The Movie Room

This December, I am going to start posting a movie on Monday and a movie on Friday instead of just one on Wednesday. Because the holidays are approaching, each week’s pair is themed around going places for the holidays as I let the spirit of the season shine on. 

The first week of December I’ll be writing about Snowbound Westerns. Monday December 2 will be Robert Altman’s 1971 film McCabe & Mrs. Miller and Friday December 6 will be Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 film The Hateful Eight. Westerns are one of my favorite genres, and I love when they switch up the typical locale while still keeping that Western flavor, so these stories of the Wild West during the winter are right up my alley.

For the second week, I’ll be headed to the war film genre by looking at two movies set in POW camps. First on Monday December 9 is Stalag 17, from Billy Wilder in 1953, and then on Friday December 13 will be Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence from Nagisa Ōshima in 1983. I love how Christmas is used in war films to show a sense of camaraderie and unity when those things can be sorely lacking, even if these stories aren’t the happiest.

In the third week of December, I will be shifting locales to spend Christmas with the British Royal Families. On Monday December 16, I will be writing about Anthony Harvey’s 1968 film The Lion in Winter about Christmas with Henry II as his wife and children struggle to seize power for themselves, and then on Friday December 20, I will be watching Spencer, Pablo Larraín’s 2021 film about Princess Diana struggling to keep power over herself while spending Christmas with her in-laws. Family struggle is always a fruitful ground for holiday films, and with the British royalty there is always struggle.

The fourth week will be a pair of silent films, in the spirit of “Silent Night.” On Monday December 23, I will load a blog about G. W. Pabst’s 1929 film Pandora’s Box including its mesmerizing Christmas-set finale, and on Friday December 27 I will be shifting my sights to New Year’s Eve with The Phantom Carriage, directed by Victor Sjöström in 1921. I love silent movies and have been trying to add more to my collection, especially when I keep discovering classics like these two. 

On Monday December 30, I will be writing about Lewis Milestone’s 1960 New Year’s-set heist film Ocean’s 11. I find heist movies to be really fun and always a good time, so no better way to end the year than with the Rat Pack as they rob a casino in Las Vegas and pave the way for George Clooney and Brad Pitt.