The Christmas Film Recommendables - Part 14

From Christmastime sex and drugs to a festive Groundhog Day: welcome to the penultimate post in my holiday film recommendations list.

66. Trading Christmas (2011)

I mentioned The Holiday (2006) in Part 2 of this series: Trading Christmas offers a similar storyline in the form of an accidentally-romantic house-swap.

Lovely performances from Faith Ford and Tom Cavanagh.

You can watch online at YouTube.

67. Less than Zero (1987)

A drug-and-sex fuelled Los Angeles Christmas. Reading that Easton Ellis wasn't a fan of the film makes me like it more somehow. And a great 80s soundtrack to boot. With a very young Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader at the helm.

68. Kristin's Christmas Past (2013)

Another example of a well-worn Christmas narrative done particularly well. 34-year-old Kristin (Shiri Appleby) hasn't been home to see her family in 17-years. A sip of some magical champagne and a well-timed wish and she gets a chance to go and visit her teenage self. I'm not entirely why I cried so much watching it but it's lovely and sad and romantic.

You can watch online at YouTube.

69. Three Wise Women (2010)

A Irish-US production and a modern spin on the Dickens' tale, this time with workaholic surgeon Ellie receiving visits from her past and future selves.

YouTube isn't offering me a trailer, or a clip. But you can access one at Vimeo.

70. Pete's Christmas (2013)

There are a lot of Groundhog Day Christmas films where a day is lived over and over again until the protagonist learns the true meaning of Christmas (see for example Christmas Every Day (1996), Eve's Christmas (2004), 12 Days of Christmas Eve (2004), Christmas Do-Over (2006) and 12 Dates of Christmas (2011)). Pete's Christmas is pretty much the best of these with solid performances from reliables including Molly Parker and Bruce Dern.

This post is an instalment from a 15-part series on my favourite Christmas films. The consolidated version - 75 Christmas Films Worth Watching - is now available.

Lauren Rosewarne, Senior Lecturer, University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.