The 25 best Christmas movies that aren’t technically Christmas movies
Bruce Willis is wrong: “Die Hard” is absolutely a Christmas movie. Like many great Christmas movies, it’s about people overcoming obstacles so they can spend Christmas with their loved ones. John McClane’s obstacles just happen to be heavily armed German terrorists. The action starts with a Christmas Eve party at the Nakatomi Plaza, where McClane has unfortunately hung up his stockings and shoes by the chimney with care. It’s going to be a rough night for his feet. He leaves a gift for the evil Hans Gruber as well — a deceased cohort in a Santa hat with a shirt reading “Now I Have a Machine Gun. Ho Ho Ho.” It’s a blow to the terrorists’ seeming invulnerability and also a reminder that you should always make a Christmas list if you don’t want to be unpleasantly surprised by your presents. And the final explosion of shredded paper falling like snowflakes means the filmmakers are totally justified in closing with “Let It Snow.”
