Have a Lethal Gremlins French Connection Christmas: 21 non-holiday holiday movies

The “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?” debate has gained a lot of traction since we first posted this list a few years back. Sure, you may not automatically think of Alan Rickman invading an office building or legendary car chases or surrealist parables when you’re celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah—although maybe you do, we won’t judge (after all, It’s A Wonderful Life has its dark moments as well).

But after so many years of Miracle On 34th Street and White Christmas, it’s definitely time to branch out into a more off-brand breed of holiday film. The pivotal moments of these twenty-plus cinematic efforts take place during the holiday season, but they’re not the ones that necessarily come to mind when you think “holiday movie.” So this December, curl up with a double feature from the below list for a much-needed new take on the holiday spirit. (And for the record, Die Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie.)

Diner (1982)

When people remember Barry Levinson’s witty coming-of-age breakthrough hit, they probably think of the fraternal camaraderie of the then-unknown cast, quippy ad-libs, the football quiz, Mickey Rourke’s crazy hairstyle, and Kevin Bacon’s baby face. What they may not recall is that the film is framed by two holidays, as it starts on Christmas Eve and wraps up on New Year’s Eve at Eddie (Steve Guttenberg, in his best role ever) and the never-seen Elise’s wedding. The holiday theme allows Billy (Timothy Daly) to come home from college, the soundtrack to be populated with pop holiday hits like Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph,” and in one of the film’s most poignant moments, Bacon’s drunk Fenwick to fill the nativity absence of a stolen baby Jesus to become the messiah himself, in a misguided but certainly holiday-fueled intention. Now, are you going to finish that sandwich? [Gwen Ihnat]