How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ... there are plenty of avowed Christmas special classics. But if you're looking for something a little different to watch this holiday season, check out one of these films. They aren't Christmas specials but are, instead, movies that just happen to be set at Christmas.
Just click on the title to request it from the Library Catalog!
-- Die Hard
There's a growing movement among certain movie aficionados to name Die Hard as their favorite Christmas movie. It's not, of course, precisely a Christmas movie, but the film -- which follows an off-duty police officer as he attempts to rescue a group of hostages trapped in a Los Angeles skyscraper -- does inarguably take place during the holiday season.
It was the movie that launched Willis's career as an action hero (as, up until that point, he'd been known as a comedy actor). Co-starring Alan Rickman in the role of the villain, the movie is an action classic that, thanks to its holiday setting, can, indeed, double as your favorite Christmas movie.
-- The Lion in Winter
Starring the late, great Peter O'Toole, this historical film takes a look at the lives of King Henry II and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. It's Christmas, and Henry and Eleanor are welcoming home their three sons (Richard, Geoffrey, and John) -- as well as houseguest Philip II, the king of France (who just so happens to be the son of Eleanor's ex-husband).
It might be the twelfth century, but some things remain constant and universal, including the stress of family get-togethers. Henry and Eleanor take turns talking up their respective favorite sons for career promotion (the "promotion" in this case being the next king of England), deal with Henry's would-be mistress, and handle emerging family scandals throughout the festivities. While the movie itself is fictitious (King Henry held no such family Christmas gathering), the background of the historical figures is accurate. It makes The Lion in Winter a great film for history buffs -- or anybody stressing over family during the holidays!
-- We're No Angels
This 1955 comedy stars Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov as three convicts on the run after their recent escape from prison. Hoping to find a place to lie low, they find their way to a family-owned shop and quickly realize that offering their services as handymen will give them a more permanent place to hide out. Things get complicated when the trio realizes their new "family" is in dire financial straits -- and that they want to do what they can to help out.
Having escaped from prison just before Christmas, the film features a family holiday dinner made mostly out of stolen ingredients, not to mention a redemption story that is both funny and lightly heartwarming. (It's also one of Bogart's few comedic roles.)
-- Catch Me If You Can
We've mentioned before our love of the film Catch Me If You Can, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life (former) con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr. Before he turned 21, Abagnale had cashed over 2 million dollars in fraudulent checks, while also successfully posing as an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, and a college professor. Abagnale was caught and served some prison time, but redeemed himself after his release by putting his acquired skills to a more noble use. He started his own security company and served many years as a consultant to the FBI, helping to catch check forgers and creating better security against fraud and identity theft.
The film based on his life is as much a story of his life as a criminal as it is a story about his redemption, making the recurring theme of Christmas all that more appropriate. "Christmas, Carl!" he exclaims to the FBI agent who has spent the last three holidays chasing him. "How is it we're always talking on Christmas??"
-- Iron Man 3
The latest offering in the Iron Man franchise presents us with a superhero, Tony Stark, who's fighting a different sort of bad guy: the panic attacks and PTSD brought on by the traumatic events he experienced in New York (as seen in 2013's blockbuster film The Avengers).
Though the focus of the movie is not on its Christmas setting, the idea of Christmas still permeates the story -- from Tony's ongoing quest to find the perfect Christmas gift for his girlfriend, to the appearance of his very own Ghost-of-Christmas-Past in the form of ten-year-old Harley. With the story's focus on a hero who must rebuild himself, it seems only natural to place the film on the cusp of a new year -- and during a holiday season that's all about hope.
-- Post by Ms. B
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