2. Hidden presents: 10 Christmas movies you might not have seen. The story takes place in a small, quiet medieval city that Farrell’s character slowly comes to realize is something of a (metaphorical) purgatory. Deliciously demented, wonderfully mean-spirited, and perfectly depressing, Silent Night, Deadly Night is the perfect Christmas movie for those who dread the feelings dredged up by the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is the one time of year we’re supposed to let go of our selfish, everyday worries and look past our anger and resentments to see the best in the world around us. If you need a respite from seasonal sweetness and light, here’s a bitter pill you might enjoy swallowing. When Santa’s wicked son (Andy Dick) threatens to destroy all competing holidays, the Hammer must team up with a defender of Kwanzaa (Mario Van Peebles) to stop the absolute domination of Christmas. People burst into song at the most random moments, Tyrese Gibson reads Hughes’ poetry and Mary J. Blige wears a big white wig and angel wings. Director Theodore Gershuny makes things creepy and atmospheric — and his then-wife Mary Woronov (Eating Raoul), who also appears in the film, rounded up many of her fellow Factory players from the Warhol days, so you’ll see cameos from the likes of Ondine, Candy Darling and underground filmmaker Jack Smith. Whitaker is a Harlem preacher who puts on an elaborate Nativity pageant, and a dozing Latimore dreams of his own life in parallel with the big Christmas show, as family secrets are unearthed. Black Nativity: Currently in theaters but destined to become a cult favorite in years to come, this big-screen adaptation of a Langston Hughes play by writer-director Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou) may not always work, but its attempt to be a very different kind of holiday musical makes it weirdly wonderful and watchable. It would have met the same recurring fate as former Python member Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote film (which God apparently holds a very strong grudge against,): biblical plague. These funny Christmas movies always have us laughing so our tummies movie like a bowl full of jelly. Earn points. Scheming, betrayal and violent reprisals are the order of the day in this blackly comic and deeply cynical holiday movie. We have divided this selection into “Easy” – those that almost everyone knows, “Harder” – some songs are a bit more obscure, and “Hard” – a category only for experts on Christmas songs and music. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie … The film opens in the family home of Tom Cruise’s and Nicole Kidman’s characters. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale: Cartoonist Thomas Nast and the marketing department of Coca-Cola pushed the American version of Santa Claus into jolly-old-Saint Nick territory, but in other cultures, Sinterklaas was more eager to punish the wicked than to leave gifts for the righteous. Leave it to René Cardona, director of bizarro gems like Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy, to come up with this loony tale of St. Nick teaming up with Merlin the wizard to foil Satan’s plot to stop Christmas. The Apartment “My favorite Christmas movie is also the only one ever to win the Best Picture Oscar: The Apartment (1960). But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be a new tradition. The epic story of a misfit caribou who finds purpose because of what makes him unique, this Rankin/Bass tale is the longest continuously aired Christmas special of all time. All Is Bright: Another appealingly bleak Christmas buddy movie joins the canon this year, with Paul Giamatti starring as a recent parolee who travels from Quebec to Manhattan to sell Christmas trees with best friend Paul Rudd, who’s engaged to Giamatti’s ex. TV Shows. Oh, and there is another notable character within this movie… but some of my personal favorite Christmas-set movies are more unconventional, and with the giving season soon to be upon us, I thought it an ideal time to share […] Wiseman eschews interviews, music and narration, instead acting as a fly on the wall to everything from behind-the-scenes meetings (where higher-ups try to track down a missing chandelier) to the roving bands of singers and musicians in the store whose holiday spirit is so infectious that one customer even bursts into song. Martin McDonagh’s brilliant and darkly comedic tale about of a pair of hitmen (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) awaiting punishment from their boss after a botched job is a wonderful, bitter pill of a Christmas movie. Sure, the holidays are best known for audience-friendly classics like A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life, but there are plenty of oddball movies out there that deserve a slot in your December viewing schedule. DEVIN MEENAN, Arts & Life Editor—With the Christmas season comes watching Christmas movies. This 2010 Finnish import shows us what might happen if a long-buried Father Christmas was dug out of the ice and went on a rampage across the fjords. We know life happens, so if something comes up, you can return or exchange your tickets up until the posted showtime. SEE DETAILS, Buy tickets. To paraphrase Scrooge – humbug! Whether or not you cotton to the film’s style, it’s