Paste's favorite holiday movies

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Kate Kiefer, Associate Editor -- Love, Actually (2003)
A British romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Keira Knightley, with a soundtrack featuring Joni Mitchell, The Beach Boys, Kelly Clarkson and Otis Redding? Yes please!


Loren Lankford, Editorial Intern -- All I Want for Christmas (1991)
Never one to see many Christmas flicks (I don't celebrate the holiday myself), I did catch this little-seen gem after being dragged into it by a holiday-obsessed friend. The hilarious (and yes, heartwarming) Christmas tale stars two of my favorite adult actors, Ethan Embry (Empire Records, Can't Hardly Wait) and Thora Birch (American Beauty, Ghost World) as young kids trying desperately to get their separated parents back together. The scene where Birch sings "Baby It's Cold Outside" with her grandmother (played by Lauran Bacall) is priceless but (and I can't believe I'm about to be this cheesy) the real gift is the message about what the holiday should really be about: the gift of family.