-A Few Words Before Reading-
Please be kind to not only the film at number 13, but also any other films I mention in my summary of that number. Any comment expressing negativity towards number 13 or any of the other films I mention in that summary will be deleted. So once again, please be polite 🙂
-Introduction-
Ah, the Christmas season 🙂 The celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth 🙂 Each year, I delight in putting up the Christmas decorations and the tree 🙂 It really makes my own house look so magical 🙂 Also, It is the one time of year (except for maybe one’s own birthday), where everybody arguably gets to open more than just a few presents 🙂 Christmas Day also happens to be my birthday 🙂 Yep, you heard it hear first my dear readers. December 25th is my birthday 🙂 Anyway, with all that being said, let us not forget one of the other most important aspects of the season 🙂 What is that one you might ask? 🙂 Watching Christmas films of course 🙂 I have admittedly eclectic tastes, though a few items on my list below are traditional entries 🙂 The 25 titles I am presenting to all of you are in chronological order as opposed to preferential 🙂 These are not my only favorites, just the ones I happen to watch during the season 🙂
Click here to listen to the late great Doris Day singing Christmas songs from her 1964 album of such 🙂
Also, click here to listen to Prim & Proper’s rendition of Here We Come A-Caroling
Also, click here to watch a video of TCM’s offerings this month with the above song playing in the background
Now without further ado, I present to all of my dear readers:
-John Charet’s 25 Christmas Film Recommendations-
(In Chronological Order)
01.) Hell’s Heroes (1929)
Dir: William Wyler
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: A church celebrates Christmas near the end of the film.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As much as I love John Ford’s 1948 remake Three Godfathers, director William Wyler’s 1929 version entitled Hell’s Heroes still remains unsurpassable. Dramatically and visually poetic, Hell’s Heroes is as masterful a western as those of Ford’s.
Click here to watch the entire film
02.) The Thin Man (1934)
Dir: W.S. Van Dyke
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: The delightful chemistry between it’s two lead stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as detective couple Nick and Nora Charles is one good reason. The witty dialogue is another. Last, but not least, The Thin Man is just so entertaining on a whole. Oh and let us not forget Nick and Nora’s talented dog Asta.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
03.) Remember the Night (1940)
Dir: Mitchell Leisen
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Released the same year that it’s screenwriter Preston Sturges made his directorial debut with The Great McGinty and his follow-up Christmas in July, Remember the Night is a fitting bookend to his career as a writer-for-hire. A genuinely funny comedy on the one hand and a touching drama on the other, Remember the Night serves as a perfect demonstration of Sturges talents as a writer. Plus, we get two lovable lead characters, who are played here by Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
04.) The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Dir: Ernst Lubitsch
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film (or at least most of it) is set during the Christmas season and concludes on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with Heaven Can Wait, The Shop Around the Corner ranks as celebrated German-American director Ernst Lubitsch’s purest expression of the human condition. As to be expected, the result is genuinely funny and touching.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
05.) The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Dir: Orson Welles
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Watch the sleigh ride sequence.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: How does legendary director Orson Welles follow up one of the greatest directorial debuts in cinematic history? For him, he does it with this haunting adaptation of Booth Tarkington’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1918 novel of the same name. From start to finish, The Magnificent Ambersons remains a masterpiece of mise en scene.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to read an article about the continuing search for original 131-minute cut of Ambersons
Click here to view a short video about it
Click here to view a link to a 1993 book about Orson Welles original cut entitled The Magnificent Ambersons: A Reconstruction
Click here to view an excerpt from the 1982 documentary entitled The Orson Welles Story, in which Welles details how RKO sabotaged Ambersons
06.) Christmas Holiday (1944)
Dir: Robert Siodmak
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The present day sequence is set on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Dark and tragic. These serve as only two of many traits that have characterized the film noir subgenre. Director Robert Siodmak obviously understood this when he helmed Christmas Holiday. Blend the two aforementioned elements together and you get a demonstration of why it is such a fitting combination.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the entire film
07.) The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
Dir: Robert Wise
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the third act is set during Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Against the wishes of producer Val Lewton and director Robert Wise, The Curse of the Cat People was wrongly marketed as a horror film in the same vein as it’s 1942 predecessor Cat People. In truth, The Curse of the Cat People plays out more as a psychological fantasy drama than a straight up scare picture. In fact, director Joe Dante once remarked that the film’s disturbingly Disneyesque fairy tale qualities have perplexed horror fans for decades. Late English-American film historian William K. Everson has implied that it is every bit as poetic as Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast. I could not have stated those aforementioned sentiments any better.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch this 2007 documentary entitled Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton The Man in the Shadows
