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Grow out your sideburns, dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music. What the world needs now is to love Burt Bacharach again. Why? Beyond a massive songbook that stands the test of time, an off-Broadway show called “What’s It All About,” filled with hip, talented, and attractive 20-somethings, closed recently after a wildly successful run. Every night, it was filled wall to wall with Bacha-maniacs, yes, but also music lovers ages 15 to 85. It was a modern re-imagining of, and reverent tribute to, Bacharach’s awe-inspiring musical legacy.

You can’t help but be moved by the tragic life of actress Gene Tierney. Though endowed with astonishing beauty and talent that won her early fame, a series of misfortunes would eventually bring her to the brink of suicide.

Michael Caine has been a lot of things to a lot of people. To the ladies of “Alfie” (1966), he’s the conflicted bad boy they’ve both dreamed of and dreaded, the working-class womanizer who broke all the rules (including kicking down the 4th wall to talk directly to the audience). He’s a British super agent in “The Ipcress File” (1965), and the scientists he saves are glad to have a “thinking man’s James Bond” on the scene. He’s been an alcoholic English professor (1983’s “Educating Rita”) and a stout British soldier standing up to wave after wave of Zulu warriors (1964’s “Zulu”). He’s one of the most universally beloved actors of his generation, a charismatic talent that steals nearly every scene he’s in. 

No surprise then that so many movies feature couples tying the knot, for better or for worse. From acknowledged classics like “Gone with the Wind”(1939), “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), and “The Sound of Music” (1966), to more recent crowd pleasers like “Meet the Parents” (2000) and “Mamma Mia” (2008), a wedding always features in the plot.

What makes a movie cool? Perhaps the better question might be: what is cool? To introduce our list of coolest movies, it seemed like a good idea to start by defining, well, coolness.

With families brought together for the holidays, we’re naturally drawn to evergreen movies that light up a room, the house, and the season, their very familiarity part of the aura of comfort and joy. These movies are the favorites we love to gather around, which only get better with repeat viewings.