Christmas Movies?

[Koravec]

Anyone put on any christmas flicks for the holiday?

Edited December 26, 2020 by Koravec

[Koravec]

Fatman- I actually loved this movie. Without knowing much about it I described it to a friend as looking like a Tarintino, coen brothers inspired christmas revenge movie. And surprisingly even to myself thats exactly what it was like. This was like the Nolan (if I didnt name drop enough already) version of santa claus like what Dark Knight was to batman in terms of realism. The realistic approach was done so well and entertaining. Turns a mystical concept into a full on blue collar worker fare displaying the harsh reality of things not always going ideally with two ‘naughty’ main characters, one kid and another adult both holding grudges against santa. 

Bad Santa- Another really crude christmas movie like Fatman, this one being much worse of course. I was unaware of the acclaim or cult status this movie had going in, just thought it sounded like itd be an easily watchable xmas comedy and thought I had heard or seen it around a few times. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed it as well. Some hilarious moments and the main characters down and out alcoholism takes you for a very comical care free ride.

Krampus [2015]- I grabbed a Krampus themed mug I thought was really cool from Spirited Halloween store and as I do with a lot of storylines, start off by grabbing a piece I think it badass enough Id like to display then later end up wanted to check out the series. As Ive dont with Stranger Things, Bioshock and currently the Witcher tv series after buying a somewhat large Leshen funko, sort of Krampus looking figure in itself. 

Starts off with a very irritating family dinner, which is as irritating to watch but quickly becomes quite hilarious in the depiction of typical family disfunction. We finally see the monster half an hour in or so which is a badass creature entry as he runs pounces on roof to roof. The rest of the movie mostly takes place inside the boarded up house as the family stakes inside without much of an idea on how to defeat the beast. When the monster finally enters, we see evil gingerbread men attack some characters [thinking of checking out an evil gingerbread flick or two btw lol] and the Krampus take place very disturbingly in the embodiment of a gigantic puppet with gross and grisly jaws and teeth.

review intermission: I started dozing off at the animation flashback part so I paused the movie to take a mini nap. Between the different creatures in the movie and my siamese cat laying on me, I had a dream I was in some workshop or something and a squirrel with a collar on it came running at me, I didnt know what it was at first but slowly eased my way into petting it, in which it behaved like a cat oddly enough. Then there was a crocodile the walked in, also appeared to be a pet of some sort. It just sat there with its mouth open in an almost affectionate way, or pike those taxidermy busts you see all over florida gift stores. I reached down to begin to pet it, then stopped myself thinking ‘this thing may be someones pet but its still a damn crocodile (or baby alligator)’. Somebody hollered something, presumably the owner of the workshop as if to either say the croc was friendly or to be careful. I woke up, never knew if that pet croc would of attacked if I got too close or not.

Back to the review. Toni Collette nearly dies a horrific death in an attic like she does in Hereditary again, almost hung here whereas she was stabbed repeatedly in the latter. Like in Hereditary the evil is present because the grandma dabbled in some strange wizardry. 

They finally brave the danger and go outside. And some of the coolest monsters in my opinion are the many inanimate snowman lined in front of their house, presumably each containing a dead corpse. Not a bad flick, bit also not anything groundbreaking or too noteworthy. 

Where The F**k Is Santa- Bam Margera xmas feature has bam and his crew doing a bunch of dumb stuff as usual on a road trip with an underlying theme and goal of finding santa claus. Bad but quite entertaining and wild to be reminded how people (their crew) actually acted around that time. Was really cool to be reminded of the late 2000s gothic near-pirate looking fashion of Bam and some of his crew. Felt bad for the very demeaning andhumiliating hazing done to his friend Brandon Novak, very cringeworthy material in that regard, uncomfortable to watch, one scene being even more particularly inappropriate than the rest. Worse than I even expected but spending time with Bam and his shenanigans and property like his show Viva La Bam is great, show much more recommended. 

[DarthKato]

We will be watching "Its a Wonderful Life(1946)" and "Miracle on 34th Street(1947)" on Christmas day like we do every year. Might also watch "A Christmas Carol(1951)" if there is time. 

[morpheus]

If I'm in a "bah-humbug" mood, then it will be Die Hard.