08.) Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Dir: Vincente Minnelli
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: One of the vignettes is set during Christmastime. Among other things, the film is noted for introducing the world to the celebrated holiday song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Even though I rank his melodramas and comedies higher, director Vincente Minnelli is still a master of musicals and Meet Me in St. Louis (my second favorite after The Band Wagon) may be the most charming of them all. Judy Garland’s rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas never fails to move me.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
09.) The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
Dir: Preston Sturges
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the latter half is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: I think I may have finally answered my own question regarding what makes director/writer Preston Sturges so deservedly unique. The answer may be that his screwball comedies remain incomparable to all of the others. In The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Sturges takes the subject of unwed pregnancy and turns it into a laugh out loud comedy with two lovable characters, who are played here by Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton. Long after concluding with a sidesplittingly hilarious surprise ending, one question inevitably remains on the minds of we the audience. How on earth did all of this hilarity get passed the Hays Office? For example, in the film, three characters have the last name Kockenlocker. Kindly figure it out for yourselves :)) Either way, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek still emerges as a bonafide comedy classic.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
10.) Black Narcissus (1947)
Dir: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Country: United Kingdom
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: One sequence revolves around a Christmas Eve mass.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: British-American film critic/historian David Thomson cited Black Narcissus as an erotic film about the fantasies of nuns. I could not have stated it any more eloquently. Plus, I just had to include a Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film on here.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a youtube video link of British film critic Mark Kermode’s commentary on it as one of his BFI Player picks
11.) Good Sam (1948)
Dir: Leo McCarey
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The third act is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Director Leo McCarey’s unofficial counterpoint to Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life deals with some of the negative consequences that arise from altruism. Whereas the latter film has since been reassessed as a holiday classic, Good Sam has yet to receive this honor and for me, it is ripe for rediscovery.
Click here to watch the entire film
12.) All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Dir: Douglas Sirk
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Two scenes stand out in particular here. The first is outdoors at what looks to be a Christmas Tree shop. The second features Jane Wyman’s character staring at the snowy outside.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As directed by the master of melodrama Douglas Sirk, All That Heaven Allows bright color palette contrasts with the drama’s social commentary on suburban 1950’s conformity. The plot here revolves around the romance between an older woman (Jane Wyman) and a younger man (Rock Hudson). Along with Sirk’s other masterful melodramas, All That Heaven Allows is as visually expressive as it is subtly insightful.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch Mark Cousins Moviedrome intro to the film
13.) Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Dir: Richard Quine
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Part of the first act is set on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Richard Quine’s career as a reliable director debatably rests on his four collaborations with actress Kim Novak. Pushover, Strangers When We Meet, The Notorious Landlady and this enchanting 1958 romantic comedy entitled Bell, Book and Candle. While their chemistry in Vertigo still stands in a class of it’s own, the onscreen pairing between lead stars James Stewart and Novak here remains every bit as (If not more) inspired.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the entire film
14.) Blast of Silence (1961)
Dir: Allen Baron
Country: United States
Color: Black and White
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the week of Christmas.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: When it comes to dream double bills consisting of a film noir and a neo-noir, the pairing of Irving Lerner’s Murder by Contract with Allen Baron’s Blast of Silence would be an ideal one. Not unlike that aforementioned earlier film, Blast of Silence can be best described as an existential crime drama with a Bressonian sensibility. Furthermore, I have a feeling that If Blast of Silence were made today (2024 in this case), everything about it would remain intact. In other words, as with Murder by Contract, Blast of Silence has aged like fine wine.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch TCM’s (Turner Classic Movies) Eddie Muller’s intro to the film from his Noir Alley series
Click here to watch TCM’s (Turner Classic Movies) Eddie Muller’s outro to the film from his Noir Alley series
15.) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Dir: Jacques Demy
Country: France/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The conclusion is set outside a gas station on Christmas Eve.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Not Unlike All That Heaven Allows before it, director Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg unfolds against a visually beautiful backdrop. Only here, the film’s bright use of color aligns with the mood as much as it stands in contrast to it. As a coming-of-age musical (all of the dialogue is sung), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg resonates with me on so many levels. The denouement never fails to bring tears to my eyes.
Click here to watch a Restoration trailer of it
Click here to watch a what I believe is a BFI 2019 trailer showing of it
Click here to watch a recent 4K Restoration trailer for it
16.) Female Trouble (1974)
Dir: John Waters
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The early parts of the film’s first half. I usually watch this one shortly before or after Thanksgiving.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Quite possibly one of the few (If not the only) genuine trash classics that can be watched and enjoyed during Christmastime. For me, Female Trouble is the film I will watch on the last day of November to kick off my Christmas viewing marathon. Before hitting the mainstream somewhat with Polyester, Hairspray and Cry-Baby, iconoclastic director/writer John Waters was making delightfully trashy 16mm underground films like Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living and this one in between the two. In Female Trouble, the late great Divine (a then Waters regular) plays bad girl Dawn Davenport, who embarks on a life of crime when she does not receive her beloved Cha Cha Heels for Christmas. A ridiculous premise no doubt, but only Waters could write such trash and make it charming at the same time. I hate you, I hate this house, and I hate Christmas! is just one of many truly hilarious lines that can be found in the film. Click here to see more examples.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a TCM interview with John Waters from earlier in the year
Click here to view John Waters Top 10 Favorite Films of 2024
Click here to watch one video of an actress reaction (I won’t spoil) from his number one choice’s reaction
Click here to listen to all of the songs from his album of Christmas songs (I believe it was from 2013) entitled A John Waters Christmas
17.) Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Dir: Ingmar Bergman
Country: Sweden/France/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The opening sequence is set during Christmastime.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Every once in a while, Fanny and Alexander gets wrongfully dismissed as Ingmar Bergman’s sellout film, but as a huge fan of the aforementioned Swedish director myself, I can assure all of you dear readers that it is anything but. Fanny and Alexander is undoubtedly more optimistic than his then more recent films, but standing on it’s own, it remains every bit as emotionally and intellectually stimulating as the rest of Bergman’s work. At the heart of it, Fanny and Alexander is a semi-autobiographical period drama of Bergman’s upbringing as a child. In fact, the latter title character is based (loosely or otherwise) on Bergman himself. One can’t get more personal than that. Though I still rank Persona, Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers and Saraband above it, Fanny and Alexander still remains a grand late period cinematic achievement that I never tire of watching.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a BFI 40th anniversary trailer for it
Click here to watch a youtube video link of British film critic Mark Kermode’s commentary on it as one of his BFI Player picks
18.) A Christmas Story (1983)
Dir: Bob Clark
Country: United States/Canada
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Everything about it basically.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: What do you know, a traditional comedic Christmas classic. What else can be said about A Christmas Story that has not been said yet? The vignettes for one thing. Whether it be the licking of a school flagpole in one episode to the presence of a leg lamp clad in fishnet stockings, it is nothing but pure hilarity from start to finish. Last, but not least, who can forget the lead child protagonist’s wish of a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle for his Christmas present. Almost everybody’s response to it is the inevitable you’ll shoot your eye out.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
19.) The Dead (1987)
Dir: John Huston
Country: United Kingdom/United States/West Germany
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The story is set during a dinner party celebrating the Epiphany.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: If anything else, The Dead not only resembles the work of a seasoned veteran, but also that of a born-again director. For his intended or unintended swan song, Huston adapts James Joyce’s title story that first appeared in the aforementioned celebrated author’s 1914 book of shorts entitled The Dubliners. Huston’s refined touch fits perfectly with the elegantly written drama, which is penned by his son Tony. The result is every bit as intimate as it is profound.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
