Christmas Films: Die Hard & Gremlins

Friends,

This is an idle post. I have one brewing about another weight update (lower than before, but not enough) but let's keep it easy tonight, what do you say?

I watched Gremlins today, which is another movie from my childhood that I love. I saw this movie at a drive-in if you believe it. That drive-in is no longer in operation, but the sign is still there, and it has aged into a wonderful piece of art...though nothing around it suggests artistry or that anyone would ever go there to see this sign. It is kitty-corner to a truck stop and across the street from some massive warehouses. And it was next to an auto shop that was so badly run that it contaminated the ground, and nothing can be built there for a good long while as a result. Oh, there is a seedy hotel near there too. But, they got that sign for the Bel-Air Drive-In by god...and that's where I saw Gremlins.

But that got me thinking, how many other movies happen on Christmas, yet have nothing to do with Christmas. A majority of the action of Gremlins happens on Christmas Eve (that's when the fuckhead Mogwais come out of their cocoons and become fuckhead Gremlins), and it ends on Christmas morning, but the story has nothing to do with the holidays, or the holiday spirit. It's about little bastard monster things. The only other movie I can think of that takes place on Christmas, yet isn't about Christmas, is Die Hard. A great movie in it's own right, but unless every time a German terrorist dies an angel gets its wings, it has nothing to do with Christmas. I guess Home Alone could be argued that it is not a Christmas movie that takes place on Christmas....maybe.

Tangentially, Gremlins & Die Hard have some Christmas themes. Die Hard has family, and Gremlins has this anti-greed theme about it, but you wouldn't ever call either of them a Christmas movie. No one gets all weak-kneed over needing to see Gremlins this time of year. AMC will not have 24 hours of Die Hard on Christmas day to celebrate the lord's birthday.

So, what other movies can you think of that take place on Christmas, yet isn't a Christmas movie?

Oh, and I want to disqualify the campy horror/sci-fi movies about murderous or alien Santa Clauses because they are clearly about breaking down or ironically treating the idea of Christmas, so they are, in essence, Christmas movies because they couldn't exist without Christmas. Gremlins and Die Hard could take place on any day of the year, but they take place on Christmas anyway, and that's the type of movie I'm looking for.

Viva el mustache