Several years ago, my cousin Brian created a topic of discussion via social media on movies that maybe weren’t really about Christmas, but featured Christmas in some way.  Of course, the film that started off the post was the one film that somehow has spurned an endless variety of debates throughout cyberspace for years – is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie or not?

It’s amazing how many people have an opinion on a subject that to me seems so obvious.  There are holiday decorations, gifts for under the tree, a Santa suit, festive tunes, a pretty memorable “ho-ho-ho,” and, if that isn’t enough, Mrs. McClane’s first name is Holly for goodness sake.  Still aren’t swayed?  Well here’s something I actually didn’t know until this year – the writer of the actual “Silent Night” Christmas carol is Franz Gruber.  The villain in “Die Hard” is Hans Gruber.  Coincidence?  I think not!

Now, when talking holiday films, there are certainly the movies that are without a doubt 100% certified Christmas movies, because they dispel any inkling that they are anything else by putting Christmas right there in the title:  “A Christmas Carol,” “Four Christmases,” “Christmas in Connecticut,” “Christmas with the Kranks,” “ A Christmas Story,” “White Christmas.” – You get the idea.

Or, those that make it perfectly clear what track you are leading down, though they may choose to defy the usual holiday story line:  “Elf,” “The Santa Clause,” “Fred Claus,” or “Jingle All the Way.”

Then, there are obvious classics: “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34^th Street,” “Babes in Toyland,” or “Holiday Inn;” that don’t really need to spell anything out for you, because they automatically come to mind when someone asks for a suggestion of what to watch to get into the Christmas state of mind.

So, as this celebratory, sparkly season continues full force on the exorbitant amount of cable stations, I start to think about films that put me in the holiday spirit by reviewing the other movies, besides “Die Hard,” that are part of my favorite movie list (“Die Hard” falls at #4).

Astonishingly, not only are #2, #3 and #5 full-fledged Christmas movies (“Love Actually,” “Home Alone,” and “The Sure Thing”); but, #1, takes place in 1978 at the end of the NFL season, leading into the Super Bowl.  One brief look at the calendar will tell you…that’s Christmas time!  (The last regular season NFL game that year was 12/18 with playoffs starting on 12/24 and the Super Bowl on 1/21)

How could it be that my top five favorite movies of all time fall within that magical festive December window?

Well, then I had to look at the rest of the rotating list that fills up my own personal top 40 movie countdown.  What other fine holiday gems are hiding in there?

Undoubtedly romantic comedies and Christmas go as well together as the peanut butter and chocolate that make up the delectable Reese’s tree I find each year in my stocking.  Proof is that at the top of the “not exactly top” of my list you will find “The Holiday,” “The Family Man,” and “While You Were Sleeping.”  When perusing the cable guide, I cannot move past any channel that is showing one of those films before stopping by for a glimpse (or, in the case of “The Holiday,” usually the whole film).  Then there are the ones that only introduce a sliver of Christmas, but clearly give a full nod to the holiday by including our favorite twinkling decor as part of a New Years Eve celebration:  “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “The Cutting Edge.”

But, what really stands out among all those archetypal holiday gems on my list is a holiday movie that barely anyone equates with Christmas…1984’s “Night of the Comet!”

Okay, so you’ve never heard of it, right?  Well, lucky for you, I can shed some light on what might become your new “go to” Christmas movie classic.  It is certainly one of mine.

Imagine this…it’s a warm December evening in Los Angeles and a mythical comet is about to buzz through earth’s orbit for the first time since (coincidentally?) the dinosaurs went extinct.  The world is crazy-excited; we’re talking comet commemorative items, comet themed parties and comet television coverage from across the globe!  But then (spoiler alert), the comet turns anyone outside watching for it into red calcium dust.  In a matter of an instant, people transform into piles of 1980s trendy clothes filled with what looks like brick colored sand.  A few survivors, including two sisters, are left to fight off zombie like creatures – those that were only partially exposed to the comet, including a group of department store stock boys that the sisters come across when they find themselves inside a deserted mall.  Cue montage of giggly, girly shopping fun; it is the 80s after all.

Now, here’s the best take away from the film; and, something that I still think about when I ponder the anomalous and unusual pieces of the Twilight Zone universe we sometimes live in.  After the comet passes and all the people are supposedly gone, the world is still “on”.  The mechanical clown outside the car dealership still waves his hand back and forth, there’s just no one to wave to.  The automatic pool filter starts cleaning a backyard pool that will likely never see another swimmer.  The traffic lights still blink from green to red above the cars that are still running – until they run out of gas, at least.  The lawn sprinklers start spraying, the school bells keep ringing; and, the DJ’s voice track auto-plays over the airwaves…it’s just that no one is there to listen.  Creepy and, honestly, a little spine-chilling.  If all of the sudden we all just disappeared, what would still go on and function without us?  Something for you to think about next time it feels like you are the only one out on the road late at night.  It’s an eerie thought.

More important to the subject at hand, though, is it a Christmas film?  Again, just like “Die Hard,” the answer is yes.  The mall is overly decorated in plenty of garland, greenery and lights.  The lobby of the movie theater proudly displays a fully tinsel covered Christmas tree and doors decked in holiday messaging.  Hector, the friendly truck driver, dons a Santa suit to surprise the girls with gifts.  There are wreaths on the door, ornaments displayed and the radio station plays auto recorded holiday promos.  It’s even there in the comet back-story narration that kicks off the beginning of the film, “the citizens of Earth would get an extra Christmas present this year.”

I guess exactly what makes up a Christmas movie is the issue in contention.  I am proud to say that I grew up in a time when there was certainly a flip on the traditional holiday movie plot with quite a few unconventional, but what I still consider none-the-less, genuine Christmas movies.  There were mini monsters (“Gremlins”) and serial killers (“Silent Night, Deadly Night”); action heroes (“Lethal Weapon”) and superheroes (“Batman Returns”); comedy characters (“Trading Places”) and troubled youth (“Less Than Zero”); and, in this case, my personal favorite of them all, comet zombies.  So, whatever Christmas movies fill your favorites list…Merry Christmas to all of them, and to all a good movie night!  #50WeeksTo50

*Dedicated to DMK.