Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 16, 2015 7A
HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAYS
Itemizer-Observer staff report
With two three-day weekends
coming up for the Christmas and
New Year’s holidays, you may have
time to watch something other
than football and basketball. Why
not pick in a good flick?
By the end of December, some
people might be suffering from a
bit of Christmas overload, so after
combing over multiple lists of “un-
conventional Christmas movies,”
we’ve compiled our own list that
maintains the holiday mood, but
with an edge.
It is Christmastime after all, so
we tried to keep the list “family
friendly”… mostly. Happy viewing.
1. “Die Hard” (1988, R): OK ac-
tion flick fans, here’s one for you.
New York cop
John McClane
takes his
Christmas va-
cation to visit
his wife in Los
Angeles, but
the holiday
cheer is
20th Century Fox quickly inter-
rupted. A group of bank robbers
hold everyone at Holly’s compa-
ny’s Christmas party hostage and
it’s up to McClane to save the day.
2. “The Nightmare Before
Christmas” (1993, PG): For those
who like a little Halloween with
their Christmas, “The Nightmare
Before Christmas” highlights the
best of both holidays. Jack
Skellington, the pumpkin king of
Halloween Town, is bored with
doing the same thing every year
for Halloween. He discovers
Christmas Town, and tries to have
residents of Halloween Town put
on Christmas, with a few bumps
along the way.
3. “Gremlins” (1984,
PG): These little mogwai
are the strangest — and most
destructive — Christmas present
ever. Remem-
ber, don’t feed
after mid-
night, or give
them water,
or expose
them
to
bright light,
lest the cute,
Warner Bros.
fuzzy crea-
tures become little green mon-
sters.
4. “Lethal Weapon” (1987, R):
This is another one for the action
fans in this Mel Gibson and Danny
Glover cop buddy movie. Lethal
Weapon is set in December, with
the opening scene taking place
with “Jingle Bell Rock” playing and
ends with an invitation to eat the
“world’s lousiest Chr istmas
turkey.”
5. “Trading Places” (1983, R):
This movie, starring Dan Aykroyd
as Louis Winthorpe III and Eddie
Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine, has
the two main characters becoming
pawns in a bet between Winthor-
pe’s two millionaire bosses. Is it
“nurture” or “nature” that makes
us who we are, they wonder. Only
one problem, Valentine and
Winthorpe find out about the bet
during the company
Christmas party and de-
cide to turn the tables.
6. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”
(2005, R): Robert Downey Jr. stars
in this as a
petty thief —
he’s robbing a
toy store to
find the per-
fect Christ-
mas gift in an
early scene —
who through
Warner Bros.
a series of
events tries to help solve several
Christmas-season murders.
7. “Edward Scissorhands”
(1990, PG-13): Do you know where
snow comes from? It is created by a
b oy n a m e d
Edward, who
has scissors
for hands,
when
he
carves ice
sculptures.
That’s at least
according
20th Century Fox the plot of
the quirky Tim Burton-directed
movie starring Johnny Depp and
Winona Ryder.
8. “Rent” (2005, PG-13): There
has to be a musical on this list, you
know, because there must. But
“Rent” fits the bill, beginning on
Christmas Eve and ending on
Christmas Day the next year.
9. “Batman Returns” (1992, PG-
13): It’s Christmastime in Gotham
City in this se-
quel starring
M i c h a e l
Keaton as the
Caped Cru-
sader.
The holiday
serves as a
backdrop to
Warner Bros.
B a t m a n’s
battle with Penguin and Cat-
woman.
10. “The Thin Man” (1934, Prior
to rating system): More a murder
mystery than Christmas tale, but it
is set during Christmas.
In addition, former private de-
tective (forced back into service)
solves the mystery over a holiday
dinner gathering.
Sources: Details for plot sum-
maries courtesy of Internet Movie
Database, www.imdb.com and
December 2014 Time article “11
Christmas Movies You Didn’t Know
Were Christmas Movies.”
Staff Picks:
Staff Writer Jolene Guzman
Staff Writer Emily Mentzer
Sports Editor Lukas Eggen
“A Christmas Story” (PG)
“Elf” (PG)
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (PG-13)
www.polkio.com
Thanks to my brother-in-
law introducing us to the 24-
hour marathon some years
ago, Ralphie’s quest to be
given a Red Ryder BB gun al-
ways is in the background of
my family’s Christmas gath-
erings.
It wouldn’t be Christmas
without Flick getting his
tongue stuck on a frozen flag
pole after the issuance of a
“triple-dog dare,” the infa-
mous “leg lamp” incident,
and Santa crushing the little
guy’s hopes for the best
Christmas present ever by
saying to Ralphie, “You’ll
shoot your eye out, kid.”
I love the childhood nos-
talgia of the movie. It’s a
must-see for the holidays.
Pencil
us in!
www.polkio.com
There’s only one time of
year you get to stick to the
four main food groups:
candy, candy canes, candy
corn and syrup, so why not
enjoy it while watching this
holiday classic. Buddy’s at-
tempt to find his father after
learning he is not a real elf
offers countless hilarious
and touching moments.
Buddy’s love for all things
Christmas and his endless
enthusiasm for others is con-
tagious. His childlike inno-
cence is charming and heart-
warming — “Congratula-
tions! You did it! World’s best
coffee!”
It’s just not Christmas until
Buddy the Elf has graced our
living room at least once.
Clark Griswold’s attempt
to have a good, old-fash-
ioned family Christmas is a
comedic adventure I could
watch over and over again.
The Griswolds’ misadven-
tures from sledding to get-
ting an extreme light display
working to dealing with a
pesky squirrel, the laughs
just keep coming.
Many of us have experi-
enced a dysfunctional family
member (or two) but this is
one family holiday outing
you’ll want to enjoy again
and again.
This hilarious and, in
parts, heartfelt romp is one
Christmas adventure I look
forward to reliving year after
year.