Gizamaluke Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 At this time of year all I hear is how Die Hard is really a Christmas movie, and I agree. It's set at Christmas, might not be your typical Christmas movie, but it's about getting through a trying time by yourself with only strangers helping you. Sounds like Christmas to me. And it got me think about all the other Christmas movies that aren't Christmas movies and if anyone knew any that I did not. I'll start with: Brazil. Terry Gilliam spoofs 1984 with his retro dystopian future, a bleak look at a world of paperwork, authoritarianism and the government spying on the British people, with grey utilitarian buildings and heavy industry settings throughout its easy to forget that this is in fact a Christmas movie. I forgot about that most of the way through until I was reminded by the holly wreath on the torture chamber door. Hohoho. Link to post Share on other sites
Mae 🌼 Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The Nightmare before Christmas, though its technically a Halloween film, its definitely a Christmas film to me as well Link to post Share on other sites
Luftschlosseule Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The Gremlins I and II. They're wrecking christmas trees while listening to christmas music, that's good enough for me. Link to post Share on other sites
Anthracite_Impreza Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Pixar Cars, cos we always watch at least one of them at christmas Link to post Share on other sites
Gizamaluke Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 1 hour ago, Mae__ said: The Nightmare before Christmas, though its technically a Halloween film, its definitely a Christmas film to me as well 32 minutes ago, Luftschlosseule said: The Gremlins I and II. They're wrecking christmas trees while listening to christmas music, that's good enough for me. A couple solid cases of Christmas movies that aren't Christmas movies but really are. I totally forgot about got of them. Watching Gremlins right now, but the nightmare before Christmas will be harder to find on telly. Link to post Share on other sites
Ms. Carolynne Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Funny, another forum I'm on had the same discussion last year. Link to post Share on other sites
Alejandrogynous Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 RENT. 5 hours ago, Mae__ said: The Nightmare before Christmas, though its technically a Halloween film, its definitely a Christmas film to me as well Funny, I see this the opposite way - technically a Christmas movie (as it takes place during the Christmas season) that also works for Halloween. Link to post Share on other sites
fuzzipueo Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The first Lethal Weapon movie takes place over Christmas. I always watch the series at this time of the year. Link to post Share on other sites
Spotastic Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 7 hours ago, Mae__ said: The Nightmare before Christmas, though its technically a Halloween film, its definitely a Christmas film to me as well I agree so much with this. It's one of my favorite movies, and it is so much more a Christmas movie than a Halloween one. It's basically both, but more so about how Christmas works and these Halloween creatures are trying (or not) to understand it. Also, even Bruce Willis said Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. I don't think that any movie set during Christmas time is a Christmas movie. Does it have something to do with Christmas as an event or is Christmas just the setting? If it covers Christmas topics more than just dealing with traffic or stores, it can be a Christmas movie. I didn't think I had strong feelings about this, but apparently I do. Link to post Share on other sites
daveb Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Here's one with Christmas in the title, but not actually a Christmas movie: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Good movie though. Link to post Share on other sites
Gizamaluke Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 12 minutes ago, Spotastic said: I agree so much with this. It's one of my favorite movies, and it is so much more a Christmas movie than a Halloween one. It's basically both, but more so about how Christmas works and these Halloween creatures are trying (or not) to understand it. Also, even Bruce Willis said Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. I don't think that any movie set during Christmas time is a Christmas movie. Does it have something to do with Christmas as an event or is Christmas just the setting? If it covers Christmas topics more than just dealing with traffic or stores, it can be a Christmas movie. I didn't think I had strong feelings about this, but apparently I do. I understand that, like, there's an animated movie based on WW1 and it has a scene where the Bride and the German soldiers stop fighting for Christmas and play football. However that's one scene set in Christmas whereas Die Hard, Gremlins and Brazil's stories play out only during the holidays. Link to post Share on other sites
Gizamaluke Posted December 16, 2018 Author Share Posted December 16, 2018 Hm, what about Tokyo Godfathers? It's set during the holidays, I suppose, but in Japan where they don't really celebrate Christmas, but the cover art is almost like a nativity scene. Link to post Share on other sites
daveb Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 I guess it comes down to definition. For example, whether someone defines "Christmas movie" as one set during Christmastime even if it's not a main theme of the movie, or as a movie where Christmas is the central theme, or other criteria such as being able to relate stuff in the movie to Christmas, even if it's tangential (like some of the arguments for Diehard?). I might also ask if the movie could take place some other time of the year or with references to Christmas entirely removed and still be substantially the same. For example, a movie like Elf or The Christmas Story only works in the context of Christmas. Those would have to be substantially different to work in the absence of Christmas. Diehard could easily be set during Thanksgiving or some other holiday (or even a non-holiday) without really changing anything substantial. Same goes for Gremlins and trashing Christmas trees; they could just as well have been trashing something else. Link to post Share on other sites
