Abby Juda
Non-Traditional Holiday Films
Only a few of these are really holiday films, but they are all set during the holiday season and would be quite different films without the backdrop. Thet are divided into the following categories:
Science Fiction and Fantasy
Perfect for getting into the imaginativeness of the season or its dystopian aspects.
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12 Monkeys (1996)Before the world as we know it comes to an end, we hear this cheery message: "The Freedom for Animals Association on 2nd Avenue is the secret headquarters of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys. They're the ones who are gonna do it. I can't do anything more now. I have to go. Merry Christmas."
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Brazil (1985)Terry Gilliam's black comedy is set in a dystopian retro-future disturbingly filled with Christmas greed and commercialism.
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The City of Lost Children/La cite des enfants perdus (1995)This dystopian fantasy full of curious, comedic characters opens on Christmas Eve and slips in creepy Santa Claus imagery throughout the film.
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Edward Scissorhands (1990)Begins and ends at Yuletide, and the Christmas-y ice sculpture scene has been called the most magical moment found in any Tim Burton film.
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Ghostbusters 2 (1989)New York City sees a sudden increase of supernatural slime in the lead up to New Year's Eve. Who ya gonna call?
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Gremlins (1984)What happens when you buy an unusual Christmas present and your family isn't careful?
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The Jacket (2005)It's almost Christmas, you're a Gulf War veteran in an institution for the criminally insane, and you've just learned during a trip to the future that you're about to die. Happy Holidays.
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Prometheus (2012)The crew of a spaceship spend Christmas Day by seeking humanity's origins on a journey that takes them to the darkest corners of the universe.
Thrillers/Action
"Die Hard" has to be first on the list because it is the one action film that really does get into the holiday spirit.
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Die Hard 1 & 2 (1988, 1990)The original film is set in an office building taken over by terrorists during a holiday party and comes to an oddly sweet and sentimental ending. The second is set on a snowy Christmas Eve at Dulles airport.
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American Psycho (2000)Celebrate Christmas with a gala party, champagne, reindeer antlers, a kiss under the mistletoe, cocaine, and an axe-murder.
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Batman Returns (1992)The real villain is a conniving mega-merchant in this story set in Gotham City all decorated for Christmas. In spite of the darkness, there is some holiday cheer. In a set with 3 other Batman films.
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Better Luck Tomorrow (2003)A group of overachieving Asian American high school students turn to crime and things take a bad turn on New Year's Eve.
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Catch Me If You Can (2002)Not only is the opening scene set on Christmas Eve, but Christmas also returns at several key points.
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Eastern Promises (2007)A dark, brutal, and gritty tale of an Eastern European mobster and a midwife who cross paths at Christmas time.
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Fruitvale Station (2013)The last day in Oscar Grant's life, as he crossed paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers, was New Year's Eve 2008. He was killed by a BART police officer at 2:15 am on New Year's Day, 2009. Based on a true story.
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In Bruges (2008)Hit men lying low in Bruges, Belgium during the holiday season have a love/hate relationship with the city: one loves it, one hates it. Warning: the first half of the film is much more of a light-hearted holiday film than the darker second half.
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Iron Man 3 (2013)A bleak world made even darker through a snowy holiday setting, but with a bit of Christmas cheer by the end.
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Lethal Weapon (1987)Cop psychodrama set in December and remembered as a holiday film if only for the scene that takes place in a parking lot full of Christmas trees.
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Little Caesar (1931)The classic gangster film centers on a nightclub heist executed at midnight on New Year's Eve.
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Ocean's 11 (1960)In the rat pack original, the heist occurs on New Year's Eve. Th film is on a disc with the modern remake and sequels that have no holiday connection.
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Rocky & Rocky IV (1976, 1985)In Rocky, the story takes place from Thanksgiving to the championship fight on New Year's Day. In Rocky IV, the big fight occurs on Christmas day. On a disc with 2 other Rocky movies with no holiday connection.
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Strange Days (1995)A cyberpunk thriller set in the urban inferno of Los Angeles in the days leading up to new Year's Eve.
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2046 (2004)A romantic thriller with a Christmas Eve motif. In Cantonese with English subtitles.
Domestic Dramas
Not sure why it is, but most of these films feature dysfunctional families.
