Favorite Forgotten Holiday Films

Dear Friends,
Now that we find ourselves waist-deep in the holiday season, bombarded every week with 5 new movies we desperately need to see, we here at FallBack Plan Productions can't help but harken back to our favorite holiday movies of the past.
Sure, everyone loves A Christmas Story (fffffuuuuuuuuuudddddddggggge) and It's a Wonderful Life (Though isn't it a touch depressing to watch every year? I mean, what's more Christmasy than Jimmy Stewart wanting to take his own life? Look kids, this is called attempted suicide!), but what are the ones that stick with you that aren't crammed down your throat every year like Aunt Jill's chalk-dry Christmas cookies?
Well, we decided to bring back some of our favorites by compiling this list of the 5 Greatest "Forgotten" Holiday Movies. We're trying to really go for the diamonds in the rough here, that means no Charlie Brown, no Macaulay Culkin, and no Tim Allen in a Santa suit. Of course this is only a partial list, so any further suggestions are more than welcome. Ready, here we go!

#5: Black Christmas (1974) - 9 years before he brought us A Christmas Story, director Robert Clark (rather ironically) made this other holiday-themed film of a different variety. One of the first of the "Slasher" genre, this movie still manages to be very creepy today even though many of it's conventions have become a bit cliche'. Sorority houses, tracing calls and killer's POV have all been over-used since, but remember this came out in 1974. That's 4 years before Halloween. So Black Christmas definitely deserves respect as one of the originators of the modern horror genre. Besides, don't we all get a little tired of traditional holiday fare? But please, for the love of Santa Claus, don't bother with the 2006 remake.

#4: Dutch (1991) - With the recent, much-deserved success of his new show Modern Family, the world is once again exposed to the great talent of Mr. Ed O'Neill. Back in the early 90's when we all knew him solely as Al Bundy from Married...with Children, he starred in this great little comedy about a man going to retrieve his new special lady-friend's son from boarding school and bringing him home for Christmas. The unexpected buddy comedy that evolves between O'Neill and then-newcomer Ethan Embry (then Ethan Randall) doesn't feel forced or contrived. It's awkward, it's funny and it manages to be suprisingly touching without smacking you over the head with it's message-hammer. And it's a lesser-known John Hughes movie, so extra points.

#3: Home for the Holidays (1995)- This one gets a couple of points off for technically being a Thanksgiving movie, but the sentiment of the holidays is definitely there. Jodie Foster directed this sharp serio-comic story of a dysfunctional family's reunion over Thanksgiving dinner. The cast is first-rate; Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, David Straithairn, Claire Danes and Robert Downey Jr. in one of his best performances (and that's saying something). If you're looking for the cookie-cutter holiday film where the laughs are cheap and the endings are saccharine-sweet, you'll hate this movie. If you want a deeply funny, very believable tale of a scattered family trying to remember why they keep coming together every year that feels close to home for a lot of us, try this one on for size. If nothing else, see it for the performances.

#2: Scrooged (1988) - Ok, at this point everyone and their mother has done a re-telling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, it's a slow pitch down the middle waiting to get knocked out of the park. However, this one in particular did it with such timing, boldness and bravado that it shines above so many of the rest. After all, it was released in the late 1980's, the biggest "Me" decade ever, was there a better time for a character like Frank Cross? Has there been a better representation of a modern-day Scrooge than a narcissistic, money-obsessed TV executive? And Bill Murray. Ah, Bill Murray. The man knows how to hit the funny, and how to turn on the heartwarming. His terrific leading performance coupled with a great supporting cast like Karen Allen, Alfre Woodard, John Glover, Carol Kane and the great Robert Mitchum makes one hell of an ensemble. It's hilarious, it's touching and its message never gets old, it's not often you will get a new timeless classic from an old timeless classic.

#1: The Ref (1994) - This movie really shouldn't be as great as it is. For one, it's got a terrible title, it sounds more like a basketball movie. The plot seems sophomoric, a thief must hide from the police on Christmas Eve and kidnaps a bickering married couple and craziness ensues. Even having all that against it, this movie is a must-see for several reasons. It stars Denis Leary, known then only for his ranting, foul-mouthed standup comedy (some of our favorite), Judy Davis and a pre-Seven, pre-Usual Suspects Kevin Spacey. You can tell from the ads this film was greenlit as a Leary vehicle (And why not? He's great, as Rescue Me has now taught us) but the heroes of the movie are Davis and Spacey. Playing the battling Chasseurs ("It's 18th Century French Huguenot!"), these two are the soul of this movie and carry it the whole way. Before anyone really knew who he was, this was a definite "Whoa! Who's that guy?" performance by Kevin Spacey. Respect must be paid as well to the rest of the cast, including icy Glynis Johns as Spacey's over-bearing mother and Christine Baranski as his sister-in-law. The subject matter makes this one not for the kids, but the smart, hilarious script and great performances leave this one at the top of our Christmas list.

There you go folks! There is an honorable mention; Gremlins (1984) missed the list by inches, but much heated debate left it at #6. We hope these holiday favorites of ours can become favorites of yours. As always, thanks for reading and we hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season. Until next time!

-Your Friends at Fallback Plan.

Welcome All!

Dear Friends, Readers and Other Interested Parties,
Welcome Welcome Welcome to the official FallBack Plan Productions SuperFilmBlog! My name is Morgan Peter Brown and I will be your host/blogger/producer for all of the exciting news coming to you from FallBack Plan Productions and Hollywood at large! There is a lot of excitement ahead (evidenced by my liberal use of exclamation points!!!!) and I greatly look forward to bringing everyone the news and getting the word out about some of our upcoming projects and anything else going on that we think you should know about.
FallBack Plan Productions is a newly-formed film production company based here in Los Angeles that strives to bring you quality, original material through the medium of independent film. We are a tight-knit group of talented and experienced actors, writers, directors and producers that hope to put out some of the most exciting and interesting film anyone's seen in a while. We're also serious film buffs here, and there is no genre that we find taboo (well, there are probably a few that would be in poor taste, so no zombie Michael Jackson courtroom dramas). Comedy, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Documentaries, serio-comic documentaries involving cannibals from outer space, we don't care! If we feel the quality meets our high standards, we will bring it to you, the public. So please come back often for all of our updates involving the world of film and entertainment. Thanks so much for reading and we will be back at you soon!

Our Thanks,
The Team at FallBack Plan