Flip on the TV or open any streaming app, and you’re likely bombarded with holiday movies, from classics to new titles. KCRW gets recommendations from Alonso Duralde, film critic, co-host of the movie podcast Linoleum Knife, author of Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, and co-author of I'll Be Home for Christmas Movies: The Deck the Hallmark Podcast’s Guide to Your Holiday TV Obsession.
Love, Actually
This 2003 romantic comedy has been remastered and is now in theaters. It tells nine interconnected stories about the complexities of love and features a star-studded cast: Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Kiera Knightly, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, and Alan Rickman.
“Twenty years later, I think this is a movie that is still super divisive, but boy, the people who love it — really love it. … For me, the appeal of this film has always been the bauble that is London at Christmas. … This movie really gives you all the twinkle lights and all of the ugly sweaters. … My hat is off to the United Kingdom — they put on a Christmas that I think we're still trying to catch up with.
… I think most of the Christmas movies that we come back to every year … are … the redemption narratives, where people learn to be their best selves, or come to appreciate what's in their lives. And Love Actually, while it does have a lot of love and affection in it, also you see a lot of people at their worst. So it is maybe an alternative in that way, as Christmas movies go.”
Fanny and Alexander
In this 1983 drama, Fanny and Alexander Ekdahl are no longer happy after their dad suddenly dies, and their mom marries a bishop who becomes more controlling. Relatives come to help. This won the Oscar for cinematography and was nominated for best director (Ingmar Bergman) and best writing.
Fanny and Alexander will be in theaters on December 13 at 7 p.m. only – at four Laemmle locations: the Royal, Newhall, Glendale, and Claremont. It’s part of the Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics Series.
“The first half hour of this movie is one of the screen’s most joyous Christmas celebrations. You have this theatrical family coming together in this big sprawling apartment. And the servants are there and putting out this incredible meal, and it's just decorated to the nines, and people are running through rooms, singing and dancing together.
… [This film shows] the most joyous footage that Ingmar Bergman ever gave to the world. I mean, yes, the movie gets super bleak after that, even though there is a happy ending — spoiler 40 years later. But it definitely, I think, earns its chops as a Christmas movie because you get such a wonderful concentrated dose early on.”
A Biltmore Christmas
Bethany Joy Lenz plays a contemporary screenwriter who is commissioned to write a remake of the 1947 Christmas movie called His Merry Wife! She travels to the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, where it was originally filmed, then knocks over an hourglass and gets transported to the set of the original film.
A Biltmore Christmas will air on the Hallmark Channel on December 17, 21, and 25. It’s also streaming on Peacock.
“As somebody who watches all of the Hallmark movies every year, the 2023 crop has been particularly strong. … This is probably the topper for this year. This is the movie where they really pulled out the stops. There's all this gorgeous location shooting at the Biltmore, which loans itself to this kind of production.”
There’s Something in the Barn
A father moves his wife and kids back to his native Norway, where he inherits a family estate in the mountains. There, elves try to get rid of the family.
There’s Something in the Barn is available on demand on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.
“The conflict between the family and the locals is a running joke through the film, when things start getting crazy and everybody's afraid of the thing that's in the barn. … It is a fun entry in the holiday horror canon, if you're looking for something that isn't super scary and gory, and has a sense of humor, but does definitely provide some thrills and chills along the way.”