I'm not sure what made me do it this year. Maybe quarantining? Maybe my total inertia? Maybe my promise in my last blog that I would watch and review more holiday movies? These are good reasons. But I think I'm going to give Lindy West the credit. She published a critique of Love, Actually called Sh*t, Actually and now I feel validated.
I saw that movie when it came out and I left the theatre with a sick feeling in my stomach. I didn't like it then but it seemed that EVERYONE ELSE DID. And so I've been living with that uneasy feeling for lo, all these years and then she published that essay and now I feel better about hating that movie.
Since that time, I've found other favorite holiday movies. I mean, only a month before in that same year, Elf was released. This one is my ALL-TIME favorite of the holiday movies because it is so charming and heartwarming and defines the season for me (and I don't even really celebrate Christmas). And there are the other usual suspects: It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Die Hard. But this year I wanted to find some movies I hadn't seen before (and, as you'll see later in this story, take one Christmas story and watch it to death) and tell you a little bit about them. (Caveat: I am not claiming to be a film critic. None of these will be erudite or worth even two cents, but I saw a ton of holiday movies this year and I want everyone to know about it.)
The classics:
Thanksgiving
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
This is our Thanksgiving tradition and it is a classic and I don't care what you say or if it's dated, I'll watch it every year and love it. We know most of the lines ("Those aren't pillows!", "May I see your rental agreement?...I threw it away.....Oh Boy.....Oh Boy WHAT? You're fucked.") and it's a perfect holiday ending.
Home for the Holidays
Another T-day fave of mine, with Holly Hunter as one of the siblings in a charmingly dysfunctional family and issues that pre-date our current norm. Also, I love that her job is being an art restorer. I mean, can you name another movie that features at art restorer?
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Charlie Brown. Snoopy. Franklin's first feature. Need I say more?
And now for the Christmas season:
Christmas in Connecticut
Hunky Dunky! I'd been hearing about this one for years and have seen parts of it, but never the whole thing. So the Spazz and I finally watched it. Light, fun fare, gorgeous country Christmas scenes, and delightful comedy of error hijinks. As with most holiday movies, a certain suspension of disbelief is required, and as long as you can muster that up, it's an enjoyable frolic. Best character: Felix Bassenak, played by S.Z. Sakall who gives us such bon mots as "hunky dunky" and "catastroph."
Meet Me in St. Louis
Okay, here's where I back-pedal about suspending disbelief......I know this is a classic but it's hard for me believe this family is poor (as they refer to themselves) when they live in a multi-room Victorian home and have a maid and a big-time lawyer father. Judy Garland is always superb, but even though she plays a character only a few years younger than she actually was at the time, she still comes off as a 35 year old street-wise divorcee. I'd watch it again....in the background while I work on something else.
Gremlins
Yeah, I don't need this to be a traditional Christmas movie. They're cute, then they're not. It's about stupid white people who don't respect ancient Asian culture and don't write down simple directions. Also, never give a pet as a Christmas gift.
The Family Stone
I've always liked this one. It's in the holiday-time family genre, but the dysfunction comes from an ill-matched fiancee in the form of Sarah Jessica Parker. There's a really strong cast with well-defined supporting characters. Yeah, it's problematic and it solves all the problems (kind of) in a neatly-wrapped bundle at the end, but it's oddly satisfying.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
A classic. Not so politically correct, so it may upset some folks, but we love this movie and even laugh when the cat gets electrocuted. Cats should never be electrocuted, but it is a cautionary tale for kitties who like to mess with Christmas trees and wiring.
Elf
There is not one thing wrong with this movie. I'm in love with Elf and I don't care who knows it! This is my yearly Christmas Eve traditional viewing and it's perfect.
And now for the more recent offerings:
Tokyo Godfathers
This is one of my favorites in the "newly-discovered" batch. I'm not a huge fan of anime but this story was fantastic. It follows three homeless persons who find a baby and start a search to find her parents. Along the way, they run into people and places who bring up memories from their pasts and the film ties it all together in a quite lovely story of redemption in an unexpected setting. That's all I'm going to say. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.
Last Christmas
Look, I'm the first to admit that I can be a terrible snob about films and literature and theatre but my inner snob left the building with this movie. I watched this with the Spazz and we both really liked it. I know it was critically panned, and I know it manipulates the viewer, but I'm okay with that for this story. Was I in tears at the end? Yes. Was Emma Thompson chewing the scenery? Yes. Was it plausible? No. But it's a magical Christmas story so I'm okay with that.
