Breaking the Christmas Movie Canon

There are so many films about Christmas that aren't on everyone's seasonal rotation. Here are some picks for an alternative Christmas movie list that shake up the usual holiday fare. Perhaps you shouldn't watch them with your family.
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[@InnuendoStudios]

I tell you truly: the first time I saw Tokyo Godfathers was probably the purest experience of cinematic joy a movie has ever given me. I didn't expect to feel that way about a film as an adult. Unadulterated.

[@Plutoburns]

that climax just keeps building and building and getting scarier and then a literal miracle happens. awe inspiring

[@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat]

Holy crap, Innuendo Studios watches Kyle? Cool.

[@Enjoyurble]

Satoshi Kon was an expert at all the feels. If anyone stumbles on this due to the holidays Tokyo Godfathers is free to watch with ads on like 3 different services right now and is as joyous as stated.

[@thehopeofeden597]

This thumbnail makes me really happy because it means that Kyle knows about Tokyo Godfathers, the best Christmas anime.

[@KatieAngelWitch]

I've made it a Tradition to watch it every Christmas Eve now, since before the pandemic, I have not missed a single year yet! It's just, such a perfect movie with such a specific relationship to Christianity and Christmas, and the fact that a member of the core cast is a trans woman is amazing for me, because sure she provides gags by being larger than life, but there's such emotional honesty to her, such openness.

[@kienesel7]

Same thought.

[@dipperdandy]

I've had it in my Netflix queue forever, I really should get around to watching it

[@YamiPantsu]

If you think Tokyo Godfathers is the best Christmas anime you're either delusional or scum sucking normie.

[@superlive98]

RANMA 1/2: TENDO FAMILY CHRISTMAS SCRAMBLE (1993) is the best Christmas anime.

[@gigamantisman]

I'll mention Batman Returns. Not only is it set at Christmas but it's one of Burton's more "himself films" where he got to do whatever he wanted, making it bizzare at times but still memorable. And an example of a director getting to make a film he wanted as opposed to one designed by studio.

[@CaptainRufus]

Batman Returns and Gremlins 2 are utterly fantastic movies taking place during the season. They are also completely out of their goddamned minds and its why they are great.

[@disconnected22]

I agree. “Returns” has long been part of my personal cannon.

[@HobGungan]

@@CaptainRufus Only Gremlins 1 is set during Christmas, but I wholeheartedly agree both it and Batman Returns are stellar films and stellar Christmas films. I also personally count Edward Scissorhands as a Christmas movie, and for my money the "Christmas Trilogy" of Edward, Returns, and Nightmare Before Christmas are bar none the greatest things on both Tim Burton's and Danny Elfman's resumés.

[@sammyauroraloves]

Honestly, at least for me, Returns being more unfiltered Burton is kinda why I don't like it as much. I think Burton's style works best when there's something to ground all the dark weirdness, and Batman Returns doesn't really have that. I can admire the creativity and how much the actors commit to their parts, but it ends up just kinda odd and unpleasant without much purpose and I don't often feel called to go back to it.

[@mysteriiis]

It's absolutely on my Christmas list.

[@kkordis]

If you do a list next year, I recommend The Green Knight. The action takes place on two Yuletides one year apart.

[@TulilaSalome]

That was a surprisingly good film. I was sorry I missed it in cinema, watched it streaming recently.

[@BriGuyIL1980]

Let's not forget John Water's Female Trouble where the driving point that sends main character Dawn on her path to being a super criminal was because she didn't get cha-cha heels for Christmas. Her dropping the Christmas tree on top of her mother should be right up there with George Bailey running through Bedford Falls saying "Merry Christmas".

[@tatehildyard5332]

"Dawn! NoT On CHryyYstMas!"

[@fusionspace175]

Oh, is that what Addams Family 2 was making a play on by having Debbie's motivation for evil be getting the wrong Barbie for Christmas? "All I wanted was a ballerina Barbie. And what did they get me? MALIBU Barbie!"

[@BriGuyIL1980]

@@fusionspace175 Maybe. I don't know. I doubt it. I think they just wanted to show that if anyone she "loved" denied her anything or got her the wrong thing, she'd snap and kill them. In Fester's case, she never loved him anyway, and fully intended to kill him.

