The best Christmas films are the ones which put the fairy lights and tinsel up when we least expect it.
Festive films don't have to be schmaltzy fare expounding joy and happiness. They should contain family arguments and rage as well.
The 10 best alternative Christmas filmsShow all 9 1 /9The 10 best alternative Christmas films
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Die Hard John McClane alludes to being Santa Claus with the immortal line, 'Now I have a machine gun, Ho, Ho, Ho' as a bunch of Scrooges, in the guise of German terrorists attempt to wreck his wife’s office party.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Gremlins A picture book version of a family Christmas, full of seasonal cheer, Christmas trees and snow, is ruined by the arrival of little critters who watch Snow White and strangle dogs.
Warner Bros/Amblin Entertainment
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Trading Places What could be more Christmassy than a film that highlights that all men are born equal, it’s just that some have a silver spoon in their mouth? Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy are on top form in a lifestyle swap comedy that culminates during the holiday season.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films 101 Reykjavík With a score by Blur’s Damon Albarn and Einar Orn Benediktsson of the Sugarcubes, this dark holiday season black comedy sees a twenty something slacker bed his mother’s lesbian lover.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films An Affair to Remember One of the great cinematic romances sees a playboy cad and artist Terry (Carry Grant) meet a lady (Deborah Kerry) on an ocean liner. Many missed encounters latter, they are brought together on Christmas Eve because Terry gives one of his paintings to a mysterious, penniless lady in a wheelchair.
REX
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Brazil A clerical error on Christmas Eve results in bureaucrat (Jonathan Pryce) having to stop watching reruns of old TV shows and confront his dreams and fantasies in a consumer driven bureaucratic world. Even in alternative futures, Christmas results in problems.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Fanny and Alexander Bergman’s classic about life, love and everything, features the marvelous Christmas feast of the Ekdahl family. There are fireworks, dancing, boredom, lust and petty squabbles.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films Lethal Weapon Writer Shane Black has a penchant for putting Christmas motifs in his pictures. This one starts with Jingle Bells on the soundtrack, sees cop Riggs (Mel Gibson) try to talk a man out of committing suicide by saying 'a lot of people have got problems, especially during the silly season.' A reminder of the need to think of others less well off amidst all the cheer.
The 10 best alternative Christmas films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg This one is for the more cynical amongst us. When Guy and Geneviève meet on Christmas Eve after years apart, the former lovers talk, but their lives have moved on and Guy even refuses to meet their daughter.
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Here are the best Christmas films in which there is no chance of Santa climbing down any chimneys.
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