Some Off-the-Beaten-Path Recommendations for the Holiday Season

Christmas season brings a deluge of "holiday cheer" into your life: music all over the radio, ads reminding you how you haven't done your shopping yet, excruciating commercials exploiting every last sacred bit of the season, and, of course, countless Christmas movie options. When presented with so many different options, it's easy to default to what we know, to re-watch the same few movies every year without much variation. While I certainly have nothing against yearly viewing traditions, there's a lot of great, off-the-beaten path media for the Christmas season out there. To that end, I've gathered a short list of movie and TV recommendations to supplement your usual December viewing. It's not all explicitly Christmas or Holiday related, some are, some are merely great winter movies, or works that get to the heart of the holiday season. I've also added some lesser known music recommendations, for those sick of the same ten Christmas songs.

All That Heaven Allows
One of the most beautiful, moving movies ever made, All That Heaven Allows is the purest of fifties melodrama and the crowning achievement of the genre's master Douglas Sirk. In typical Sirk fashion, it takes the dross of Hollywood romantic hokum and spins gold, using flagrant visual expressionism to gaze intensely into the inner lives of his characters and create a biting social commentary. It's also the ultimate fall-into-winter movie, opening with the autumnal hue of a New England fall, passing through Christmas, and ending with a beautiful snow-covered finale. Additionally, it's a movie that gets to the bitter heart of many child-parent relationships, with a Christmas celebration as the central moment in exposing the ways that children can be selfish and oblivious to the needs of their parents. (TCM is playing All That Heaven Allows on December 23rd)

Fanny and Alexander
Ingmar Bergman's epic turn-of-the-century Swedish family drama was his last masterwork, a gothic-infused drama that sums up the director's career themes: family and marital relationships, religious conflict, theatrical performance, and the supernatural. Centering on the two titular children, Bergman drew from his own childhood memories, in particular his troubled relationship with his father. With color cinematography by one of the greats, Sven Nykvist, and sumptuous design, Fanny and Alexander pops of the screen visually, but it is the darkly mysterious and magical elements of the story that keep drawing one back to its strange world. Made in part for television, there are two versions of Fanny and Alexander, a theatrical cut running just over three hours and a longer television version of over five hours, divided into episodes. While the longer version is better, not everyone has that much time and the theatrical cut is still wonderful and preferred by some. (TCM is playing the three hour version on December 21st)

Tokyo Godfathers
As the idiosyncratic director of such mind-bending thrillers as Perfect Blue and Paprika, Satoshi Kon hardly seems a likely candidate to also make a tear-inducing Christmas classic, and yet that is exactly what Tokyo Godfathers is. Of course, it wouldn't be a Kon joint without plenty of dark humor, off-beat elements and surreal sequences, but then that's part of what makes the film so great. Tokyo Godfathers takes the basic premise of Three Godfathers, Peter B. Kyne's much-adapted novel (five before 1948), about three outlaw cowboys that find and protect an infant. Only in Kon's world, the outlaws become three of Tokyo's homeless - a drunk, a drag queen, and a runaway - a seemingly dysfunctional group that reveal, over the course of the film, how a family can be more than just blood. The film also deals with themes of loss, shame, dignity, and homelessness. While that might not seem like the recipe for a holiday classic, rest assured that's exactly what Tokyo Godfathers is.

"The Changing of the Guard" (The Twilight Zone: Season 3, Episode 37)
"The Night of the Meek" is the most famous Christmas episode of The Twilight Zone, though it's not one of the show's best episodes and suffers from the short-lived changed from film to videotape, making it look like a bad soap opera. The lesser known Christmas-themed "The Changing of the Guard," on the other hand, is one of the show's best and most beautiful episodes, though it is rarely regarded as such, perhaps because it aired in June rather than the holiday season. The episode is about a prep-school professor who is forced into retirement after 51 years teaching. Looking back at his life and work, he despairs and plans a suicide on Christmas Eve. I won't reveal what happens, but it is moving, life-affirming, and celebratory of the all-important value of education in all aspects of life (and death). (This episode of The Twilight Zone is streaming on both Netflix and Hulu)

Apartment for Peggy
In a similar vein to "The Changing of the Guard," Apartment for Peggy sends a similar message of the value of life, education, as well as friendship and family, no matter how unconventional. Unlike the Twilight Zone episode, however, Apartment for Peggy is also a quite a funny comedy, despite some darker elements, and it is one of the few movies that can legitimately make you laugh out loud and be moved to tears. Peggy, played by the perpetually underrated Jeanne Crain, is one of the most delightful characters in movie history, if only more people had met her!  Though not explicitly Christmas-themed, the film takes place around the holidays and features quite a bit of snow. Ironically, Apartment for Peggy was written and directed by George Seaton, who a year prior had done the same for Miracle of 34th Street, one of the most famous of Christmas movies, though not, I think, as good as Apartment for Peggy.   

