Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Gluttony, Thy Name Is Pop Culture Curmudgeon

I’m still full from Thanksgiving. And the ridiculous amount of leftovers. I’m actually sick of sweets. The thought of sweets makes me feel nauseated.

Thus, I am not excited about the beginning of the holiday movie season. The schmaltz and feel-good of the typical holiday movie activates my nausea just as effectively as the overabundance of pie at the typical Thanksgiving meal.

In honor of the season, I present my list of good holiday fare. (I didn’t include A Christmas Story because it is so obvious. We know its funny and it has a dark sense of humor.)

Home for the Holidays. This Jodie Foster gem is a Thanksgiving staple in my home. Through the open dysfunction exhibited by the family in the film, we can work through our own family’s dysfunction. And laugh about baboon loving and turkey grease.

Elf. This is the first movie in which I enjoyed Will Ferrell. He is free with his comedy and completely inhabits the naive Christmas elf. The story of finding his real father and saving Christmas is a little cheesy, but it is wirth it for the scene when Ferrell leaps onto the Christmas tree. Jon Favreau did an excellent job of bringing this story to life.

Bad Santa. This brings a new level of raunch to Christmas, and its about time. Plus Lorelai Gilmore herself gives the best line of all time: “F#$% me, Santa!”

The Spirit of Christmas. This animated short is reason we have had the joy that is South Park on our TV screens lo these many years. This cartoon is funny enough that I forgive them for Mr. Hanky.

Love Actually. Only the setting is Christmas, and that is probably why I find it so enjoyable. I particularly enjoy Bill Nighy’s washed-up pop singer performing his signature hit nekkid.

About a Boy. Again, not so much a Christmas movie, but the Christmas dinner is one of the perfect movie endings, as the right people get together, and they all avoid eating a Christmas nut loaf. And, of course, the source of manchild Hugh Grant’s never-ending fortune is a novelty Christmas song. I always hear the opening strains of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer when I watch this film.