[sifu iron perm]

black christmas bob clarke original.

fearless vampire killers- polanski

tales from the crypt amicus anthology

silent night, deadly night

 

 

 

 

[Koravec]

Why Him- Not the most Christmassy christmas movie save for a 5 minute finding a tree cliche scene and 5 minute small party celebratory ending. Decent humor, some very cringeworthy moments (disturbing disclaimer: like the son simulating a ‘motorboating’ motion on his father ❌). Kept me enticed for what could happen next whilst slimly  disappointing me continuously in what could lead to much wilder antics. The movie is very watchable in the way it keeps you wanting to see the payoff, but not necessarily so excruciatingly that youll be pissed for wasting your time at the end, it is quite long at the common 2 hour mark however. Could have been much funnier by incorporating more common christmas elements and also giving the writing team more material to easily latch onto, which would have been needed here. By the way it goes it might as well of not had any mention of christmas in it at all.

[Koravec]

The Day After Tomorrow- While not a christmas movie. Its about New York freezing over. Not much more christmassy than a snowy new york, and I say that almost solely from growing up watching Home Alone 2 Lost In New York so many times (probably one of my favorite movies). This is one of those big movies I never got around to watching and always being curious about, so this was a good excuse to finally watch it. Plays out mostly like a typical blockbuster of its time would. Lack of character depth, which is a good thing in my opinion for a large scope movie, but also lacks focus on the specifics of survival of the characters or focus on any detail whatsoever, plays out very broadly. This isnt exactly a bad thing but makes for a less interesting and unmemorable movie. Perhaps the most idiosyncratic scene being where a homeless guy, who is part of the main cast, is shoving newspaper into his jacket for insulation. 

Doesnt exactly make great use of its 2 hour runtime, feeling more like its just hitting its few scenarios, which there are very few, and meeting the common runtime. But Ill give it a pass for being such a large scope movie and blockbuster. The final 15 minutes (about 5 minutes of this) that show a frozen New York are what are worth watching from the movie, very neat and reminds you how NY truly is like a big-small island surrounded by water on almost every end.

After a year like this one with covid19 goes to remind us how disaster can actually become very real, and in that sense gave a truer scope into watching this, much more believable than if I had watched it any previous year.

[bigrogie]

On 12/20/2020 at 8:58 PM, DarthKato said:

We will be watching "Its a Wonderful Life(1946)" and "Miracle on 34th Street(1947)" on Christmas day like we do every year. Might also watch "A Christmas Carol(1951)" if there is time. 

Three classics my wife and I watch every year!

[bigrogie]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

[Omni Dragon]

It probably says a lot about when and where I grew up but I've watched the short animations The Snowman (1982) and Father Christmas (1991) almost every Christmastime of my life (usually Christmas Eve). I'd go as far as to say in terms of fiction The Snowman is my favourite motion picture.

[Koravec]

@Omni Dragon Was just loading up the forums to doc my watch and review for the snowman!

The Snowman [1982]- This is a great little feature at less than half an hour runtime. First time watching this and enjoyed it quite a bit. The animation style, while interesting and very real-life colored pencil looking, is not necessary that aesthetically pleasing (imo). That being said Ive always had an admiration for different animation styles, really ‘choppy’ drawn ones at that. I wonder how the actual book illustrations differ or if theyre about the exact same. 

A couple surprising laugh out loud chuckle moments like when the snowman leans back all relaxed in the freezer with a bag of peas on his head. Seriously enjoyed the two ‘journey’ sequences, motorcycling and flying. The motorcycle scene in particular was quite amazing, flying too thinking back. I was recently trying to get into an anime called Kinos Journey, and what motorcycling experience of the thrill ride was entirely absent there is fully made up for here, your taken for a wild ride. 

Kinda funny again, and almost a bit trippy when the bunch of snowman all form a big group dance together. Then after the big celebration and very dreamlike flying exposition were taken back to the bed were we started.

Ending with a quite depressing ending, where I must have thought there would have been another 5-10 minutes to form a happy resolution we are left with this sad reality of loss. 

I already like and appreciate this short film more looking back on it than I did when I watched it. Its a feature that must get better with repeated viewings. In fact the realization on a happy ending is nearly dependent on multiple viewings. Just as the ending teaches us, winter ends and things change. But what is perhaps implicated by the viewer, is how things can also come back into new life. 

