Product Description
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Double bill of romantic comedies. In 'The Holiday' (2006), Iris
(Kate Winslet) is in love with a man who is about to marry
another woman. Across the globe, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) realises
the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have
never met and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact
same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and
impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into
Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the
snow-covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their
destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or
expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome
brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris, with inspiration provided by
legendary screenwriter Arthur (Eri Wallach), mends her heart when
she meets film composer Miles (Jack Black). In 'Love Actually'
(2003), eight stories involving the love lives of more than a
dozen characters are brought together over one Christmas and
climax on Christmas Eve; from the recent widower Daniel (Liam
Neeson), the failing marriage of Karen (Emma Thompson) and Harry
(Alan Rickman), the aging rocker (Bill Nighy) who just wants to
get paid (and laid if possible), through to the Prime Minister
(Hugh Grant) falling for a member of Number 10's staff (Martine
McCutcheon).
From .co.uk
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The Holiday
As a pleasant dose of holiday cheer, The Holiday is a lovable
love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands
of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy
since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful
yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and
decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual
effort to forget their man troubles. Iris (Kate Winslet (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Kate%20Winslet+-ntsc
)) is a London-based journalist who lives in a picture-postcard
cottage in Surrey, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Cameron%20Diaz+-ntsc
)) owns a movie-trailer production company (leading her to cutely
imagine most of her life as a "coming attraction") and lives in a
posh mansion in Beverly Hills. Iris is heartbroken from
unrequited love with a cad of a colleague (Rufus Sewell), and
Amanda has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend (Edward
Burns), so their home-swapping offers mutual downtime to reassess
their love lives. This being a Nancy Meyers movie (where
everything is fabulously decorated and romantic wish-fulfillment
is virtually guaranteed), Amanda hooks up with Iris's charming
brother Graham (Jude Law (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Jude%20Law<+-ntsc )),
and Iris is unexpectedly smitten with Miles (Jack Black (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Jack%20Black+-ntsc )),
a super-nice film composer on the downside of a failing
relationship. --Jeff Shannon
Love Actually
With no fewer than eight couples vying for our attention, Love
Actually is like the Boston Marathon of romantic comedies, and
everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer of Four
Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones's Diary,
it appears that first-time director Richard Curtis is just like
his screenplays: He just wants to be loved, and he'll go to
absurdly appealing lengths to win our affection. With Love
Actually, Curtis orchestrates a minor miracle of romantic
choreography, guiding a brilliant cast of stars and newcomers as
they careen toward love and holiday cheer in London, among them
the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Hugh%20Grant+-ntsc ))
who's smitten with his caterer; a widower (Liam Neeson (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Liam%20Neeson+-ntsc ))
whose young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer
(Colin Firth (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Colin%20Firth+-ntsc ))
who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and
mother (Emma Thompson (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Emma%20Thompson+-ntsc
)) coping with her potentially unfaithful husband (Alan Rickman (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Alan%20Rickman+-ntsc
)); and a lovelorn American (Laura Linney (
/gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Laura%20Linney+-ntsc
)) who's desperately attracted to a colleague. There's more--too
much more--as Curtis wraps his Christmas gift with enough happy
endings to sweeten a dozen other movies. That he pulls it off so
entertainingly is undeniably impressive; that he does it so
shamelessly suggests that his writing fares better with other,
less ingratiating directors. --Jeff Shannon
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Synopsis
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Double bill of warm romantic comedies featuring a host of
British and American talent. Includes Love Actually and The
Holiday.
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