ChristmasMovies Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Enough with the same old lists of favorite holiday movies! Every year, I see the same entries, probably because there hasn't been a good Christmas movie in years. At least here at Cinematical we shake things up a bit and present you with our favorite Christmas horror, favorite Christmas action, favorite holiday musicals, favorite Christmas movies for Jews, favorites you probably haven't seen, favorite R-rated Christmas, Scrooge's favorites, least favorite obnoxious Christmas comedies and we have a guy who really hates the usual favorites, including A Christmas Story.

Last year we also had a list of non-Christmas movies set during Christmas. Somewhat similar to that, I present you with my favorite non-Christmas movies NOT set during Christmas. I know, that just defines any movie that isn't a holiday movie. I could pick ... Old School ... or The Hunt for Red October. But there's actually some logic here. On Christmas I like to avoid all true holiday movies, whether they are about Christmas, set at Christmas, make fun of Christmas, steal Christmas, blow sh*t up at Christmas, whatever. Yet there is enough holiday spirit in me to choose movies that could almost just barely be associated with Christmas, at least for me. So, if you're tired of It's a Wonderful Life, Gremlins, Home Alone, Santa Claus: The Movie, or whatever you normally watch today, try out one or seven of these:

My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)

I've never been a big fan of Santa Claus as a character. If I had to reinvent Christmas I'd choose another large jolly figure that brings joy to young children: the Totoro, specifically the largest, O-Totoro/Miminzuku. He's kind of like Santa without the annoying "ho, ho, ho", and he's probably more fun to fly with (the Catbus is likely also more comfy than a reindeer-led sleigh). Sure, Totoro's origins are more Shinto than Christian, but isn't appropriation what Christmas is all about?


Brewster's Millions (Walter Hill, 1985)

Or is Christmas really all about consumerism? The Richard Pryor and John Candy version of George Barr McCutcheon's novel (also adapted in 1914, 1921, 1926, 1935, 1945 and 1961) is one of my favorite movies that both celebrates and scorns the idea of being rich and the act of spending money frivolously (Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is another). In the movie, Pryor is a minor league baseball player who inherits $30 million that he has to blow in 30 days, after which if he's successful at maintaining no assets or savings, he receives $300 million. Another fun Pryor comedy that would make for great holiday viewing is The Toy, in which he's bought by Jackie Gleason as a plaything for his son (but that one might be viewed as a tad too racist nowadays).

People celebrate the holiday season in many different ways, for many different reasons. If you, like me, choose the remembrance of the birth of Christ as the primary reason to observe Dec. 25th, or if you are simply interested in hearing from that perspective, you might find this interesting. Of course, you might not. By the time you're done reading, you may want to beat me upside the head, because frankly, I'm not sure there's a lot of coherence to my thought process here. Nonetheless, let's give it a go. Today, on the day many of us choose to recall the birth of our Savior, the 12 Days of Cinematicalmas Presents: Christmas Movies To Remember Jesus By.

You know, readers, this is one bugger of an article to write, for two reasons. First, because I don't typically discuss my faith in this forum -- it just doesn't come up much when you spend most of your time writing about comic books -- and second, because upon examination I realize that most of the Christmas specials I watch when I really want to feel the "spirit of the season" are not directly about Jesus. Typically, when I want that story, I go straight to the Book. Movies aren't ever as good as the books anyway, right?

So initially, I sat in front of a blank notepad (the computer notepad, of course, not that paper stuff that I hear some people still use) and thought "I'm not going to be able to write this article, because the movies I want to write about really hold no unique appeal to Christians. They're loved by really just about everyone." I was all set to jet off an apologetic email to the editorial team here at Cine, ex planing why I couldn't write what seems like it should be a very easy article on a subject I'm intimately involved with. But before the email was composed, a weird thought hit me. I examined it, and sure enough, it was accurate. Keep in mind, I'm just your average layperson, and am in no way specially qualified to make observations about scripture or people's relationship with their God, so this is just a simple observation from a humble follower. ...

Friends keep telling me that Christmas Day is a wonderful day to spend in a movie theater, enjoying a new and popular film, and perhaps going for Chinese food afterwards. (Okay, by "friends" I mostly mean my boyfriend.) I keep saying that some year I'm going to try that. It sounds so lovely and relaxing. Instead, I'm hopping on a plane this afternoon to visit relatives and probably won't go anywhere near a theater.

Most local and chain theaters in Austin are open on Christmas Day, with the exception of the single-screen Alamo Drafthouse Downtown. But the other Alamo theaters in town are open and showing a variety of first-run features. It's a good week for catching up on current releases; not many film-related special events are scheduled.

• The biggest film event next week is the Alamo Downtown annual "High for the Holidays" film series, which takes place between Christmas and New Year's Day. Sit back, take a deep breath and enjoy classic and new stoner films on the big screen: Head (12/26 and 1/1), Up in Smoke (12/27 and 12/29), Deep Blue (12/28 and 12/30), and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (12/28, 12/30, and 1/1). You know Alamo's going to offer little square burgers on the menu with that last film, although I'm not sure I want to speculate on other refreshments during the series. I'm happy they're showing Head on Jan. 1, after I return from my trip (not that kind of trip, silly), because I've never seen this surreal-sounding Monkees film and Alamo has located a rare 35mm print.
• This Land is Your Land, a 2004 documentary about corporate takeovers in America, will screen at Alamo Downtown on Thursday 12/29. The film is sponsored by the Third Coast Activist Resource Center. Producer Virginia Williams will hold a Q&A after the film.
• Free coffeehouse movies: Austin Java on Barton Springs *and* Austin Java on Parkway are showing The Nightmare Before Christmas tonight (Friday) at 8 pm. Cafe Mundi is even more family-friendly tonight, showing Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird at 6 pm. Or maybe Cafe Mundi is just on an avian film-title streak: they're also showing Bird, the 1988 Clint Eastwood-directed biopic of Charlie Parker, on Tuesday 12/27.
• Beerland is showing the crazy 3-D movie from 1981 Comin' at Ya! on Wednesday 12/28 at 7 pm. The movie is free, and Beerland also will provide free 3-D glases, popcorn, and donuts.
  
• Holidays don't keep Alamo Downtown from continuing their long and popular Weird Wednesday series, in which they show free movies at midnight on Wednesday nights, movies that you might not ever want to pay to see. This week's film is Street People, a 1976 Italian race-car buddy movie that stars Stacey Keach and Roger Moore. It helps that Alamo serves beer.

Wait until January, when Austin will be hopping with all kinds of film news and events: a Werner Herzog retrospective, an Austin Film Society series on political thrillers, and The Princess Bride at the Paramount.