Christmas Conundrum!

Up until 5 years ago, I worked pretty much every Christmas. It was fine with me, I have very few family here and thought it would be good karma to let those who were from here spend time with their family. Whether they wanted to or not! Anyways now that I have a more office-type job, I get to live like a somewhat regular person and not work on Christmas or Boxing Day.

In the past 5 years my Aunt and I have developed a fun Christmas ritual. Christmas Eve we go to Christ Church Cathedral to sing carols (every year it makes me happy to not burst into flames as I walk into a house of G.O.D), we then go back to her house where I spend the night, then next morning we have Eggs Bennie then she drops me at home and does her thing while I normally end up getting taken in as a stray by one of my friends.

This year, I must confess that I am a little torn. I love spending time with my friends and their families, but this year there are some amazing films being released on Christmas Day. Would it be totally wrong to just spend some quality time alone in a darkened theatre on Christmas Day instead? I can’t decide!

There are no less than three films scheduled to open on December 25th that I am peeing my pants to see. I could conceivably see two of them on Christmas day and then see the next on Boxing Day right?

First up is Sherlock Holmes. RDJ, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams. How could I not see this? Guy Ritchie directing. RDJ shirtless. Enough said. I have been completely in love with Robert Downey Junior since I was a teenager. Remember the movie Less than Zero? I know that his character Julian was a drug addicted male whore who overdosed at the end, but I loved him. Loved him enough that I decided that if I were to have a son, they would be named Julian. Then in my first year of University I met a guy called Julian who was the complete and total opposite of RDJ’s tortured Julian. Ruined the name for me. But not the man. Mad mad mad love for Robert Downey Junior. Can’t wait to see this movie.

Second is Rob Marshall’s musical masterpiece Nine. Daniel Day Lewis… Nicole Kidman… Penelope Cruz… Marion Colltiard…Dame Judi Dench… Sophia Loren. How could you not want to see this?? It looks amazing. I don’t even really care what it is about……something to the effect of DDL is a director trying to work on his latest masterpiece. Things are not going well, so he looks back over his life, at the women who have influenced him. It has music. It has Nicole Kidman. It has Daniel Day Lewis. I am sold!

Opening in limited release on Christmas Day is Heath Ledger’s last film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Directed by Terry Gilliam, this movie looks totally fantastical. It played at the Vancouver International Film Festival in September. They actually had to add extra screenings for it. I didn’t go, because I am lame. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in after Ledger’s tragic death and are playing the character of Tony in the different “worlds” that he goes to. And the fact that they donated their paychecks to little Matilda melts my cold black heart. I am just hoping that limited release includes Vancouver!

That is three. Can you appreciate the quandary I am in? I know that I should do the social thing. But if you know me in real life, you know that I am not a fan of any organized holidays. Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving. Any of them. Don’t care for them. They insist upon themselves (random quote from The Family Guy just popped into my head). Seriously though, they are commercial and frankly lame. Boo hiss. I am a grinch I know.

And it is not just Christmas Day movies I need to consider. There are quite a few other films coming out just in time for Award Season that I am super excited to see……… A quick rundown of how I will be spending my weekends until the New Year (another Holiday I traditionally do not partake in).

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire opens next weekend. By all accounts, this is a movie that pretty much devastates whoever sees it. It looks amazing and I am curious to see Mariah Carey sans makeup.

Up In The Air with George Clooney, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga. Jason Reitman’s latest film looks amazing. Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.It is receiving accolades everywhere it screens and I really cannot wait to see this film.

I am intrigued by Tom Ford’s directorial debut: A Single Man starring Colin Firth. Yes, that Tom Ford. It is about an English professor who tries to go about his day after the death of his partner. I am expecting an extremely well styled film – especially since it is set in the 1960’s. And it also has Julianne Moore, so I am happy.

There is also The Private Lives of Pippa Lee written and directed by Rebecca Miller (daughter of Arthur Miller and wife of Daniel Day Lewis), which I am hoping opens in Vancouver. Robin Wright is Pippa Lee who while trying to find her true self confronts both her past and the seeming perfection of her present life. It has a great supporting cast including Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Julianne Moore, Maria Bello, Blake Lively and Monica Bellucci. It looks amazing.

Then there is Brothers with Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire. Although the trailer pretty much tells you the whole plot of the movie (consider that your spoiler warning), the cast alone is sufficient to sustain my interest. Ii has finally been getting a little press. I am expecting to cry like a baby. It is a remake of 2004 Danish film, which worries me a little. Hopefully it doesn’t get f*cked up like most remakes.

And these are only a few of the flicks I wanna see. There is also The Messengers, Avatar, The Lovely Bones (another Christmas Day release – boo hiss), Invictus, The Young Victoria and probably more I have forgotten. These are also only films being released in 2009. If we move through to 2010…..I would be completely screwed.

So if you don't hear from me until the new year, I will be at the movies......

XO