Edited December 26, 2020 by Koravec

[Koravec]

Star Wars Holiday Special- Not only did I not think this was bad, I actually thought it was pretty good. Okay maybe enjoyable is a better word.

Hardly Christmassy and not even winter themed as many star wars productions already are. But I actually really enjoyed watching this if nothing else. I was expecting mostly a short feature of annoying droids such as c3po and other non humanoid robots making beeping sounds all while wearing christmas hats. This couldnt have been further from the truth. The feature actually centers around a wookie family and to my surprise features all of the main cast of actors. Filled with different anecdotes of sequences, musical numbers, a cool animated segment, and plenty of awkwardness. A lot of different things happen for almost nothing to take place overall, this would not be the feature to use as examples of plot and conflict. I found the very frequent switching of events good for my add brain lol. 

The staging and setups, while somewhat elaborate in their own right are just a bit hokier than the ones in the actual trilogy. The awkwardness that takes place 90% of the time within these settings far exceeds any campiness of the backdrops. This strangeness is probably intended to appeal to children mostly. Star Wars appeal to both toddlers all the way up to the most serious sci fi fan adults has always baffled and impressed me. Their ability to make the content work so well for children and heavy sci fi indulgers is outstanding. And unsurprisingly, being a holiday feature I think this film just tends to reach the formerly mentioned audience a bit more, and to that I dont entirely discredit it. Canon or not doesnt really matter as almost nothing happens, but at the same time, serious rebel against troopers and vader incidents are also present, and not to mention the first appearance of Boba Fett. 

I would really like to grab a copy of this on dvd or blu ray now (boot since unreleased). Id be excited to watch this again. (btw I watched this with the original commercial included which is not at all necessary or more of a time waster imo)

[Omni Dragon]

19 hours ago, Koravec said:

The animation style, while interesting and very real-life colored pencil looking, is not necessary that aesthetically pleasing (imo). That being said Ive always had an admiration for different animation styles, really ‘choppy’ drawn ones at that. I wonder how the actual book illustrations differ or if theyre about the exact same. 

Visually it's similar though the original version of the book is even more ruff and grainy looking. The coloured pencil look is not too surprising since I think I read somewhere that the illustrations in the book were entirely drawn with them.

[Koravec]

Planes Trains and Automobiles- Stars two of the big comedic actors of the time, Steve Martin and John Candy. The main character is traveling home from work for the holidays and runs into another traveler along the way. The two get stuck in all kinds of ‘roadbumps’ and difficulties along the way. 

I actually really enjoyed watching this. The way different methods of travel are depicted and the ways they go about them is done pretty nicely. Soundtrack has a great 80s synth appeal to a lot of it, the kinds of sounds they would go on to replicate for productions like Stranger Things.

The ending turns into a very awkward and superficial sob story absent of comedy. But I will also admit they I surprisingly felt the emotion they were trying to convey with it while realizing the ridiculousness. Very surprised how much I enjoyed this for not introducing much new or having much in terms of original or intelligent jokes. That being said the comedic value in some of the basic dialogue makes up for the dumb goofiness some of the time. Id be happy to rewatch this, that is saying something.

[Omni Dragon]

On 12/25/2020 at 10:06 PM, Omni Dragon said:

I've watched the short animations The Snowman (1982) and Father Christmas (1991) almost every Christmastime of my life

I was talking to my mum about The Snowman today, and she seems to think she watched it when she was pregnant. So in a weird way I may have sort of experienced it from the audio as a fetus lol.

Also just to expand on what I said about The Snowman the book vs animation, I feel it's worth mentioning the book does not have any mention or references to Christmas. The books author even likes to insist the book version is just a winter story and nothing to do with Christmas. Personally though my feeling is adding Christmas improves upon it and has help it stay in the minds of the public as it is watched and shown to them on TV annually around Christmas.

 

[Koravec]

Well obviously Christmas is over now, but Ill continue to try to keep watching what I can when I can and post short reviews or thoughts.

Its said traditionally to take down the christmas tree and decor on the twelth day, january 6th, so I could go until then (or the rest of january?) not sure we were just talking about how long to celebrate christmas in a previous thread. Depends on how long I can stay in the holiday spirit. I started watching movies this month a bit late but because of work, other obligations, or if not just for further celebration of the holiday, Ill allow a later grace period.

