BREAK WITH TRADITION
Tired of Christmas classics? Try these offbeat picks
It’s the season for “A Christmas Story,” a slew of “Christmas Carols,” Charlie Brown's Christmas, the Muppet Christmas and a feast of themed movies on the Hallmark Channel, to name a few. If it's beloved, traditional and holiday oriented, you'll find it on TV.
But what about lesserknown but no less great movies and shows with Christmas themes, scenes or plotlines that make a great addition to the season? Thanks to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, you can fire up these treats for some unconventional holiday viewing.
1. “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale” (Netflix): This 2010 Finnish fantasy/ horror flick serves up a version of Santa that's anything but jolly. And the elves, oh, the elves. But there are feel-good father-son moments, and gorgeous Finnish snowcovered countryside.
2. “Bell, Book and Candle” (Netflix): This 1958 tale of stylish sorcery gets rolling as a trio of witches exchange Christmas presents in New York. Nicky (Jack Lemmon) gives Gillian (Kim Novak) a summoning potion; Aunt Queenie (Elsa Lanchester) gets a scarf. James Stewart is the love-spell bound Shep. With Ernie Kovacs and Pyewacket the cat.
3. “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” (Hulu, Amazon): As Blackadder fans know, it's not your father's “Christmas Carol.” Though the 1988 episode was set in the Victorian era, Ebenezer Blackadder's a good, kind man, generous to a fault. Then the Spirit of Christmas shows up and gives him a peek at his nefarious ancestors. He learns a lesson, all right.
4. “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” (Netflix, Amazon). This 1962 animated musical version of Charles Dickens' classic rarely shows up on TV. The late Jim Backus (Thurston Howell on “Gilligan's Island”) voiced the nearsighted Magoo, here playing Ebenezer Scrooge in a Broadway play. Many of the songs are quirky delights (“We're rep-re-hensible! We'll steal your pen! And pen-ci-ble!”), and while not as slick as the animated specials of today, it belongs on the cult fave list.
5. “The Thin Man” (Netflix): Nick and Nora Charles (and dog Asta) take a break from San Francisco to visit New York for the Christmas holidays in this stylish 1934 classic. What could go wrong? Well, murder, for one. Come for the witty banter, stay for the homage to day drinking. With William Powell and Myrna Loy.