an entertainingly twisty whodunit that makes good use of its Christmastime setting. Both Ted Demme’s The Ref and Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa are such obvious choices for this list that they barely qualify as “atypical”. Here are 15 unconventional Christmas movies that are seasonably appropriate but deliciously askew. Christmas, in Eyes Wide Shut, represents the warmth of the home and family that Cruise’s character is all-too-eager to stray from. In other words, for some people out there, Christmas really sucks. Similarly, you might have watched many old and new Christmas movies. For now, they fit quite nicely amongst the films listed here, as not mentioning them at this point in time would be a disservice to their darkly inappropriate but still touchingly sincere hearts. (And don’t even get me started on the whole Krampus thing.) Catherine Deneuve stars as a prickly matriarch who needs a painful bone marrow transplant — traditionally, parents donate to children, but she figures she’s done enough for her kids that they owe her. Both films are darkly comedic and reluctantly optimistic takes on modern-day Scrooges finding their humanity in the Christmas spirit, in spite of the pitch-black nature of their barely beating hearts. Shop unusual Christmas presents and gift ideas with our curated range of personalised gifts, presents for the home, tech and gadget gifts, and more! Collect bonus rewards from our many partners, including AMC, Stubs, Cinemark Connections, Regal Crown Club when you link accounts. !” that will fly through their brains while watching this tripped out accidental masterpiece of which Ed Wood would have been proud. Only one young boy can save a world full of naughty children from this ancient monster and his creepy elf minions, and the results are creepy and hilarious. Or, more accurately, a Christmas that no one wants to be commonplace: cold, uninviting, and utterly chaotic. 25. The Lady in the Lake: Like many 1940s holiday movies, this one uses Christmas cards for its credit sequence; since it’s a film noir based on the detective novel by Raymond Chandler, however, there’s a gun under those cards. Finding John Christmas: This movie is part of a Peter Falk trilogy that's well-loved by movie buffs. With Christmas movies, such as “Scrooged” (or any other “Christmas Carol” knockoff) and even “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” they follow the same tired cliché – man loses something of value, realizes the Christmas spirit and then all is well with the world. All rights reserved. Other characters talk directly to the camera, and while we hear Marlowe throughout, he only shows up on-screen when standing in front of a mirror. Scrooged. Secondly, he has to go up against Lucifer and a demon named Pitch. It is promoted as a time for family, giving, sharing, and appreciating all the wonderful people in your life. Tired of the same old Christmas Movies? It’s all about how lonely people survive the Christmas season; the cast, led by Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, is top-notch; and it doubles as a needle-sharp indictment of corporate dehumanization. Let's say an either-or to It's A Wonderful Life. This list of unique Christmas gifts will help you find one for mom, dad and kids that'll leave a memorable impression. While this yearly utopian dream scenario exists for many households (especially those seen on television and theater screens), the other (perhaps truer) side of Christmas is one that reveals a much more bitter reality: family dysfunction, complete loneliness and isolation, commercial greed, criminal behavior, murderous rampage, addiction, terrorism, really kinky superhero outfits, and, sometimes, officials from a totalitarian government cutting a hole in your ceiling, putting a bag over the head of your household, then whisking him off to a horrifying and unknown destination without any warning whatsoever. The directors, producers, and actors work harder in these films because; they are made to attract the people of all ages. Deliciously demented, wonderfully mean-spirited, and perfectly depressing, Silent Night, Deadly Night is the perfect Christmas movie for those who dread the feelings dredged up by the most wonderful time of the year. Actor Robert Montgomery directs and stars as gumshoe Phillip Marlowe, but he’s barely visible in the movie; the gimmick here is that the entire film is shot from Marlowe’s P.O.V., so everything he sees, we see. Otherwise, there’s simply no way this film would ever exist. 2. An orphaned, abused, and emotionally troubled teen goes on a murderous rampage at Christmastime while dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. The films on this list represent a Christmas that isn’t commonplace in most households during the season. The Store: Who says documentaries don’t belong at Christmastime? Her illness leads to the return of long-banished son Mathieu Amalric (Quantum of Solace) for the holidays, leading the unleashing of any number of long-buried family resentments. Who says Christmas can’t be a little weird? Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol is made all the more entertaining by the zaniness of Bill Murray's character Frank – an egotistical and sardonic television producer who thinks it a good idea to staple antlers to a mouse. Taste of Cinema 2019. First off, Santa does his work in outer space. Tim Burton’s beautiful fable masterpiece about teenage misfit emotions is also one of the best movies to represent feelings of loneliness and alienation that are experienced by many people during the holiday season. When their home is foreclosed, Jennifer Hudson sends son Jacob Latimore to live with her estranged parents Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett. In Eyes Wide Shut, Christmas is a warm background for a cold film, and a symbol for all the things that are all too easily taken for granted. You’ll find yourself siding with different characters upon multiple viewings, which this textured and complicated film absolutely deserves. Still, there are glimmers of hope, mostly revolving around Giamatti’s relationship with housekeeper Sally Hawkins. LEARN MORE. MST3K will help viewers cope with the constant barrage of “WTF? Best unusual Christmas gifts 1. 6 Batman Returns The Ice Harvest: A crime story as coldhearted as the title suggests, this frosty caper stars Christmas vets John Cusack (The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead) and Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) as a couple of small-time, white-collar crooks out to rip off a mobster on Christmas Eve in slushy Kansas City. While some may consider these gift ideas to be unusual… Santa Claus: A kiddie-matinee staple in Mexico and the American Southwest in the 1960s, this truly surreal 1959 import got a big boost when it was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. If you prefer your Christmas movies without the good cheer, this could well be the one for you! The Ice Harvest: A crime story as coldhearted as the title suggests, this frosty caper stars Christmas vets John Cusack (The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead) and Billy Bob Thornton (Bad Santa) as a couple of small-time, white-collar crooks out Dark and creepy, yes, but if you commit to Kelly’s ride, it’s riveting to the end. Patrick O’Neal (The Stepford Wives) plays a lawyer trying to sell off a Long Island mansion at Christmastime, not realizing that an ax-wielding lunatic has just escaped from an asylum and is heading for the house. We've rounded up the best unique and quirky gifts to buy your loved ones for Christmas 2020. Top 10 Unusual Christmas Movies of All Time. Screen Reader Users: To optimize your experience with your screen reading software, please use our Flixster.com website, which has the same tickets as our Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com websites. Christmas looks incomplete with the Christmas holiday movies. It is decorated with a large Christmas tree, festive lights, and stockings to represent the loving parents and their young daughter. This is one of those holiday films that dares to make the season as un-bright as possible, with sad, desperate men toiling away under a slate-gray sky as Tracey Thorn’s heart-rending “Joy” plays on the soundtrack. Not everyone will remember all of these songs – this Christmas trivia category may be best for adults. SEE DETAILS, when you spend $25 on participating products. The incomprehensible story is best experienced with the brilliant and soothing wisecracks provided by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 troupe in their season six episode from the nineties. The Top 10 Christmas Movies of All Time, According to Rotten Tomatoes, Chill Out With These 'Frozen II' Activity Sheets, DIY Death Star Ornament Brings 'Star Wars' Home, when you purchase a new Edible Arrangements movie-themed Edible Box. Needless to say, the holiday season doesn’t lift any spirits or create any miracles for this particular story, and Christmas looms in the background as the cold reminder of everything the film’s protagonists lack in their emotionally vapid lives. This downright surreal and impossibly weird Mexican-language (and endearingly but poorly English-language dubbed) Santa Claus tale is a must-see for anyone who favors something bizarre for the holiday season. While the enormous fan base for this film almost makes it too obvious of a choice for this list, the sad and resonating feelings found at the it’s heart are what make it a slightly less-appealing choice for the majority of those seeking out films to put them in the Christmas spirit. The Christmastime atmosphere adds layers of both sweetness and sadness to the always-shifting (but expertly plotted) tones of this wild and ingenious film. So there is a good-versus-evil story taking place amidst all the Christmas magic. What am I talking about when I say the top 10 "unusual" Christmas movies? Four Piece White Marble Bar Kit. From Santa’s army of toy-making child slaves to the creepiest wind-up reindeer you’ve ever seen, Santa Claus will bruise your psyche — and have you coming back for more when Christmas rolls around again next year. The Box: The third film from writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) was drubbed by critics and ignored by audiences (particularly after opening-night viewers gave it a CinemaScore “F”). With the iconic images of the masked sex party and the secret society living in everyone's memory, this is definitely one of the more unusual and bizarre Christmas movies.
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