fuzzipueo Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 3 hours ago, Gizamaluke said: Hm, what about Tokyo Godfathers? It's set during the holidays, I suppose, but in Japan where they don't really celebrate Christmas, but the cover art is almost like a nativity scene. Even if they don't come right out and say it, this is definitely a "Christmas" story - the themes and everything around the plot just point at that. It also has a surprisingly nice twist to it that made it fascinating to watch several years ago. Link to post Share on other sites
fuzzipueo Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 2 hours ago, daveb said: I guess it comes down to definition. For example, whether someone defines "Christmas movie" as one set during Christmastime even if it's not a main theme of the movie, or as a movie where Christmas is the central theme, or other criteria such as being able to relate stuff in the movie to Christmas, even if it's tangential (like some of the arguments for Diehard?). I might also ask if the movie could take place some other time of the year or with references to Christmas entirely removed and still be substantially the same. For example, a movie like Elf or The Christmas Story only works in the context of Christmas. Those would have to be substantially different to work in the absence of Christmas. Diehard could easily be set during Thanksgiving or some other holiday (or even a non-holiday) without really changing anything substantial. Same goes for Gremlins and trashing Christmas trees; they could just as well have been trashing something else. Ah, but Christmas wouldn't be the same without something getting blown to smithereens and people punching each other to near death, right? You're point stands, however, because Die Hard and Lethal Weapon (among others) could happen around Thanksgiving or Easter, though I don't think Easter has quite the same impact here in the States that Xmas and Thanksgiving do. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jetsun Milarepa Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 13 hours ago, daveb said: Here's one with Christmas in the title, but not actually a Christmas movie: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Good movie though. Love it! The thin white Duke at his best. IMHO 'Planes trains and automobiles ' should have been an Xmas film! Link to post Share on other sites
daveb Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 9 hours ago, chandrakirti said: IMHO 'Planes trains and automobiles ' should have been an Xmas film! For US audiences it makes a lot of sense as a Thanksgiving film, but I suppose it could work for Christmas, too. Link to post Share on other sites
fuzzipueo Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Thinking about this subject this morning, I came to the conclusion that the reason why Christmas is so often used in the background of movies, even if the overt feel of it is off, has to do with easy to decipher shorthand. Of all the holidays one can chose from, Christmas is probably the easiest one to recognize, even from a distance - all you need are lights, red and green ornaments, and a few other things and just about any audience on the planet will recognize the most in your face holiday of the year, even if they're not Christian or don't celebrate the holiday in their culture. Below we see a tree, lights, a signed note, and in fuzzy detail, one of the old black & white Scrooge movies ... Roger and Martin in front of Roger's banged up house. Link to post Share on other sites
Ldlelee Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 On 12/16/2018 at 4:27 AM, SnowMae said: The Nightmare before Christmas, though its technically a Halloween film, its definitely a Christmas film to me as well I once started thinking about whether or not it was a Christmas or Halloween movie, and I got so stressed out, I had to lie down. Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Die Hard 2 Link to post Share on other sites
daveb Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 But, but, but, Groundhog Day is a Groundhog Day movie... Link to post Share on other sites
Gizamaluke Posted December 20, 2018 Author Share Posted December 20, 2018 On 12/16/2018 at 5:58 PM, daveb said: I guess it comes down to definition. For example, whether someone defines "Christmas movie" as one set during Christmastime even if it's not a main theme of the movie, or as a movie where Christmas is the central theme, or other criteria such as being able to relate stuff in the movie to Christmas, even if it's tangential (like some of the arguments for Diehard?). I might also ask if the movie could take place some other time of the year or with references to Christmas entirely removed and still be substantially the same. For example, a movie like Elf or The Christmas Story only works in the context of Christmas. Those would have to be substantially different to work in the absence of Christmas. Diehard could easily be set during Thanksgiving or some other holiday (or even a non-holiday) without really changing anything substantial. Same goes for Gremlins and trashing Christmas trees; they could just as well have been trashing something else. I guess you're right, I mean, the movie Jingle All The Way despite having everything a Christmas movie should have feels like the least Christmassy movie of all time, possibly because Santa was replaced by Turboman, or whatever it was. Maybe because the movie was all about commercialism to the extent where it was no longer parody but just cynical. Link to post Share on other sites
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