The Holdovers (2023)

Had I remembered that this was set around Christmas, I would have waited until late July if not December. As it was, I knew only that it was an Academy Best Picture-nominated comedy drama featuring Paul Giamatti. And that it was available on Prime.

Paul Hunham (Giamatti, naturally) is the Scroogiest teacher at a prestigious New England boarding school in 1970. Since he's unpopular and was going to spend winter break at the school anyway, he is assigned to supervise five boys who can't go home for one reason or another. Unlike the headmaster (Andrew Garman), he believes that the students need extra discipline at this time. Four of them get parental permission to go on a ski trip instead, leaving the neglected, rebellious, yet rather scholastically adept Angus (Dominic Sessa) alone with Hunham, cook Mary (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), and occasionally custodian Danny (Naheem Garcia).

Remember the Night (1940)

I may not see any more movies directed by Preston Sturges, but writing is another matter. I had seen this title many times, perhaps especially in connection with some of its actors, so it seemed time to look further. Yes, I usually save holiday pictures for when they're timely, but Netflix disc service won't last that long.

Shortly before Christmas, an inveterate New York City thief who goes by Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck), among other names, gets caught. Her preacher-like attorney (Francis X. O'Leary) posits a form of temporary insanity, but prosecutor Jack Sargent (Fred MacMurray) demands the testimony of an expert psychologist who won't be available until January 3, so the court will adjourn until then. Out of pity, he bails her out. The depraved bondsman (Tom Kennedy) misreads his intentions and sends her to Jack's apartment. Jack tells Lee to leave, but upon learning she's homeless, he takes her on his vacation to Indiana.

Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

This film is probably best known as Frank Capra's last, not for reasons of health so much as interpersonal frustration on set and dissatisfaction with the end product. It also might mark the first use on screen of the criminal slang term "godfather."

In the early '30s, mobster Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) practically has the run of New York City, and he credits his success to the lucky apples he buys regularly from an old peddler, "Apple" Annie (Bette Davis). Annie learns that her daughter, Louise (Ann-Margret in her Golden Globe-winning screen debut), who hasn't seen her since infancy but has corresponded with her regularly by mail, is about to visit, because Louise is engaged to the son (Peter Mann) of a Spanish count (Arthur O'Connell). This causes Annie a lot of stress, because she's been lying about her financial situation and even her name all along. Dave thinks it's not his problem, until his on-and-off fiancée, Queenie (Hope Lange), points out what it could mean for his luck. Since Dave has a big deal with Public Enemy #1 (Sheldon Leonard) in the making, he will reluctantly pour his ill-gotten resources into passing Annie off as an aristocrat for the duration of the visit.

Scandal (1950)

No, this has nothing to do with the 2010s TV series. This is an Akira Kurosawa film from the same year as Rashômon, which would explain why it gets overshadowed.

Somewhat famous painter Ichiro Aoye (Toshirō Mifune) and more famous singer Miyako Saijo (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) happen to stay at the same hotel, and they engage in friendly conversation on a balcony. Alas, it looks juicy enough for photojournalists to spin a tryst tale. Aoye threatens a lawsuit, but Saijo would rather keep quiet and wait for the whole thing to blow over. Editor Asai (Shinichi Himori) believes that Amour magazine will be most profitable doubling down on its false version of events. Aoye hires the first lawyer to approach him, Hiruta (Takashi Shimura), despite the latter having nowhere near the repute of the defense. Hiruta does sympathize, but he can hardly resist Asai waving money at him to take a dive....

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

This was the first sequel ever to get an Academy Best Picture nod, but I hadn't known that going in. Bing Crosby as a priest in a Leo McCarey movie could have been a spiritual successor to the previous year's Going My Way, which, while probably the least popular Best Picture of the '40s, made a comfortable viewing for me. I was up for more comfort.

Father Chuck O'Malley (Crosby) becomes the...principal?...of an inner-city Catholic school for first- to eighth-graders. He takes a more casual approach than Sister Superior Mary Benedict (Ingrid Bergman), which leads them to lock horns on occasion, not least regarding whether to give leeway to failing eighth-grader Patsy (Joan Carroll) in light of her domestic difficulties. But they agree on one thing: Their building won't serve their purpose much longer. Sending everyone to another parish across town is hardly their first choice. What they'd really like is for CEO Horace P. Bogardus (Henry Travers) to give them his newly constructed office building next door for free. Considering Bogardus hates kids, this may take a miracle.

White Christmas (1954)

Why did I wait this long to see an old holiday classic? Mainly because I assumed that it was a remake of Holiday Inn, which I had already seen and found, well, far from timeless. It did have the same lead actor and stand-out song, after all. But it'd be unusual for a non-international remake to come out only 12 years later, especially when censorship standards hadn't changed much. Further research assured me it was no sequel either.

Former Army comrades Bob (Bing Crosby) and Phil (Danny Kaye) are major stage musical producers but not content; Bob keeps working them harder than Phil deems comfortable. Phil's solution is to introduce Bob to prospective wives, even if Phil can't see himself with a wife of his own. When they attend a duo act, Phil is quickly smitten with Judy (Vera-Ellen) and thinks that Bob is into her protective elder sister, Betty (Rosemary Clooney), but the latter two face complications, thanks largely to Bob having developed a cynical attitude in show business. Regardless, between antics and Phil's manipulation, all four head to a Vermont town, hoping for, y'know, the title thing. The town is surprisingly warm and emptied out when they arrive, but genre savvy should tell you something.

Klaus (2019)

Wow, a brand new Christmas movie in the IMDb top 250. Has that ever happened before? And how long can we expect it to stay up there? There seemed no better choice for me to watch on Christmas itself.

