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In a world where Iron Man 3 and Wonder Woman 1984 are technically Christmas movies, holiday-themed films are less a subgenre than an umbrella encompassing the usual treacly fantasies as well as action, comedy and even horror.
This year, Portland is getting in on the action, with local theaters screening obvious Christmas classics (It’s a Wonderful Life), interlopers in the canon (Die Hard), and WTF entries that just barely make sense as festive seasonal offerings (Rare Exports).
Yes, it’s a lot. So in the spirit of the season of giving (and giving you options, since the Hollywood Theatre’s Christmas Eve screening of Die Hard promptly sold out), we present WW’s guide to holiday movie screenings.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
What will it takes for critics to get It’s a Wonderful Life right? To many, it’s either a sappy fantasy or a secret masterpiece of nihilism. The truth, however, is in between. Director Frank Capra and star James Stewart looked deep into the soul of a selfless, self-flagellating banker...and emerged with a work of art at once tragic and triumphant. Rarely in American cinema has the act of staring into darkness to more clearly see the light been so cathartic. Hollywood, Dec. 22-24; Kiggins, Dec. 22-25.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
It’s all Pee-wee Herman all the time these days at PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater, but this screening stands out. Show up early and your portrait will be drawn by the (totally awesome) Selfie Bot, and check out Pee-wee art by Portland’s own Jeff Brawn. Best to get your tickets now; one showtime has already sold out. Tomorrow Theater, Dec. 23.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
Somehow, this demented take on Santa Claus cemented itself as semi-mandatory holiday viewing for Portlanders. “Santa has broken bad dozens of times on film, but this spin on Christmas exploitation takes the North Pole concept literally,” wrote WW’s Chance Solem-Pfeifer in his 2022 review. “In Rare Exports, Finnish reindeer herders battle a wicked, feral Santa who falls into their animal trap.” Hollywood, Dec. 23-24.
White Christmas (1954)
Twelve years after Bing Crosby starred in Holiday Inn (1942), a movie about a singing showman seeking to revitalize a beleaguered Connecticut inn, he starred in White Christmas, about a singing showman seeking to revitalize a beleaguered Vermont inn. Except this time, he brought along Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen...and allowed director Michael Curtiz to turn the whole affair into the acid trip of Hollywood musicals, complete with nonsensical song-and-dance routines (”Mandy” remains epically baffling) and a World War II battle(!). It’s all so insane it almost makes sense. Kiggins Theatre, Dec. 22-25.