Five “Kind Of” Christmas Movies

Everyone has their favorite Christmas movies, and some of us remember when these were screened for twenty-four hours, sometimes seven days a week, with commercials. Each year viewers anticipate the annual viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), A Christmas Story (1983), et holly jolly cetera. What follows is a list of movies that you may have missed, either because they weren’t widely released or because they just weren’t Christmas-y enough to be canonized as classics. Perhaps you’ll find a new favorite amongst this mixed bag of miscreants. 

✼

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

For many, any of the manifold adaptations of A Christmas Carol are cherished hallmarks of the season. The Man Who Invented Christmas follows Charles Dickens’s process of writing the Yuletide classic, including all of the challenges he faced just trying to have the manuscript published. Formerly a minor holiday of the English calendar, prospective houses were unsure that the book would appeal to a mass market. Baffling to the modern viewer and all too familiar to writers, I discovered this movie just last year and am looking forward to a rewatch.

✼

Better Off Dead (1985)

Starring John Cusack in one of his earliest leading roles, Better Off Dead is a comedy about a normal teenage guy who enters a perilous skiing competition to win back his girlfriend from a Grade A 1980s Jerk who holds the high school champion title. The other option, of course, is that he’s better off dead without her. Solidly satirical with its absurdist tone, the movie’s Christmas sequence is what one would expect from a fictional suburb filmed both in Hollywood and Utah. Much like The Attic’s list of Holiday Adjacent Films, the holiday doesn’t take center stage but lasts just long enough to warrant a spot on my family’s “Chrisssmusss” roster.

✼

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Songs both peppy and full of yearning, excellent Technicolor costumes, and Judy. What else could one want from a musical? Much like The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Meet Me in St. Louis could be a Halloween movie, as there’s just as much time given to that holiday as there is to Christmas, and also to Summer. Nevertheless, the plot’s emotional wave crests through the snowman ceiling right after a Christmas party, leading into the film debut of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas sung by Garland in a stunning crimson velvet gown. I’m already crying.

✼

Star Wars (1977-1983, 2015-2019)

Maybe it’s because the most recent batch has been released around Christmastime, maybe it’s because this is the only time of year during which I can watch an entire trilogy in a day, or maybe it’s because Star Wars is the only universe that can make me feel like a child again. Any and all of these reasons could be why I’m drawn to the series during the holiday season. And with the weekly release of The Mandalorian (2019- ) over the past month, we can all benefit from Baby Yoda, the gift that keeps on giving.

✼

Trading Places (1983)

Set between Christmas and the opening of the stock market on January 2, Trading Places follows a cruel deal made to ruin Dan Ackyroyd’s life and gamble with Eddie Murphy’s. This is a risky recommendation, as this movie has almost every kind of humor that is not allowed to be produced anymore, and for good reason. However, much of the comedy is used to great effect, condemning the baddies while the good guys prevail. Most of it. If you can wade through some bad taste for a sweet reward, Trading Places warrants a spot on your in-between list of the season.

*All images from Posteritati

---

Zoë G. Burnett is a writer, menswear stylist, and film enthusiast based in Boston, Massachusetts. A born and raised New England Yankee, she feels equally at home in the 7th arrondissement. She is currently editing her first novel. You can read her personal blog here.