The Countdown Begins: 10 Best Movies to Welcome in 2017

After the shit storm that is 2016, there is probably nothing that sounds more appealing than comfortably sitting in the couch, killing what remains of the time as the countdown begins to 2017. To kick off what remains of the year, why not watch one of these movies that focus on the holiday?

• Release date: July 12, 1989
• Director: Rob Reiner
• Who's in it? Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher

Can men and women ever just be friends? When Harry Met Sally is a definite classic that raised that very question, and a lot more in regards to relationships. Harry and Sally are a classic example of a 'will-they-or-won't-they' pair, and as if by some New Year miracle, their romance found a happy ending.

• Release date: May 20, 2011
• Director: Woody Allen
• Who's in it? Owen Wilson, Rachel MacAdams

Midnight in Paris is a sleeper hit from director Woody Allen. The film is set in the year 2010, and revolves around Gil Pender (Wilson), a successful Hollywood screenwriter that struggles to finish his novel, and continue on with his creatively unfulfilled career. Pender is in love with the city of Paris, and a vacation there with his fiancée Inez (MacAdams) is what it takes to spur him into a creative drive, after he discovers the magic in the city of Paris after midnight.

• Release date: December 20, 1974
• Director: Francis Ford Coppola
• Who's in it? Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert DeNiro

The Godfather II continues the saga of the Corleone crime family. It shows the contrast of the life of Vito (Robert DeNiro) and his son Michael (Al Pacino), from Vito's escape from Italy to the beginning of his empire in NYC. One of the most unforgettable moments in this film happens on New Year's day in Cuba before Castro's takeover, when Michael disowned his traitorous brother Fredo, sealing it with a kiss.

• Release date: April 13, 2001
• Director: Sharon Maguire
• Who's in it? Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant

What's the best way to kickstart a New Year? Why, having a blank-paged journal, of course! There you'll write your resolutions, and document everything that has happened to you over the next 12 months. If anything, Bridget Jones will inspire us to do all that we've promised ourselves, and to pull ourselves together. And leaves us with the hope that maybe, if we have a grip on our lives, we'll receive a midnight kiss from someone we've come to adore.

• Release date: April 24, 2015
• Director: Lee Toland Krieger
• Who's in it? Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn

Born on New Year's day 1908, a freak accident in a snowstorm changed Adaline Bowman's life forever. Dying in a freezing lake, Adaline is miraculously revived by lightning, and during the process becomes magically frozen in place at the age of 29 forever. One of the recurring themes in The Age of Adaline is 'let go' - let go of everything holding you back, especially those that you cannot control. It's something we have to remember as 2016 draws to a close; no matter how shitty life has been this year, we ultimately have to let it go.

• Release date: December 9, 2011
• Director: Garry Marshall
• Who's in it? Hilary Swank, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert DeNiro

The 2011 movie New Year's Eve tried and failed to be the New Year's equivalent to Love Actually, Although it did have a fun premise, intertwined stories starring a bunch of A-listers. New Year's Eve does show the effect this special day has on people, and that it might just be a time when miracles happen. The film may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's fun and definitely a film worthy of killing time with as you count down to 2017.

Release date: December 25, 1995

Directors: Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell,Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

Who's in it? Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Paul Calderon, Madonna, Jennifer Beals

Four Rooms is an anthology comedy film loosely based on the adult short fiction works of Roald Dahl. It is set on New Year's Eve at Hotel Mon Signor, and starts with Sam (Marc Lawrence) briefing his replacement Ted (Tim Roth) about his job as bellhop. Ted is the main character in each frame, and his first night on the job, among with crazy guest encounters - that's something you wouldn't forget on a New Year's eve.

• Release date: June 16, 1989
• Director: Ivan Reitman
• Who's in it? Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson

If you didn't like the all-female Ghostbusters reboot this year, the perfect antidote would be to watch Ghostbusters II set around New Years. In the film, despite being labeled as frauds, the Ghostbusters are the only ones who end up being equipped to to save the city from a "mood" slime, found to be flowing under the streets of New York. The slime is responsible for a lot of supernatural and paranormal activities, even possessing a painting! The world is threatened on New Year's Eve, so who ya gonna call?

• Release date: February 26, 1999
• Director: Risa Bramon Garcia
• Who's in it? Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Guillermo Diaz, Paul Rudd, Christina Ricci

200 Cigarettes set in New Year's Eve in 1981, following different characters that these days are now huge Hollywood A-listers. The film is mostly about a New Year's Eve party whom the hostess thought no one would attend. Ironically, it became a hit - but she missed it all after drowning her sorrows with booze.

Release date: June 14, 2013

Director: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg

Who's in it? James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Emma Watson

The film is like a crazy party filled with teenagers doing unthinkable stuff. It's normal to see headlines saying celebrities party like there's no tomorrow, and in this film that certainly happened. This is The End follows the fictionalized lives of our favorite celebrities trying to cope with the aftermath of a supposed biblical apocalypse. In a many ways, there was reason for us to think that 2016 might be the end, so This is The End should definitely be one of the movies to watch to bid adieu to the crazy year that is 2016.

New Year's Eve only happens once a year, and it signifies a new start, and being able to leave all the unnecessary baggage from the previous year. And of course, the time to watch those movies that revolve around the holiday. A couple of these movies echoes how we truly feel about this terrible year, and there's no doubt many of us will be glad it's over once the clock strikes 12.

Happy New Year!