‘Tis the season for a number of things in the Western Hemisphere: vaccines, political controversy, and oh, yes, major holidays. Against a backdrop of such turmoil, there are certain films that always air in the month of December that bring a comforting dose of nostalgia and holiday cheer. Some of them, though, are pretenders! Today, J & K identify ‘Christmas’ movies that are anything but.
J Can someone please explain to me how it is that Die Hard wound up being a tradition for people to watch around the holidays? I just don’t get it. There’s nothing remotely festive about it. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s a gritty action thriller. That being said, it’s better than most other movies that are on this time of year. Maybe that accounts for its rise to popularity.
K I don’t know how many of you out there have an interest in older movies, but I’m here to bring you this blast from the past: Babes in Toyland! It was advertised as a Christmas movie by Disney back in the early 1960s. And I LOVED it as a kid. I think my mom taped it on VHS (on a rerun decades later of course), but I know I watched it over and over. It’s essentially a Mother Goose Nursey Rhymes story (they did Once Upon a Time before OUAT was a thing). Mary Mary Quite Contrary is going to marry Tom Piper. All sorts of over-the-top mayhem and musical numbers entertain you with children’s tales characters and the necessary badie with a mustache. It just feels right to watch this at Christmas (and I’m currently rewatching for the first time in many years). BUT. The only Christmas-y part happens near the end when the main characters run into an eccentric toymaker trying to make the Christmas deadline and Tom becomes toy-sized to ride out with a toy soldier army (very Nutcracker-esque). And they ride into the ending on a sleigh while it snows while Mary is dressed like Mrs Clause….? Anyway, it’s a lovely bit of nostalgia anyway.
So, Seekers. Do you have a movie you like to watch around this time that has nothing to do with the season? Tell us in the comments!