20.) Die Hard (1988)
Dir: John McTiernan
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The entire film is set on Christmas Eve night.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with A Christmas Story, this recommendation is for all of you normies out there. Admittedly, I wrestled back and forth as to whether or not I should include Die Hard on this list. Make no mistake, I love the film and I do watch it four times each year with December marking one of those occasions. Taking all of that into account, I just decided to put it on here anyway. What else can be said about this action-packed masterpiece that has not been said before? Aside from featuring a suave villain played with relish by late great British actor Alan Rickman, Die Hard made a superstar out of a then low-profile Bruce Willis, who at the time was only known as one of the two leads (the other being Cybill Shepherd) on the ABC television series Moonlighting. In contrast to all of the Ramboesque type action heroes at the time, Willis John McClane is a wisecracking everyman (a cop in this case) and to feature such a character at the time was a breath of fresh air when the action genre was showing a slight (just slight) case of wear and tear. All in all, in the words of the immortal McClane, Yippie-Ki-Yay motherf**ker.
Click here to watch the first original theatrical trailer for it
Click here to watch the second trailer for it
Click here to watch the third trailer for it
Click here to watch a 30th Anniversary trailer for it
Click here to watch a hilarious trailer in the style of a Christmas themed film :))
21.) The Long Day Closes (1992)
Dir: Terence Davies
Country: United Kingdom
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Along with a child staring at a window (it is snowing outside), we get a poetic image of a family (all dressed up) sitting at a table for Christmas Eve dinner. This film is full of many other such images.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: In contrast to the bleakness and existential dread that powered the late great British director Terence Davies Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration (his three early short films) and Distant Voices, Still Lives (his first feature-length film), The Long Day Closes is driven more by a beautifully realized combination of gentleness and melancholia. In The Long Day Closes, the grimmer aspects of those previous films are limited to the surface. This time around, it is jubilation and togetherness that take center stage. One of many standout images is set in a packed movie theater and the camera gazes in the center top at a young boy (the film’s protagonist), who has a look of joy on his face at what he is watching. As with it’s predecessor, The Long Day Closes is an autobiographical film for Davies. In fact, Davies love for Classical Hollywood cinema (it is set during the mid-1950’s) is emphasized by excerpts from numerous films of that era peppered throughout. I too share his passion. The Long Day Closes is as much a celebration of cinema as it is the cinematic equivalent of a poem.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch a short video about the use of dissolves and memory in the film
Click here to watch this 1992 documentary on Terence Davies (one of the joys here comes at the 3:00 mark of the video featuring him lip-synching to Doris Day)
Click here to watch Terence Davies insightful analysis on Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers from a 1990 episode of Channel 4’s Movie Masterclass
Click here to watch Terence Davies 1989 BBC Film Club into to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove
Click here to watch Terence Davies 1989 BBC Film Club into to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
Click here to watch a video entitled In Conversation: Terence Davies
Click here to watch a video of Terence Davies talking about Ealing Studios
Click here to watch a video of Terence Davies appreciation of The Ladykillers