I made a list (and checked it twice ) of a bunch of interesting christmas movies Id to check out, a list which remains pretty healthy, with new discoveries along the way. 

Hopefully next year others will chime in with their viewings and reviews so Im not the only one. I didnt solely make this thread because of the october horror month thread, but itd be a stretch to say I wasnt influenced by it. Many interesting christmas flicks out there in various genres, or whatever you want to consider christmas or wintery enough to add to your watchlist. So maybe we’ll look forward to more reviews in this thread for 2021. For instance I still have all the classic stop motion animated features to watch still, maybe next year.

[Koravec]

Snowpiercer- I cant believe my friends and forum let me go so long without seeing this. Which I should probably take the blame for as two really good friends highly regard it. One of those friends holds it to such a high regard of being one of the few favorites he sticks to rewatching over and over, the other things being Fight Club, Equilibrium, and some philosophical anime about some islanders who reincarnate or something.

This was a gritty feature in the vein of Night Comes For Us, Raid, Oldboy, Battle Royale, Man From Nowhere, etc, that I think would hold a lot of promise for other fans of the ma genre. The fights in the movie were incredibly intense if not always killer in detail (typical camera flashing fights). I found myself more tense and invested watching this for a movie than I can remember, like the feeing of watching ip man back in 2010. Also found myself actually cheering and shouting in a couple different instances in those fight scenes the way someone like my dad would in a devoted sports game. Now Ive never been a sports fan so this was a strange phenomenon for me, as if my shouting was involuntary. Coincidentally I was at my parents house recently with my dad scrolling netflix and I said, “thats supposed to be pretty good” He watched a bit and said “pretty sure Ive already seen this . . . eh, its alright”.

The tomahawk throws are as engaging and satisfying when they hit as they would be in playing Call of Duty haha. Sorta spoiler but, gunpoint to the head scenes almost always, or indefinitely end with a bullet firing. The knifing is as brutal here as Ive seen it done in any other film. 

The movie is the literal meaning of the phrase ‘to give an arm and a leg’. When you hear what people used to eat before the gloopy brown jelly bars theyre fed, youd wonder how the main character could even find those bars so gross at the revelation of what goes into them. Hell Id give a bar of the brown jelly a taste out of sheer curiosity as many other would, nearly looking somewhat appetizing. 

Chris Evans does a terrific job. Appearing onscreen to me as a cross between Jake Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale. Felt I remembered Kang-Ho Songs face so distinctly still from watching the directors other movie, The Host, years ago. That being said Ill probably have to watch Parasite now after putting that off  so long as well now.

This movie impressed me up til the end which I felt was somewhat anticlimactic after the crash.

[Koravec]

Klaus- I had low expectations for this animated netflix original. But it turned out to be a really nice watch with a more elegant animation style than cgi features deserving to be among other holiday classic viewings. 

This is a unique origin story about santa claus. A postal man is sent to a town where people basically just beat the shit out of eachother, yeah lol. From there hes sent to deliver a toy by a large man to an unfortunate kid. Things spiral from there and the postal guy delivers more and more toys made by this larger guy, Klaus, with the exception of one kid who was an *ssh*le to him, where he decides to grab some coal from beside the fireplace to give him instead. The town begins spreading stories about how the large Klaus figure delivers gifts. Finally the story takes a typical mystical santa claus bent when Klaus sees it as his time to pass on for some reason, but doesnt stop delivering gifts after passing from this life. 

[Koravec]

Appeared my snowpiercer review was completely removed from this thread and put into a devoted snowpiercer thread. Which by the way I wasnt aware of as it didnt come up for me yesterday, or else I would have posted it in that thread as well. Ive reposted it here.

And just as the post before it, I thought my goal statement with this thread was clear enough 

13 hours ago, Koravec said:

Many interesting christmas flicks out there in various genres, or whatever you want to consider christmas or wintery enough to add to your watchlist.

