Holiday Favorites

Holiday Favorites 2014: A Cinephile's New Year's Eve

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In 2011, Garry Marshall directed the all-star holiday comedy New Year's Eve (2011), a film so shamelessly sentimental (although I still think the Michelle Pfeiffer/Zac Efron storyline was charming and deserved a movie of its own) that it's destined to be played every December 31 for many years to come. Though it wasn't a critics' favorite, enough people liked New Year's Eve to think it the ultimate film about the holiday. Not so.

Its true that Christmas movies may be a dime a dozen, while movies celebrating New Year's tend to be given the short end of the stick. As someone who loves seeing people during this time of year, but enjoys holiday movie marathons just as much, I've always been rather let down by the slim cinematic offerings available for this particular holiday. Therefore, for the movie lover celebrating New Year's at home this time around, here are a few titles to help ring in 2015.

The Apartment (1960)

A bit racy for its day (especially considering its two leading men), The Apartment tells the story of a mid-level businessman (Jack Lemmon) who lets his coworkers and bosses use his bachelor apartment for romantic dalliances. It's not long before an encounter with a quirky elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine) however, changes his outlook on life and love.

Holiday Favorites 2014: Steven DeGennaro and '29th Street'

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29th Street Still PhotoWelcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Today's pick is from seasoned sound designer turned writer/director Steven DeGennaro, whose short film First Date premiered during the AFS ShortCase at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. DeGennaro successfully wrapped a crowdfunding campaign and raised over $35,000 for his first feature, Found Footage 3D. Here's his holiday favorite:

There’s only one holiday movie in my family, and that’s 29th Street. The movie tells the sort-of, almost, but not-really "true" story of the first winner of the New York State Lottery, Frank Pesce (who wrote the film and plays a supporting role). Danny Aiello plays the domineering father of the clan, whose son, played by Anthony LaPaglia, is supposedly the luckiest man alive. So lucky, in fact, that it turns out to be a curse. It’s funny with just a touch of schmaltz, as every good Christmas movie should be.

Our Holiday Favorites 2014: 'Tis the Season for Stanwyck

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Christmas in Connecticut 

In August, the Austin Film Society series "Stanwyck in Her Prime" showcased some of the titles that made Barbara Stanwyck one of the greatest actresses of her generation. It featured such classic Stanwyck staples as Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve (1941) and Ball of Fire (1941), both essential highlights in Stanwyck's stellar career. As a result of the series popularity, and since it's the holidays, I thought I'd spotlight the few but worthwhile Christmas movies Stanwyck starred in.

Not many think of Stanwyck as an actress who would be caught dead in a Christmas movie. Her brand of playing women both tough and tragic made her one of the most formidable screen heroines of all time. And yet, if you are a fan of Stanwyck's, its not surprising to see her in these films since they provided the actress grade-A roles with directors and co-stars also at the top of their game.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

So much of Stanwyck's filmography featured the actress playing complicated women (some good, some bad) in situations fraught with intense conflict. However, Christmas in Connecticut is one of those rare exceptions where the great Stanwyck was able to leave her trademark intensity at home and indulge in one of her most playful roles ever. Stanwyck plays celebrated homemaker Elizabeth Lane, a 1940s Martha Stewart who delights millions of readers with sumptuous recipes and household hints through a wildly popular magazine column. When a rescued soldier (Dennis Morgan) expresses a desire to meet the domestic diva, the magazine's publishing magnate (Sydney Greenstreet) demands that she invite him to her Connecticut farm for a homemade Christmas without realizing that Elizabeth is actually a fraud who can't really cook.

Our Holiday Favorites 2014: Black Christmas

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Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

The idea of a strange costumed man breaking into my home is terrifying. It's made even more terrifying under fluorescent lights, and with the amount of sharp Christmas-related objects strewn around most homes during the holidays a sleigh ride takes on a new meaning (see the tagline for the 2006 Black Christmas remake).

I first saw Black Christmas in high school, perusing the Blockbuster horror aisle. My two-week winter break was underway and I was tired of watching ABC Family Channel's "25 Days of Christmas." The cover of Black Christmas sold me: a young woman sitting in a rocking chair with a plastic bag over her head. I thought about the plastic bag that covered the winter coat I received as an early Christmas present, which before hung in my closet hopeful for cold weather, but now took on an ominous presence. 

Black Christmas (its original 1974 theatrical title was the corny Silent Night, Evil Night) tells the now-done-to-death story of a group of college women staying in their sorority house during winter break. This decision proves to be more mind-numbing than listening to half-drunk family members rattle on about their problems.

Holiday Favorites 2014: Russell Wayne Groves and 'Christmas Vacation'

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Christmas Vacation Still Photo

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Today's pick comes from local actor and producer Russell Wayne Groves (Lord Montagu, Intramural):

Reminiscing on my childhood I can't remember a Christmas without my entire family laughing at Chevy Chase. The physical humor coupled with his smoky hiss laugh is what the holidays were and are still made of.

It’s very rare for a film to have immense re-watchability, but Christmas Vacation somehow exhibits that quality in bucketloads. I fondly remember in high school performing Chevy’s monologue "Hap-Hap Happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby danced..." in front of my drama class, probably to the dismay of my teacher.

Our Holiday Favorites 2014: White Reindeer

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white reindeer

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Traditionally upbeat Christmas movies can be comforting, but there's something to be said for exploring the post-magic realm of holiday cinema. Characters with a melancholy streak and who are too cynical to be taken in by sparkly lights and tra-la-la-ing are pretty interesting to watch, and if you're in that kind of mood, too, then you should check out White Reindeer, which screened at SXSW in 2013.

