As winter break is in full effect, we deliver the express guide to the best movies to watch and rewatch in the depths of winter to appreciate its white landscapes and its cocooning atmosphere as a warm – and comforting – art of living in this cool season. Below are the best films to watch this winter break.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
In 1959, Todd Anderson enters the second grade at Welton, Vermont, a prestigious but austere boys’ school. He makes a few friends at the school. The film – which won an Oscar for its screenplay in 1990 – follows this group of teenagers who find themselves trapped by the inflexible ambitions of the institution and their parents, until the day they meet their new literature teacher, Mr. Keating (Robin Williams). Determined to forge free minds, Mr. Keating offers his students the chance to see the world differently. He encourages them to think for themselves and invites them to blossom outside of constraints by enjoying the present moment.
Groundhog Day (1993)
In the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, each year on February 2nd, Groundhog Day is celebrated. Journalist and weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is sent as usual to cover this local event. But a storm prevents him from returning home to Pittsburgh, forcing him to stay an extra day in this remote corner. Between repetitive comedy and original staging, this comedy is explosive and works just as well, over 25 years following its release.
Little Women (1994)
In 1994, Gillian Armstrong adapted Louisa May Alcott’s novel, published in 1869, a successful family tale, which tells the story of a family struggling in Massachusetts during the Civil War. The cast includes Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst and Christian Bale. We prefer this version with its old-fashioned charm rather than the more recent one by Greta Gerwig, with Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh and Emma Watson.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
In 2001, Harry Potter, the famous little wizard straight from the imagination of JK Rowling whose novels have been a real success since 1997, takes on the features of the British Daniel Radcliffe in front of the camera of Chris Columbus. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone begins the cinematographic saga that has entered the history of pop culture, making its young actors idols for a young audience, convinced by this adaptation faithful to the novel. In this first part, Harry Potter, martyred by his uncle, his aunt and his cousin Dudley who welcomed him into their home after the tragic death of his parents, discovers his magical gifts during a trip to the zoo. Following this event, he receives a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry inviting him to join its ranks in order to develop his gifts, and discover the world of magic, as fascinating as it is terrifying, where he will discover the secrets of his past and fight off forces of evil.
The Holiday (2006)
To put aside their heartache, British Iris (Kate Winslet), in love with a (soon to be) married man, and American Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who has just left her boyfriend, swap homes for a few days before winter break. In a cozy cottage lost in the snowy English countryside, Amanda, use to the Californian sun and social life, is surprised when a charming stranger rings the doorbell, completely drunk. It’s Iris’s brother, Graham (Jude Law). Across the Atlantic, Iris enjoys the pleasures that Los Angeles has to offer and falls under the spell of Amanda’s friend, Miles (Jack Black), who helps her free herself from her ex.
Frozen (2013)
Having become a Disney classic since its release over ten years ago, Frozen is above all the snowy film that we enjoy watching again as a family. It tells the story of the intrepid princess Anna, who sets off on a journey alongside Kristoff the mountaineer, Sven, her faithful reindeer, and a funny snowman named Olaf, in order to find her sister, Elsa, who has gone into exile because of her icy powers, which have accidentally plunged the kingdom of Arendelle into an eternal winter.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel follows the adventures of Gustave H, the man with the golden keys to a famous European ski resort between the wars, and the bellboy Zero Moustafa, his most loyal ally. The search for a stolen painting, a priceless work dating from the Renaissance, and a conflict over an important family inheritance form the plot of this winter story by Wes Anderson.
Adaline (2015)
In this romantic drama, Blake Lively plays the beautiful Adaline, a young woman who, following a car accident on the icy roads that should have been fatal, has stopped aging. Today, despite having lived nearly eight decades, she is still 29 years old.
I, Tonya (2017)
In I, Tonya, Margot Robbie plays Tonya Harding, a skater in the midst of the scandal that hit the skating world in 1994. Her rival at the time, Nancy Kerrigan, is violently attacked during a training session. We learn a little later that this act was ordered by Tonya and her friends. Tonya is the first to perform a triple axel during an international competition and still participates in the Winter Olympics yet only finishes 8th, while Nancy, slightly injured, takes the silver. What follows is a long descent into hell for the former champion played with force by the Australian Margot Robbie. A role that also earns her an Oscar nomination.
The Holdovers (2023)
In this film by Alexander Payne, nominated four times for the 2024 Oscars, we follow an unlikely trio forming in a deserted high school boarding school, in the midst of winter. Very different, but each lonely in their own way, the characters will learn to know and appreciate each other (although this is not without difficulties) in order to spend the winter break in good spirits. As the days go by, and as time is spent together, they reveal themselves and an adorable bond ends up being woven between them.
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