Marketa Lazarová 
Christmas famously falls around the Winter Solstice and there are certainly some indelible links between the Christian holiday and various pagan celebrations and traditions. So what better way to explore this linking than a snowy Czechoslovak film, set in the middle ages, that explores the conflict between the coming of Christianity and deep-seated pagan past? Marketa Lazarová is a pull-no-punches look at the violence and discord of Medieval Europe, with imagery ranging from stunningly beautiful to surreally disturbing. With that description in mind, it's obvious that this movie might not be for everyone, and yet you'll never really know until you try, will you? Marketa Lazarová is a special movie and is an easy recommend for fans of art house cinema, the history of Europe, the Middle Ages, and religion.

The Queen of Spades
A more accessible tale of European vintage, The Queen of Spades is based on one of Alexander Pushkin's most famous stories. Set in Russia in 1806, The Queen of Spades is a ghostly horror fantasy set in the deadest of dead St. Petersburg winter. It's not a Christmas story, per se, but nothing feels better suited to the bleakness of winter than classic Russian literature. Helmed by the underrated British director Thorold Dickinson, The Queen of Spades is one of the most darkly stylish films of its time, utilizing a wide variety of expressionist techniques to extract the most possible atmosphere and creeping terror from its scenario. Though it lacks any explicit holiday themes, there is a point here being made about selling one's soul and using others for personal gain that feel especially relevant during a season when overwork, greed, and consumerism are especially prevalent.

"The Tailor of Gloucester" (The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: Episode 4)
I grew watching recorded-off-TV videotapes of this series of Animated Beatrix Potter stories, so this could be one of those exercises in disappointing nostalgia but, having recently re-watched the "The Tailor of Gloucester" episode of the show, I can assure you that is not the case and the show is still great, especially for children. Besides having such lovely source material, these episodes smartly adapt Potter's perfect illustration style as closely as possible for their animation. For those who have never read the story, "The Tailor of Gloucester" takes place on Christmas Eve and involves a harried tailor who falls ill and is unable to complete a waistcoat that is needed for an important wedding on Christmas morning. Fortunately for the tailor, he has some small friends that rise to the occasion and save the day. In typical Potter fashion, the story is beautifully illustrated and permeates and atmosphere of joy and pleasure, with the animated version following closely in suit. Whether you read or watch it, "The Tailor of Gloucester" is a December essential. ("The Tailor of Gloucester" and other episodes of this excellent show are streaming for free on YouTube.)

The Holly and the Ivy
Long unavailable in the United States, last year this British film finally received a Blu-Ray release and debuted on TCM and was a revelation. Though the holidays can certainly be a time for families to get together in joyous harmony, it can also be a season of great discord as old family conflicts are renewed and new ones arise. What makes The Holly and the Ivy so great is the way that it so fully grasps both sides of the Christmas coin, the potential for both joy and strife. If that wasn't enough, it also grapples with surprisingly complex spiritual issues and gets directly to the heart how Christmas can be a reminder of heartbreak, of those who might be missing from the celebration, and just how lonely the holidays can be for those with no one to spend it with. Sounds like a pretty good movie, doesn't it? If you need more selling, The Holly and the Ivy also features a cast of some of Britain's finest actors of their time. (TCM is playing The Holly and the Ivy on December 20th)

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 3, Episode 21)

Santa Claus (Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 5, Episode 21)

One of my fondest memories of the holidays is getting together with my family and watching some of out favorite movies, like Jerry Lewis' The Nutty Professor or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Since we knew these movies by heart and didn't take them too seriously, we talked and laughed throughout, joking and commenting as the films went along. That's somewhat akin to the experience of watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. Though they're watching objectively bad movies (unlike the objectively good ones mentioned above) the fun sensation is similar, especially if you've seen enough episodes of the show to have a "friendship" with the characters. These are two of the show's most memorable episodes, not just due to the Christmas theme but also because the movies are so bizarre and rife for hilarious riffing. If you're only going to watch one, I recommend Santa Claus, though both are equally enjoyable. (Both Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Santa Claus are streaming for free on YouTube)

Brief Music Recommendations
After over a decade of working retail, I'll admit to not being much of a fan of many popular Christmas songs, so my taste goes more to classic Christmas carols and hymns. To that end, two of my favorites are the bluegrass band The Lower Lights and the traditional folk albums New England Christmastide. You can find an example of The Lower Lights on YouTube here and Christmastide, which is hard to find anywhere else, can be listened to in its entirety on YouTube, for free here. In terms of jazz, you can't do better than the Ramsey Lewis Trio's two Christmas albums, Sounds of Christmas and More Sounds of Christmas, (example here.) Another favorite, off-beat Christmas album is Low's Christmas EP, an indie slowcore take on both pop and traditional Christmas songs. If you like what you hear, be sure to support the artists if you can.

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