22.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Country: United Kingdom/United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The whole film is set during the holiday season. For example, we see Christmas lights displayed in various places.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Along with Barry Lyndon, Eyes Wide Shut is legendary director Stanley Kubrick’s most mature film to date. A fitting achievement for a debatably unintended swan song. Here, Kubrick takes the early 20th-century Vienna setting of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1926 novella Traumnovelle (the film’s source material) and interestingly updates it to the then present day New York City of the 1990’s. With the exception of one or two establishing shots, Eyes Wide Shut was filmed entirely in the United Kingdom (England in this case). This blends perfectly with the film’s dreamlike quality. The result is simultaneously disturbing and sexy.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch another trailer for it
23.) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Dir: Wes Anderson
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time Is Here is played in the film. Enough said.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: As to be expected from director/co-writer Wes Anderson, beneath The Royal Tenenbaums stylized surface, lies at the center, a deadpan and poignant comedy/drama effortlessly acted by it’s ensemble cast. The now retired Gene Hackman stands out especially as flawed family patriarch Royal Tenenbaum. Like Anderson’s other films, The Royal Tenenbaums is set to a distinctive soundtrack of popular songs.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
24.) Bad Santa (2003)
Dir: Terry Zwigoff
Country: United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The film is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: Delightfully tasteless comedies like Bad Santa are in short supply compared to the endless number of tasteful ones, which is why I always gladly welcome something like this. Lead actor Billy Bob Thornton’s performance as the irreverent title character (named Willie T. Soke here) is worthy to that of the late great W.C. Fields.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
25.) Carol (2015)
Dir: Todd Haynes
Country: United Kingdom/United States
Color: Color
What Makes It a Christmas Film: The first half is set during the Christmas season.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love It: If Carol is not the greatest LGBTQ romance drama ever made, then it certainly comes close. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt (under the pseudonym Claire Morgan), Carol is like a collaborative match made in heaven. On the one hand, Carol is helmed by gay director Todd Haynes and on the other, it is written by lesbian screenwriter/playwright Phyllis Nagy. When it comes to content, the two complete each other so effortlessly, one is tricked into thinking that the whole production must have been a cakewalk. As a period piece set during the early 1950’s, we are treated to beautifully evocative Super 16mm cinematography and costume designs courtesy of Ed Lachman and Sandy Powell respectively as well as Carter Burwell’s expressive music score. Last, but not least, who can forget the standout performances of it’s two lead actresses, which in this case are Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara? In Carol, Blanchett and Mara imbue their respective characters with grace and pathos. Carol is also noted for featuring one of the most tender lesbian sex scenes ever depicted in an English-Language film.
Click here to watch the film’s original theatrical trailer
Click here to watch the film’s second trailer
Click here to listen to composer Carter Burwell’s entire score for Carol
Let me conclude this blog entry with two questions for my dear readers below:
What Christmas films do you love to watch during the season?
What links (video or otherwise) interested you the most?
cinematiccoffee 
i havent seen that many Ealing comedies, as they were before my time, but i did love seeing kind hearts and coronets, the lady killers, the man in the white suit, and the lavender hill mob on television some time after their release. i didnt get into british films until the angry young man and kitchen sink pictures, which i really loved and still do..and then of course the mod 60’s pictures.
i dont think there were any significant westerns after 1962, except for a few from europe and i dont limit those to leone and corbucci, there was a lot of crap but another half dozen decent directors from that time and place made some decent films. then the wild bunch brought the western back to america and many of the revisionist westerns of the seventies were better than anything between 62 and 68. a couple other modern westerns that i thought were good were the misfits and lonely are the brave.
Thanks so much for including the links John, very helpful!