[@klisterklister2367]

commenting for not getting cha cha heels for christmas

[@jaydee4697]

Terry's Pratchett's "Hogfather" (a miniseries based on the Discworld book of the same name) is a pretty fun and emotionally involving romp. If you like slightly off-kilter fantasy stories, ramshackle special effects and a satirical look on the nature of belief, it may just be your cup of tea.

[@penguinofapocalypse]

I am very fond of The Apartment (1960) as a Christmas film. Unfulfilling relationships, the soul crushing nature of the corporate machine, suicidal despair, terrible work Christmas parties. And it's warm and funny, and my favourite Billy Wilder flick. I'm also fond of the part in Remember the Night (1940) where the main character (played by Barbara Stanwyck) is reunited with her estranged mother and... it's depressing. The mother is incredibly unkind to her daughter. The reunion doesn't change that. Barbara Stanwyck's character has to find a new family and her own happiness in the end.

[@lillianward2810]

In my house, The Apartment is a New Year’s movie.

[@Plutoburns]

The apartment goes soooooo hard

[@gutterdaughter]

"traumacore xmas movies" is exactly what i needed. this time of year im usually uncomfortably bitter and i need bitter comfort foods. this is perfect, thank you

[@kostajovanovic3711]

I'm sure someone can find a Rainer Werner Fassbinder film for you

[@nanamikamiya6500]

2:32 was that deliberate?

[@TulilaSalome]

Can't think of a Rainer Werner Fassbinder film that fits, even though for sure you should watch them - and Berlin Alexanderplatz TV miniseries - but how about Tin Drum: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIWufaSeiZKnitE - Little Drummer Boy after all is very christmassy...

[@rowanfawcett]

Years ago, you were the KZbinr who introduced me to Derek Jarman. So I'm kind of surprised The Garden (1990) isn't on the list. Its going to be the film I watch this year - a film about how queer people are unfairly mocked, made fun of, killed, or simply ignored as they die while the mainstream culture will encourage them to buy shit they don't need with money they don't have...but pledge "Peace on Earth and good will to all men" regardless of ALL I've just written.

[@Mitchellfw]

Honestly, I am so glad you mentioned "The Lion in Winter" and broke down the history of it, because it is one of my favourite films and Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my most favourite people in European history. I have been known by ex co-workers to shout in frustration "It's 1183, and we are barbarians!" at their uncouthness.

[@Mitchellfw]

Oh, and "American Psycho" takes place around Christmas, no?

[@cree8vision]

Ha, that is funny. Who would ever get a Lion in Winter reference at work? It's 2023 and we are still barbarians.

[@user-nl9lf5bu2x]

I like pretending to be able to scream like Anthony Hopkins as Richard, in that movie.

[@oomflem]

If you're curious about the mandatory christmas film canon in other countries, the equivalent of It's a Wonderful Life/How the Grinch Stole Christmas/etc in Germany and much of Europe is Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella, a Czech-German Cinderella adaptation from the 1960s that's almost violently lovely. Then for New Year's Eve, it's Dinner for One, which is an entirely different ballpark :D

[@TulilaSalome]

Used to be Sleeping Beauty, in Finland - one based on a play for children by Topelius; I don't remember it had any Xmas in it or very little? But it was broadcast every year same time. 1949, B+W, not an animation.

[@TVAVStudios]

My Austrian GF showed me that one. CW for anyone giving it a go, there's a pretty graphic scene of a fox being shot by a crossbow that looks very much like (and given the time and place it was made I can easily believe it) they did it for real. There's also the Last Unicorn over there, which like the Great Escape in the UK has even less to do with Xmas than that artsy orgy one, but became an Xmas classic due to always being on TV that time of year. (In fact, in that part of Austria there's Austrian, German, and Swiss channels playing both of those at least twice, each, so you can catch them approximately 20 times in the week around Xmas.)

[@ThierryVerhoeven]

In the Netherlands there would always be a broadcast of the Dutch animated film Als Je Begrijpt Wat Ik Bedoel (released internationally as The Dragon That Wasn't (or Was He?)), which also has nothing to do with Christmas, but probably fit the bill because it was an animated family film. Since Kyle is about my age and lived in the Netherlands for some time, it wouldn't surprise me if it was part of his upbringing as well.

