Tired of being lectured on the "true" meaning of Christmas? ME too! Sadly, around this time, it's hard to find a movie playing on tv that's not about family and santa and reindeer and hot chocolate and little blonde kids. Take a break from movies that tell you how to live your life and check out this triad of movies I suggest you watch while you finally have some free time this holiday break.
Buffalo '66 (1998): Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo) is released from jail and finds a girl to bring home with him to have dinner with his parents. Awkward family meal ensues! Although the "going to the parents' house" is not all that goes on in Buffalo '66, this scene, to some extent, will be re-enacted all over the country this holiday season. Forget Love, Actually, this movie is the feel good movie of your life.
The bleak winter landscapes of upper state New York are a refreshing change from the romanticized snowy wonderlands depicted in most movies set in the wintertime. Yet the cinematopgrapher, Lance Accord (who also did
Lost In Translation), managed to find the beauty in the icy blue daylight and the warm indoor incandescence in what could be the ugliest part of the year.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999): It's Christmastime in New York and rainbows of lights in windows and on trees light up the city. The majority of the scenes in the film are lit with the multicolored lights of the holiday, with the exception of the scenes that take place within the Masked Ball. This film is set during the holiday season, but that's probably the only hint of christmas cheer you'll extract from Eyes Wide Shut. What with the terrifying scenes within the occult masked ceremony, sexual deception between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's characters, and mysteriously murdered escorts, this movie is NOT one that will be enjoyed by the whole family.
The Sure Thing (1985): 3 Words...CHRISTMAS. IN. CALIFORNIA. Bitchin' (that was separate of the 3). And John Cusack!
Screenshots from http://film-grab.com