You are quite welcome June 🙂 I just added two more titles on there to make it 25 🙂 If you read it again, you will notice that I now added Remember the Night and Bad Santa on there 🙂
Thank you for the kind words Paul 🙂 I took your advice and I added Bad Santa on there 🙂 Elf is good and I will watch it whenever it is on. Some of my friends watch it at this time year whenever I come over and I watch it with them and it is very charming 🙂
I just added Bad Santa Paul 🙂 I will watch Krampus during Halloween 🙂 Elf is good and whenever it is on, I will watch it. Speaking of which, one of the co-stars of the film died months ago and that was the great comedian Bob Newhart. May he rest in peace. Also, thoughts on this reply and the other one of mine? 🙂
Soeaking of Lonely are the Brave Bill, did you ever read this 2007 Film Comment article by Alex Cox on it? He is a huge fan of the film. Here is the link below 🙂
https://www.filmcomment.com/article/lonely-are-the-brave-david-miller/
I hear ya Bill 🙂 When it came to later day British cinema, I was a huge fan of Ken Russell and Nicolas Roeg to name just two. Fast-forward to the 1980’s, I would say Terence Davies and when it comes to 21st century cinema, Edgar Wright (among others). I know this guy does not really count, but I love the work of the late Dennis Potter 🙂
Gotcha Bill 🙂 I did not think you were cynical to be honest, I think it just sounded like it 🙂 I know we talked about Kris Kristofferson a month ago due to his passing and I wanted to let you know that one of my friends reminded me the other day that he voiced a character in a Playstation western video game entitled Gun 🙂 I have long retired from playing video games, but I watched someone play the video game and beat it online because If it featured Kris Kristofferson voicing a character, I just have to watch 🙂 I know it sounds like a silly piece of trivia, Kristofferson is still missed by me even though he was a genuine elder – wasn’t Kristofferson 89 when he passed on?
Gotcha jcalberta 🙂 I also remembered to include a western on this list 🙂 Every Christmas, I make sure to watch at least one western that month and the rest of the year, watch as many as I can 🙂 Let us pretend to raise a glass jcalberta and say TO WESTERNS! 🙂
Great words, John. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Bad Santa. A truly anti-heroic and quite offensive film which actually has quite a sweet soul.
Of course Bob Newhart was a comedy genius; such a great raconteur 😀RIP 😞
Thank you for the kind words Paul 🙂 My summary on Bad Santa is under number 24 🙂
we both love kristofferson, i even wathed blade because he was in it, my favorite is cisco pike, and i also loved vigilante force. alice doesnt live here any more, songwriter, and a star is born.
I know you are bound to disagree with me here Bill, but I actually love Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate 🙂
i didnt love it, but i didnt dislike it as much as i disliked deer hunter. both started with, if i remember correctly, an interminable wedding scene that emulated the wedding scene that opened The Godfather. ive only seen the long version, and i am fond of epic length pictures, but this one was a little too bloated even for my taste. i liked the parts that dealt directly with the johnson county war, but was bored by the romantic stuff.
Insightful thoughts Bill 🙂 If I recall correctly, prior to Michael Cimino, their was another director known for excess and that was Erich von Stroheim. He also directed some great films like Foolish Wives and Greed.
i loved foolish wives. have never made it through the attempted reconstruction of greed. love him as an actor. but as far as vons go, i prefer sternberg. as for excess, you cant beat demille. i enjoy excess when it is the road to pleasure. and i just dont get much pleasure watching ciminos directing. compare deer hunter to the very similar bullet in the head. both excessive but i loved every second of woo’s picture, while cimino seemed to meander in his own excess without much thought for the audience. but since you loved it, im not going to knock it because i love it when a person loves a movie, regardless of my thoughts on it.i once reviewd a three hour movie about the daily lives of a bunch of monks, boring as boring could be, but i loved it. in my review, though, i warned against taking a date to it. because if you did, it would be the last date with that person.
