12 days of not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies

Every December, our stockings are stuffed with festive Christmas movies, like “A Christmas Story” (1983), “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), “Scrooged” (1988), and other versions of “A Christmas Carol”.  Well, AHFW is looking back at movies that feature the seminal holiday too. The only difference is that our picks aren’t traditional Yuletide affairs. For most of these flicks, Christmas isn’t the central focus, or in some cases, Dec. 25 is barely mentioned.  Still, each picture is technically a Xmas film, so enjoy our walk through 12 not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies, and…

12 days of not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies: ‘The Apartment’

“The Apartment” (1960) – C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) works extremely hard at the Consolidated Life New York City office.  He makes $94.70 per week and lives in a great apartment that costs $85 per month. Most nights, he works late – for an hour or two –  but not to get ahead.  He just cannot go home to his apartment until around 8pm.  Why is that? That’s the premise of Bill Wilder’s wildly successful rom-com that won five Oscars, including Best Picture! Now, C.C. may have his eye on a…

12 days of not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies: ‘In Bruges’

“In Bruges” (2008) – Travel experts claim that Bruges, Belgium has one of the best Christmas markets in Europe, and this city has kept its medieval construction to make the holiday festivities feel like an illustrious time warp. There’s nothing festive, however, about Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and Ray’s (Colin Farrell) Christmastime visit to Bruges, at the least the initial reason.  Their mobster boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) orders them to Bruges and hide out until the coast is clear.  Ken tries to make the best of it by taking in the…