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Christmas with Die Hard and the Muppets
The BSR December 2022 movie repertory roundup
Stephen Silver
It’s December, meaning that the area’s repertory screens will be filled with holiday-themed fare, as well as some other non-holiday cinema classics. Check out all of the highlights, including Jingle All the Way, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Elf, and many others.
Jingle All the Way/Gremlins
Friday, December 2, 7:30pm
Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
The Colonial is hosting the third edition of its Krampus Crypt-mas Spectacular, featuring a double feature: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1996 smash holiday classic Jingle All The Way and Christmas Eve mayhem in Joe Dante’s Gremlins.
The Great Muppet Caper
Saturday, December 3, 10:30am
Hiway Theater, 212 York Road, Jenkintown
The middle entry of the original Muppet movie trilogy, this 1981 film starred Charles Grodin along with the full complement of classic Muppet characters in a European jewel-theft adventure.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Saturday, December 3, 11am; Saturday, December 17, 11am
Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr
Speaking of the Muppets, you’ll have two chances this month to take the kids and see Brian Henson’s Muppet version of the Dickens classic with Michael Caine joining the Muppets. Marking its 30th anniversary this year, the film was the first Muppet movie to arrive following the death of Jim Henson in 1990.
Little Women
Saturday, December 3, 3:30pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
The Film Society’s expansive December offerings include director Greta Gerwig’s much-appreciated 2019 adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Florence Pugh.
Die Hard
Saturday, December 3, 6:15pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Friday, December 16, 9:45pm
Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
Everyone’s used to the argument about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie, but this month, you’ll have two chances to see what is one of the best and most influential action movies ever made, and helped cement Bruce Willis as an action star in 1988. The Colonial is on the record as stating that “Yes, we consider Die Hard a Christmas movie.”
Black Christmas
Saturday, December 3, 9:30pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Friday, December 16, and Saturday, December 17, at midnight
Ritz Five, 214 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
Bob Clark’s original 1974 horror film, starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and Margot Kidder, gets three showings this month at both the Film Center and Ritz Five.
Home Alone
Sunday, December 4, 3pm; Thursday, December 8, 7pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Saturday, December 10, 1:30pm, 4pm, and 6:30pm
Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
One of the most enduring holiday classics is this 1990 comedy directed by John Hughes, which starred Macaulay Culkin as a young kid accidentally left at home by his large family, before spending the entire third act fighting off a pair of bumbling burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci). You’ll have three chances to see this, at both the Film Center and the Colonial, and the December 8 showing will be preceded by a Throwback Quizzo.
The Found Footage Festival: Where Are They Now?
Thursday, December 8, 8pm
PhilaMOCA, 531 N 12th St, Philadelphia
Attendees of Philadelphia Film Festival this fall may have seen Chop & Steele, the entertaining documentary about Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, a pair known for carrying out pranks on local morning TV shows. The two men are also known as the creators of the Found Footage Festival, the latest version of which comes to PhilaMOCA for the first time on December 8. This edition visits figures from their past shows.
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Friday, December 9, 9:45 pm
Hiway Theater, 212 York Road, Jenkintown
Hugely controversial at the time, 1984’s R-rated horror film depicted Santa Claus himself as a depraved murderer decades before I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson-made-Santa into a bloodthirsty cop named Detective Crashmore. Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr., the film has been restored thanks to the American Genre Film Archive.
Frozen
Saturday, December 10 at 12pm; Thursday, December 29, 3pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
The most successful and acclaimed animated film of the current century, Disney’s 2013 Frozen turned Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen into something special: A first-rate animated musical that both lived up to and subverted decades of Disney princess tropes. It’s on Disney+, of course, but the Film Society is giving it a pair of big-screen showings this month.
Elf
Saturday, December 10, 10:30am and 10:35am
Ambler Theater, 108 East Butler Avenue, Ambler
Sunday, December 11, 5:30pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Saturday, December 17, 4:30pm
Hiway Theater, 212 York Road, Jenkintown
Will Ferrell’s Elf has become a Christmas staple, and it’s certainly a much better holiday film than whatever that Apple TV+ musical is that Ferrell did with Ryan Reynolds. This is also the first Christmas since the passing of co-star James Caan. The film is showing in several places, including the Hiway, the Film Center (in 4k), and the Ambler.
The Sound of Music
Wednesday, December 14, 7pm and 7:15pm
Bryn Mawr Film Institute, 824 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr
The hills are alive for one of the most popular musical movies of all time, and the biggest hit of the 1960s. Julie Andrews stars as Maria in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, directed by Robert K. Wise. BMFI is bringing back its old tradition of singalongs of the film and anyone who shows up in costume gets a free bag of popcorn.
Love, Actually
Wednesday, December 14, 7pm
Hiway Theater, 212 York Road, Jenkintown
The ultimate ensemble Christmas movie, director Richard Curtis’s film starred a huge cast of actors including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, and Bill Nighy. Sure, that stunt with the cards at the door is a bit iffy, and the climactic “God Only Knows” is assuredly not a song about lasting love—but don’t let that bother you.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Friday, December 16, 10pm
Ritz Five, 214 Walnut Street, Philadelphia
The Rocky Horror tradition is back to a monthly schedule at the Ritz Five, with the 1975 film shown late at night along with a shadow cast provided by local outfit Transylvanian Nipple Productions.
Tangerine
Sunday, December 18, 5:30pm
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Director Sean Baker’s film from 2015 was shot entirely with iPhones and told the raucous story of a single day in the life of a pair of trans sex workers in Los Angeles (Kitana Kiki Rodrigues and Mya Taylor). The film, in keeping with the theme, was set on Christmas Eve.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Sunday, December 18, 1:30pm
Colonial Theatre, Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
And of course, there’s the greatest American holiday movie of all, Frank Capra’s 1946 drama starring James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who gets the chance to see how the world would have turned out if he’d never been born.
The Harry Potter series
Monday, December 26 through Saturday, December 31
Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
And the cinema year ends with the Harry Potter series, starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on December 26, and continuing with both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on New Year's Eve.
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