Suggest fun, weird movies for Christmas watching?
December 20, 2012 3:36 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for non-traditional fun (maybe dark) Christmas movies, for my Christmas day full of movies. Right now, I'm watching Rare Exports, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hogfather . Any other awesome and ridiculous suggestions?
From this askme I'm considering He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, and Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
Netflix instant play would be awesome, but not necessary.
From this askme I'm considering He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, and Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
Netflix instant play would be awesome, but not necessary.
Best answer: Bernard and the Genie is my favorite.
Scrooged is good too.
posted by Garm at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Scrooged is good too.
posted by Garm at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Father Ted Xmas Special? If priests getting stuck in a lingerie department is non-trad enough for you...
posted by mippy at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by mippy at 3:43 PM on December 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
Reindeer Games is a terrible movie, and should therefore be considered. How about Die Hard?
posted by leotrotsky at 3:44 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by leotrotsky at 3:44 PM on December 20, 2012
Die Hard is the one true christmas movie against which all other christmas movies shall be judged and found wanting.
posted by elizardbits at 3:44 PM on December 20, 2012 [8 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 3:44 PM on December 20, 2012 [8 favorites]
well you've gotta see Bad Santa, that goes without saying.
posted by facetious at 3:46 PM on December 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by facetious at 3:46 PM on December 20, 2012 [4 favorites]
Trading Places and Terry Gilliam's Brazil. And Die Hard, and Scrooged. As is Tradition.
posted by Mizu at 3:50 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Mizu at 3:50 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
My go-to Christmas movies are Desk Set (not at all dark but fun) and Lion in Winter (could be viewed as dark-ish. Gray. Dusky?)
I personally save The Apartment for New Year's Eve viewing but it could be a Christmas movie instead. And I have a good friend who, every year, announces that if she watched that every year she'd probably kill herself. So, I suppose, dark. Funny dark. Billy Wilder dark.
posted by Stacey at 3:54 PM on December 20, 2012
I personally save The Apartment for New Year's Eve viewing but it could be a Christmas movie instead. And I have a good friend who, every year, announces that if she watched that every year she'd probably kill herself. So, I suppose, dark. Funny dark. Billy Wilder dark.
posted by Stacey at 3:54 PM on December 20, 2012
In Bruges takes place during Christmas and is very dark. Also, very funny.
posted by phunniemee at 3:56 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by phunniemee at 3:56 PM on December 20, 2012
Fred Clause? I dunno if I'm being super obtuse by suggesting that, but I found it pretty funny and kinda dark.
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 4:02 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by Enchanting Grasshopper at 4:02 PM on December 20, 2012
The Mr. Bean Christmas episode is hilarious and not at all schmaltzy.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 4:07 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 4:07 PM on December 20, 2012
Second The Ref! My favorite Christmas movie EVER.
"You know what I'm going to get you next Christmas, Mom? A big wooden cross, so that every time you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it!"
posted by cecic at 4:08 PM on December 20, 2012
"You know what I'm going to get you next Christmas, Mom? A big wooden cross, so that every time you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it!"
posted by cecic at 4:08 PM on December 20, 2012
If you're willing to take TV episodes, there are three Bones Christmas episodes, all varying levels of dark, and pretty decently stand-alone. (Season 1: The Man in the Fallout Shelter, Season 3: The Santa in the Slush, Season 5: The Goop on the Girl.) I believe these are all on Netflix instant. Also, the first season has a bit of sentimental with the sad and if you just want explosions, go right to the fifth season.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:08 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:08 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you're an MST3K fan, you could do worse than buying some holiday Rifftrax. You can burn them to disc from your computer if you have the capability, but none on Netflix. There are Shorts this year and several others if you search for 'christmas' in the box.
(I made my family suffer last year with Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny. It's...uh, different. And very low on the Christmas.)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is available on Netflix streaming, but the MST3K version is disc only. It's watchable without the riffing, which is rare, because it is legitimately hilariously bad.
posted by cobaltnine at 4:14 PM on December 20, 2012
(I made my family suffer last year with Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny. It's...uh, different. And very low on the Christmas.)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is available on Netflix streaming, but the MST3K version is disc only. It's watchable without the riffing, which is rare, because it is legitimately hilariously bad.
posted by cobaltnine at 4:14 PM on December 20, 2012
"Reckless" with Mia Farrow (1995) is a very edgy, very funny, very very dark Christmas movie. She's a happy wife whose husband (Tony Goldwyn) confesses, on Christmas Eve, that he's hired a hit man to kill and she has to leave -- now. Cast includes Scott Glenn, Mary-Louise Parker, and Giancarlo Esposito. As far as I know, only Mr. K and I have ever seen it (in fact, we bought it on VHS). It grossed $103,000, which even in 1995 dollars is practically invisible. IMDB lists it, but without even a plot stub. It's rated PG-13 for "complex psychological themes". Ha.
Still, it's probably available out there somewhere. Perhaps you'll stumble on it. Merry Christmas!
posted by kestralwing at 4:17 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Still, it's probably available out there somewhere. Perhaps you'll stumble on it. Merry Christmas!
posted by kestralwing at 4:17 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I haven't seen it yet - it's in my Netflix queue though - but Saint Nick (aka Saint) might fit the bill. Some reviewers have called it a horror-comedy. It sounds like one to me, although I've been accused of having a rather... let's say "inclusive" idea of what's funny.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:19 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:19 PM on December 20, 2012
Nthing Die Hard. It is the Christmas movie that all other Christmas movies should aspire to be.
posted by firei at 4:36 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by firei at 4:36 PM on December 20, 2012
The Invader Zim "The Most Horrible Xmas Ever" episode. Oh, yes.
posted by rmd1023 at 4:48 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 4:48 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Muppet Christmas Carol.