I love Foolish Wives as well Bill 🙂 I am a huge fan of both Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg 🙂 Speaking of the latter, there was a (not a fan edit) but the same reconstructed version of Greed with a music score by Jonny Greenwood from a decade ago and the reason I can say that is because There Will Be Blood came out back in 2007, so it could not have been before that. I understand how you feel about Cimino 🙂 To be fair, your criticisms of the two (whether one loves the films or not) are not without credibility. I think Cimino wanted to say too much and I recall from that one documentary about the making of the film that someone said to Kristofferson that they think Cimino has fallen with this film and Kristofferson recalled that If their was any excess, it might have been that. Jonathan Rosenbaum is another critic who will pick Heaven’s Gate over The Deer Hunter any day, but like yourself, he feels that Heaven’s Gate is pretty flawed as well. I will not lie, it is a flawed film, but that is what makes it so extraordinary. I think that may be why I love it so much in that Cimino embraces it’s imperfections whether that was the intention or not. Some who have embraced Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 are similar in that regard. Nevertheless, I know you prefer that film over Heaven’s Gate 🙂 Like Heaven’s Gate, 1900 also has gorgeous cinematography. Thoughts? 🙂
1900 and Once Upon a Time in America are my two favorite historical epics. If I got as deep into Heavens Gate as I was in those films, I may well love it too. But honestly, I am just not that interested in Cimino as a director to take that plunge. I have seen it twice and will probably see it again but until I get the chance to see the uncut version of Burn (I had the opportunity once but did not attend) I will probably put off a third viewing of Heavens Gate. As far as revisionist westerns of that period go, I prefer The Missouri Breaks, which came out four years earlier and was also flawed but wonderful in its own way, warts and all. And speaking of flawed films, I really like Convoy, which is a piece of crap unless you view it as contrasting with Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid as a portrait of a world in which law has lost its authority. Ernest Borgnines sheriff is Garrett gone to seed and whose presumption of being The Law is mocked by the pursued kristofferson, still playing Billy in the next century but still as young and vital as he was back in the days of the old west.
Insightful thoughts there Bill 🙂 Speaking of not only Heaven’s Gate, but 1900 and Once Upon a Time in America as well, the uncut versions of those three aforementioned films were first shown on the Los Angeles-based premium cable network Z Channel back in the 1980’s. The 1988 Turner cut of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was also shown on there too. I not only love all of those other films, but I love The Missouri Breaks as well and I love all of Cimino’s, Bertoucci’s, Leone’s and Peckinpah’s work as well 🙂 Your view of Convoy is exactly how I see it too – ain’t that a coincidence, but you beat me to it 🙂 Speaking of which, I think you told me that you watched Z Channel (occasionally or otherwise back in the day) or was it Bravo? I can’t even remember, which is ironic, given how I can remember everything else 🙂
I was living in LA when the Z channel first appeared, but I didnt have it. It was Bravo that I had in the mid 80s in Boston. I dislike the turner verson of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. They put in all kinds of crap that was never intended to be included..and totally destroyed the opening scene in the bar between Garrett and the Kid, one of the best directed scenes I have ever scenes. They totally destroyed the rhythm of their exchanges. And taking out Knockin on heavens Door was a crime, and the scene with Poe finding out where Billy was hiding out was redundant, as we already received that information in the scene with Garret and Ruthie Lee. And the crucial scene between Garrret and his wife was still missing. The 115 minute Special Edition is as close as we are liable to get to Peckinpah’s intended cut. Bravo used to be a spectacular showcase. They showed the entire Berlin Alexanderplatz and had several theme nights, one of my favorites being a night of Cocteau films.
Bravo must have been wonderful back then Bill 🙂 Too bad, the channel is a piece of s**t now. Excuse my language, but that is how I feel. I agree with everything you just stated 🙂 Also, I want you to click on this video link below because it is a video of what Bravo was like back in the glory days 🙂 Tell me what you think after you watch it 🙂
Glenda Jackson doesnt pull any punches in her intro. And no corny “this film is not for children” warnings. much more to the point is the warning for people with weak stomachs. and this was a typical evening of bravo entertainment. it was like having a cinematheque in your living room. not everyone could afford cable in these early stages, and i was managing a rep house at this time, so my apartment was regularly filled with friends and staff getting together when the particularly rare film was televised. i sent a complaint to the station when they started going downhill. i dont remember their reply, but it contained the intention to continue down the road to irrelevance. thanks for the link. it certainly brings back memories of the days when not only bravo but other channels were broadcasting commercial free and uncut classics. for ten dollars i was able to tape at least 50 movies a month. it was the beginning of my obsessive movie collecting hobby.