[@DantheManIamIam]

Surprised Joyeux Noel was nowhere on the list. Possibly the most affirming film about the power that the season can have when good people give it that power, even if it can't last

[@Syurtpiutha]

Excellent point regarding the naked old people. It probably has something to do with the fact that nudity in film is often supposed to be titillating, and older people tend not to fall into that category. If one views nudity as inherently sexual and supposed to be tittivating I can see how it is supposed to be horrifying, I suppose. I found the movie 'X' (Ti West, 2022) took an interesting approach to it.

[@thefollowingisatest4579]

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence also features one of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever to accompany those final lines.

[@jeswicas]

That walking in the air cover was simply enchanting 😊

[@backtoklondike]

The funny thing is that, had you actually been Swedish, you wouldn't have included Fanny and Alexander because the TV-version is a holiday staple here in Sweden on SVT (the public service channels). Bergman wasn't unpopular in Sweden but he was more appreciated aboard then in his own home country. But Fanny and Alexander is one of his movies that we consider to be a staple here.

[@rebeccat.6134]

Instantly smashed the like for The Lion in Winter. John Castle as Geoffrey is one of the most underrated performances-- and you can absolutely see GRRM pulling from there in his writing of both Tyrion and Littlefinger. The unexpected Christmas movie I'd put on the list also has a theatre pedigree- Martin MacDonagh's In Bruges. Hitmen lay low by taking in the beautiful lights of the Belgian town at Christmas time! There are SO many little snatches of Christmas carols woven into Carter Burwell's score. I'm OBSESSED with the way Ralph Fiennes's villain theme has this bit of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" in it. Look it up under "Harry Walks- In Bruges"

[@GrainneMhaol]

Watching The Lion in Winter at Christmas is so cathartic for people with a complicated relationship with their family (aka everyone)

[@Itcouldbebunnies]

As a native Rotterdammer, the scene with the Dutch orphan hit me like a ton of bricks when I watched Miracle on 34th Street. Sinterklaas Kapoentje has never sounded the same again since.

[@kurtcobain279489]

The original Black Christmas is one of the few holiday movies I watch annually. Not only is it a suspenseful and well made proto slasher horror film, but the complex themes and conversations it brings forward, not to mention just that nostalgic feeling of seeing the sorority house done up in classic holiday decor (and I want a replica of Barb's booze bottle wreath). It's one of the few films to genuinely give me a chill while watching it, and I prefer it infinitely over Bob Clark's other holiday film.

[@GrainneMhaol]

The Dead is so delicately perfect that I sometimes watch the final monologue with Donal McCann's touching performance to remind myself of how flimsy is the veil between the two worlds and how short our span.

[@lfr8666]

2:04 I never saw Miracle on 34th St. but I should have connected that it was right after WWII. I've seen what I assume is the updated version of this scene in the remake, where Santa signs with a deaf child. Both very sweet scenes, but yeah, that context of Rotterdam makes this a powerful gesture beyond crossing a language barrier. Thanks for highlighting that.

[@Account_Not_Applicable]

Tokyo Godfathers is not only among my favorite Christmas movies--scratch that, it's number one, no doubt--but one of my favorite movies of all time. I remember watching it with my mom one Christmas; it takes a lot to get her invested in an animated film, let alone one that requires subtitles, but she genuinely enjoyed it (she said that Hana was her favorite of the trio as she reminded her of Carol Burnett). It's a movie that maintains its quality with every viewing I've had. Dramatic, tragic, beautiful, and comedic, all at once.

[@maksikaman]

