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Movies set at Christmas that aren’t necessarily ‘Christmas movies’

Orang Utan said:
Have you even read the OP?
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I have again now. Not sure what point I was trying to make anymore with relation to the OP. I guess I was initially arguing the case for those two films meeting the OP requirements, then philosophising about why they shouldn’t be classed as Xmas films? Sorry if that’s a derail.

Anyway, if my many years on these boards have taught me anything, is that there’s no more controversial time and place to share an opinion on U75 than late weekend evenings in the TV & Film forum. So I bid you all good night.
 
The Night of the Hunter ends with a rather touching Christmas scene, pits two types of Christianity against each other (Mitchum's hypocritical fire & brimstone fundamentalism vs Gish's more charitable Christianity) and it has a dark fairy tale quality which makes it at least as much a Christmas movie as It's a Wonderful Life.
 
danny la rouge said:
Well, in every Christmas episode of Friends they’re at home. Except one, where Chandler is in Oklahoma. But then he misses Monica so he goes home.

Also, the song isn’t Driving Somewhere Else For Christmas, is it? Huh?
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In Friends they're at home with their friends, not their family. And Chris Rea's English.
 
Reno said:
The Night of the Hunter ends with a rather touching Christmas scene, pits two types of Christianity against each other (Mitchum's hypocritical fire & brimstone fundamentalism vs Gish's more charitable Christianity) and it has a dark fairy tale quality which makes it at least as much a Christmas movie as It's a Wonderful Life.
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I watched that movie as a kid and have wanted to watch it again for a while to see if it's as great as I remember it being. But I'm only prepared to use the already substantial number of platforms I can access for free via my TV, and it's not on any of them. Grr.
 
danny la rouge said:
A). Because they’re young. But they’re at home.
B). He might well be, but read the OP for heaven’s sake.
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B) It's the tightness of the timing that is the reason for the burglaries. It's explained in the movie
B) We're talking about American movies right now pfft
C) Snow
 
scifisam said:
I watched that movie as a kid and have wanted to watch it again for a while to see if it's as great as I remember it being. But I'm only prepared to use the already substantial number of platforms I can access for free via my TV, and it's not on any of them. Grr.
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It is. Robert Mitchum is terrifying and stylistically it looks great.
 
Brazil.
The best film set at Christmas that isn't a Christmas film.

12 Monkeys also had a Christmas setting in some parts.
 
Some of these don't really hit the OPs criteria but I'm intrigued by them
www.bfi.org.uk

10 great European Christmas films

With Ingmar Bergman’s festive family drama Fanny and Alexander returning to cinemas, we recommend 10 more Christmas classics from the continent.
www.bfi.org.uk

Particularly want to see Wendy Toye's On the Twelfth Day... but not even a version on KG. Reno you seen it?
 
I watched The Green Knight on Amazon Prime last night. It has some bits set at Christmas but because it's an Arthurian legend the Christmas bits look nothing like you'd expect Christmas to look.
 
Dunno about the rest of the world but on the basis of a few snowy scenes I've managed to put the entire Harry Fucking Potter franchise in with Christmas films. They only appear on Jellyfin between 8th Dec and 3rd Jan and I'm safe from them for the rest of the year.

ETA same goes for Brigit Jones and her bloody Diaries.
 
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redsquirrel said:
Some of these don't really hit the OPs criteria but I'm intrigued by them
www.bfi.org.uk

10 great European Christmas films

With Ingmar Bergman’s festive family drama Fanny and Alexander returning to cinemas, we recommend 10 more Christmas classics from the continent.
www.bfi.org.uk

Particularly want to see Wendy Toye's On the Twelfth Day... but not even a version on KG. Reno you seen it?
Click to expand...
Never seen it but I would love to now ! Three Wishes for Cinderella is the biggest Christmas film here in Germany, especially where I live. It's the one everybody rolls their eyes at, when they are being made to watch it again.
 
Reno said:
While only part of it takes place at Christmas, you'll nearly always find it at the top of any list of Christmas movies.

ew.com

These are the 20 best Christmas movies ever

Our ranking of the greatest Christmas-themed films, from animated classics to modern favorites.
ew.com ew.com
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Oh absolutely. But I think it qualifies for the OP. After all Die Hard, presented as a specimen exemplar, is also in that list.

E2a: I’d also say it’s definitely set at Christmas, the main action takes place on Christmas Eve. There’s a lot of backstory told in flashback, but the main setting is Christmas.
 
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prunus said:
Oh absolutely. But I think it qualifies for the OP. After all Die Hard, presented as a specimen exemplar, is also in that list.
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It's why I made my case above that The Night of the Hunter should be considered as much of a Christmas film as It's a Wonderful Life, as it also ends with a Christmas scene and has overall themes which fit with the season. I guess it's a matter of tone though, It's A Wonderful Life is generally seen as "heart warming" while The Night of the Hunter is considered a horror film or a film noir, though it defies genre expectations.
 
Reno said:
It's why I made my case above that The Night of the Hunter should be considered as much of a Christmas film as It's a Wonderful Life, as it also ends with a Christmas scene and has overall themes which fit with the season. I guess it's a matter of tone though, It's A Wonderful Life is generally seen as "heart warming" while The Night of the Hunter is considered a horror film or a film noir, though it defies genre expectations.
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I would consider your case solidly made. I wasn’t referencing IAWL as a refutation of NOTH. I hadn’t got as far as your post when I posted so hadn’t noticed that you mentioned IAWL :)
 
prunus said:
I would consider your case solidly made. I wasn’t referencing IAWL as a refutation of NOTH. I hadn’t got as far as your post when I posted so hadn’t noticed that you mentioned IAWL :)
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Oh I wasn't disagreeing with you, just blabbering on. :)
 
Characters in Gremlins watch It's A Wonderful Life in order to underline the Christmassy atmosphere and the parodical qualities of the film they're in.
 
Conversely, Groundhog Day might as well be a Christmas film - small town, snowy, plot a copy of Scrooged - but is technically not because of its February setting.
 
mojo pixy said:
I seem to recall Wake in Fright is set at Christmas, but there's certainly nothing christmassy about it :D
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There never is anything chritmassy about Christmas in Australia. I spent one Christmas in Sydney and got invited to a barbecue. The Christmas tree next to their swimming pool looked so out of place.
 
Reno said:
There never is anything chritmassy about Christmas in Australia. I spent one Christmas in Sydney and got invited to a barbecue. The Christmas tree next to their swimming pool looked so out of place.
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I spent one Xmas in NZ and we ate our dinner outside - I’d be very happy if we could do that over here too
 
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