Best Christmas Holiday Movies Review

Best Holiday Movies, Best Christmas Movie suggestions  part 2 of 2.   When you're in the mood for holiday themed movies but you've seen  It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story,  Christmas Carol and other well known movies too many times, it is time for you to consider these other, just under the radar holiday movie gems.  Christmas movies you aren't sick of...

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS-- 1945

Set in 1903, it revolves around the romantic trials and family life of Esther Smith (Judy Garland) who falls for the boy next door but learns that her father  has taken a job that will uproot the family from St. Louis and land them in New York at the end of the year. Eldest sister Rose (Lucille Bremer) also experiences romantic woes as she awaits a long distance proposal from New York. All the while, the Smith family awaits the arrival of the World's Fair; an event they're convinced will make St. Louis the country's main attraction. It takes place over 4 seasons and includes THE TROLLEY SONG. Vincent Minnelli composes scenes and shots of breathtaking beauty. I call it a Christmas movie because one of the best Christmas movie scenes is  Judy singing Have Yourself a Merry Christmas.

THE LEMON DROP KID --1951

One of Bob Hope's best vehicles is this Damon Runyon re-make Hope is the Lemon Drop Kid who accidentally steers gangster Moose Moran's girl away from winning a bet and now the 'kid' has gotta come up with $10,000 fast. Good thing it is Christmas time and people are easily persuaded to give their money to worthy causes. Highlight: Marilyn Maxwell's classic rendition of ' Silver Bells'

PENNY SERENADE - 1941

This bittersweet romantic drama was the third paring of Irene Dunn and Cary Grant. It has a strong Christmas scene so I've put it here as a 'Christmas move' since despite its flaws I like several things about it. 1- Cary Grant's performance is among his best. 2- The set-up has Dunne's character remembering scenes from a troubled marriage because she is going through a record collection. Every record she plays triggers memories... from how the couple meets (listening to records) to good times and tragedies.

The Shop Around the Corner 1940   Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

As Christmas approaches we meet several people who work in or regularly shop in a unique Budapest store.  Co-workers Klara Novak  (Margaret Sullivan) and Alfred Kralik (James Steward) hold an intense dislike for each other, (Kralik is surprised when Novak is hired to be his co-worker)  while maintaining a secret letter-writing relationship, neither realizing who their pen-pal is. They fall in love via through their letters to each other while not realizing they work right next to each other.   A major subplot involved the mystery of who the store owner's wife is having a supposed affair with which spills over onto the people working in the store.    This delightful romantic comedy was turned into the Van Johnson/ Judy Garland musical  In the Good Old Summertime and updated as the so-so You've Got Mail.  It was also the inspiration for the long running British sit-com  Are You Being Served.   The original is often the best and that is certainly the case here.    Since it's set around the approaching holiday season, consider it one of the best Holiday movies you'll ever see.  I'll bet you return to it many many times.  Enjoy.

Of course if you have watched too many schmaltzy, cute and wholesome Christmas movies.. you may need an antidote.   If you want to stick with the holiday theme.. your antidote can either be a well-made movie or a really really baaad movie.  A movie so bad it's funny and entertaining. 

An example of a good movie antidote to the schmaltz   is:

BAD SANTA--2003    and BADDER SANTA  (unrated version)

The ultimate cure for all things sentimental and warm. This is a crass, vulgar dark comedy about an alcoholic conman who plays a Santa for rent and his delightful elf  side-kick;  they get hired as department store Santa and his helper and then rob the store blind. These are selfish, greedy criminal characters. Billy Bob Thornton is the unredeemed horny sloppy drunk Santa and Tony Cox plays the mean dwarf Marcus-fed up with his drunk disgusting partner. The film is never ever nice and if you are in the mood that is exactly why it is a delight. It is directed by Terry Zwigoff of CRUMB and GHOST WORLD fame. The ending is not his. Do get the slightly more profane BADDER SANTA DVD if you can to experience the full effect. It's the movie to put on after you have heard The Dead Kennedy's F... Christmas a few dozen times.