The Night Before
So I read about this on a list of holiday movies and I kind of love Seth Rogen's schlubbiness (I feel related to him....he looks like most of my male relatives and maybe one or two female ones) so we took this one out from the library. Review: Meh. A similar offering, Office Christmas Party, was more entertaining. The pace waxes and wanes, some of the script is tight, most is not, and it was ultimately just uninteresting. That's okay Cousin Seth....I'll still watch your stuff. My fave Cousin Seth movie this year was An American Pickle. Worth it if only for making fun of artisanal comfort foods.
8 Women
So this was another one recommended from a list of movies and it was intriguing. This is a French dark comedy/musical/whodunnit from 2002 starring Catherine Deneuve and Isabelle Huppert. It takes place in the 1950s in a snowbound home where 8 women gather to celebrate Christmas and there is one dead man in the bedroom. Quirky, weird, delightful, fun. Leave it to another country to twist up Christmas.
Happiest Season
Okay, I liked this one. A lesbian couple go home to one of their parents' homes but it turns out that she isn't out at all to her family and so the girlfriend gets introduced as a "roommate" and all sorts of hijinks and shenanigans (both humorous and dramatic) ensue. My only problem: the sister's children do something that causes some serious consequences and the whole family just laughs it off when the dust settles. Honestly, I watched it a few weeks ago and I can't remember what they did (and if I did, it would probably ruin the plot for you) but I do remember thinking that the parenting skills in this film were somewhat reprehensible.
Klaus
So this one was released last year and I remember the reviews were mixed. Not so from the Spazz and I: we loved it. A very sweet origin story about Santa Claus that features a Scandinavian version of a Hatfield-and-McCoy-type feud in which the two sides no longer even know why they hate each other, just that they do. The postmaster's spoiled son gets stationed there because he's such an ass at the postal workers' academy so he's been given a last chance to get his shit together. He has to send a certain number of posts through this station and, of course, these warring factions have no use for the mail. With the help of a stranded teacher-turned-fishmonger, an curmudgeonly old woodsman, and a freakin' adorable Sami girl, they create a little magic in this town that forgot how to be happy. Worth it. Great for the whole family.
Christmas Chronicles 2
First of all, we loved the first Christmas Chronicles. It was charming, fun, and Kurt Russell is hands down the Sexiest Santa Ever. So I was excited that this one would focus more on Mrs. Goldie Claus, but the whole story seemed forced as another vehicle for Kurt & Goldie, and it was only okay.
Jingle Jangle
Um, what the hell is this? I have a lot of good things to say about this movie: the costume and sets are gorgeous, the choreography is well done and the music is very good. There are some amazing actors in this, including the child actors. Ricky Martin is a singing doll. But WTF is this story? The plot plodded and was a bit all over the place and was mostly uninteresting. The story was so treacly that I needed a salt lick to recover from it. The plot holes were so deep that I just sat at the bottom of them and just waited for the next song-and-dance number to be entertained....and I don't even like most musicals. The Spazz gave up after the first half hour. So, what can I say? Worth the showtunes, but it's okay to do other things while watching.
Godmothered
OMG we loved this movie. Disney meta-criticizing itself. Jillian Bell plays Eleanor, a young fairy godmother-in-training who is desperate to help a little girl who wrote to her for help. Eleanor makes an Elf-like journey to the real world where she finds that the little girl is now 40 and a single mother. Since her fairy godmothering education is based on Disney tropes from the 1950s, Eleanor is woefully unprepared for the modern gritty world of Boston. Everybody learns valuable lessons while being very funny and engaging. I'd watch this every year, double-feature with Elf, and that will make me happy every holiday season.
And then there was The Classic of all classics
A Christmas Carol
We watched SIX versions of this story with SIX different Scrooges: Jefferson Mays, Patrick Stewart, Guy Pearce, George C. Scott, Bill Murray, and Scrooge McDuck. They were all excellent Scrooges, though the version with Guy Pearce (FX's dark take on the story with way too many liberties taken) was my least favorite. The Jefferson Mays version was him playing all of the parts, from his one-man show which I saw a few years ago at the Geffen Playhouse and which, at that time, blew me the fuck away. The recorded version loses a bit by not being live onstage, but not much. Pay for the ticket online, cast it to your TV and watch it with the lights down. Worth every penny.
What are some of your favorite holiday movies? Your least favorites? Suggestions for next year's list? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below.
Happy New Year!
