Because the busy holiday season is just around the corner, most people are looking to relax and enjoy a film or two (or three, in this case), and even more. And if you’re like me, you definitely don’t want to watch a Hallmark film. With that being said, here are three recommendations to get you started on a holiday movie binge!
The Holdovers (2023)
Although The Holdovers is a film that you can watch anytime during the year, but it takes place around Christmas time. The whole movie was filmed in Massachusetts in the towns and cities of Clinton, Worcester, and Boston! The film takes place in 1970 at a boys boarding school. One of the teachers, Paul Hunham, who isn’t liked by the students very much, is assigned to stay on campus over the holiday break to chaperone the students who aren’t able to go home with their families. Mr. Hunham, along with the school’s head cook, Mary Lamb, form a close bond with Angus Tully, one of the students at the school. The comedy film is funny, thought-provoking, and emotional, tackling difficult topics such as mental illness and grief. It also conveys the importance of human connection and friendship, family, and hurt people helping other hurt people. Through beautiful cinematography, impressive writing, and thoughtful directing, this film truly conveys every topic it aimed to focus on and leaves you with a heart-warming feeling.
Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007)
Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale is about Jerry dreaming to perform on a stage after watching a Christmas Production, and he does just that. He begins dancing, and the toys surrounding him come to life. Jerry along with the toys that came to life have dinner together, but Tom and his army of cats crash the party and scare everyone away. The cats capture all of the toys, but Jerry manages to break some of the toys free for a second… but the cats catch up to them, take Jerry along with two of the toys, and then shoots them out of a cannon outside of the village. While this is happening, another one of the toys gets captured and put into a bird cage, being held hostage by the cats. Jerry, along with his friends, then go through many adventures to make their way back to the village to reclaim their lives, and it ends with Jerry bowing on the stage with one of the star performers from the beginning in the audience sitting with Santa.
Black Christmas (1974)
If you like horror movies, you should definitely watch this film during Christmas time. It takes place at a sorority house during Christmas break where they’re receiving mysterious and creepy phone calls. The film has unique and exciting cinematography that catches your eye so much that you can’t look away. SPOILER AHEAD: There’s one scene in the film that seems to be spoken about by film critiques. The scene is one of the characters being killed and it switches from the kill and carolers singing at the front door to the main character. It continues switching from killing to slow-motion children caroling, and it overall is just fantastic.
