From Dr. Ehrhardt:
2 Likes
I guess one thing Die Hard showed is that a “Christmas movie” could be rated R. So it only stands to reason that:
The TV series “Happy!” season 1 is also Christmas show. (Be forewarned: this is a mature audience, violent, ultra-dark-comedy TV series, based on an age 16+ graphic novel mini-series.)
The reasoning (no spoilers, family-friendly):
Season one aired on The “SyFy” [sic] Channel through Christmastime (December 2017 through January). It stars Christopher Meloni as Sax, a bad life former cop turned hitman, and Patton Oswalt supplying the voice of, well, an innocent & optimistic unicorn.
In the show, the villain is a kidnapper dressed as Santa at Christmastime, the whole season 1 happens at Christmastime, there are lots of Christmastime decorations and music, and it’s still Christmas and even “Christmassy” at the resolution of the main story. (FWIW The much weirder, more off-the-rails season 2 is about Easter.)
The whole series is currently available to stream on Netflix.
1 Like
I couldn’t get into Happy. Child exploitation is something I just can’t watch as entertainment. I noped out after one episode.
If someone regularly watches a movie or show during the holiday season then, for them, it’s a Holiday movie.
Me, I regularly watch the entire Lord of the Rings extended trilogy so, for me, that’s a holiday movie.
If you want to watch Die Hard, have at it. No skin off my nose.
2 Likes
Hogfather
Definitely a Christmas movie. It has lots of non-Christmas, Discworld-specific elements, but is ultimately about saving Hogswatch, the Discworld version of Christmas, by Terry Pratchett. Features a great British cast, including a not-yet-famous Michelle Dockery in one of the leading roles. Note that this was a 2-part, 3-hours total length TV movie, so it’s a bit of a slog to watch all in one sitting.
Nightmare Before Christmas
Most think of this as a Halloween film, and I would mostly agree. Even though the story is largely about Christmas (and breaking it, then saving it), the characters and settings are mostly Halloween. I do consider the delightful song “What’s This?” by Danny Elfman mostly a Christmas song, though.
Children of Men
No. Just: no. Someone tried to convince me that this post-apocalyptic film starring Clive Owen was a Christmas film, because it released Christmas in the US, and the story was about the birth of a child. No. Nope. No.
1 Like
Despite what you may have heard or believed, Christmas with the Kranks is NOT a Christmas movie, and I will not be taking questions at this time.
2 Likes
Is It’s a Wonderful Life really a Christmas movie? It takes place on Christmas, but only in part. It ends with a ‘merry Christmas everybody,’ but that doesn’t really make it about Christmas.
1 Like
“Die Hard” is a Christmas movie in the same way that “Last Christmas” is a Christmas song.