I’m a big fan of Christmas movies, but there’s another sub-genre that consists of movies that take place during the holidays but aren’t about the holidays. I posted a few last year and here’s some more:
- Lethal Weapon: I used to always watch this movie during the leadup to the holiday season, primarily because it started with Jingle Bell Rock playing. Plus it’s a pretty great movie. One of the stereotypical examples of Hollywood 80s action. There’s a lot of ridiculous, cliched moments, but somehow that’s part of its charm. In any case, it’s not much of a holiday film, but there’s the aforementioned songs, the scene where Riggs is contemplating suicide whilst watching an animated Christmas special, and some Christmas trees and lights and whatnot.
- Go: Perhaps even less of a holiday film than anything else, I hadn’t seen this movie since it came out. I remember liking the interconnected nature of the three main plotlines – sorta like a teen version of Pulp Fiction. Of course, it’s nowhere near as good as Pulp Fiction, but it holds up reasonably well. I always thought of this as an underrated film, and that probably still fits.
- The Ice Harvest: Aside from a scene at a frozen lake, there’s very little ice to be seen here, but hey, it takes place on Christmas eve as a couple of Mob employees seek to rip off their boss, who happens to run all the strip joints in Witchita. Of the three films in this post, this might be the darkest. It’s a sorta neo-noir setup, but not quite that despairing and probably more fun to watch. There are some twists that you can see coming from a mile away, and it’s not quite as wickedly funny or intelligent as it could be, but it’s still a good ride.
That’s all for now. Next up: fun with exterior illumination.
I agree about Go. I have a soft spot for it. I always thought it was a pretty entertaining little movie. I actually like it more than Pulp Fiction, personally. I know, blasphemy. =P
Total blasphemy! What the hell, man!? Hehe.