Tag: Christmas movies

12 days of not-so-Christmassy Christmas movies: ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

Jeff Mitchell

“Eyes Wide Shut” (1999) – Christmas in New York City brings images of Rockefeller Center, ice skating and shopping on 5th Avenue.  Stanley Kubrick’s last film takes place at Christmastime, but this “holiday story” explores infidelity, visceral temptations, frank conversations between spouses, and sexual masquerade parties where mistletoe is not required. Not the “exactly” same. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married in real life at the time, as they play a couple questioning their relationship during the most wonderful time of the year.   Just wondering how much will they…

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

Jeff Mitchell

“The Hunt” (2013) – Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a 42-year-old kindergarten teacher, is coping with his divorce and trying to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, but Christmastime is here, so ’tis the season to think positively. His world, however, crashes, because someone does not accuse him of a serious crime, but a heinous one.  A crime he did not commit. Lucas, a respected man in the community, suddenly becomes the centerpiece of a devastating controversy, and in the process, almost everyone in this small Danish town demonizes him. His…

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

Jeff Mitchell

“Gremlins” (1984) – Director Joe Dante has a history in horror with “Piranha” (1978) and “The Howling” (1981) under his belt, so he’s a natural fit for “Gremlins”.    “Gremlins” isn’t a brutal trip into terror, but a PG-excursion into a group of cuddly little teddy bear creatures called mogwais that chirp, squeak and sing a bit too.  What’s not to like?  Everyone should have a mogwai.  Just don’t feed them after midnight, because if so, they will change into impish lizard-like devils that cause lots and lots of trouble.…