Peer Pressure List, Vol. 4

• Love Actually: This is hands down one of my favorite movies of any genre, so of course it has to top the list of my must-see Christmas movies. Just about every British actor you can think of is in it (including Mr. Bean), and I cry every single time I watch it (completely Emma Thompson's fault). I should warn you, it's very romantic, some would even refer to it as a "chick flick," so if you watch it with your boyfriend you might be required to watch 2 extra Vegas movies just to make up for this movie's girliness.


• White Fudge Covered Oreos: A major guilty pleasure at this time of year. They only come out at Christmas time, and I always allow myself one box. They're incredibly rich, and terrible for you, but they taste soooo good. Get yourself a box before they disappear until next year.


• Stella Artois commercials: Reason enough to go see movies at Landmark Theatres, because they always show these fantastic ads before the feature. I rarely drink Stella Artois (although I like that it comes with a special glass), but their advertising is brilliant. Check out "Last Orders" and "Train" (on the Stella Artois site or on YouTube) for a taste of what I'm talking about.


• Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX: I'm a Houstonian (well, sort of), so it's unlikely that I would ever advocate going to Dallas. I will say, however, that should you be there already for some reason, make sure you check out this lovely museum and sculpture garden. It houses the incredible collection of Raymond and Patsy Nasher, the kind of art aficionados who commission Warhol portraits of their kids (seriously). The museum gets bonus points for allowing visitors to take photographs. One of these days I'll post a few of mine on Flickr.


• Milk: Beautiful, poignant, sad, uplifting... all the praise you've heard about Milk is true. Sean Penn's performance is oh so Oscarworthy, and Gus Van Sant's use of period footage is masterful. This is a movie to see in the theatre. Bring your Kleenex.