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Carol (2015)This romantic drama with noir undertones set in the early 1950s begins with Christmas shopping, and much of the film stays in the season.
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Diner (1982)A group of friends from high school reunites and bonds between Christmas and New Year's eve. In one memorable scene a church's life-sized nativity display is demolished.
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Eyes Wide Shut (1999)Have yourself a merry little orgy.
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Fanny and Alexander (1982)An Ingmar Bergman holiday movie? Not really, but in the first hour we are presented with a lavish holiday feast and an abundance of Christmas presents in a very ornate house opulently decorated for Christmas. But skip the last couple hours if you don't want to be miserable for the holidays.
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Frozen River (2008)It's almost Christmas, and near a border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec, two single mothers bond through smuggling.
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Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)The story of a dysfunctional family in this Woody Allen non-comedy centers around three lavish Thanksgiving feast.
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The Hunt/Jagten (2012)During the Christmas season in a small Danish village, a kindergarten teacher battles accusations that he is a pedophile.
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The Lion in Winter (1968)The ultimate dysfunctional Christmas gathering dates back to 1183 at the court of Henry II.
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My night with Maud/Ma nuit chez MaudThe night in question, in this witty, Oscar nominated film that explores love, desire, philosophy, and Catholicism, is Christmas Eve.
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Metropolitan (1990)A look at rich urban college students through the eyes of a college student who isn't while they are all on their Christmas break.
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Silver Linings Playbook (2012)Only one real Christmas scene, but in timeline and sort of in spirit, this film revolves around the holiday.
Black Comedies
This season is not all jolly and light.
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101 Reykjavik (2000)This black comedy involves a 30 year old man, his mother, and their shared lover, with Christmas and New Year's celebrations too.
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The Apartment (1960)The Best Picture of 1960 was a dark comedy-drama of corporate intrigue and womanizing set in winter and culminating at a troubling office Christmas part and a depressing (hopeful?) New Year's Eve.
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El dia de la bestia/The Day of the Beast (1996)In this blackest of comedies, a priest, convinced that the antichrist will be born in Madrid on Christmas day, goes on a rampage of sin to sell his soul just so he can stop the monster.
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A fost sau n-a fost? 12:08 east of Bucharest (2006)It's almost Christmas in Romania, and old friends, who can't quite seem to get into the proper spirit, debate the question "Was or wasn't there a revolution in good old Vaslui?" If that doesn't sound too Christmas-y, it's supposed to be a droll comedy, and one character dresses up like Santa Claus.
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Monty Python's The Life of Brian (1979)The only film on the entire list that includes a manger scene.
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Long Way Down (2014)A comedy-drama about suicide. The film begins on New Year's Eve and characters hope to make it until Valentine's day.
Mysteries/Whodunnits
Christmas is in the air, if not in the murderers' minds.
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8 femmes/8 Women (2003)A French mystery. A wealthy industrialist is murdered during a family holiday gathering. Which of the 8 women in his life did it?
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L.A. Confidential (1997)Much of the plot is centered on the Bloody Christmas scandal. Christmas scenes include a holiday party and the yanking of a plastic Santa and his reindeer off a roof.
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Lady in the Lake (1947)Private eye Philip Marlow begins the case on Christmas Eve and interrupts a Christmas party to help solve the case. The film is included in a box set with four other films noir.
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Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)What secrets lie behind the murder at an elegant Christmas party in Savannah?
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Stalag 17 (1953)Who is the German spy? All the action in this World War II prisoner of war camp story occurs from about a week before Christmas to after dark on Christmas day. It has the right mix of taut drama, cynicism, hilarity, and poignancy to be a great holiday picture.
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The Thin Man (1934)This classic murder mystery/comedy was set during the holidays.Pity the poor Christmas tree in Nick and Nora's posh New York apartment.
Documentaries
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Roger & Me (1989)In a crucial point in the film, Michael Moore juxtaposes a scene of families of laid off auto workers being evicted from their homes on Christmas with GM Chairman Roger Smith pontificating about the true meaning of the holiday.
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Shop Til You Drop: the Crisis of Consumerism (2010)Has the time for community, love, family, and friendship that Christmas is supposed to represent been forsaken for shopping?
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What Would Jesus Buy (2007)An off-beat documentary following the exploits of Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on their cross-country sojourn to decry against the commercialism of Christmas.