The holidays mean a bit more time to recreate and to mediate on life, the universe and everything in between. The world of motion pictures gives windows through which you can do all of that. So pull up a film online or go down to the video rental store (seriously, a movie-dining chain has announced it is opening a video store in its theaters and will have both discs and VHS tapes and their players available for rent). Here are some traditional as well as offbeat holiday movie favorites from which to choose:
"The Santa Clause." Starring Tim Allen and directed by John Pasquin, with whom Allen worked with in TV's "Home Improvement," this film has Allen playing Scott Calvin, a successful executive at a toy company. His demanding work, however, has caused family problems. He is divorced, and his son, Charlie, has become more reluctant to spend what little time he has available with him. But he has Charlie at home for Christmas Eve, and after reading him "T'was The Night Before Christmas," he hears noises on the roof. He goes out to see what it is and ends up startling a man up there, who plumments and lies still. Scott finds a card that reads, "If something should happen to me, put on my suit, the Reindeer will know what to do," after which, the body vanishes. Not sure of what else to do, and pushed by Charlie, Scott puts on the Santa suit and delivers a few gifts before the reindeer take him to the North Pole. There, he finds the whole works: Santa's base of operations, the factory and an elf who explains the whole thing to him. He has one year to get his affairs in order before taking over the role of Santa Claus full time. And during that year, he puts on weight and grows a beard, and these changes create further problems with his already estranged family relations. But he is in deep with something magical and unworldly as the year goes on.
"A Charlie Brown Christmas." This classic animated special based on the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles Schultz is an earnest exploration of the meaning of Christmas. The basic story features Charlie Brown finding himself depressed around Christmas. His friend and nemesis Lucy suggests he get his mind off things by directing a local stage production about the meaning of Christmas. So he sets out to do just that and is determined to make both the play and this sad little Christmas tree shine with the beauty of the holiday season. Featuring a jazz soundtrack by composer Vince Guaraldi, with the signature Charlie Brown/Peanuts theme, a hopeful, optimistic look at the joy of Christmas and a pull-no-punches telling of the tale of the birth of Jesus, this special, which still airs on network television to this day, can seem at the same time out of time and timeless.
"A Christmas Carol." There have been many adaptations of the classic Christmas tale by Charles Dickens, the one the established Christmas as the commercial holiday that it is. In 1970, there was a British musical film production which starred Albert Finney as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Alec Guinness in a haunting turn as the ghost of Jacob Marley. This features the traditional tale as Scrooge is visited by three spirits intending to redirect his life by reigniting in him the true meaning of Christmas, and they do it with very catchy song and dance numbers, happy, sad and even some a bit sarcastic.
In 1988, Bill Murray starred in a modern adaptation of this classic tale, with the modern Scrooge named Frank Cross, a television network president who is guiding a live production of "A Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve, driving his cast and staff to the point of breakdown. Cross, driven and determined, pushes his team to the limits, even firing key team members when they balk at some of his decisions. But just before the production goes live on the air, he is visited by the shade of Lew Haward, his mentor in the business, who warns him three ghosts are coming to shape up his lacking in Christmas spirit self. Both versions of the story are creations of their times but underline the timelessness of both the story and the captured holiday spirit.
Christmas Action Pack. If you want your holiday viewing a bit more high octane, you have options there, too. For fans of director Shane Black and his off-beat tough guy pictures, he has two for this time of the year. "Lethal Weapon," the original, pairs Mel Gibson (Martin Riggs) and Danny Glover (Roger Murtaugh). Riggs is a former special operations soldier who has been driven to the emotional edge by the loss of his wife two years ago. Murtaugh is a family man and veteran police officer looking forward to retirement in the near future. One is hanging by a thread and admits the only thing keeping him around is the job. The other looks forward to a peaceful exodus from said job and resents this loose cannon making things complicated for him. But the two of them end up being drawn into a heroine smuggling case involving corrupt former soldiers right around the holidays. During the case, Riggs finds reasons to go on, and Murtaugh opens up a bit to a wounded soul who needs understanding.
"Iron Man 3," also directed by Shane Black, features the third feature turn of Robert Downey Jr. as the talented engineer and corporate mogul Tony Stark and the armor-wearing superhero, Iron Man. During Christmas, a time of giving, he finds things being taken from him by a mysterious villain who calls himself The Mandarin. His house is under attack. Many of his armored suits are destroyed. His company and loved ones are threatened. He is stripped to the essentials and forced to rely less on his hardware and more on his wits (and a kid sidekick) to figure his way through this Christmastime caper.
"Die Hard." There is an internet meme that says, "It is not Christmas until you have seen Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) fall off the Nakatomi Plaza Building." That describes the finale seen of hard-working New York police officer John McClane and his confrontation with terrorists. What started out as a visit to Los Angeles to attempt to reconcile with his estranged wife turns into a barrage trading of bullets, punches and wisecracks and a movie legend that seems to go on to this day. But for the true classic with Christmas flavor, nothing beats the original "Die Hard."
"Gremlins." Pets are always problematic gifts. They come with rules, the first being never get your kid one just because you think it is cute or you saw it in a movie. This is a living creature who ideally will become a member of your family. So they have rules. The Mogwai, the furry, cooing, innocent looking creature found in some hole in the wall full of curios from Asia, comes with a few additional points. 1: Don't get them wet. 2: Don't expose to bright light. 3: Never feed after midnight. Naturally, all of these eventually get broken, and this results in a swarm of mischievous critters with minds for mayhem and souls for sabotage loose on a small, unsuspecting town. On Christmas, of all days.
With Christmas movies, movie fans have options. Pick one of these or any number of others. Make some snacks. And enjoy some holiday quality time.