It is simultaneously trad and non trad, and imho is the most christmassy film evah!
posted by Faintdreams at 4:51 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
It is simultaneously trad and non trad, and imho is the most christmassy film evah!
posted by Faintdreams at 4:51 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
The Incomparable podcast had recommended, among others, "Elf", "Groundhog Day", and "Black Christmas", among others.
posted by applesurf at 5:12 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by applesurf at 5:12 PM on December 20, 2012
Seconding GREMLINS, and I'll add one I just saw last night: Charles Laughton's 1955 film NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (yes, with Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, and Lillian Gish). It wouldn't qualify as "fun', but certainly would as "dark." The film society that presented it as its Christmas film this year described it as an underrated and oddly heart-warming Christmas movie that makes a singular case for persistence of love over wickedness.
posted by orthicon halo at 5:12 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by orthicon halo at 5:12 PM on December 20, 2012
Muppet Christmas Carol is excellent.
A Wish For Wings That Work is a family tradition - the network aired it =once=. Only... once.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is also excellent - black cynicism, deepest despair and... hope? Top notch jazz soundtrack, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:26 PM on December 20, 2012
A Wish For Wings That Work is a family tradition - the network aired it =once=. Only... once.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is also excellent - black cynicism, deepest despair and... hope? Top notch jazz soundtrack, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:26 PM on December 20, 2012
Best answer: If you can handle subtitles, The City of Lost Children aka La Cité des Enfants Perdus is a downright excellent film. It's pretty weird and dark without being outright scary, but it fits the non-traditional Christmas theme perfectly.
posted by Diagonalize at 6:05 PM on December 20, 2012
posted by Diagonalize at 6:05 PM on December 20, 2012
I was raving about my childhood favorite Jim Henson's The Christmas Toy last year, and a friend told me she tried it but it was too creepy for her kids. And you know, in a post-Toy-Story world, it DOES seem super creepy, especially the doll puppets.
posted by lampoil at 7:03 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by lampoil at 7:03 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
Fanny and Alexander is my tradition. It's definitely a dark Christmas movie. Also long, death obsessed and Swedish.
posted by sweltering at 10:15 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by sweltering at 10:15 PM on December 20, 2012 [2 favorites]
Catch Me If You Can is a Christmas movie.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:49 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:49 PM on December 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Lion in Winter takes place at Christmas and involves lots of intra-family sabotage.
posted by chaiminda at 2:37 AM on December 21, 2012
posted by chaiminda at 2:37 AM on December 21, 2012
Sheitan is a French horror movie set at Christmastime.
posted by misteraitch at 3:42 AM on December 21, 2012
posted by misteraitch at 3:42 AM on December 21, 2012
My SO had a Christmas film Sunday last weekend, she watched:
Four Christmasses, which was utter shite, I have come here to warn you to avoid it. Two incredibly unsympathetic leads and a joke free comedy relying on poorly done slapstick.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which was nice enough but not a lot happened, its about a boy getting over a tragedy by watching Tom Bergenger carve a nativity set, while Joely Richardson knits.
Die Hard: Yay!
posted by biffa at 5:41 AM on December 21, 2012
Four Christmasses, which was utter shite, I have come here to warn you to avoid it. Two incredibly unsympathetic leads and a joke free comedy relying on poorly done slapstick.
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which was nice enough but not a lot happened, its about a boy getting over a tragedy by watching Tom Bergenger carve a nativity set, while Joely Richardson knits.
Die Hard: Yay!
posted by biffa at 5:41 AM on December 21, 2012
Along the lines of Die Hard, don't forget Lethal Weapon.
posted by shallowcenter at 7:22 AM on December 21, 2012
posted by shallowcenter at 7:22 AM on December 21, 2012
Seconding Lion In Winter. "We all have knives! It's 1183 and we're barbarians!"
Also seconding Fanny and Alexander. Saw it when I was... eight? Permanently scarred. Didn't even realize until a tentative watching years later that there were whole plots I'd mentally blocked. It's a humdinger.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:21 AM on December 21, 2012
Also seconding Fanny and Alexander. Saw it when I was... eight? Permanently scarred. Didn't even realize until a tentative watching years later that there were whole plots I'd mentally blocked. It's a humdinger.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:21 AM on December 21, 2012
Eyes Wide Shut takes place during Christmas and the criticism of the shallow consumerism is an important subtext ( of course it offers no viable alternative cause the thesis of the movie is everyone gets fucked over)
The Ice Harvest uses the Christmastime setting and situations to darkly comedic effect as a violent, nihilistic neo noir.
posted by The Whelk at 9:49 AM on December 21, 2012
The Ice Harvest uses the Christmastime setting and situations to darkly comedic effect as a violent, nihilistic neo noir.
posted by The Whelk at 9:49 AM on December 21, 2012
I cannot recommend the Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny RiffTrax enough. It's just super weird and hilarious, particularly if you already know you like MST3K style humor.
posted by lillygog at 1:48 PM on December 21, 2012
posted by lillygog at 1:48 PM on December 21, 2012
Junky's Christmas... I watch it every Christmas Eve now, it's on youtube/vimeo
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:56 AM on December 22, 2012
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:56 AM on December 22, 2012
Trading Places is traditional Christmas viewing for us!
posted by platinum at 5:44 PM on December 23, 2012
posted by platinum at 5:44 PM on December 23, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cellar door at 3:42 PM on December 20, 2012