By Brett Blake As Christmas fast approaches, it won’t be difficult to find holiday-themed movies on TV, and there are a few films you can bank on being shown at least once sometime during the month of December. The undeniable classics will certainly pop up - MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE and, of course, A CHRISTMAS STORY will undoubtedly appear, as will the television specials from the 1960s, like RUDOLPH, FROSTY, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, and HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. You’ll probably also find perennial favorites like HOME ALONE or SCROOGED or NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION in the lineup somewhere. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get a GREMLINS sighting, perhaps a DIE HARD appearance… but for the most part, the networks keep things pretty conventional. That’s as it should be, I suppose, as we all probably enjoy these movies on a kind of cinematic comfort food level, and it’s always fun to see our favorites during the Christmas season (ditto for horror movies during October). Having said that, there are a small handful of Christmas-flavored movies that, for whatever reasons, don’t get much airtime during this time of year, and here are three I think deserve a little more appreciation. Black Christmas (1974) Director Bob Clark is best-known for his other Christmas film, 1983’s A CHRISTMAS STORY, and most people seem to be unaware that BLACK CHRISTMAS is his first cinematic take on the holiday. Whereas A CHRISTMAS STORY is 100-per-cent a comedy, this is a horror film, and the plot is a simple one: a group of sorority sisters are plagued by mysterious, obscene phone calls during Christmas break, and then… one by one… they begin to disappear. It’s basically a slasher film, but it’s one of the first, and it therefore helps lay out the blueprint for the era of slashers that would take over the horror genre with the release of HALLOWEEN in 1978; BLACK CHRISTMAS got there first, and it establishes many of the genre tropes and cliches that future horror filmmakers would then pick up and run with: point-of-view shots from the perspective of the killer, a cast whittled down until one resourceful young woman remains, and an ambiguously downbeat ending. It’s a better film than most slasher flicks you’ll find, though, because the characters are well-written (and well-acted), the depiction of the killer is interesting (and pretty darn spooky), and it has a nice sense of humor about itself without undercutting the intensely chilling events that take place. Obviously, for those who don’t like horror movies, this one probably isn’t for you, but for those who are game, this is a great film to watch - preferably alone in your house - on a dark, cold, windy winter’s night. Just be sure to stay away from the remake! Scrooge (1970) Few stories have been filmed as frequently as Charles Dickens' classic novel, A Christmas Carol (perhaps only the Dracula and Sherlock Holmes characters have had more cinematic adaptations). Everybody probably has a favorite version of the tale; many enjoy the 1951 Alastair Sim-starring version, while others might choose the terrific MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, with Michael Caine as Scrooge, and still others might pick Bill Murray’s hilarious updated take from 1988, SCROOGED. Those are all great movies (and certainly worth seeing if you haven’t yet encountered them), but for me, the definitive film of A Christmas Carol remains this interpretation from 1970. Albert Finney - a young man at the time - is Scrooge, thoroughly curmudgeonly under some ingeniously subtle old age makeup, and he’s wonderful. The gauge with which I measure an actor’s interpretation of Scrooge involves how well the actor is able to sell the character’s transformation/awakening at the end of the story, and nobody has done it with the kind of heartfelt euphoria and gentle humor that Finney brings to the role. The last fifteen-or-so minutes of this movie are tremendous, a song-filled and exuberant conclusion that perfectly accompanies Scrooge’s redemption. Oh, wait, I did say it’s a musical, didn’t I? No? Well, it’s a musical! That fact alone is probably enough to turn off some of you more cynical folks out there, but the songs are (mostly) very catchy, and they all feel suitably “Christmas-y” in spirit. Also, the production design is fantastic, featuring a soundstage-bound version of Victorian London that’s quite atmospheric. You may think you’ve had your fill of Christmas Carol adaptations, but if you can stomach one more, give this one a look. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) I’ll be honest, here: this isn’t really a Christmas movie. Oh, it’s set at Christmas, sure, and there are a few Christmas parties visited by the characters over the course of the story, but there’s nothing about the plot that requires the movie be set at Christmas. It’s just window-dressing. So why am I writing about KISS KISS BANG BANG, then? Because it’s a freakin’ great movie, that’s why! Part buddy-action-comedy, part noir-mystery, the movie follows Robert Downey Jr. as a small-time crook who inadvertently ends up in L.A. to audition for a movie role. While there, he gets embroiled in a mystery and finds himself partnered-up with a gay private investigator (played by Val Kilmer). Goofy, off-the-wall hijinks ensue.
The dialogue (courtesy of writer/director Shane Black, who was the director of IRON MAN 3 earlier this year) is absolutely hilarious, equally hard-edged and silly, and the interplay/sparring between Downey and Kilmer makes for some first-rate comedy. The way the movie simultaneously adheres to - and yet somehow makes fun of - classic noir ideas is also a reflection of how great a screenplay Black was able to put together for this. The movie came out at a time when Downey was just starting to rehabilitate his career after his drug-fueled missteps of the previous decade-plus, and it came-and-went from theaters rather quickly, which is unfortunate. Had it been released after 2008’s IRON MAN launched Downey to the top of the list of the biggest stars in the world, more people would probably have been able to give KISS KISS BANG BANG its due. Now, it's up to those of us who love the movie to speak out about it every chance we get, which is why I've included it here. Whatever movies you choose to watch this holiday season - be they the classics, or one of the under-the-radar films I’ve described above - settle down with a hot chocolate, some egg nog, or another beverage of choice, and enjoy the many facets and genres that Christmas cinema has to offer.
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