Fanny and Alexander (or at least the first episode of the tv version) has been my go to Christmas tradition for five years now, so I'm really happy to see it here. I love it because it feels like a Christmas tradition i've cultivated for myself seperate from the sometimes stilted traditions i've learned (and still take part in) from my family. I try to show it to at least one new person every year as a way to connect and spend slow time together with a piece of art that is not - on the face of it - immediately concerned with building a plot or narrative but is for a while just content on showing us a festive celebration and introducing us characters and relationships taking part in it. I think as a work of art it is for me the perfect Christmas film. There is something beautiful and honest in the way the film celebrates tradition and family and exuberant festivity, while not shying away from showing how the traditions also work to hide and excuse unfortunate realities and conditions such as debt, sexual promiscuity and patriarchal excercises of power within the family structure. The drunk Carl who takes out his frustrations about being second rate on his wife, but appears just a merry drunk to his family because that is the role he holds in the family and is indebted to his own mother. Gustav Adolf is able to make Maj pregnant without regard for her and gets away with having a fragile ego because of his charisma as a paternal figure for the whole family. Though we never had troubles so melodramatic, Fanny and Alexander somehow reminds me of my own experiences with the holidays as a child, where the merriment and joy was truly real, but also worked to hide certain tensions and uncomfortable realities in our family which we would rather not aknowledge. And christmas was a way to ignore the realities for a day and pretend to be functional, as well as truly joyful. It's a conflicted holiday in that way for me. I'm going to spend the holidays with my family again this year. We still don't really talk about our tensions unless we absolutely have to, but we still feast and try to be merry. And at least I have my own tradition to hold close as well. As well as traditional ways of togetherness with my family, Christmas can also mean making new connections with people, who i've chosen to be close to, through a film that means so much to me personally.

[@ZellyTheFangirl]

It's not out yet but Violent Night should be up on next year's list, where it's christmas eve, and you're santa claus coming down the chimney during a violent home invasion

[@ParsnipPizza]

Kyle, man, you're doing great on this criticism thing! I understand the self-doubt, but I'd say I've enjoyed years of your analysis!

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

Agreed, he needs more confidence in himself and he really needs to stop having to pause at every even mildly questionable moment to comment on or excuse it. It comes off as defensive and nobody's going to assume that he espouses the virtues of every moment and every movie he evaluates

[@Azmar.]

Don't know if it counts, but I'm thinking Joyeux Noël (2005), about 1st World War soldiers from France, Germany and UK having a Christmas truce, could potentially be on the list. Anyway, great video o/

[@josefonseca6144]

The short story by James Joyce for the dead is very profound, more so then in the movie and I think it’s because of the medium. You sit in a written work, you sit outside movies, your imagination is active when your reading making it more intimate, your just watching a screen with movies.

[@shelbyfrancis3961]

Holiday in the Wild market itself as a Christmas movie, but it's actually a sweet story of middle-aged self-actualization, and elephant conservation

[@Arkholt2]

More King Arthur movies should be considered Christmas movies. So many things in Arthurian legend happen around Christmas time. I would like to submit The Sword In the Stone, as in Arthurian legend the stone appearing is literally a Christmas miracle, and The Green Knight, as the knight appears at Christmastide to play his little game and vows to return by the next Christmas.

[@gentlerat]

Merry Christmas! Hope you're well and if you're not, just know there are people who enjoy your work!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Thanks for normalizing the thought that not everyone celebrates Christmas. And that there are other celebrations which instill a sense of family and community. Every region in India can be an example of this.

[@TheMadwomen]

My pick for an unconventional Christmas production is moreso a play, but it has a free recorded version on KZbin. So it's the Christmas season, specifically it's a month beforehand on the musical's namesake, Black Friday (Dir. Nick Lang, written by Nick and Matt Lang, songs composed by Jeff Blim). You're trying to get the most popular toy around called a "Tickle-Me-Wiggly". As the play lampshades in the opening scene, it's based many other Black Friday toy crazes everyone tried to get for Christmas, though one that goes unnamed and is the most obvious inspiration would be Tickle-Me-Elmo. You're specifically trying to get your son one of these in order to try to connect with after his mom and your wife died in a car crash last December. You underestimated the demand for the doll and end up having to find a way to cut in line to the toy store, managing to get through by accidentally meeting an old high-school lover and being allowed to thanks to the gossip the rest of the line makes about you. However, once the Doors Are Open, chaos reigns. It starts out calm at first, but quickly escalates into an all-out brawl as grown adults fight over this strange, green, tentacle-mouthed doll that radiates a strange energy about it. This isn't just happening in your town, but across all the US to the point where the president knows about it. It turns out to be a Lovecraftian entity, taking advantage of America's need to fill a void in their lives caused by the many regressive policies the states have (no public healthcare, student debt, ETC.) with "the only comfort they have left..." Products. He just enhances it with trance-inducing powers to make sure there are loyal cults made in his name, so he can summoned to become a new god of this world. The whole thing is a socio-political critique of capitalism and America in general. Most of the songs are great stuff (aside from Monsters And Men IMO). Any musical that can make me actively love its ballads is doing something right. It's made by the lovely group Starkid, who also made various parody plays like Twisted and A Very Potter Musical, as well as my personal favorite of theirs The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, which is in the same series as Black Friday. The performances are amazing, especially considering most of the cast was sick during that filming. And Feast Or Famine is an absolute banger as well. Highly recommend for any time of the year, but it's especially resonant if you're worried about your relatives getting trampled over the latest TV deal. 9/10 from me!

