1999 had the greatest lineup of Christmas movies ever
Miramax
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Cider House Rules
Galaxy Quest
Angela’s Ashes
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The best of the rest
We all have our traditions for Christmas. Some sing carols around the neighborhood while others wear ugly sweaters to work and make gingerbread at home. For myself, every year I always go to one place of worship on Christmas Day: the movie theater. I’ll be there this year, plunging myself into the Gothic darkness of Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake, watching Nicole Kidman submit to unspeakable carnal pleasures in Babygirl, and witnessing the birth of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve gone to the theater on Christmas and watched three or four movies, usually from different genres, and it’s always been the one present to myself that’s satisfied me the most. But there was one year when my holiday movie marathon hit a perfect score, all 10s, and no notes: 1999. That was a great movie year, so it stands to reason its Christmas Day offerings would tower over the rest.
The following four films aren’t beloved by all; there’s at least one movie that’s now virtually forgotten, and another looked down upon by mainstream critics. Still, these movies made such an impression on me that I still remember them, and my experience seeing them, 25 years later. 1999 truly did have the greatest lineup of Christmas Day movies ever, and here’s why that matters today.
The Cider House Rules
Miramax
Lasse Hallström’s adaptation of John Irving’s novel had a staggered theatrical release rollout, so while it technically premiered on December 10, it didn’t reach Dallas, my hometown, until Christmas Day. This was one of the big Oscar movies of the season, and distributor Miramax’s best hope to replicate the critical and commercial success they achieved one year earlier with Shakespeare in Love. They didn’t quite get there; The Cider House Rules was liked by some, dismissed by others. No one loved it, though, and that was its main problem; it’s a movie engineered to be adored and awarded, not shrugged at and dismissed.
I really, really liked it. Both then and now, The Cider House Rules works an effective Bildungsroman (or coming-of-age story) and is probably the best Irving film adaptation so far. (Admittedly, that’s not saying much.) A pre-Spider-Man Tobey Maguire stars as Homer Wells, a young orphan who, after being raised by kindly Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) at a New England orphanage, ventures out into the world with a visiting couple, Wally (Paul Rudd) and Candy (Charlize Theron). On Wally’s family’s apple orchard, Homer learns about life through an affair with Candy and by befriending the orchard’s workers. After several life-altering experiences and a little bit of heartbreak, he returns home, a little sadder, but a lot wiser.
The Cider House Rules | ‘He Needs...
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2wDie Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie.