Christmas has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop watching holiday movies. There are definitely a lot to choose from. The more popular ones get repeated so much. If you’re looking for some holiday movies where Christmas isn’t really the ‘star’ you’ve come to the right place. It’ll be better than watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” for the eighth time this month.
“Gremlins”:
“Gremlins” is a comedic horror film from the '80s. I’m using ‘horror’ loosely here. If you scare easily, you might find it a little disturbing. Billy (Zach Galligan) gets a mogwai, that he names Gizmo, as a gift from his dad. Mogwais are cute and if you ever had a Furby growing up, you’ve basically already seen one. Billy is told three things: bright lights or the sun will kill Gizmo, don’t let Gizmo get wet and never feed Gizmo after midnight. You guessed it: Billy and company do those things and chaos ensues against the Christmas backdrop.
“Die Hard”:
New York City Police Detective, John McClane (Bruce Willis) travels to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve hoping to reconcile with his wife, Holly. While McClane gets ready for Holly's company Christmas party, terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman aka Professor Snape) shows up and takes over the building. Yippie-ki-yay…. Well, you know the rest.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas”:
Okay, so there is a lot of Christmas in this one but…Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? The director finally enlightened us all this year and said it was a Halloween movie. Apparently a lot of people agree, which is why it's technically forgotten as a Christmas movie. I still say it’s both and it doesn’t have to be a specific time of year for you to watch it.
“The Long Kiss Goodnight”:
‘Samantha Caine’ (Geena Davis) is a woman with amnesia who became a teacher in a small town. She hires a private investigator (Samuel L. Jackson) to find out who she really is. After being in a car accident around Christmastime, ‘Samantha’ discovers that she has a “certain set of skills” that she can’t explain. The movie has a cult following for a very good reason.
“Batman Returns”:
Tim Burton’s version of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer), Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Batman (Michael Keaton) against a backdrop of Christmas. In a word: Awesome. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. If you have seen it, you know you want to watch it again.
“The Holiday”:
The Holiday in a nutshell is all about getting away from your life for the holidays. Two women (Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet) swap homes with one another to deal with their own heartbreaks at Christmastime. Bonus: Jack Black and Jude Law are there, but Eli Wallach as Arthur steals the show.
“Last Holiday”:
Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) is a department store employee who fills her book of “possibilities” with the life she wishes to have. These include her dream of cooking and her love for her co-worker Sean (L L Cool J). Georgia hits her head at work one day and goes for a CAT scan. Georgia is then told that, since she can’t afford surgery, she only has a few weeks to live. Georgia does what we all wish we could and liquidates her assets to live what she has left of life to the fullest. It’s mostly a comedy, I promise.
What are your favorite holiday movies where the holiday takes the backseat?
