From dramatically declaring your love at midnight to hitching a ride on the Statue of Liberty, these are some of the best New Year’s moments in film and television.
When Harry Met Sally
Cue the stroke of midnight. Cue “Auld Lang Syne” playing in the background. Cue your best friend running into the room to confess, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Cue tears.
How I Met Your Mother
To avoid the letdown of New Years, Ted hires a limo and tries to get himself and the gang to the five best parties in town. Traffic, a few unexpected stops, and “Not Moby” hinder them along the way, but the group end up having a pretty legen-wait for it-dary New Year’s together anyway.
200 Cigarettes
Monica (Martha Plimpton) throws an epic party but is so worried that none of her friends will show up she proceeds to drink until she passes out and missing the entire shindig. Plus, every actor you love is in this film — Paul Rudd, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Kate Hudson, Janeane Garofolo, Jay Mohr, and Christina Ricci, among others.
Strange Days
It’s New Year’s Eve 1999 and Los Angeles is a pre-apocalyptic wasteland. The illegal drug of choice is virtual reality on steroids, allowing you to fully experience someone else’s feelings and memories (for better or worse). Cheers to Y2K.
Friends
Here’s another Y2K Eve but much less dark. In season five’s “The One With All The Resolutions”, Joey cleverly orchestrates kissing partners so Chandler and Monica can share a smooch at midnight without tipping everyone off about their secret-but-not-so-secret relationship. Also, three words: Ross’. Leather. Pants.
Ghostbusters II
Supernatural activity ramps up on New Year’s Eve because apparently ghosts like to party, too. The Ghostbusters are back and use positively charged slime to animate the Statue of Liberty and ride through the streets of New York.
New Year’s Eve
Any kiss from Zac Efron constitutes a greatest moment, but a kiss after he’s helped you run around Manhattan checking off your New Year’s resolutions? There’s no better way to ring in the new year.
Sex and the City
When Miranda feels down about watching TV and eating Chinese food solo on New Year’s Eve, Carrie rushes all the way downtown to make sure her friend is not alone at midnight. And she does it in true Carrie Bradshaw style, pairing her pajamas with a fur coat, sequined hat, and white booties.
[A version of this article was first published on Dec 30, 2015]