If you want to watch some truly awful Christmas movies than get drunk on some spiked egg nog and watch THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T, SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS and the Mexican made SANTA CLAUS that features a bargain basement costumed Devil !!!    These movies are entertainingly awful and though they were considered kiddie movies and shown at special matinees for mostly kid only audiences in the 60s and into the 70s....you might consider it a bit horrifying kids watched these.  The Santa Claus film in particular scared very small kids and sent many of them out of the auditorium in tears.... Witches and Devils and grumpy Santa's will do that to little ones you know. Santa/Martians is low budget junk featuring a little 6 or 7 year old girl named Pia Zadora and you'll be able to pick her out. 

There are Christmas scenes in movies like DIE HARD and MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. LAWRENCE, but they aren't by any stretch of the imagination Christmas movies. Preston Sturges' under-appreciated comic gem (but not a masterpiece) CHRISTMAS IN JULY isn't set during Christmas but you got a guy buying people gifts in it and the title.... Lots of funny lines and situations in this Brewster Millions/Nothing Sacred kind of flick.

SILENT NIGHT, EVIL NIGHT now known as BLACK CHRISTMAS is a decent (light on the gore)  Canadian horror film set around Christmas Time (with Margot Kidder!) and directed by the guy who gave us CHRISTMAS STORY and PORKYS (aren't we lucky !!!).  It's a better than average slasher/who done it, set in a college sorrority house over the Christmas holidays. There are also several psycho Santa movies. They are all pretty awful, there's one I'm too lazy to look up right that's slightly better than they truly bad series of films (5 OF THEM) with the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT title.  The first one  created lots of controversy because its ad campaign was all over the television showing a guy in a Santa suit with a really big knife chasing after nearly naked women.  People should have boycotted watching the TV. stations that ran the commercial but instead they got the movie itself banned in many cities and towns, making the lousy movie much more popular than it should have been and encouraging 4 terrible sequels to it  The best of the psycho Santa ideas is the segment in the TALES FROM THE CRYPT theatrical movie with Joan Collins which was remade as part of the HBO TALES series Tales of the Crypt that starred Larry Drake.  If you need a Santa as PSycho killer fix that's the best place to quench your twisted need.

A couple of more alternative films:

The Lion in Winter starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn takes place at Christmas during the 12th century.  King Henry of England has just buried his eldest son who was supposed to be the next king and has to decide who will be the next King.  Then there's his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine who he has locked up since she tried to lead a rebellion against him.   The couple trade wicked very humorous barbs at each other.  Excellent film.

You may not think of  the romantic comedy Moonstruck (Cher and Nicolas Cage) as a holiday film but it's set during the holidays and you'll see the cards and decorations and a guy with a Christmas tree.  Love during the holiday season is always magic right?  Enjoyable film...

1984's Gremlins is set around Christmas time.  The first Gremlins is just scary enough for some to avoid, but you might consider watching it with Gremlins 2 which is a very entertaining and often quite funny sequel (set around Halloween).      I can't quite get excited about 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation  but if I have stumbled across it and have probably seen most of it at least once every 5 or 6 years and find it entertaining.

The Thin Man,  (1934 directed by W.S. Van Dyke) the first of 6 wonderfully witty appearances of Nick and Nora Charles played by William Powell and Myrna Loy (based on Dashiel Hammett's endearing characters) is set during the Christmas holidays.  Though the mystery and sparring couple take center stage, there are Christmas Trees, presents, a drunken sing-along of O Christmas Tree, a scene where Nick shoots balloons (with a b.b. gun) off the Christmas Tree and Christmas greetings too.  If Christmas gets you to watch this entertaining movie again-that's a good thing.

And to end on a positive comedic note-another enjoyable movie set around Christmas time: TRADING PLACES !!! (you know Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis) that you might not think of as a Christmas movie.  (It's rated R for brief nudity and language).

Ho ho ho....

Part 1 is right here: www.viewpoints.com/Best-Christmas-Movies-Top-Holiday-Movies-Alternate-Seasonal-Movie-Part-1-of-2-review-b4491