And so this is Christmas.
And what have you watched?
The holidays are truly a time of tradition, and few films are as beloved as the silver screen staples we dust off every December. We look forward to spending time with Charlie Brown, George Bailey, Kevin McCallister and even the Grinch himself almost as much — OK, sometimes more — than we do our own family and friends (Face it, they’re often easier to spend time with).
That being said, it can all be too much too fast.
In matters of merrymaking, I’ve found that a little bit goes a long way. What with all the great Christmastime classics to choose from, you might find yourself choking on all the good will. Here then are five movie masterpieces worth a watch regardless of what time of year it is, but which just happen to take place during the holidays. Enjoy them alone, or fill that awkward silence that inevitably follows when relatives come to visit and the usual catching up is accomplished.
Think of them as Christmas movies sans schmaltz.
1. “The Mothman Prophecies” (2002)
This creepy feature purports to be, like so many others of its ilk, based on true events. That’s sort of the case.
Based on the 1975 book by John Keel, a reporter/famed UFOlogist, the film stars Richard Gere, who plays a reporter investigating the notorious Mothman, a legendary figure in West Virginian folklore, in the wake of his wife’s sudden death.
He becomes convinced that the creature’s appearances in the town of Point Pleasant signal some sort of imminent disaster, and tries to warn the authorities. The holiday decorations do their best to cheer up the melancholy mountain town, but fail to dispel the pervading sense of dread and doom in which the film is soaked.
So much the better for the viewer, though, because it’s atmosphere is arguably this film’s greatest achievement.
When, ultimately, Gere is proven correct, the climactic calamity is all the more dramatic for the surrounding tinsel and pretty Christmas paraphernalia.
2. “Blast of Silence” (1961)
The most famous — and yet still tragically overlooked — film by Allen Baron, “Blast” is a movie either way ahead of its time or just a little too late, but in the best possible way in either case.
Released in 1961, the movie missed the heyday of classic American film noir, the cult in which it obviously most belongs. The pop culture landscape of the day was less cynical by then, and less inclined to the kind of grim and gritty crime saga Baron was offering. Consider, also on the screen that year were “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “One Hundred and One Dalmatians.” Baron was trying to give the audience whiskey when they wanted champagne.
However, it is just that odd juxtaposition that makes “Blast” so incredible.
It’s the story of a lonely, unhappy assassin coming to New York at Christmastime to do one last job. He runs into an old friend from the orphanage where he grew up — and suddenly nothing and nobody is as they seem.
A feel good holiday romp it ain’t. But a riveting tour de force it is.
Lionel Strander’s gruff, fatalistic second-person narration is especially unsettling, adding to the film’s distinct and peculiar experience.
3. “Edward Scissorhands” (1990)
While it wasn’t Tim Burton’s first film as director, or even his second or third, this, his fourth time at the helm, is undoubtedly the movie that most perfectly captures his style and his artistic obsessions: pale, skinny outsiders, the drudgery of the suburbs, romance ensconced in gothic trappings, etc. It also marks the first collaboration between Burton and Johnny Depp, one of the most iconic director/actor combos in Hollywood history.
Depp plays Edward, a mechanical man left alone in a vast, desolate mansion by the death of his elderly creator (Vincent Price).
He is taken in by a well-meaning suburban family and promptly falls in love with the daughter (Winona Ryder), attracting the malice of her delinquent boyfriend (Anthony Michael Hall).
It all comes to a head in time to derail everyone’s Christmas, but Burton still manages to milk a smile and a bit of hope out of what would otherwise be a decidedly downer ending.
4. “Love Actually” (2003)
Undoubtedly the most traditionally “cheery” film on this list, “Love Actually” is also the movie that I’ve been most wrong about in my entire life.
Having seen the previews at the time of its release, I relegated this sappy-looking romcom to the ranks of lame date-night fare. I was wrong. So wrong. This movie is awesome.
Written and directed by Richard Curtis, the film is an interwoven compilation of 10 different stories exploring 10 very different romances among a wide array of people around London (and one on a trip to America), beginning a few weeks before Christmas and culminating in a show-stopping Christmas Eve finale that gets everything wrapped up in a gift of cinematic experience worth returning to.
Unlike most films of its kind, there are no sleepers among the sub-stories in this moving movie. Every story is great, my favorites being: the aging rock and roll legend (Bill Nighy) looking to score one more hit; a heartbroken writer (Colin Firth) falling in love with his housekeeper (Lucia Moniz) despite the fact that they speak different languages; and the recent widower (Liam Neeson) helping his young stepson (Thomas Sangster) woo his crush (Olivia Olson).
See this movie and feel better about the year to come as you discover that, “Love actually is all around us.”
5. “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (2005)
A Christmas crime caper written and directed by Shane Black, master of Christmastime action flicks, this movie emulates the classic film noir detective story but replaces the gumshoe with an ineffectual thief, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.).
He cons his way into an acting gig while trying to flee a botched crime scene because the jaded studio suits he runs into think he’s there to audition — and he’s just so “method.”
Later, while following a real detective (Val Kilmer) to get on-the-job-experience for his next role, Lockhart becomes embroiled in a classic Chandler-type murder mystery.