[@bebaguette766]

Just at the start, but already two favorites (Lion in Winter and Fanny and Alexander) celebrated. And both are def part of the canon.

[@jamesmoyner7499]

Two I can give that I am not sure will be talked about or not is called "It Happened on Fifth Avenue" -1947 which brings up an important issue still around (unfortunately) homelessness and the gap between rich and poor while still being a feel good Christmas film. While the other is called The Hogfather which is a two part I guess special each is ninety minutes long and apparently takes place in this thing called Discworld.

[@theoffkeydiva]

I just watched Tokyo Godfathers for the first time based on you recommendation and honestly I don’t think I have ever seen a movie that more honestly dealt with what a miracle is

[@karelfinn2343]

This is a great list of recommendations. The ones I've seen are excellent and the ones I haven't sound excellent. Another one I'm fond of is The Apartment. So it's the Christmas season and you're an office worker climbing the corporate ladder by lending out your apartment to your bosses so that they can hook up with their mistresses. Then one night you come home to discover the elevator girl you like so depressed about being The Other Woman that she's trying to insert-euphemism herself with sleeping pills. Cheery, festive stuff. I guess what I like about it is the acknowledgement that Christmas doesn't just magically make people happy the way a lot of Christmas movies act like it does.

[@Dampfish]

1:17 Nailed it! You're now fluent in Swedish, Kyle. Congratulations! From: an actual swedish person.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Something I've been learning is that the Philippines gets overlooked during the Christmas season but they really go all out when it comes to the Christmas season. They start Christmas as early as September. I also "discovered" a classic Filipino Christmas crooner: Jose Mari Chan. You learn something new every day.

[@MarquisdeL3]

I just watched The Lion In Winter for the first time and it is the perfect movie to watch in the November-December family holiday period. Just pure family drama, but there's actually huge potential consequences because they're royalty. And what an incredible cast.

[@desflat]

Night of the Comet. One of my fave movies, it's a horror movie set not long before Xmas. It doesn't get seen as a holiday movie by many folks, since it's in California (I think) and there's no snow, but it does feature the actor who played Chakotay in Star Trek Voyager dressed as Santa at one point.

[@damientonkin]

Ok I'm half way through the video and I'm giving a like for the off the cuff joke about the radiator. Way to roll with it Kyle, I love your videos and critical analysis is my jam but I apparently needed to laugh like that so thank you for leaving that in.

[@josephinegrant8941]

speaking as an Australian, my idea of christmas involves going to the beach and eating an obscene amount of prawns and cherries

[@Kaleb-Mayhew]

Guillermo Del Toro's directorial debut Cronos takes place from just before Christmas to just after new years, it's also just a fantastic film.

[@plastickhero]

I also had a garbage truck outside when Kyle called it out and I had a brief existential ebullition.

[@MarquisSmith]

That Rare Exports one is on prime, so I'll give it a shot. Hope you're doing well this season Kyle. And don't beat yourself up about it if you're not. Much love.

[@danijobi]

Great work and hopefully the start of a new yearly tradition. For next year, I recommend two Christmas movies that actually are in my personal canon every year: „Metropolitan“ by Whit Stillman is an absolute indie gem, with the brillant introductory title card of „Not so long ago“. It's set during a string of private Christmas parties of the upper New York preppie class and features only teenage characters. Its bittersweet melancholy and dialogue about literature, love and class has accompanied me for my whole life. „Make Way For Tomorrow“ by Leo McCarey. Yes, the guy who brought Laurel and Hardy together and directed all the Marx Brothers classics did a movie so utra-sad that Orson Welles famously said „it could make a stone weep“. It's about family alright - about poverty in old age, sacrificing yourself for the sake of the next generation and about love despite horrible hardships and separation. A timely reminder to take care of those who suffer during this time of year. Also, some honourable mentions: „Wonder Boys“ is actually set right after Christmas break, but still brimming with the spirit and featuring lines like “It’s the kind of house you’d like to wake up in on Christmas morning.” Just like the movie's protagonist, some Christmas stories just come a little bit late to the party. Chaplin's „The Gold Rush“... okay, hear me out. It ends with a New Year's party back in the mining town, so in the timeline his Christmas dinner probably was the leather with shoelace spaghetti extravaganza. (Also I can't believe that Chaplin didn't do more Christmas scenes... it seems like such a Chaplin thing to do, but still I can't recall any!) Kurosawa's „Ikiru“ - it's not TECHNICALLY a Christmas movie, but... c'mon! Of course it is. Monty Python's „The Meaning of Life“. It IS Christmas in Heaven, after all...

