it and feeling strangely old, out of shape and, quite possibly, hung over (all that comes on New Year’s Day). People get together, bang pots and pans, watch fireworks, start small kitchen fires, drink champagne, make new friends, reconnect with old friends, leave sloppy text messages and voice mails for misunderstandings and mistakes that took place in the previous 364 days. Oh, and of course, we all watch Zombie Dick Clark hail in the New Year in Times Square with the aid of a giant, Technicolor, electronic globe that descends down like a slow-motion Daft Punk set.

So, for those in the mood to experience the annual festivities vicariously, or perhaps those that need a little televisual inspiration to get their New Year’s Eve on, here is the list of—without hyperbole—the best New Year’s Movies (that don’t involve Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Sandra Bullock or Renee Zelwegger) in the history of humanity:

Hudsucker Proxy

When Ethan and Joel Coen weren’t winning wheel-barrows filled with Oscars and Sam Raimi wasn’t grossing the GNP of Southeast Asia with his blockbuster films, they were collaborating on comedy classics like Hudsucker Proxy, which just so happens to take place (for the most part) on New Year’s Eve. Featuring an all-star crew consisting of Paul Newman, Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh, this rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags-but-in-the-end-riches film shows off the respective talents of its creators with smart writing, skilled acting and gales of laughter while, you know, being about New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown

You’ve gotta hand it to Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Crew: they have a lockdown on nearly every holiday observed in the US. While the Peanuts holiday series remains pretty formulaic, watching the crew boogie down to the piano jams of Schroeder makes up for any plot issues. And, really, who can take issue with anything Peanuts related? It’s a national treasure; though, it is conspicuously absent from the loot obtained in the similarly-titled film, National Treasure.

Strange Days

Yes, it does have Juliette Lewis in it, which makes it nearly unwatchable, but Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett manage to pull of this sadly-underconsidered, becoming-a-cult sci-fi film that is set against the backdrop of a Los Angeles embroiled in police corruption and race wars. Oh, and it’s New Year’s Eve and, you know, the “ticking clock” plot is a mainstay.  It isn’t likely to fit in everyone’s tea cup, but for those willing to endure Lewis’ onscreen presence and, worse, a plot that circulates around her, you are in for a New Year’s Eve film unlike any other.

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

It’s a remake, sure, but the film actually has a decent cast, that includes journeymen character actors Gabriel Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne and John Leguizamo and even manages to be pretty unterrible. The plot involves, like Strange Days, a corrupt police force that, in order to remain free from indictment, are planning on killing the man and former-partner to corrupt policeman Byrne. Oh, and they’re going to kill everyone else to while there at it, ‘cause, you know, you can’t have any witnesses or whatever. Though the well-honed acting skills of still-relevant, still-popular, doo-rag championing Ja Rule make the film a must-see—cough, cough—this film should be watched only for New Year’s Eve-related purposes, like background, televisual ambiance while you’re preparing for the party you are going to throw that you hope enough people show up to it, ‘cause, you know, you spent a lot of time making the crab cakes and decorating the walls with white and silver tinsel.

Which brings me to the next New Year’s movie  (that don’t involve Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal, Sandra Bullock or Renee Zelwegger), which just so happens to be a personal favorite:

200 Cigarettes

Before Paul Rudd was Judd Apatow’s go-to-disarmingly-charming-guy, he was acting in this film alongside a then-still-respected Ben Affleck, a yet-to-up-and-come Casey Affleck, Christina Ricci and Martha Plimpton with some light-lifting being done by Dave Chappelle and Courtney Love. The plot follows the misadventures, misunderstandings and endless party-fretting of several different characters during a 1981 New York New Year’s Eve, while set to an awesome, awesome soundtrack. And, perhaps best of all, it has Elvis Costello. Let me exclaim that: 200 CIGARETTES HAS GENRE-TRANSFORMATIVE, GRAMMY AWARD WINNING, POP VIRTUOSO ELVIS COSTELLO!

If that’s not enough for you, check out some of the other holiday happenings on the Gift Blog.

Tags: new years, new years eve, new years eve movies, new years eve party, new years movies, party movies

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Holiday Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.