The setting appears to be 19th-century Scandinavia, in an alternate timeline where the Santa Claus legend hasn't started yet. Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) is in a postal academy out of sheer nepotism and wants to flunk out and return to a spoiled life without obligation, but his father will not oblige him so easily. Instead, he is assigned to the far-northern, remote island town of Smeerensburg, where he must deliver 6,000 letters in one year or be disowned. The unfriendly citizens are caught up in a clan feud and have no desire to write to anyone. Jesper is about to give up when he accidentally delivers a kiddie drawing to hermit Klaus (J.K. Simmons), who has made many unused toys and decides to press Jesper into delivering one to that kid. Jesper spreads word among the children that letters to Klaus result in nighttime toy deliveries, and the legend begins to take shape.

Shazam! (2019)

One summary I've seen of why DC Comics movies haven't done as consistently well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that they aren't as good at individually balancing dark and light. Sometimes they try to recapture the magic of the Dark Knight Trilogy; sometimes we get the pure unseriousness of Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. Both methods tend to produce reputedly bland results. Trailers made Shazam! look like an instance of the latter, but positive responses across rating sites led me to check it out.

Billy Batson (Asher Angel), age "basically 15," finds himself magically transported from Philadelphia (what, not a fictional city as usual for DC?) to the lair of wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou again), who half-coerces Billy to take up his name and mantle as champion against the forces of evil. Doing so turns Billy into an adult super (Zachary Levi), and the old Shazam dies before he can provide further guidance. Not immediately knowing how to turn back, and having no real friends in his new neighborhood, Billy confides in his same-age foster brother, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), who's quite the fan of Superman and Batman. Together they figure out what Billy can do, including turning back into his kid form by saying (usually shouting, for no good reason) "Shazam," which also produces smoke and an apparent EMP. He'll have to master his gifts quickly to take on a new supervillain in town, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).

Green Book (2018)

Wow, the latest Best Picture didn't even make the upper half of my family's expectations. Sure, it ranks high on IMDb, but based on the sheer numbers of nominations, I had initially figured on The Favourite or Roma. My parents seemed to anticipate Black Panther or BlacKkKlansman in light of the Academy's newfound diversity kick. And after Bohemian Rhapsody netted quite a few awards, I hadn't ruled out a big slap in the face to the harsher critics. Only after GB's win did I feel a strong urge to check it out.

Future actor Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), is a nightclub bouncer in the Bronx in 1962. When the club closes for repairs, he hears of an opening for a driver for "a doctor," who turns out to be honorary doctor and star jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali). Don seeks not just a chauffeur but an agent and bodyguard of sorts, because the Don Shirley Trio (the other two musicians being White) will be touring the Deep South in a racially inhospitable era. Despite pressures from family and friends not to associate closely with a Black man, Tony appears more concerned about spending eight weeks away from home and potentially missing Christmas Eve. He names a high wage, and Don matches it. You can guess the general shape of the story from there.

Elf (2003)

For the first time in ages, my family couldn't go to a theater together on Christmas. I wound up watching this DVD alone, partly from lack of interest by others. Given my low opinions of Will Ferrell and 2003 movies in general (gosh, I haven't even reviewed any of the latter in full here), I was only slightly interested myself. But it keeps getting positive references 15 years later, so I figured I owed myself a little education.

Santa Claus (Ed Asner) accidentally takes an infant stowaway from an orphanage back to the North Pole. The head elf (Bob Newhart) adopts him, calling him Buddy. Like Navin in The Jerk, Buddy has no idea he's adopted until told so in adulthood, despite not fitting in -- literally. When he learns that his unknowing biological father, Walter (James Caan), is a "naughty" New York exec, he makes a trek in the hope of making a loving connection. Of course, in many ways, he fits in even less among fellow humans, but his stepmother (Mary Steenburgen) encourages Walter to receive him in all his perceived lunacy after a DNA test confirms their relation.

We're No Angels (1955)

Nuts. I try to save movies set on or near Christmas for December, or at least July, but I hadn't checked the full description. Oh well, at least it's in a tropical climate.

Joseph (Humphrey Bogart), Albert (Aldo Ray), and Jules (Peter Ustinov) are Devil's Island inmates, each reportedly guilty of many crimes. They and pet viper Adolphe break loose in time for Christmas Eve and, if I understand correctly, make it to Cayenne proper, with designs on taking the next ship to Paris. In the meantime, they enter a general store and tell the manager, Felix (Leo G. Carroll), that they can fix his roof. Of course, they actually plan to steal clothes and whatnot when the time is ripe. But after observing how deep in debt Felix's family is -- and how heartbroken his 18-year-old daughter, Isabelle (Gloria Talbott), is to learn that her crush is engaged to someone else -- the fugitives decide to do them a few good turns.

It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)

I can safely say that this is the first film I ever watched at the advice of a homeless person (who reviewed several holiday movies in a charity newspaper). Sure enough, several major characters have no legal address. They spend most of the movie squatting for months...in a mansion whose owner, extreme tycoon Michael O'Connor, usually stays away all winter. That's about as feel-good as a story about homeless people gets. Indeed, I felt much better than I did after the previous romantic comedy.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

By now some of you may be thinking, "What's with all the 2012 animations on this blog?" I couldn't tell you. I moved this one up in my queue because it was the only one I knew to have anything related to Christmas in it. It's actually set on and around Easter, but with all the attention given to Jack Frost and Santa Claus (herein called "North" for some reason), that hardly matters.

Yes, I hate the title. Even if it didn't come between Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole and Guardians of the Galaxy, you could hardly guess what sort of guardians were involved. Besides, there have been quite enough movies with "Rise" in the title in the last, oh, decade, and it's not especially appropriate herein. But I moved past the title and enjoyed the movie, for the most part.