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

In the name of Like, Comment & Subscribe, The Holiness of Ones & Zeros blesses this video.

[@pitofneverendingsarcasm8476]

Lion in Winter is on my to watch list every Christmas!! My history teacher used to do an amazing Hepburn impression and quote LiW constantly haha. This list is just what I needed, always is when I see Kyle uploaded!

[@JKPancake]

the "You Have Options" line while talking about Inside made me burst out laughing such a good read with a genuine feeling of distress

[@DavidBookwormPopovich]

Arthur's perfect Christmas cause it's just nostalgia as well as just the power of the seasons.

[@chizzicle]

Tokyo Godfathers I force my family to watch every year. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence I first watched thanks to your 2016 video, and while I don't watch it quite as often, I still love it

[@chungbertflabbergast5995]

I have a lot of thoughts about this list (all good ones), but I am SO glad to see Rare Exports given a mention. Love that movie! :) so very weird.

[@OhMyGoshItsALeg]

So glad I watched this video. Definitely need to see some or all of these movies. Thanks for truckin' onward, Kyle.

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

13:02 Well, if that joke is good enough for Shakespeare, it's good enough for you!

[@avouleance]

La Casa Lobo contains multiple frames of christmas. And inside no 9 has three christmas episodes that range form neat (The Devil of Christmas) to excellent (Love's great adventure) with a 4th one due out on the 22nd. Thinking off it that entire series would fit into cinema of the interior.

[@jamiewebber7485]

Merry Chrysler to you too Kyle.

[@aquamarineschutter9550]

This is an awesome list that's ripe with potential to start new holiday traditions with found family next year. After all these years, I'm still finding new joy in your videos so thanks for that and happy holidays. Also, omg we should rise up and demand 12 days off from work in the us. What the heckkk

[@monoverantus]

1:15 I really do hope you watched Karl-Bertil though, it's absolutely timeless. 1:22 If you have Swedish roots, your last name was probably originally "Källgren", which would be pronounced "Shell-gren" in Sweden

[@lewrl1]

I appreciate the shoutout to The Snowman. Hated it as a kid, but it's a goddamn beautiful film and a technical achievement. Also literally watched Black Christmas yesterday, genuinely chilling movie. While "the call is coming from inside the house" has become something of a joke/cliche, it's brilliant in context and the feminist themes are super interesting, especially in context with how puritan the genre got with the whole final girl themes.

[@onlyinsomniac]

Of course he has a knife! We all have knives! It's 1184 😂 Man I need to watch this

[@goodoldelrey]

Years ago, Max Scoville from the podcast The Comedy Button said it best (not a direct quote): "When someone says that Die Hard is their favorite Christmas movie, what they're really saying is that they haven't watched enough Shane Black movies."

[@Lunarchild00]

You look fantastic! The whole ensemble, especially your hair, all looks great. Anyway, I freaking love Tokyo Godfathers, saw it ages ago and it became my tradition

[@jakemcnulty7510]

A really great list you've compiled here Kyle, including a good few of my personal favourites. If you're serious about maybe doing this again next year then perhaps you could consider including Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" (1985) in that video? Feel free to debate whether or not it can actually count as a Christmas film, but it does get mentioned enough times within the film that it's hard not to ignore.

[@kniferaffe]

"Hey mom, get over here. Kyle's got a new vid!"

