I'm not one to jump on the "Let's bash It's a Wonderful Life" bandwagon, as I do think, despite it's schmaltziness and being decidely overlong, that it's still a wonderful movie. But let's face it, how many times can you watch it before the phrase "zuzu's petals" means nothing to you? You're probably also sick of A Christmas Story, also wonderful, also now overplayed to death. And Miracle on 34th Street? Yawn. And you couldn't pay me to sit through Jingle All the Way again. Schwarzenegger as Jimmy Stewart? Yeah, right.
Well, fret not, my holidazed friend -- here are some yuletide-related
films that you may not have seen -- or at least not 34 times.
PS: As a Jewish person, I'm always saddened by the dearth of Hanukkah
films; I wish my list could reflect more diversity, but alas, the pickings
are slim outside of the Christmas genre.
Remember the Night
Written by Preston Sturges before he would go on to direct his own
wonderful screwball comedies (Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve,
etc), this underseen classic is a delight in its own right. Barbara Stanwyck
stars as a New York City shoplifter who is arrested just before Christmas
after trying to filch an expensive piece of jewelry. Assistant DA Fred
MacMurray takes pity on her and allows her to be released, under his supervision,
to her home for the holidays. But her mom wants nothing to do with her,
so... Well, you should see for yourself. Sentimental in a good way, this
is a masterful, touching and warm near-classic (enough so that we'll overlook
the uncomfortably dated black butler character).
The Ref
What do you get when you put three sharp-tongued and acerbic actors
in a Christmas movie? You get The Ref, a sharp and acerbic dysfunctional
family Christmas movie. Denis Leary plays a cat burglar who gets stuck
in an affluent neighborhood on Christmas Eve and is forced to kidnap a
bickering couple (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis), unaware that by tying up their
hands he's basically preventing them from strangling each other. No classic
but pretty darned funny, and edgier than the usual holiday fare (thank
God), but you'll giggle through most of it, and when you're not giggling,
you'll be thinking how much better you suddenly feel about your own family.
Leary in particular gets some choice lines ("From now on, the only person
who gets to yell is me. Why? Because I have a gun. People with guns get
to do whatever they want.")
One Magic Christmas
Grab the tissues -- this heartwarming Christmas movie is often serious
and downbeat, but with good end results. Mary Steenburgen (wonderful as
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