by Ashley Jane Carruthers

A new year! A time to reflect on all the stuff I didn’t do last year and make a plan to fit this stuff in among the resolutions I will break and exercise I won’t do in the next! Thrilling, isn’t it?!

A new year is also a new beginning. What are you looking for this year? A sense of belonging? New friends? A way to help others? A new job? Independence? Perhaps... true love (ooooh)?

Here are some movies to check out that will hopefully make you excited to take on this year, organized into categories reflecting what your future mayyyy hold.

So you wanna get comfy with the Devil:

Rosemary’s Baby

Newspapers still love to make a fuss about the first baby born in the new year. People love babies! But there ain’t nothing like a little light-hearted pre-baby NYE Satanic soirée. Party food? Platters of raw meat! The toast? “To 1966 - the Year One”! What a wonderfully, not at all culty, toast. I always hoped someday I would live in a cool apartment building with neighbors that I liked - the kind that would want me to pop by their New Year's Eve party - and it would be totally awesome to have Ruth Gordon as my neighbor, butttttttttt these people are a little much for me. So remember - no matter how much you maybe aren’t looking forward to the party you have to go to, or however much you may not be pumped to start all over again at midnight; at least you’re not Rosemary.

So you wanna be a hero:

Ghostbusters 2

Speaking of babies, sometimes you actually aren’t into your baby being possessed (there is only one John Cassavetes, after all). On those NYE occasions, who you gonna call? You know who! In an effort to save Sigourney’s lil baby, the Ghostbusters are on the move through the New York streets that are now totally covered in slime. The slime is causing absolute chaos and the entire city is in danger! People are freaking out! So the guys rally - what would you do in this situation?

Ghostbusters 2 New Year’s Eve To Do List:

To pack:
1) Sony Walkman
2) NES Advantage controller
3) Positively charged slime with blowers

To do:
1) Cover interior of the Statue of Liberty with said slime.
2) Use late 80s technology in conjunction with light animation techniques to wake that statue up!

Now you can take Lady Liberty for a ride through the streets and save the city!

Sobering thought: Imagine the Ghostbusters didn’t follow these steps and New York was destroyed in 1990? Shit. How would we get Uncut Gems?

So you wanna climb the corporate ladder...wait...nah. So you wanna be that special someone:

The Apartment

Work. We all gotta do it. Sometimes people do crazy stuff to get in good with the boss, like letting the company bigwigs use your apartment for sexy times with their otherrrr ladies, not of the wife variety. It’s all just a career strategy until you find out your serious crush is the woman your boss is messin’ around with and you know she deserves to be treated so much better. And you want so badly to be that for her. Oof, that’s tough!

Look. Billy Wilder knows what it’s like to spend New Year’s Eve being lonely or yearnin’ for someone. From the ol inviting literally only one person - who isn’t into you - to your NYE party routine (Sunset Boulevard), to the ol champagne cork scare before declaring your love over gin rummy routine (The Apartment), he’s got your back. Of these two Billy Wilder penned movies, I go for The Apartment. It’s sweet and funny and damn good.

(Side note: an affair with Fred MacMurray? Eugh. Could Hollywood not have chosen someone...less like a bowl of oatmeal? I digress.)

So you just wanna... stay in:

Carol

Sure, it’s on Christmas movie lists. But we remember this New Year’s Eve scene, right? Everyone? Because it’s like, kiiiiind of an important scene? New Year’s Eve is a fun time to hang out with your friends – and friends are totally fun! However, there is also something to be said about spending it in a hotel room for two in Waterloo, Iowa. Carol is used to spending the holiday pretending - playing the wife of a businessman, and Therese is used to spending it in a crowd of people, but alone. This year is very different for the two of them. Even if you’re not in a hotel in Iowa (we can’t all be so lucky), I think these ladies really know how to ring in the new year. Get it.

So you’re really in love with your best friend, like for real for real, and don’t know how to say it:

When Harry Met Sally

I am not ashamed of how much I blatantly love romance. I’m not. I’ve been known to be a little expressive, it’s not a secret. But you guyssssss, tell me this movie doesn’t warm your heart! Even just a little? There are many memorable scenes, memorable lines, and memorable performances (will we ever collectively stop missing Carrie Fisher? Unlikely). One showstopper is that famous New Year’s Eve scene, which is why this movie is on this list. However, I love the vignettes of different couples scattered throughout the film. Love isn’t just in the movies, it’s not. It’s often different, granted, and not perfect. But it happens! And if you work at it and take care of it, it can stand the test of time. It’s true. Overall, you get what I’m saying. Bla bla bla, I know. But maybe this year is your year for love too! You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FFOLKES!
Hope it’s a good one.