Christmas movies are all about dashing through the snow in red jumpers, with the frames dusted with enough tinsel to burn your retina. Hugh Grant seems a Christmas constant — think Love Actually (he is the dashing Prime Minister who falls in love with a junior member of his staff), About a Boy , where he plays a popstar living off the proceeds of his hit Christmas single, and Bridget Jones’s Diary, where Mark Darcy’s reindeer jumper plays a prominent part in signalling his rightness for Bridget.
While comedies are a staple for Christmas — from the family-friendly Home Alone, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Elf to the R-rated Bad Santa , rom coms work as well. Who wouldn’t want to cuddle up with Jude Law in a cute English cottage a la The Holiday ? There is poignancy in Edward Scissorhands and the oddly-sensitive World War I movie, Joyeux Noel . And if red hats and jingle bells are too much for you, there are the hard-core action films. Remember NYPD officer John McClane’s crossing swords (and much more) with terrorist Hans Gruber on Christmas Eve in Die Hard ? Yippee ki yay!
Joy to the world
Walt Disney has a long tradition of Christmas movies, from A Christmas Carol to Frozen — Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, at 21 minutes, was a rather annoying precursor to the lovely Coco . And after Disney bought Lucasfilm, we have had a Star Wars film every December.
This image released by Lucasfilm shows character Chewbacca, left, and Harrison Ford in a scene from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the highly anticipated film by J.J. Abrams that hits theaters Dec. 18. (Lucasfilm via AP)
The original Star Wars trilogy — A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) — and the horrid prequels — The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005) — were released in May. There is even a May the Fourth be with you Day.
May be December
Ten years later, on December 14, 2015, a new trilogy was born with JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens . Abrams is quite the reboot master — look what he did to Star Trek — and The Force Awakens was a heady mix of fan favourites and new characters. So while we hailed the piratical Han Solo (Harrison Ford), feisty Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca, who still hates losing holochess, there are new characters, including Finn, a storm trooper who joins the resistance, Poe Dameron, a dashing pilot, Rey, the scavenger on Jakku who is drawn to Luke Skywalker’s lightsabre, the evil Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order and nasty Kylo Ren. There is mention of the Force and of Ren being seduced like his grandfather (he is Leia and Han’s son) to the Dark Side.
Extending the universe
Last December, there was the first of the spin-offs in Rogue One , which tells of how the Resistance got hold of the battle plans of the planet killer Death Star. Helmed by Godzilla director Gareth Edwards, the film was all right as a standalone sci-fi adventure, but the attempts to shoehorn Star Wars mythology, especially that CGI Leia at the end, was distracting to put it mildly. Next December, there will be the Han Solo spin-off, and Star Wars XI will come out in 2019.
This image released by Lucasfilm shows Carrie Fisher as General Leia in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," in theaters on Dec. 15. (Lucasfilm via AP)
Question of answers
Directed by Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi was to be released in May 2017, but is now opening on December 15. Taking off immediately after the events of The Force Awakens , The Last Jedi has fans in a tizzy. Is Luke denouncing the Jedi order? Is Rey Senator Palpatine’s daughter? Will Luke talk weird like Yoda? Could Rey and Ren be twins? Tweets from advance screenings shower praise and love and hint at big surprises. If Colin Firth’s Harry Hart could come back to life after being shot in the head in Kingsman , why not Han Solo?
In John Green’s new book, Turtles All the Way Down , a character says “ Star Wars is the American religion.” The virgin birth in The Phantom Menace was a bit much. However, even if Star Wars is just a billion-dollar space opera, it is still a good treat for the holidays, especially considering the hideous films masquerading as Christmas films — ABad Moms Christmas and Daddy’s Home 2 anyone?
This image released by Lucasfilm Ltd. shows Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso in a scene from, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." (Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd. via AP)
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