Four Christmases (2008)

When I picked the Christmas movies I'd watch this year, I left the 22nd out as I was supposed to watch Aquaman on the 21st. Turns out they moved the release date to January 1 because of the new Mary Poppins movie —I hope it flops with all of my heart— and I found myself short of a movie. Four Christmases is the first I stumbled upon, I saw it had Reese Witherspoon —believe it or not, I like her— and I went with it. 

The film follows Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon), a couple who met in a bar around Christmas who has managed to avoid spending Christmas with their families for the past three years by going on heavenly vacations. This year, their plan fails as all the flights have been cancelled and a television news crew interviews them revealing to their families where they are. Having no way out, they are forced to spend time with their families, which means four Christmases the same day since both Brad and Kate parents are divorced.

Catch-22 (1970)

I rarely decide to read a book because of its plot  —most of the time, I don't even know the plot—; it's because it was suggested by someone I know and trust, it was on a books you must read before you die kind of list, or I liked the cover —yes, I'm that shallow. The second applied to Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and when I read the back cover and learnt it was a war novel I had the impulse to return it to the library without reading it. I gave it a shot anyway and I loved it. Then, of course, I did what I always do, I searched the internet for a movie based on the novel and I stumbled upon Mike Nichols's Catch-22.

It follows Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a bombardier in World War II who desperately tries to be certified insane so he can stop flying missions and go home. In the process of doing this, he watches most of his friends die.