Top 7- Unconventional Christmas Films
Christmas is nearly here again which we probably should have seen coming due to it being annual and all but it still surprised us. Anyway, I wasn't sure what Christmas themed Top 7 to do as I've already done films in general and Christmas themed TV episodes. As you've probably worked out from the title, I chose unconventional films because Christmas is all well and good but it's fun to mess with the concept sometimes.
7. Gremlins
Let's start with a real classic. Gremlins is technically a horror, although the fact that I can watch it probably disqualifies it as such. This is one of those movies that is for children but properly treats them maturely. This has a great story with some properly emotional moments, some great dark humour and fantastic violence that children are allowed to watch because that blood flying everywhere is green so it's comic violence. There are many fantastic moments in the film only possible due to the Christmas setting, although my personal favourite moment is the heartbreaking monologue about the main character's father and why she hates Christmas.
6. Less than Zero
A film based on a novel by one of my favourite authors, this one is a tad divisive but largely indulgent for me. It follows a slightly similar story to the novel, about a teenager returning home to LA from university for Christmas. What he returns to is endless parties full of endless people with endless problems, all doing drugs in an attempt to feel something. When the film is seen as an interpretation of the (excellent) novel's themes instead of a straight adaptation, it's a great time and it features a wonderful performance from Robert Downey Jr. as an addict with a lot of financial problems, something strangely meta when considering Downey's problems at the time the film was made. As far as alternatives for Christmas films go, this one is jet black and uses the most wonderful time of the year to show the most despicable people alive but the film is all the better for it.
5. The Nice Guys
The first Shane Black here to make the list, The Nice Guys was a fantastic and incredibly fun throwback that I loved when it came out earlier this year (you can read my review here http://thequitenerdyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/double-review-spectacular-warcraft-and.html) and it also happens to be a Christmas film. Of all the Shane Black efforts I've seen, this is the least Christmassy but its still set around the holiday and is a great film that so many people missed this year. If you like your action not too serious and your mysteries with a heap of neon, you should be wishing for The Nice Guys under your tree this year.
4. Lethal Weapon
Hey, Shane Black, welcome back. This is where his whole thing started, being the first screenplay he ever wrote. This wasn't directed by him but it's still got his fingerprints all over it. The film is distinctly Christmas in the way that Die Hard is but is also the perfect blueprint for buddy cop films. Sure, it's a little weird seeing Mel Gibson in a role after the whole anti-semitic thing but everyone seems to be brushing over that now and his performance here, both individually and his chemistry with Danny Glover, make me want to forget that. It's big dumb fun but it really is fun and I think this is going to become another Christmas tradition for me after Home Alone 2 has been ruined.
3. In Bruges
I'm one of the rare people that prefers McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths to his breakout hit In Bruges but don't let that sell the film down, it's a modern classic that everyone should watch. Colin Farrell has been taken by Brendan Gleeson to Bruges (its in Belgium) to keep him out the way. Farrell doesn't want to be there, Gleeson doesn't want to be with Farrell but they have no choice to hang out together and wait for it all to blow over. The Christmas tone emphasises the loneliness that the characters are feeling and make for a poignant ending but while there is crippling emotion, there is comedy amidst this bleakness and that's what you should be here for. You'll laugh till you cry and then cry because the script is written so well as to evoke the perfect emotions at the perfect times. Possibly the bleakest of all the films here, it's only a Christmas film if you really need a downer but it deserves a watch any time of the year.
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Shane Black's final appearance today is the one that I just enjoyed more than any of his others. Fun behind the scenes fact, I watched this for the first time last night because I'm unorganised but honest so I'm still working out how I feel about it in the grand scheme of things. In the smaller scheme of things where it's Christmas films, this easily jumps up here. Robert Downey Jr. makes a return, this time post addiction and I think it's his best role. He is his Tony Stark character here, only funnier and darker. Val Kilmer (who you will know as the definitive Batman from Batman Forever) is his buddy and they go around LA trying to solve this crime. For me, it's what Lethal Weapon built up to and what The Nice Guys was trying to be. You will be hard pushed to find a Christmas film this action packed, this charming and definitely this funny. There was one film that beat it though and not even by a close margin.
1. Die Hard
What is so impressive about Die Hard is that it isn't even just the best unconventional Christmas film (although it is that), it's also the best Christmas film ever made and probably the greatest action film ever made. It's a simple story about a man who loves his family and has to defend them and a bunch of innocent civilians against a group of terrorists lead by the most charismatic villain of all time, Alan Rickman in possibly his greatest role, Hans Gruber. For a franchise that has since gone off the rails, the film is impressively grounded and every shot counts. Sure, one of the bad guys can die and die quickly but so can an innocent civilian. With catchphrases to never be forgotten, characters to fall in love with and action that redefined a genre (sorry Predator), Die Hard deserves a place among annual Christmas classics like Home Alone or A Muppet's Christmas Carol and certainly a place in your heart.
