White Christmas? Miracle on 34th Street? Love Actually? If you’re sick and tired of the usual Christmas movies, here are three seasonal suggestions that may surprise you.
The Three Godfathers
Will Hollywood ever tire of infinite remakes? This 1948 movie is actually a remake of a 1936 version that was a remake of a 1916 version. The only difference was adding color and sound. So, maybe in this case the remake was a good idea. The film follows three bandits on the run who find a woman and her baby stranded in the desert and decide to help them. It’s a take on the nativity story (remake) with John Wayne. A scene where a cactus is squeezed for water required an all-night watering session of the cactus in order to work. In real life, don’t drink out of cacti. You’ll throw up. Or it’ll kill you. Merry Christmas.
Rambo
The ultimate secret Christmas movie, Rambo has zero lines about the season in its entirety. However, its background is littered with lights, trees and generally undeniable Christmas flair. So, what gives? Well, the tiny Canadian town of Hope, British Columbia, is where the movie was filmed. They had already put up their Christmas decorations and, considering they’d already placed American mailboxes and flags all over town, the filmmakers didn’t think they should ask them to ignore the king of holidays. However, the script was not written with this in mind and was not edited afterward. Not a single mention is made of the season.
Rare Exports
Rare Exports is about Pietari Kontio and his father, Rauno, and their adventures on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in their tiny village next to the Russian border. Pietari and his friend catch a crew of Americans secretly drilling into a burial mound. Soon, local children start being replaced with voodoo dolls. Something eats the town’s reindeer. The main characters are real life father and son, and it’s very obvious. Are you still here reading this? Maybe I’m not explaining it right. Russian people solve mysteries on Christmas. It’s amazing. Go! Go watch it now!