LOVE, ACTUALLY: The best or worst Christmas movie of all time?

Every year, Pop This! co-hosts Lisa Christiansen and Andrea Warner fight about the THE HOLIDAY vs. LOVE, ACTUALLY. For the fifth annual argument, we’re keeping the focus on LOVE, ACTUALLY and taking our fight to the Rio Theatre. With special guests comedian and author Alicia Tobin and writer and the Rio’s Sr. Programmer, Rachel Fox.

“We feel it in our fingers, and in our toes…” Love (and Christmas) is definitely all around! As such, we invite and encourage everyone to bring 3-5 non-perishable food items or toys for donation –  in exchange for raffle tickets – and a chance to win some sweet, sweet prizes courtesy of the Rio Theatre and local #EastVan organizations. Details coming soon!

Sunday, December 15
Doors 6:00 pm
Pop This! Live Podcast Taping 6:30 pm
Love Actually 7:45 pm *Apx. start time

Advance tickets $15 HERE | $15 at the door

*Minors welcome in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
*Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

“To me you are perfect.”

Rom-com master Richard Curtis (who also wrote FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, NOTTING HILL, BRIDGET JONES’ DIARY) wrote and directs a star-studded cast in LOVE ACTUALLY, a holiday staple that’s achieved a kind of cult-status in the years since its release in 2003. The mostly British ensemble (including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colin Firth and Laura Linney) totally shine in nine (!) intertwined stories examining the complexities of modern life and the one emotion that connects us all: love.

Although LOVE ACTUALLY is considered one of the most successful “rom-coms” of all time, it manages to stand apart from so many other titles of its ilk because explores emotional connectivity on a myriad of levels, not just romance – platonic love, the love between parents and their children, the love between siblings, etc. Tie stellar performances, some laugh-out-loud moments and a solid soundtrack up with a bow and some mistletoe, and you have an eternal crowd-pleaser! Among the (many) storylines are the handsome, newly elected British prime minister who falls for a young junior staffer, a graphic designer whose devotion to her mentally ill brother complicates her love life, a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary, a recently widowed single dad trying to navigate his young son through his first real crush, and a couple whose language barrier is eclipsed by their chemical attraction. Also starring Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson, and more.

LOVE ACTUALLY (Richard Curtis, 2003 / 135 mins / 14A) Follows seemingly unrelated people as their lives begin to intertwine while they fall in – and out – of love. Affections languish and develop as Christmas draws near.