Movie Binge: Holiday Edition

Every so often I give myself a movie binge challenge. Watch all the movies of Steven Spielberg or watch a lot of movies about killer tomatoes. This year in December, I decided to do holiday movies. I'm not done yet, but here's what I've seen so far.

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

Does it count as a movie? I don't give a fuck, it has Kevin Bacon. The Marvel machine rolls on with a pretty funny and charming take on "let's save Christmas for our friend." Except it is about aliens who come to Earth and kidnap Kevin Bacon and then Kevin Bacon sings a song. It's fun.

The Apartment (1960)

This Billy Wilder classic tells the tale of a man lending out his apartment for favors in the company to men who are cheating on their wives until he falls for one of the mistresses. A lot darker than I remember (trigger warning: suicide), but if it's not where most romantic comedy tropes are stolen from then it perfected them. Jack Lemmon mugs for the camera, but Shirley MacLaine steals the show.

Violent Night (2022)

Santa Claus is tired of his duties until he happens upon the house of a rich family where thieves are trying to get into a vault. Think Die Hard but Santa. David Harbor kills it as the Viking turned jolly old elf. The writing feels slapped together, but there is a lot of fun in the crass violent mayhem that ensues.

Elf (2003)

It's Elf. If you haven't seen it, get cozy on the couch with some hot cocoa and enjoy yourself.

Christmas Mystery (2022)

This children investigator movie is just weird. The cast pulls it together for the dramatic moments, but that only shows how much those moments stand out from a weird Nancy Drew style mystery. This movie does not know if it wants to be a weird drama or serve up precocious kids saving the day and suffers living in the in between.

Snow Day (2000)

I miss absurd kids movies from the 1990s, and this might be the last gasp of that dying genre. Probably the last time Chevy Chase was likable (he plays caring dad kinda awesome), this madcap kid's Love Actually stuffs a teen romance, a dad not feeling appreciated at work, a bad mom who works too much, and a bonkers plot involving a child stopping a snow plow from ending the snow day. At one point, a child is tied to the front of a snow plow to be exchanged for the snowplow man's bird. I love this flawed nightmare.

Santa Camp (2022)

I had to watch this heartwarming documentary about a Santa training camp (as in mall and other Santa appearances) in pieces because it made my heart hurt. The whole story is about the Santa's being more diverse, with various visions of the jolly old elf coming in various representations of society, from black to trans to disabled. It's well made, and while I can't speak of it as a whole the segmented watching I did made it great.