The point of this thread isnt necessarily JUST to doc your rewatch of Elf or Rudolf for the 57th time, but to make some new discoveries or view some other things youve been putting off. Christmas and winter is a niche season for movies, so this gives me an incentive to check out different things, and hopefully for other users too. For instance Ive always been curious about the Ice Age movies or the other animated feature Abominable, while neither exactly pertaining to Christmas, without a thread like this Id probably never incentivize myself to actually spend the time on them. The same goes for movies like Day After Tomorrow or Snowpiercer. Adding a wider variety and array of movies in the niche genre or thread challenge nearly similar to october horror month thread will keep things fresher and more engaging and interesting. What the user wants to add to their christmas watch list can be gaged by them. Not trying to reach too far, but I think most movies based around snow or arctic are fair contenders when mixed in with other actual christmassy films. Im not going to add a review of say Force Awakins solely for a couple snowy scenes and a december release date, but Id be okay with some actual arctic based movie entry. Many of which can come across as more fitting for the holiday/season than some actual christmas movies. 

[Koravec]

Lego Star Wars Holiday Special- This was my first experience with a Lego feature, and after this Im not so sure I can manage another. This was actually worse than I could have ever imagined lol. Read somewhere that it was a sequel to the original holiday special in different ways, which I didnt see any indications of. Really silly/dumb humor. Rey is for some reason alive alongside a young Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Kylo makes appearances as well, going to go on a limb there and say this isnt canon... 

Not particularly christmassy or even holiday based save for the last 4 minutes which come out of nowhere. Not a good feature LOL.

[Koravec]

The Thing [1982]- Im sorry but Im going to say to say I thought this was slightly overrated. Albeit a decent horror flick, nothing spectacular in terms of plot. Its like a cross between alien, reanimator (gore), and escape from new york (kurt russell).

I had expected this to be a more existential and philosophical endeavor, which actually is quite existential in the sense that the entire crew of researchers are in grave danger, just not so much in the meandering conceptual definition of the phrase. What it is is a pretty straight forward monster flick, despite the minor plot questions the movie wants you to question. Gorier than I ever could have imagined. A horror trope that I dont get any pleasure or enjoyment out of 😷. 

Just to humor you, an article by Klaq exclaims The Thing should be considered a christmas movie this year in relation to the pandemic because “‘The Thing’, a movie about a group of people who don't even remotely like each other, stuck together in a snowbound location trying to figure out who has a terrifying infection and who will be taken next because of it now counts as a Christmas movie this year.”  both hilarious and tragic

[Koravec]

Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer- This animated kids movie is probably better left as a song. Unfortunately quite disappointed by this one. Held it to a higher standard based off my remembrance I had of it.

Mostly deals with a very generic plot of a bad business woman trying to sell the grandmas store to make money and then the court dealings after that. Nothing too high brow, but for children maybe it is.

The animation style would be considered the cheapest and worst if this were put out today. Its an Okay little feature, nothing to break much ground though or hold the attention of an adult by any means. Some chuckling moments and the music is mostly great (title song and feels like christmas) due to Elmo and Patsy in 1979. 

This feature is either pretty bad or better than I could grasp without the framepoint of watching it traditionally or considering it some sort of classic.So Ill just say its okay as I did before, like it more than I dislike it.

[laagi]

I recently watched 8-Bit Christmas. Which overall was a great throw-back to those early 90's holiday movies. I didn't get quite as many laughs though as I've expected. Nevertheless I had a good time! Also it does have a heartwarming story underneath. It honestly gave me a Home Alone vibe which I certainly didn't have in a long time with any new holiday movie. For thhat fact alone I'd recommend it. Just lower your expectations a bit (no pun intended).

 

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Christmas vacation and Now Die Hard are my go to Christmas movies. At first I was not a believer that die hard was a Christmas movie but you know what? I’m a believer now.  Let us all celebrate 🎉 

[AlbertV]

I'm somewhat counting Dance of a Dream (2001) with Andy Lau, Sandra Ng, and Anita Mui. The third act of the film is set around Christmas with Edison Chen's character saying in English "Hey everyone! Merry Christmas". So yeah, I'll count it. 

There's also some good X-Mas horror films: Red Christmas, Slay Belles, Better Watch Out, Silent Night Deadly Night (the original, not the sequels so much), Rare Exports. Next year, there will be a new one called Christmas Slasher (which was made via Kickstarter...yes I donated to help), which has a murderous Santa and Mrs. Claus and it is up to their daughter to stop them.