Deck the Green: Put down ‘A Christmas Story’ and try one of these underrated holiday flicks

Spice up your movie list this holiday season with one of these underrated holiday films, picked by Post movie critic Will Ashton

The Christmas season is in full blitz, the red-and-green hot cocoa mugs are coming out of the closet, Christmas attire is back to the norm and, most of all, Christmas movies are playing full speed ahead on TV. While there will also be room for hits like It’s a Wonderful Life and the original Miracle on 34th Street — as well there should be — let’s take this time to look at some other, sometimes equally good Christmas films not getting their proper love.

For as much as we all love Elf and A Christmas Story, there are only so many times one can see a movie before the lines get tired and the novelty wears off. So, I advise you, mix it up this holiday season, and give these flicks their proper due. Who knows, you may find a new Christmas classic this year with your loved ones.

Also, for the record, while films like Die Hard and Gremlins haven’t gotten their proper dues as holiday films per se, to call them underrated is a bit of a stretch.

6. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Whether I’m 2 or 92, I’m going to love the Muppets. Their odd humor, at its best, is full of heart as much as it is with insanity, and they have so many great characters its hard to track down a favorite. So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that they can do Christmas just as well, and while The Muppet Christmas Carol is by no means the best Muppets movie, it certainly deserves more love and recognition than it has gotten.

With Michael Caine playing the part of Scrooge in this reimagined adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved novel, and Kermit, of course, playing Bob Cratchit, this Christmas flick is filled with witty humor but some heart as well. It’s made better by its more controlled structure and Brian Henson’s considerate job in the director’s chair. If you love the Muppets, and haven’t seen this film, then you should definitely bring it to the TV and fireside this season.

5. The Ref

For all the goodhearted joy and well tidings the holidays bring, Christmas is also a great centerplate for dark comedy. Let’s take a look at one with a great script and cast that’s mostly been ignored or brushed off: The Ref. Starring Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis and written by Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King) and Marie Weiss, The Ref is something of a bottle film, where a petty burglar is force to stand guard between a bickering husband and wife, serving as an unusual marriage counselor of sorts during the holiday.

Through its punchy dialogue and its honest message, The Ref may not be on the same level as some of the other Christmas classics mentioned above, but it is likely just as funny, if not funnier, then them. If you are looking to shake up the gage-inducing spirit of the season, look no further than this dark comedy…

4. The Ice Harvest

... or this one, The Ice Harvest. In what would become the last good movie directed by the last Harold Ramis, this Christmas caper stars John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Randy Quaid and has a nice bah-humbug attitude to the holidays, while justifying its feelings with a sizzling script from Richard Russo & Robert Benson (Kramer vs. Kramer).

While Quaid and Thornton usually are seen in Christmas Vacation and Bad Santa this time of the year, this would be a good time to put those films — especially the wholly overrated former film — back on the shelf this year and give this one a shot. This Christmas, discover how “as falls Wichita so falls Wichita Falls.”

3. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

The idea of a killer Santa Claus has been done in several cheap Christmas B-movies, but Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was the only one to get it right. This 2010 Finnish horror from writer/director Jalmari Helander is bursting to the steams with imagination and wit, but there’s an odd heart at the center of this film, earned from its child protagonist and the emotional journey grows with his father and his maturity.

At a breezy 81 minutes, what also makes Rare Exports such a treat is that it knows exactly what it is, and when to get in and get out. For all its insanity, there’s a good message here that somehow doesn’t get tangled away from the insanity of the premise. If you are a horror buff, this is a must this year, but even those without a proper taste for gore and scares will likely find something to enjoy in this little foreign genre film.

2. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Although audience members discovered Shane Black’s potential as a writer in Lethal Weapon, and then his talents as a director in Iron Man 3, somehow his directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang fell through the cracks which is an outright shame, for this may very well be the best film Black will ever write or direct.

In this holiday-centered criminal-centered dark comedy (are you noticing a trend yet?), the film stars a pre-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. alongside what could be the last great performance from Val Kilmer as a private eye and criminal joining forces to solve a murder mystery during the holidays. With an astounding amount of cleverness, snappy dialogue and great chemistry, this movie is great any time of the year, but it benefits being seen during the holidays. If anything, it’s a great showcase of Downey’s talents before he become synonymous with his superhero suit.

1. Arthur Christmas

When the animated Christmas comedy Arthur Christmas came out three years ago, next-to-no-one saw it, and that’s a damn dirty shame. Exploring Santa’s goodhearted but clumsy son, Arthur, who must go back to the old fashioned sled with his grandpa when a little girl is left without her present on Christmas Eve, it has a ton of imagination, heart and wit, as all Aardman Animations are. But, alas, for as much as I talk about this movie this time of year, nobody I know has seen it, and I want to change that.

There’s a ton of things to like about this Christmas movie, but it is best to see it for yourself. More so than something like The Polar Express, it deserves to be seen and adored, and it doesn’t look like it has found an audience — still. So if you get a chance, see this movie this year. I have a hard time imagining anyone will turn into a Scrooge by the time its heartwarming conclusion comes about.

wa054010@ohio.edu

@TheWillofAsh