A definitive ranking of the best NYE parties in movies
New Year’s Eve is upon us, Gigglers! The sparkly dress. The anticipation of the midnight kiss. The oversized 2015 glasses, and matching feathered tiara. Whether you’re a party animal or a homebody, we can all appreciate a great New Year’s Eve scene in a movie. Not only is it fun to watch, it’s a nice device for getting two characters together, or creating tension to drive them apart.
New Year’s Eve can be a lavish affair. And every once and a while, it’s fun to go all out! So as we prepare to ring in 2015, here are the top 10 movie New Year’s Eve parties I totally wish I could attend this year.
10. Boogie Nights
When I hear the name Little Bill, I think of the Nick Jr. cartoon before I think of Boogie Nights. I guess it’s a generational thing. This New Year’s Eve party looks pretty fun, up until that part where William H. Macy shoots his wife to the tune of the New Year’s countdown. Still, I’ve been to worse parties.
9. The Godfather Part II
Fancy a New Year’s kiss? How about a kiss of death? Al Pacino lays one on John Cazale at the height of the party. Still, I wouldn’t turn down an invitation to this shindig. There’s confetti aplenty and partygoers are wearing New Year’s hats of all shapes and sizes in the background.
8. Sunset Boulevard
In keeping with the theme of murder, Sunset Boulevard is all kinds of twisted. Gloria Swanson is crazy with a capital C, and William Holden is the object of her affection. After she buys his love and forces him to move in with her, everything comes crashing down on New Year’s Eve. Though it’s a creepy party for two, it’s still a lavish Gatsby-esque affair at a Hollywood mansion.
7. An Affair to Remember
Nobody is above New Year’s Eve — not even the classics. After Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr share a midnight kiss, they make the original let’s-meet-on-top-of-the-Empire-State-Building pact. It’s essentially perfect.
6. About a Boy
Yes the movie, not the Minnie Driver TV show. I can imagine that being seated next to your future beau at a New Year’s Eve party would make an adorable “how we met” story. I love Hugh Grant’s total and complete admiration of Rachel Weisz in this movie. Like, love love.
5. New Year’s Eve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FwS4SQSlfc
A few things here: I would love it if Lea Michele followed me around and sang the soundtrack to my life. I will never NOT love Sarah Jessica Parker. Oh, and if Zac Efron comes up with any other resolutions to cross off his list, he can absolutely, definitely call me. Watch this for good measure.
4. 200 Cigarettes
The year is 1981, the cast is glorious and the nostalgia is palpable. I would steal to spend New Year’s with Ben and Casey Affleck, Paul Rudd, Kate Hudson, Dave Chappelle, Janeane Garofalo, Christina Ricci, Courtney Love . . . shall I go on? Somebody get me a Polaroid camera.
3. Trading Places
Eddie Murphy is at the absolute top of his game in Trading Places, especially in the scene where his character briefly portrays another character, Nanga Eboko, the beef jerky-loving exchange student from Cameroon. He, Dan Aykroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis spend New Year’s on a party train, where their mission is to pull the ol’ switcheroo with some important documents. This movie has always made me want to spend New Year’s Eve partying on a train, which I still have yet to do. Maybe next year.
2. Sex and the City: The Movie
This one isn’t a wild New Year’s party per se, but instead a celebration of best friends and being with people you love. This beautiful rendition of Auld Lang Syne also always makes me tear up and text my BFF.
1. When Harry Met Sally
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you.” There’s no way When Harry Met Sally wasn’t going to be number one on this list. This New Year’s countdown scene perfectly captures the rollercoaster of emotions of those Sam and Diane, will-they-or-won’t-they relationships, and is arguably one of the most satisfying moments in the history of movies/life. Its perfection is sealed with Billy Crystal’s completely normal remark about Auld Lang Syne after he kisses Meg Ryan, like it’s any other day: “What does this song mean? My whole life, I don’t know what this song means.”
