We all have our favorite Christmas movies, there's no way around it. "Charlie Brown," "The Grinch," "A Christmas Story," "Elf," whatever it may be, there are always those few films that families make it a tradition to watch each year. My family, for example, always makes a point to watch the adventures of little Ralphie Parker as he tries to convince his parents, teachers, and even Santa that he should get a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas in "A Christmas Story." There are, however, quite a few other movies that are great to watch around the time of Christmas that aren't Christmas movies at all; here's a list of some of the best unconventional Christmas movies.
Number One: "Die Hard" (1988)
How could I make a list of great unconventional Christmas movies without including this one. John McClane is a rough-and-tumble New York cop coming to visit his wife in California for a Christmas party when her office building is attacked and held for ransom by European terrorists. With a story whose main focus is on one outmatched man fighting against the odds to rid the building of the terrorists with a Christmas-time backdrop, my brother is adamant that "Die Hard" is the best Christmas movie ever.
Number Two: "Lethal Weapon" (1987)
This one is very similar to "Die Hard." This is a buddy cop comedy/action piece set around Christmas time. The plot focuses on loose-cannon cop Martin Riggs as he and his new partner, laid-back family man who is "getting too old for this sh*t," Roger Murtaugh, try to unravel a massive drug trade case in '80s LA. Grab a tall glass of egg nog and settle in, this movie will take you for one hell of a ride.
Number Three: "Rocky IV" (1985)
Rocky the boxer travels to the USSR to fight Russian super-boxer and winner of the most badass boxer name in history contest, Ivan Drago, on Christmas day. The movie's pretty good if you can handle an ungodly amount of montages. Seriously, like a third of this movie is just montages set to '80s music, it's awesome.
Number Four: "Trading Places" (1983)
The story is just plain crazy. Two rich old Wall Street creeps, the Dukes, decide it'd be fun to switch a couple of people's lives around completely, transforming their uptight, well-to-do employee Winthorpe into a penniless, homeless crook while making the penniless, homeless crook Valentine the next big player in their broker firm. The two find out about this plot and decide to turn the tables on the shifty, conniving Dukes. I'm not doing the plot justice, just go watch it. Oh yeah, it also takes place throughout the holiday season, so add this to your Christmas movie watch list.
Number Five: Any "Harry Potter" Movie Ever (2001-2011)
They all manage to squeeze in a heartwarming Christmas scene, so I guess that counts.
Number Six: "Batman Returns" (1992)
In this action-packed superhero flick from 1992, the caped crusader is pitted against Catwoman and the Penguin as they vie for control of Gotham city. This film comes to us from Tim Burton, head of the origin 1989 "Batman" film, and gives us a pretty dark and almost surreal look at the comic book hero. Once again, this film happens to takes place around Christmas and it happens to be one truly amazing superhero movie, one that would make a fine addition to your unconventional Christmas film list.
Number Seven: "The Princess Bride" (1987)
The little kid in the movie to whom the story is being read has a Santa Claus decoration in his room. It counts. It's good. Moving on.
Number Eight: "First Blood" (1982)
John Rambo is a troubled Vietnam vet drifting around the Pacific Northwest. After a sheriff in a small town decides he doesn't like his kind, Rambo gets arrested, one thing leads to another, and he's waging a one-man war against the local National Guard and police forces in the deep forests surrounding the town. The town has Christmas decorations up throughout the movie which will make this the third or fourth hard action movie to put on your Christmas watch list.
Number Nine: "The Godfather" (1972)
A large portion of this mafia crime epic takes place around the Christmas season as numerous attempts are made to take out mob boss Don Vito Corleone. This is also one of the best movies ever made, please watch it.
Number 10: "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" (1990)
Pretty much the same plot but with an airport this time instead of an office building. It also takes place around Christmas. It is also an extremely badass action movie. Add it to the list.
Number 11: "Iron Man 3" (2010)
This move got a lot of flak for straying too far from the comics, but I personally really enjoyed this piece and loved the film's style as a callback to '80s action movies executed beautifully by director Shane Black. It takes place around Christmas as Tony Stark (Iron Man) has to deal with yet another national villain crisis. Sprinkle in a few delicious buddy cop scenes between Tony and Rhodes and you have a recipe for a truly fun and entertaining time to brighten your Christmas season.
Number 12: "Mean Girls" (2004)
Dancing reindeer. Jingle Bell Rock. Candy canes (none for Gretchen Wieners). Enough Said.
There you have it, I think this list will do well to break the usual cycle of Christmas movies that are surely getting stale with a lot of people. Except "A Christmas Story," that movie is perfect and never gets old, everybody should watch that film. Seriously.