You are quite welcome Bill 🙂 Interestingly enough, Glena Jackson was originally offered Vanessa Redgrave’s role in The Devils, but turned it down. I too love her introduction to The Devils and I too feel that the “this film is not for children” mantra is so corny whether it be the truth or not and this case it was, but as you eloquently imply, that is beside the point. Not for weak stomachs is more justifiable. You will also notice in that same video that Kurosawa’s Kagemusha was going to be on later. I know this might sound like a silly question Bill, but did Bravo show any Classical Hollywood films within their eclectic blend of cinema choices? 🙂
yes.they had a weekly directors night, showing three films by the same director, and many of them were classic hollywood, though i can remember offhand any particular triple features
An inspired example of a triple bill directed by the same person for me at the moment, would be Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, Monsieur Verdoux (I know it is not really a political satire, but it is a black comedy) and A King In New York 🙂 What about you Bill? 🙂
the last speech before his execution makes Verdoux definitely a political satire, and this would have made for a memorable line up in bravos programming. what got me into chaplin was a two-week series at seattles varsity theatre of double features that paired chaplins silents with his talkies. some years later limelight was finally released and was my immediate favorite of chaplins films, and remains so, after dozens of viewings, to this day.
Hey there Bill 🙂 Sorry for the late reply, I have been busy these past two days 🙂 Thank you very much as well for recognizing that it is a political film. I actually think it was based on that truthful speech Chaplin’s character gave. Painful, but true. Given the media’s endless glamorization of killers only makes Monsieur Verdoux all the more timely. I love Limelight as well and that would be between my 100 and 200 rankings of my favorite films – one of these days I will post that one 🙂 Correct me If I am wrong, but Limelight is also the first Chaplin film to feature his character die? Correct me If I am wrong again, but it has been said that their were four Silent Clowns of Cinematic Comedy – Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Harry Langdon. That last one is often summed up as “The Forgotten Clown” 🙂
i think the renewal of interest in frank capra via the copywrite expiration of its a wonderful life that resulted in al the television channels showing it in rotation for a few christmas seasons pulled langdon out of his previous obscurity. on the other hand, with the rise in dangerous movie stunts, the wonder of harolng lloyd has paled. i dont remember chaplin having dies in all his films, but he made an awful lot of shorts and i cant remember them all, so i wouldnt bet on it either ay. as for limelight, it is in my top ten, and although it is my favorite chaplin film, i would never claim it is his best work. i also think keaton is funnier than chaplin, yet is the lesser artist.
Oh yeah, I knew all of that Bill 🙂 I only mention what is often referenced about the four silent comedic icons, even though Langdon’s status as one remains debatable. I say this because in retrospect, as I referenced before, Langdon is often seen as the “forgotten clown”. Yes, as much as I love Buster Keaton, when it comes to artistry, the other three can’t really surpass what makes Chaplin unique. In his case, the effortless blend of comedy (physical or otherwise) with pathos 🙂
i just think the idea of the four silent comedic icons is dated, and that for some time now the lasting debate is chaplin vs keaton.. in this sense, both lloyd and langdon are relatively forgotten. i find more than a blend of pathos and comedy in chaplin. his world view expresses a higher consciousness and his comedy is rooted in his physical grace. the routines in themselves are conceptually not that far above the others, but it is his physical execution that drives them upwards into hilarity. keatons sight gags take you by surprise and make you laugh harder, while chaplins routines build more slowly and leave the mark of its content on you
Hey Bill 🙂 You are probably correct that the Four Silent Clowns of cinematic comedy is dated. I was just citing what was being said, but what you said may be true 🙂 I too see Chaplin’s achievements as grander than Keaton’s grand achievements. But this is in no way meant to disparage Keaton because he is a true comedic artist as well. What I am trying to say is that Chaplin was unique because of his effortless blend of comedy with pathos as you so eloquently imply 🙂 Speaking of which, though Paulette Goddard is sometimes considered (and rightfully so) to be the best of the Chaplin women, I could honestly not see anybody else but Virginia Cherrill in the role of the blind girl in City Lights. Though to be fair, Georgina Hale (who was in The Gold Rush) was initially going to replace Cherrill, but in the end, Chaplin made the right decision by eventually re-hiring Cherrill 🙂
i loved paulette godard in modern times and to a lesser degree in the great dictator, but have disliked her in almost everything else.