31 days of festive-ass flicks, day ten: love actually

After having to re-juggle the schedule, Sunday night’s festive-ass flick became Love Actually [Caaaaalendar.] And it was a nice, easy, relaxing Sunday night because we’ve both seen this one about 600 times, each more enjoyable than the last. [Spoilers, obvs.]

I think part of what makes Love Actually so great is just that the whole thing is really warm. It’s not saccharine or cloying and there are painful things fluttering around in it, but the people involved in these stories love each other immensely, even when they’re hurting each other. Every story line is great, even Colin’s ridiculous trip to the US and each one gets just enough voice and legs to carry itself to a really satisfying end.
This is one of my pre-festive-ass favorites and since I’ve already covered some stuff about loving it, I thought I’d just kind of ramble about things I really love:

– Bill Nighy and Gregor Fisher. I think this is generally one of the most under appreciated elements of the movie. His manager is the love of his life! They’re old and happy together! FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST.
– Hugh Grant caroling for the little girls who answer the door and the little running man move they do to “Good King Wenceslas” and basically the entirety of his door-to-door episode.
– The Nativity play! Lobsters! An octopus! A Spider-man faced crown-wearing child! It’s just so, so perfect. This is what kid recitals are like. This is so much what I imagine it is like being a parent. Gawd only knows how many times I went home with a weird lists of supplies and necessities for projects and performances. Gawd bless all the parents and guardians who put up with us.
– Which perfectly segues into all the great parenting going on in this thing! Liam Neeson is such a good dad! And Emma Thompson is such a good mom! And it all seems really natural and rewarding and easy but not effortless.
– Laura Linney and her brother. ABSOLUTE TEARS OF AGONY GUSHING FROM MY EYES every single time I watch and Laura Linney interact with her brother and hug him and be SUCH A GOOD AND PATIENT PERSON. Can’t deal with it.
– Every word that comes out of Kris Marshall’s mouth.
– Martin Freeman and Joanna Page. BEST MOST CUTE BEST.

I love all the stories, obvs. And this movie makes me re-love Hugh Grant every single time I watch it. Like, no joke. I love you, Hugh Grant. I do. And this movie has the faux-nostalgia-beautiful-place thing that Christmas movies set in New York do. It looks so pretty and lovely, I start thinking I could live there and be happy and joyful forever even though it’s so totally, adamantly untrue.

I spent most of this watch OBSESSING over British Christmas trees though. Like, I know they are not SPECIFICALLY British, they’re just untrimmed firs, but I could not stop freaking out about how PRETTY they are and the only way I was able to find similar ones was to Google “british christmas trees” so that’s just what they are.

Also, there are three separate incidences of holiday breasts in this one. Bless the British.