by Nikk Nelson, Staff Writer, Cinematic Maniac

A friend once told me I have some serious movie-watching stamina. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down and watching two, three, or even more movies in a row—following a throughline of theme, actor, director, or whatever strikes my fancy. This series is where I share some of my favorite cinematic mixtapes, for lack of a better term. I hope you enjoy!

I love Xmas time and the movies that come with it almost as much as Halloween. From Die Hard (1988) of course to Gremlins (1984) to Lethal Weapon (1987) to Scrooged (1988) to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) to The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) to The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), Shane Black and I agree that Xmas is a time for kickass action movies just as much as it is a time for It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). It’s unfortunately become a yearly internet tradition to argue over what is and is not a Xmas movie, with Die Hard always in the yippee ki-yay middle, so I thought I’d recommend two double features with films that I don’t see mentioned online quite as often, or in my opinion, enough.

Double Feature No. 1: The Full Affleck

Surviving Christmas (dir. Mike Mitchell. Starring Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate. Runtime 1h 31m, 2004)

This was a first-time watch for me this year. At first, I thought, how did I miss this? James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara, and Christina Applegate as a supporting cast? How is this not a classic? And then I started watching it and I realized, oh. I wonder if Ben Affleck will ever be publicly candid about what his life was really like in Hollywood post 9/11. It seemed like he was unofficially elected to be one of the main people in charge of making our country feel better. And, goddammit, he tried. This is one of the weirdest movies I’ve ever seen. Now, let me qualify that by saying, there are some weird movies out there <stares in David Lynch> but there are movies you expect to be weird and movies like this, that are billed to be ‘the family holiday movie of the year’ and you see it and it’s this whacky, nonsensical, and very strange story. Is it trying to be funny? Or is it trying not to be? Ben Affleck is going for it at like 100 nph (that’s not a typo that’s 100 Neil Patrick Harris, it’s how I measure the speed of acting), but his character is psychotic. And…it’s a love story too? This was given to America? Here’s the tagline: “This year, Christmas comes early. Really early. Like... October 22nd.” So…it was a Halloween movie? You have to see it to believe it.

Reindeer Games (dir. John Frankenheimer. Starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise. Runtime 1h 44m, 2000)

Around this time, it became popular to shit on Ben Affleck—Matt Damon via Kevin Smith even jabbed him about this one in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). But I really don’t think it deserves the hate. It opens, panning over bullet-ridden, smoldering Santa Claus corpses. You get a supporting cast that includes Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, Dennis Farina, and Danny Trejo and it was directed by John ‘The Manchurian Candidate (1962)’ fuckin’ Frankenheimer. Yes, Ben Affleck’s a bit annoying in it because he hadn’t yet realized he could stop being Ben Affleck when he acted but overall, I think it’s a lot of fun and should sit firmly in your Xmas action rotation.

Double Feature No. 2: The I’s Have It

The Ice Harvest (dir. Harold Ramis. Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton. Runtime 1h 32m, 2005

One of the last feature films directed by Harold Ramis, and I think the only film he ever directed that wasn’t a straight-up comedy, I have such a soft spot for this one if for no other reason than it’s set in my birthplace, Wichita, Kansas. Based on the novel by one of my favorite writers, Scott Phillips, with a great supporting cast that includes Connie Nielsen, Oliver Platt, and Randy Quaid, this reminds me of the brief aughts period where Billy Bob Thornton was in almost everything. It has funny moments for sure but overall, it’s a by the book (no pun intended) neo-noir with a very dark and cynical sensibility that hits me right in my warm humbug spot.

In Bruges (dir. Martin McDonagh. Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson. Runtime 1h 47m, 2008)

Martin McDonagh has gone on to prove himself to be one of the greatest auteurs working today and that potential was plain in his first feature film. There are just as many laughs as there are genuinely touching moments and you get powerhouse performances from Farrell and Gleeson, who I can’t wait to see reunited in McDonagh’s latest, The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). And, Ralph Fiennes is so much fun as the principled yet completely psychotic Harry. This film is a masterclass on how to write characters, dialogue, and conflict. Every Xmas I watch it, I find myself asking those big, dangerous kinds of existential questions. It’s a movie that breaks my heart every time.