Ever wonder what the best directors’ favorite movies are? Us too. There’s no better way to get recommendations. This year, we’re taking our Christmas movie cues from Christopher Nolan, and we’re a little surprised by his picks.
Every year, Christopher Nolan swaps out directing some of the best movies ever for a Santa hat and sits down to watch the Christmas classic Love Actually.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, who spoke to the Oppenheimer cast about Nolan’s moviegoer habits and love of his craft, he and his family enjoy the film together every holiday season. We shouldn’t be surprised, “He watches every single movie, of every type of genre,” said Emily Blunt.
If you’ve never seen it, Love Actually is one of those ensemble feel-good movies that somehow roped in a delirious number of famous faces. Think 2010’s Valentine’s Day, 2011’s New Year’s Eve, or any movie with a poster that looks like a patchwork quilt of actors’ faces (you’ve seen a version of the above poster a million times, we guarantee it).
If you have watched Love Actually, you’ll likely either think it’s total mush or endlessly rewatchable and cozy. We enjoy it, cringe-worthy declarations of love be damned! We are, however, a little taken aback to hear that Nolan partakes.
That’s probably our own fault. After all, just because someone makes stoic epics for a living doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy some cinematic comfort food every now and then.
According to the same article, it’s not just the best Christmas movies; the director is also partial to the high-octane, incredibly dumb, thrills of the Fast and Furious films. Do you think that’s why we got that wild car chase scene in Tenet?
Maybe, but Blunt says Nolan generally appreciates the efforts that go into filmmaking, regardless of genre stature, “you never hear him shit-talk other people’s movies. He knows how hard it is to direct a great movie.”
That makes total sense to us. Nolan is one of the best directors around, and you don’t get there without learning about the challenges of making a great film the hard way.
Is Love Actually on your watchlist this holiday season? Or perhaps one of the other best romcoms or new movies that’ll be streaming? Whatever you’re doing, we hope you enjoy it! We might revisit the best Christopher Nolan movies. But only After Love Actually, of course. For more holiday fun, check out why we think Will Ferrell is the ultimate Christmas movie star or the best Disney Plus Christmas movies.