The Lost Picture Show’s 12 Films of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas my cinema gave to meeeee… twelve overlooked and twistedly festive films!
As the winter nights draw in, we’re pulling the curtains to and curling up with some winter home viewing. Here’s our esoteric winter collection – an antidote to the It’s a Wonderful Life-fest that will be invading our holidays.
Chosen by the merry band of revellers that is the Lost Picture Show crew, this collection is our own alternative list of winter warmers – and we’re spiking the punch with killer Santas, dysfunctional love stories, schizophrenic visions and cinematic greatness.
Got any winter favourites of your own? Tell us what you like to snuggle up with on a cold winter’s night on our Facebook page.
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The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) A miraculous masterpiece of cinema, featuring one of its greatest ever performances by Falconetti as the saint in her last days before execution. “A stunning new restoration is just out on Blu-ray from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema with a book containing essays about the film from the likes of Andre Bazin, Chris Marker and Luis Buñuel. Top of my film geek Christmas list.”- Muffin, Film programmer |
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Smoke (1995) The tag line says it all: Five strangers. Four secrets. Three schemes. Two best friends. And one neighborhood hangout where the world still makes sense. The tobacconists as community centre! “You should really stumble across this film on a late on a Thursday evening – its charm keeping you on the sofa just beyond bedtime. Possibly the most beautiful end credit sequence I’ve ever seen. Try not to be put off by the bizarrely inappropriate DVD sleeve!” – Steph, Production manager |
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Return to Oz (1985) Dorothy escapes from a psychiatric hospital and is called back to Oz. Darker and more deranged than the original, and directed by Walter Murch, editor of Apocalypse Now. “This film was my absolute favourite from when I was a child, it has the perfect balance of terrifying and fantastical. It’s weirdly a sort of psychological thriller but for kids, with amazing costumes and wonderful characters.”- Lora, Fabric maestro |
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Trust (1990) An unlikely love story emerges from the wreckage of life in this twisted comedy from the man who practically invented indie cool, Hal Hartley. “Pregnant girl meets boy with a hand grenade…”- Neil, Electrician and unbelievably handy man |
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) This gruesome Christmas slasher horror features a killing spree from a crazed orphan dressed as Santa. The film inspired parents to picket and spawned 4 sequels. “A Santa-clad rampage that really does make a judgement on who has been naughty and who has been nice”- Jon, Film programmer and cocktail master |
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Naked (1993) A hard-knock life laid bare saw this gritty, nihilistic and darkly humorous film wander through London and straight into awards for Best Actor and Best Director at Cannes. A lesser-known jem from Brit-film godfather Mike Leigh. “Perfect for this moment in time, because of its bleak Thatcher winter; ranting anti-hero and Werewolf / Jekyll and Hyde critique of misogyny”- Angus, Build crew |
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Heimat: A Chronicle of Germany (1984) The journey of a German village from 1919-1982. “For those wanting to escape Christmas entirely I recommend ‘Heimat’, Edgar Reitz’s majestic chronicle of twentieth century German history told through the eyes of a Hundsruck family. At fifteen hours it’s the perfect excuse for not having to shop or cook!”- Phil, Bar manager |
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Hanna (2011) A 16-year-old assassin sets off across Europe. “Fantastic soundtrack from the Chemical Brothers. Real fairy tale feel to parts of it, with classic baddies, great for the winter season.”- Juliet, Bar manager and set-dresser |
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The Third Man (1949) A noir thriller on the shady streets of Vienna that won an Oscar, a BAFTA and at Cannes. “For managing to be cheerful, sinister, light hearted and shocking all at the same time. And best theme song of all time. Fact.”- Pat, Programming assistant |
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Primer (2004)
“A pensive, intellectual and somewhat unsettling movie about what happens when you put two under-paid and over-qualified engineers in a spare garage for too long. They create a piece of technology that confounds even their own genius. Go out to make a cuppa whilst watching this, and you’ll completely lose the plot. The screenplay’s so tight you enter each scene half way through the conversation, so the complete and utter brilliance of this film is trying to work out what the hell they’ve been building in there.”- Lydia, Creative producer |
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Take Shelter (2011)
“A suburban American man battles a rapid descent into paranoid schizophrenia, visualised by a starkly metaphoric incomming storm. He must decide whether he needs to protect his family from it or from him. Very powerful contrasts between the two storms, the real and the incorporeal, and a profound ending leaves you with much to think about.”- Will, Build crew |
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Network (1976) Three decades old, but maybe even more relevant now than it was on release, this dark dark comedy follows US TV anchor Howard Beale after he announces that he’s “Mad as hell and not going to take it any more” and plans to commit suicide live on air. “Manages to pull off the trick of being a film that has something important to say – a cutting diatribe on the way alternative culture is subsumed and exploited by commercial interests – and simultaeously to be very very funny. Merry f**king Christmas!”- Jim, Director |
What do you think of our selection? Let us know here.