Why Love Actually may be the worst Christmas movie of all time
The Calgary Eyeopener's Unconventional Panel debates the best and worst holiday films
If you have fond memories of the 2003 film Love Actually, it may be time for you to watch it again — with a more critical eye.
"If they had edited maybe two-and-a-half hours out of the middle of that film, it would have been great. The beginning and the end? That's the only true love in this film," said Julie Van Rosendaal.
The Calgary Eyeopener's food columnist made a fiery debut this week on the show's Unconventional Panel. She was joined by Calgary actor Andrew Phung and George Brookman, the CEO of West Canadian Industries.
While the trio was asked to debate the worst and best Christmas movies of all time, Van Rosendaal quickly convinced the panel that Love Actually is — actually — a terrible holiday film.
"You have these guys who are falling for women who are, you know, half their age and they've hardly spoken to," she said.
"The only married couple [is] Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. He ditches her for his assistant who walks around in her underwear and buys her a gold necklace, and his wife — the mother of his children — a Joni Mitchell CD."
- What are the worst and best holiday movies? Leave your comments below.
Then there's the "creepy" stalker played by Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead, who Van Rosendaal calls the "worst best friend" ever for falling in love with his buddy's wife.
"And the guy who goes to America just to get some girls — and he comes back with two, like they're souvenirs, and brings one for his friend … That's not love!
The rookie panellist quickly won over her colleagues.
"I've never been convinced so quickly. There are some truth bombs there," said Phung.
Die Hard needs to die, hard
Brookman's pet peeve is the fact that cable companies air the Die Hard movies over the holidays.
"It just seems like Die Hard is so far away from anything to do with Christmas, and love, and little baby Jesus. Here we've got these guys blowing each other up — and yet, they run it every Christmas."
<a href="https://twitter.com/CalgaryGeorge">@CalgaryGeorge</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCEyeopener">@CBCEyeopener</a> It isn't Christmas until we've watched Die Hard!
—@SHuvenaars- MORE NEWS | YYC scooter guy gets new ride after video of scary Deerfoot trip goes viral
- MORE NEWS | Dashing through the snow can be harmful for your pets
Brookman is of the belief that there are really no good Christmas movies made after 1950.
But Phung disagrees.
"I think after the 1950s, what was required was for people to be original. I love a Home Alone or a Die Hard because they have an off-centre look at the holidays," says Phung.
"All these ones that are cliché and have a formula to them? Those are the worst ones, because they're trying to replicate something done in the 50s and before."
What holiday film will you be watching this weekend?
Andrew Phung: Oh, I've already got Home Alone 1 and 2 on the PVR!
Julie Van Rosendaal: Christmas Vacation.
George Brookman: Well, I would watch Miracle on 34th Street, but now I'm going to watch Love Actually just to see how bad it really is.
<a href="https://twitter.com/CalgaryGeorge">@CalgaryGeorge</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCEyeopener">@CBCEyeopener</a> definitely elf. The innocence and the raw belief in good capture the spirit of the season.
—@katilevWith files from the Calgary Eyeopener