Suzanne (Anna Margaret Hollyman) starts out as the opposite of a Scrooge; she's a realtor working in the Washington, D.C. area, excited for Christmas and for life in general. She has a meteorologist husband, they have important, exciting plans, and they are nice people who say "anyhoo" and buy each other the perfect Christmas gifts.

Very early in the movie, though, things take a completely unfestive turn. Suzanne finds herself alone and completely confused about what she should do with herself, and in terms of Chrismas, she is a bundle of misfiring impulses and misplaced emotions. Her once-favorite holiday has had all the joy pummeled out of it a few days before the 25th, and she's now left to endure everyone's else's merriment.

Our Holiday Favorites 2014: Mixed Nuts

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Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

The sadly forgotten Christmas comedy Mixed Nuts (1994) has been a holiday viewing tradition for me since its release 20 years ago. Co-written and directed by Nora Ephron from the earlier French film Le père Noël est une ordure (1982), Mixed Nuts bears almost no resemblance to the director's more famous romantic comedies. The holiday farce deals with the staff of a Los Angeles suicide hotline (Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson) who must contend with a bickering pair of expectant parents (Anthony Lapaglia, Juliette Lewis), a melancholy cross-dresser (Liev Schrieber), a quirky ukulele player (Adam Sandler) and other assorted characters as they face eviction as well as a serial killer known as The Seaside Strangler on Christmas Eve.

So much of Mixed Nuts is the exact opposite of what comprises the standard holiday movie, such as the dark flavor of comedy and the sunny Los Angeles setting (Christmas actually happens there too). And while plenty of Christmas movies tend to draw inspiration from Norman Rockwell, Mixed Nuts goes against the grain by being a film populated with individuals who would never be found in a Rockwell painting. These are people who, for one reason or another, dread the holidays. In that sense, Mixed Nuts is perhaps one of the most relatable and sympathetic holiday films in existence; a love letter for the individual who feels something is lacking for them during this time of the year. As Martin's character puts it: "Christmas is a time when you look at your life through a magnifying glass, and everything you don't have suddenly seems overwhelming."

That's not to say that Mixed Nuts is a depressing movie. In fact, nothing is further from the truth. The selection of holiday songs are highly enjoyable (including Amy Grant's stunning "The Night Before Christmas" which closes the film), the large comedic cast is fun to watch, the comedy, while dark, is plentiful and the film's climax opts for the hopeful, rather than the sentimental. All in all, Mixed Nuts is prime holiday viewing, even it does come in unconventional wrapping.

Where to watch: Mixed Nuts is available on DVD, Amazon Instant Video and in Austin, at Vulcan Video North.

Our Holiday Favorites 2014: It Happened on 5th Avenue

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Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Not many remember, or even know of, this touching holiday comedy's existence. I suppose that's fair enough since the release date for this Christmas-set film was actually Easter. It also didn't help that It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) was released in between future classics It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). As if this weren't enough, the movie went out of circulation in 1990 without even a single TV airing until a low-key DVD release several years ago saved it from holiday movie obscurity.

It's a real shame, since It Happened on 5th Avenue is not only just as good an offering as those other two classics, but it is also one of those rare films with a blend of humor and pathos that washes over you without warning. Each winter when millionaire Michael O'Connor (Charles Ruggles) leaves his 5th Avenue mansion for his home in Virginia, a warm-hearted drifter named Aloysius T. McKeever (Victor Moore) moves in and makes the large estate his own for the duration of the season. This season however, Aloysius has taken in a young war veteran (Don DeFore) as well as two of his fellow soldiers and their families. When circumstances force Michael back to his New York mansion, he is appalled, but proceeds to conceal his identity as he finds himself spending the holidays with his unexpected guests.

Holiday Favorites 2014: Claudette Godfrey Can't Resist 'The Christmas Toy'

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Still from The Christmas Toy

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Today's pick is from Claudette Godfrey, Short Film Programmer and Operations Manager for SXSW:

My job requires that I watch movies every day for 6+ months of the year, but I can honestly say my favorite time to watch movies is around the holidays. So, while there are so many movies from my childhood I love to re-watch each year. Like Home Alone! Scrooged!! The Santa Clause!! And of course Nutcracker: The Motion Picture, which is the creepiest and best Nutcracker ever because of Maurice Sendak's amazing brain.

BUT, the one that truly speaks to 6-year-old Claudette the most is The Christmas Toy. Made in 1986, a few years before Jim Henson passed, it first appeared on TV just before my first birthday. Thankfully, my mother is a Henson fanatic (and a recording-things-to-VHS fanatic) and taped it off TV at some point so we could watch it (multiple times) each year.

Holiday Favorites 2014: Jennifer Harlow and Mark Reeb Head for 'Home' and 'Rent'

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Still from Rent (2005)

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

Today's Holiday Favorites are from a couple active in the Austin film community. Filmmaker Jennifer Harlow's most recent movie, the feature The Sideways Light (my review, my interview), premiered at the Austin Film Festival in October. Her husband, actor Mark Reeb, has appeared in a number of local films, including The Overbrook Brothers, Eve of Understanding and the short Happy Voodoo ... as well as The Sideways Light.

From Jennifer Harlow:

There are lots of movies I watch every year at Christmas: Love Actually, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Harold and Kumar. Here I make my case for Christopher Columbus's Rent as the best Christmas movie ever, or "Jesse L. Martin Jesse L. Martin Jesse L. Martin."

"December 24, 9 pm, Eastern Standard Time. From here on in, I shoot without a script." Thus begins the story of Mark, Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Tom (Jesse L. Martin!!!) and Angel. These friends and lovers, artists all, are trying to survive in New York's East Village in the face of drug addiction, AIDS and poverty. They struggle with being an artist versus selling out, lack of inspiration, and fear of attachment, loss and death. Their mantra at a support group meeting has long been a favorite quote.

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