[@femoman]

My alternative Christmas watching is often the various anime holiday specials. In particular the ones that lean harder into the specifically Japanese traditions. Like, a LOT of romcom anime holiday episodes start to make a lot more sense when you know that in Japan, Christmas is a lover's holiday. Also possibly the most ageist and sexist Christmas pun imaginable with the term 'Christmas Cake'

[@BuruIgeru]

Can I point out how the lead of "Black Christmas", Olivia Hussey, also played Mary Mother of Jesus and Juliet in Zeffirelli's classic films. Quite poignant casting especially with the Roe v Wade subtexts Also, even if belated, many continued thanks to your work Kyle. I'm not sure if the pallidness on camera was lighting, make up, or you ain't feeling well, but we do love you as you are. Keep at it, we need you here.

[@cosa_oscura]

“Slattery rules, fight me” won me over forever

[@user-ji5hh1tl2w]

Thanks for your clip. I know about a fifth of the movies you talk about and your analysis of the genre was well done.

[@zvimur]

If TV miniseries count, Pratchett's Hogfather.

[@nataliekmaguire]

Next time you do this, please consider including The Proposition on your list. A wonderful Australian drama about, uh, toxic family members on Christmas. I absolutely love it.

[@littlebugp]

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence! I saw that movie for the first time recently. I love that movie and didn't know you had done a full review of it.

[@thaaahaaa]

It is more a winter themed movie than a christmas movie, but it's still my favorite movie to watch around christmas, it's Ernest & Célestine, a french animated movie from 2012. The animation is breath taking watercolor style and the story is probably one of the most based ACAB anti racist you'll found for kids or in general. The same creator made The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... which is made of 3 stories and one of them is christmas themed

[@ScarlettDaleWoodall]

So brilliant! One way I like to deal with "Cannon" is by changing my list over time. I don't think Christmas Story is my vibe these years,but Nutcracker and the Four Realms is. Disney's Wardrobe doesn't challenge tradition as much as I'd prefer,but Prince Caspian does. Carol is a reminder to keep lesbianism with me all year long. Die Hard 5 just doesn't excite me,but my brother and I still have Live Free. Not all Rankin\Bass is sacred,but Frosty still reminds me of my sister and how much rewinding that tape preserved something beautiful and good. Christmas will always be bittersweet to me. But I think the holiday taught me both how to be happy and how to be sad. Americans can't live on anger after all.

[@Teeto_K]

Thanks for this. Excited to see you on the other side of the calendar.

[@disconnected22]

“1941”. Takes place during the season. And Belushi pinned under the big Santa screaming “Jap sub!” is an indelible holiday image. I’d also recommend Rifftrax’s recent upload of “Christmas Circus with Whizzo the Clown” as a demented classic that’ll make you laugh!

[@wigsfordogs]

My family has put up a printout of "It Chrismus" every holiday season since 2018. We forgot to do it this year, because we had a housewide covid outbreak starting the day before Christmas Eve. The closing lines here filled me with a mildly deranged sense of joy and comfort. It's January 4 already, but Merr Chrismus.

[@lihan1234]

Thanks, kyle. Happy new year when we get there

[@SuperSweetBoy]

Great picks! I watched Anna and the Apocalypse last year and it’s now in my yearly rotation. In terms of ones that weren’t on the list, I love Krampus and Batman Returns.

[@superlive98]

John Ford's 1948 film "3 GODFATHERS" was the sixth purely Western movie adapted from Peter Kyne's 1913 novel. It also happened to be the second time Ford directed a film based that novel, the first being MARKED MEN (1919). The title is a reference to the three Magi who brought gifts to the Holy Infant.

[@CaptainCathode]

Primitive Brain take: Die Hard is a Christmas Movie Galaxy Brain take: Rise of the Guardians is an Easter movie

[@obiwanobiwan13]

Re: the very end--and a Merry Chrysler-mas and Happy Honda-kah to you too, Kyle. (I am from LA, live in London, and have never driven a day in my life.)

[@SolStJohn]

I first watched Tokyo Godfathers at my college anime club, which was a big-ass club -- almost a hundred members, technically registered as a fraternity, a whole deal -- and as you can imagine, we watched a lot of anime, covering a wide range, because everybody had different tastes. Tokyo Godfathers is the one and only screening that ended with the entire club cheering and applauding with unadulterated joy. One of the best movie viewing experiences I've ever had.

[@TheMightyPika]

Hey Kyle, lookin' FANTASTIC!

