Wrap up the year with wide range of holiday movies

Last Updated on December 7, 2022, 8:02 PM | Published: December 7, 2022

OKLAHOMA CITY — December can be a strange month for filmgoers.

When you’re already warm and cozy and watching movies on your couch, it can be hard to convince yourself to get up and brave the cold long enough to hit the theater just to get warm and cozy and watch movies there instead.

Add to that the fact that big December releases tend to vacillate wildly between family-friendly holiday fare and heady, dramatic Oscar bait.

It can be hard to filter out the noise and find just the right kind of holiday film for you, whether you’re looking for some Christmas comedy, some classical winter drama, or the kind of blood-red snow that only the wildest yuletide action can provide.

But as always, you can count on OKC’s local theaters to find the perfect film and gift-wrap it for the best winter watching.

“Batman Returns” – Rodeo Cinema – December 12th

Probably not the first movie on your mind when thinking of holiday films, but a Christmas movie nonetheless.

Rodeo Cinema has set out this year to feature a month-long slate of “alternative” holiday films, and Tim Burton’s 1992 superhero sequel easily checks that box.

Set during the Christmas season in Gotham City, Burton goes wild with the production design, dressing up the city in all the colorful, art-deco holiday trappings that he can muster and creating an indelible, over-the-top seasonal memory for any 90s kid.

Plus, you get the incomparable Danny DeVito in what is unquestionably one of cinema’s great comic book movie villain roles, and surely the sad, sinister, and unsettlingly charismatic performance of his career as Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.

For showtimes and tickets, visit rodeocinema.org.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – December 17th

Probably the very first movie on your mind when thinking of holiday films, but I’ll take any chance to remind people of how genuinely great and integral Frank Capra’s masterpiece remains, even if it’s become something of a wintertime formality.

While any mention of “It’s a Wonderful Life” is sure to conjure memories of guardian angels, alternate pasts, and angel wings granted according to bells rung, it’s easy to forget that all of that is really just the final act.

Before film history’s greatest deus ex machina intervenes, the film is simply the starkly real story of a small-town guy navigating love and dreams alongside mistakes, mishaps, and quite a lot of misplaced trust.

It takes an actor of Jimmy Stewart’s legendary caliber to pull off the required combination of good-natured boyishness and believable despair as George Bailey’s life very slowly and relatably unravels.

Much more than the saccharine or overly sentimental family film it’s sometimes remembered as, “It’s a Wonderful Life” holds up shockingly well as a portrait of American life and everyday sacrifice, even after nearly 80 years.

As OKCMOA provides the opportunity to see this immortal all-time classic on gorgeous 35mm film, now is looking like the best possible time to revisit the town of Bedford Falls.

For showtimes and tickets, visit okcmoa.com.

“Violent Night” – Flix Brewhouse – Now Playing

Somewhere recently there was a conversation or a brainstorming session or a fevered, inebriated dream that resulted in someone speaking the words “how about Die Hard with Santa Claus?”

Starring everyone’s new favorite grizzled everyman – David Harbour of  “Stranger Things” fame – as a not-so-jolly St. Nick, the conceit here is that a family is taken hostage in their home on Christmas Night while Santa is making his rounds. Through some kind of Hollywood contrivance, he ends up coming down their chimney just in time to get the jump on the bad guys and violently pick them off one-by-one.

Make no mistake, this isn’t a family-friendly Christmas adventure. It’s a “hard R” filled with some serious brutal violence and gore, exactly the perfect kind of wacky, tongue-in-cheek action flick to enjoy with beer and friends at a place like Flix.

For showtimes and tickets, visit flixbrewhouse.com.

“Elf” – Tower Theatre – December 22nd 

As far as modern holiday classics go, there aren’t many movies that can reasonably compete with “Elf.”

Released right around the height of Will Ferrell’s first major comedy come-up, it was easy to write off the inexplicable Christmas offering from the director of “Swingers” starring perhaps the era’s biggest clown, who had not yet won over his critics and naysayers.

And yet, “Elf” became the little holiday movie that could, eventually growing from theatrical also-ran to cult Christmas hit to certified, beloved modern classic in time for the children that grew up with it twenty years ago to now introduce their own young children to its charms.

I mean, how could anyone resist a film narrated by the masterful Bob Newhart and featuring Ed Asner as probably cinema’s best-ever Santa Claus?

This year also carries an added weight as one of the film’s standout stars, screen giant James Caan, passed away in July.

So whether you have children with whom you’d like to build a movie-going December tradition, or you’d just like to accompany your own inner child to a heartwarming night at the theater, it’s going to be hard to top “Elf” this year, especially as Santa himself will be on hand for free pictures!

For showtimes and tickets, visit towertheatreokc.com.

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