Brace yourselves for the annual fall after the highs of Christmas, New Year and sales shopping. In 2018 the “most depressing day of the year” falls on January 15.
So you just about have time to stock up on comfort food, cosy clothes and pick which movie to get you through the dark day ahead.
No matter how low you feel, watching this bunch suffering food poisoning and fake ID traumas or first love, prison breaks and cartoon penguins will put your life in perspective.
Exclusively for Express Online, Kyle Entwistle, Film Content Manager at Vue, has put together a top 10 list of feel good films to help lift your spirits over this period.
As well as classic favourites, there is also upcoming PIXAR animation Coco – which is previewing across Vue venues nationwide a full week before general release the weekend of January 13 and 14, a full week before it goes on general release.
GETTY
Spend a great Blue Monday watching some of the best feel good movies ever
Bridesmaids (2011)
A brilliant and pant-wettingly funny comedy guaranteed to pick you up.
Key Scene: Bridal Shop Disaster – In the battle of couture white clothing vs. explosive food poisoning, I think we know who wins.
Trivia: Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas who appear as roommates in the film are in fact roommates in real life!
Superbad (2007)
So many great lines and a true depiction of friendship.
Key Scene: New ID Reveal – When it comes to fake ID’s, McLovin will always reign supreme.
Trivia: Writers Seth Rogen and best friend Evan Goldberg started the script when they were just 13, hoping to play the leads.
GETTY
Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg wrote the script of Superbad
Before Sunrise (1995)
One of the greatest romance films in the history of cinema. Intelligent, passionate and unmissable.
Key Scene: Record Player Scene – Perfectly capturing the ever so awkward phase of just getting to know someone you already know you really like.
Trivia: Writer Richard Linklater’s idea for his film came from his own similar experience with a girl named Amy who tragically died in a car accident before the film came out.
Up (2009)
Guaranteed to make you cry within the first heart-breaking 10-minutes, Up with having you sobbing with joy by the end.
Key Scene: Opening Love Montage – This montage restores your faith in love before quickly breaking your heart, all to the tune of an incredible, Oscar-winning score.
Trivia: The tree under which Carl and Ellie picnic during the same opening scene, is the same tree featured in the Pixar film ‘A Bug’s Life’.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Not only one of the greatest films of all time, but a truly life-affirming tale of hope.
Key Scene: So many moments, it’s a toss up between Andy’s escape, which fill anyone watching with hope, and that gorgeous moment when opera floats over the prison.
Trivia: Adapted from a novella of short stories by horror-maestro Stephen King that also featured Stand By Me.
Mary Poppins (1964)
A classic in the true sense, Poppins fills you with joy, from the smile that’s impossible to wipe.
Key Scene: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – When Mary, Bert and the Banks’ transport into the fantastical animated world, this song/word truly encapsulates the magic of the scene.
Trivia: Many of the potential nannies shown queueing up at the start of the film were actually men in drag.
Rocky (1976)
The greatest underdog story in cinematic history, prepare to shout and pump your fist for the Italian Stallion.
Key Scene: Training Montage – One of the most well-known scenes from the film, this montage created the Hollywood trope and fills you with the belief that you too could achieve anything.
Trivia: Rocky’s dog in the film, Butkus, was actually star Sylvester Stallone’s dog in real life.
As Good As it Gets (1997)
The kind of film you wish you could watch for the first time again and again, Jack Nicholson is simply brilliant in this lovely dramedy.
Key Scene: Compliment – When Carol asks Melvin for a compliment, he finally says “You Make Me Want to Be a Better Man”.
Trivia: The most recent film to win both Best Actor and Best Actress at the Academy awards.
GETTY
Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear and Jack Nicholson on the set of ‘As Good As It Gets’
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
A brilliant depiction of love and friendship, there is no better Rom-Com than When Harry Met Sally.
Key Scene: Orgasm – A classic scene when Sally performs a ‘faked orgasm’ in a crowded restaurant in front of a mortified Harry, only to be further embarrassed when a woman seated nearby exclaims ‘I’ll have what she’s having’.
Trivia: This scene needed to be shot many times and Sally had to fake orgasms for hours.
Coco (2017)
You must see the latest offering from Pixar! The tale of a boy who enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, Coco is guaranteed to fill you with joy and happiness.
Key Scene: When Miguel first enters the fantastical world of the Land of the Dead.
Trivia: Inspired by the Mexican holiday ‘Dia de los Muertos’ the film was released in Mexico prior to the US, it surpassed The Avengers (2012) as the country’s highest grossing film.
Coco is out in UK cinemas on January 19.
Vue will be showing previews of Coco on January 13 and 14.
Pre-book tickets at Vue https://www.myvue.com/film/coco