7. Gremlins
Let's start with a real classic. Gremlins is technically a horror, although the fact that I can watch it probably disqualifies it as such. This is one of those movies that is for children but properly treats them maturely. This has a great story with some properly emotional moments, some great dark humour and fantastic violence that children are allowed to watch because that blood flying everywhere is green so it's comic violence. There are many fantastic moments in the film only possible due to the Christmas setting, although my personal favourite moment is the heartbreaking monologue about the main character's father and why she hates Christmas.
6. Less than Zero
A film based on a novel by one of my favourite authors, this one is a tad divisive but largely indulgent for me. It follows a slightly similar story to the novel, about a teenager returning home to LA from university for Christmas. What he returns to is endless parties full of endless people with endless problems, all doing drugs in an attempt to feel something. When the film is seen as an interpretation of the (excellent) novel's themes instead of a straight adaptation, it's a great time and it features a wonderful performance from Robert Downey Jr. as an addict with a lot of financial problems, something strangely meta when considering Downey's problems at the time the film was made. As far as alternatives for Christmas films go, this one is jet black and uses the most wonderful time of the year to show the most despicable people alive but the film is all the better for it.
5. The Nice Guys
The first Shane Black here to make the list, The Nice Guys was a fantastic and incredibly fun throwback that I loved when it came out earlier this year (you can read my review here http://thequitenerdyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/double-review-spectacular-warcraft-and.html) and it also happens to be a Christmas film. Of all the Shane Black efforts I've seen, this is the least Christmassy but its still set around the holiday and is a great film that so many people missed this year. If you like your action not too serious and your mysteries with a heap of neon, you should be wishing for The Nice Guys under your tree this year.
4. Lethal Weapon
Hey, Shane Black, welcome back. This is where his whole thing started, being the first screenplay he ever wrote. This wasn't directed by him but it's still got his fingerprints all over it. The film is distinctly Christmas in the way that Die Hard is but is also the perfect blueprint for buddy cop films. Sure, it's a little weird seeing Mel Gibson in a role after the whole anti-semitic thing but everyone seems to be brushing over that now and his performance here, both individually and his chemistry with Danny Glover, make me want to forget that. It's big dumb fun but it really is fun and I think this is going to become another Christmas tradition for me after Home Alone 2 has been ruined.
3. In Bruges
I'm one of the rare people that prefers McDonagh's Seven Psychopaths to his breakout hit In Bruges but don't let that sell the film down, it's a modern classic that everyone should watch. Colin Farrell has been taken by Brendan Gleeson to Bruges (its in Belgium) to keep him out the way. Farrell doesn't want to be there, Gleeson doesn't want to be with Farrell but they have no choice to hang out together and wait for it all to blow over. The Christmas tone emphasises the loneliness that the characters are feeling and make for a poignant ending but while there is crippling emotion, there is comedy amidst this bleakness and that's what you should be here for. You'll laugh till you cry and then cry because the script is written so well as to evoke the perfect emotions at the perfect times. Possibly the bleakest of all the films here, it's only a Christmas film if you really need a downer but it deserves a watch any time of the year.
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Shane Black's final appearance today is the one that I just enjoyed more than any of his others. Fun behind the scenes fact, I watched this for the first time last night because I'm unorganised but honest so I'm still working out how I feel about it in the grand scheme of things. In the smaller scheme of things where it's Christmas films, this easily jumps up here. Robert Downey Jr. makes a return, this time post addiction and I think it's his best role. He is his Tony Stark character here, only funnier and darker. Val Kilmer (who you will know as the definitive Batman from Batman Forever) is his buddy and they go around LA trying to solve this crime. For me, it's what Lethal Weapon built up to and what The Nice Guys was trying to be. You will be hard pushed to find a Christmas film this action packed, this charming and definitely this funny. There was one film that beat it though and not even by a close margin.
1. Die Hard
What is so impressive about Die Hard is that it isn't even just the best unconventional Christmas film (although it is that), it's also the best Christmas film ever made and probably the greatest action film ever made. It's a simple story about a man who loves his family and has to defend them and a bunch of innocent civilians against a group of terrorists lead by the most charismatic villain of all time, Alan Rickman in possibly his greatest role, Hans Gruber. For a franchise that has since gone off the rails, the film is impressively grounded and every shot counts. Sure, one of the bad guys can die and die quickly but so can an innocent civilian. With catchphrases to never be forgotten, characters to fall in love with and action that redefined a genre (sorry Predator), Die Hard deserves a place among annual Christmas classics like Home Alone or A Muppet's Christmas Carol and certainly a place in your heart.
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