Tis the Season

For Comfort Watching

Happy Holidays & welcome to Thelma & Alice #12! For those of you who have been with me for the whole year, thank you for sticking with me. For my new subscribers, thank you for joining. This is a special seasonal edition, with holiday movies that are written or directed by women.

As I write this, I am watching Brooke Shields dance in a Scottish pub with Cary Elwes (of Princess Bride fame) whilst drinking whiskey and wearing a Fair Isle sweater. She is the star of the Netflix made-for-folding-laundry movie “A Castle for Christmas.” I couldn’t convince my husband Mike to watch it with me, but my nine-year-old son was game. It’s rated G and very low stakes. Brooke Shields is a romance novelist who buys a Scottish castle and is also really good at doing hair. It’s everything you want in a holiday movie: knitting, luxury real estate, baked goods, a variety of plaid scarves, and riding on horseback to select a Christmas tree. 

I love Christmas movies, especially It’s A Wonderful Life, which, as legend has it, was inspired by a Christmas card (and was also investigated by the FBI for communist tendencies). I grew up watching holiday movies but didn’t really into the genre until Mike and I first started dating. We had decided that I wouldn’t go home with him for Christmas because it was “too soon” but to make up for the fact that we wouldn’t be spending the holidays together, we had a Christmas movie marathon. The movies put us into such a sentimental mood that we decided to spend Christmas together after all. Doesn’t that sound like the premise of a Christmas movie?? (Netflix, call me! I’ll write it.) 

I haven’t had the chance to revisit my favorite Christmas movies yet this year because most evenings I’ve been trying to catch up with 2021 releases for OAFFC awards voting. But after I hand in my ballot, I’m looking forward to re-watching some of my old standards. I hope you enjoy these picks, but if holiday movies aren’t your thing, don’t worry—I’ll be back in January with my favorite 2021 films that are written or directed by women.

90s Classic That Holds Up

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Directed by Sharon Maguire
Written by Richard Curtis & Andrew Davies, based on the novel by Helen Fielding
VOD $2.99

Okay, this wasn’t made in the 90s, but its source material, a novel based on newspaper columns, is classic 90s. When I started watching Bridget Jones’s Diary, I was ten years younger than Bridget, and now, somehow, I’m ten years her senior. She only becomes more lovable to me as I get older and become more nostalgic for my youth. This is a very funny adaptation of a very funny book, and it’s kind of a miracle that the novel’s humor was enhanced, rather than flattened. It’s full of wonderfully awkward holiday parties, starting with the very first scene where she meets Mr. Right wearing the wrong sweater—er, “jumper.” IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER

Guilty Pleasure

The Holiday (2006)
Written & Directed by Nancy Meyers
Streaming on Hulu 

Everyone’s knitwear is very on point in Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday, and the décor is spotless. As with any foray into the world of Nancy Meyers, I always spend a few minutes wondering who cleans all the white furniture, but then I let those nagging thoughts go and drift into a universe where it makes sense to wear high-heeled boots when traversing an icy field. I don’t know why I like this movie! I don’t know why anyone does! But it has become very popular over the years, developing a cult following (and a bizarre theory) probably because it is so low stakes and indulges a fantasy that many women must have of eschewing holiday duties to take a solo vacation in someone else’s house. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER

If You’re Nostalgic for Advent Services

The Nativity Story (2006)
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Written by Mike Rich
Streaming on HBO Max

To be honest, I only gave this highly religious adaptation a try because it stars a young Oscar Isaac, but I stuck with it because it had a surprising emotional honesty. It’s a totally sincere retelling of the nativity story, one that attempts to bring realistic emotions to mythic events. Teenaged, virginal Mary is shocked to find herself pregnant and Joseph (Oscar Isaac) is pretty annoyed to learn that his is not the father. But then an angel intercedes, and they go on a road trip to Bethlehem. In his review, A.O. Scott memorably describes The Nativity Story as “a Hollywood version of the kind of Christmas production some of the ‘Peanuts’ kids put on in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’” I think this is the perfect way to set your expectations for this movie, which, if you grew up going to Advent services, will bring back memories of church pageants. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER

Family Movie Night

The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
Directed by Penny Marshall 
Written by Robert Nathan, Robert E. Sherwood, and Leonardo Bercovici
VOD $3.99

After revisiting a couple of Penny Marshall classics earlier this year (Big, A League of Their Own), I decided to check out her Christmas movie, The Preacher’s Wife, and I wasn’t disappointed. No, this movie isn’t reinventing the genre, but it’s a sweet family story that you can watch with your kids while enjoying multiple scenes in which Whitney Houston’s singing is backed by a gospel choir. It’s a remake of The Bishop’s Wife, and follows a down-on-his-luck preacher (Courtney B. Vance) who appeals to the man upstairs for help. When an angel appears in the form of Denzel Washington, he’s not exactly grateful, especially when the angel and his wife (Whitney Houston) hit it off. Hijinks ensue, lessons are learned, and a church is saved. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER 

Sublime Midcentury Romance

Carol (2015)
Directed by Todd Haynes
Written by Phyllis Nagy based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
VOD $3.99 (or free at your local library)

Carol is a movie so beautiful I haven’t watched it a second time. I recently borrowed it from our library to have on hand, but at the same time, a part of me wants to save it one more year, like a fine wine. Set in 1950s Manhattan, it tells the story of a secret love affair between a suburban wife, Carol (Cate Blanchett), and a salesgirl and aspiring photographer, Therese (Rooney Mara). They meet over the holidays in the department store where Therese works, fall in love, and go on a road trip. Meanwhile, Carol is trying to separate from her husband (Kyle Chandler), and Therese is putting off her engagement to her perfectly nice boyfriend (played by perpetual nice guy, Jake Lacy). This is your melancholy holiday movie, the one you put on late after fixing yourself a nightcap. IMDB * REVIEW * TRAILER

Happy Holidays! See you in 2022!