[@MariaVosa]

This might be my favourite of all your videos! And I'm beyond tickled you name dropped Karl-Bertil - just disappointed you didn't go deeper into it, even if it's just a short story.

[@ryalwoods1087]

fantastic list! 8 Women directed by Francois Ozon - so holiday cozy! so 50s kitschy! so murderous!

[@emmittmorgans8076]

6:01 Barry arranged the Bond theme, and is certainly the one who finished it to some extent, but the actual melody was written by Monty Norman.

[@bebepopsr]

more things to add to my watch list, thank you for another great video!

[@Swishy_Blue]

Something something Saturnalia... Something something Christmas orgie. Also, thanks.

[@CaptainRufus]

I was gonna be ticked if Anna wasn't on here. No Such Thing as a Hollywood Ending ALONE makes it a fantastic watch.

[@Safetypinninja]

I was so pleasantly surprised to see it on this list. Literally, saw this movie in theatres when it came out and bought the soundtrack shortly after. It's a lot of fun and so many catchy songs.

[@ThierryVerhoeven]

Allow me to recommend The Lodge (2019). A somewhat overlooked film, probably because of its generic title, but well worth your time if you're into unpleasant thrillers. Set about a week before Christmas its story is about two children spending time in a lodge on a snowy mountain with their new stepmother, whom they barely know and hold quite a grudge against. On the surface it can barely be called a Christmas movie (the Christmas decorations disappear about halfway in, along with most supplies, medicine and winter cloathing), but there is definately something there in terms of subject matter: family members (involuntarily) spending time together and religion... lots and lots of religon. Directed by the duo that made the original Goodnight Mommy. So yeah, don't expect it to be pleasant. But it is really well made; great shot composition and terrific acting by Riley Keough.

[@EyebrowCinema]

Awesome video, Kyle. You highlight some really wonderful work. The fact that some of the first movies mentioned were The Snowman and Fanny & Alexander definitely appealed to me. One quick correction, the iconic James Bond theme was actually written by Monty Norman, but John Barry did do the score for several early Bond movies. But yeah, awesome video. If more TV channels scheduled their Christmas programming along your guidelines we'd have much better yuletide television.

[@emmamaki5862]

Can't think of any movie examples, but the song "Cabinet Man" has its eponymous cannibalistic arcade machine get beaten to death by vandals on Christmas Eve, thus making it arguably a Christmas carol

[@Sacr3dJoe]

С наступающим новым годом, Кайл! An amazing work as always, my best man in a tuxedo 🍰

[@KOLN555]

In Bruges. Set during the holidays, the protagonist finds himself in an old town that he longs to leave but for reasons outside his control he is stuck in. Having found himself at the end of his rope after botching something at work that wasn't intentional, he contemplates suicide until he is stopped and convinced to keep on living his... wonderful life?

[@fuzzballzz36]

As always Kyle, I love your reviews. And as a pagan I couldn't agree more about Christmas canon. Your latter-day reviews tend to be more serious but as always, your golden comedy shines through anyway and HOLY FUCK YOU INCLUDED CHRISTMAS ON EARTH!!! I LOVE Christmas on Earth. Barbara Rubin was such a badass, and she was about 18 when she made this. I'm grateful to UbuWeb because I never could have seen it otherwise. I still wish you'd check out my band's film from 2017, 'Fuzzballzz Moons The World.' I can honestly say it's better than Trash Humpers but not as good as The Godfather. :-) Happy holidays Kyle!

[@duneboon2860]

After finding out about ubu. I had to add it to my home screen and looking forward to going down that rabbit hole.

[@stefanosgambati5890]

My go-to film is Wong Kar-Wai’s “2046” since there are three episodes set on three consecutive Xmas Eves. “Trading places” is up there as well.

[@birchwwolf]

20:27 i'm glad that you bring up Gaspar Noe's Climax. His films are/can be just as hard to watch as Inside/À l'intérieur but i would definitely recommend Climax to someone looking to get into the New French Extremity genre as well.

[@lauradanielson2257]

Are you…telling me there exist MULTIPLE films involving zombies in penguin suits? I know that shouldn’t be my main takeaway but that’s the tidbit that hit me like a freight train watching this Christmas morning

[@senja6990]

I love how in this video English curse words were bleeped, but Finnish "Perkele" was left uncensored.