07-JUN-18 Movie Mismatches

[DiveMilw]

I remembered the scathingly brilliant topic I forgot yesterday!  
Some movies have connections to holidays or other events.  "A Muppet Christmas Carol" or "Scrooged" are traditional for the Christmas season.  But what films do you enjoy at particular times of the year that aren't obvious choices?  For instance, "Die Hard" will forever be a Christmastime movie for me.  This article from Time magazine sort-of confirms that I am correct.  

[KathyB]

I like to listen to Jesus Christ Superstar on Good Friday, but I don't watch the movie. 

Kind of a complete 180° to what you were originally asking, but I like watching It's a Wonderful Life at other times of the year. Most of the movie does not take place at Christmas time, and I think that other times of the year make me pay more attention to the darkness in the movie. Halloween seems particularly appropriate.

[scenicdesign71]

I agree, Kathy!  I think It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street (which actually opened in June 1947, six months after IAWL) are both amazing movies which are much better appreciated as far outside the framework of "Christmas movie" kitsch as possible.

It admittedly doesn't help that they get so overexposed around Christmastime every year; like A Christmas Carol, they can both benefit and suffer from seasonal sentiment.  Fortunately -- and also like Dickens's paradigmatic holiday tale -- they're pretty indestructable.

But with just a small mental effort to watch them with an open mind, i.e., as free as possible from the baggage of their reputations as "holiday movies" (or even more broadly, as "family films," with the implication of anodyne, kid-friendly escapism) -- they actually work incredibly well as expertly-crafted, less-sentimental-than-you-think, thoroughly grown-up storytelling.

[scenicdesign71]

180º back to Tom's question -- and speaking of escapist fluff, though perhaps not altogether kid-friendly (depending on the household) and hardly anodyne:

For several years in the mid-2000s, my mom and I used to watch Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! on or around Christmas, though there's nothing specifically Christmassy about the film.  (La Bohème and its update Rent both include snowy, Christmas-in-the-city-ish scenes; but while Moulin Rouge! follows their template in plenty of other respects, most of its story seems to unfold in the warmer months, if I recall correctly.  This impromptu holiday tradition of ours didn't actually hold up all that long -- maybe four or five years, tops? -- so it's been awhile since I saw it).

[DiveMilw]

This impromptu holiday tradition of ours didn't actually hold up all that long -- maybe four or five years, tops? -- so it's been awhile since I saw it).

And just in time.......a version will be opening soon on Broadway so you can start a new tradition!

[Chris L]

Tom -- Next time put something like this in Polling the Community. It would be perfect there. Not that there's anything wrong with having it in the Daily, but we need more stuff elsewhere.

I actually agree that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, but I don't get the warm fuzzies for it and pull it out on Christmas Eve. I really don't have a go-to Christmas movie. Last Christmas we searched streaming channels until we hit on The Muppet Christmas Carol, which isn't a perfect film, but it sufficed. We also watched parts of some old Andy Williams Christmas specials on YouTube, because those actually evoke Christmas for me more than movies do, but they look terrible on a 4K TV.

[DiveMilw]

Will do, Chris!  I actually put it here because I was hoping to get a daily with many, many responses.   My glorious plan sort of worked. 

[Chris L]

Will do, Chris!  I actually put it here because I was hoping to get a daily with many, many responses.   My glorious plan sort of worked.  

You mean your "nefarious plan," right? 

[DiveMilw]

Will do, Chris!  I actually put it here because I was hoping to get a daily with many, many responses.   My glorious plan sort of worked.  

You mean your "nefarious plan," right?  

I really wanted "scathingly brilliant idea" but I couldn't think of it.  
But I do like being known for my nefarious doings......