Is that a chill in the air? Perhaps your boots are starting to feel colder and damper with each passing day. Maybe your cheeks are turning pink every time you step outside. Whether we like it or not, winter is here, which means it’s the perfect time to avoid the cold and hurry to your nice, warm movie house. With the holidays right around the corner, repertory theaters are stocking up on Christmas classics and seasonal favorites. For those looking for something more traditional than Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” which release December 20 and December 25, respectively, cinemas in New York and Los Angeles have plenty of options for the whole family, as well as more festive adult fare for those looking to spice things up.
Selections this month come from the Metrograph located on the Lower East Side in New York City and Village East by Angelika, as well as American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, which is responsible for the programming at The Egyptian Theater, the Aero Theater, and the Los Feliz 3, and Quentin Tarantino’s theater, the New Beverly Cinema. December has a wide array of choices dating back to 1944, with some film‘s having been released within the last 10 years and even within the last few months. Keep reading to find out IndieWire’s picks for the last month of 2024.
NEW YORK
Metrograph
The holidays are a time of romance, celebration and, let’s face it, inebriation. And what better way to celebrate all three than with a viewing of Federico Fellini’s epic satire of Roman life, “La Dolce Vita.” The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1960 and stars one of Fellini’s muses, Marcello Mastroianni, as a tabloid journalist on a week-long bacchanalia through the ancient, yet modern city in search of love and happiness. Running at nearly three hours, “La Dolce Vita” offers plenty of time to kick back and live as the Romans do, with multiple screenings happening across the months as well on December 6, 8, 11, 18, and 26, all of which will be shown in 35mm.
In need of a little romance this time of year? Metrograph has you covered with its 2024 installment of “The Holidays at Metrograph,” featuring three films that are sure to set your heart aflutter. First up is Paul Thomas Anderson’s cheeky peek behind the curtain of the 1950s London fashion world starring Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread,” screening in 35mm on December 20, 24, and 26. Are the 1950s not far enough back for your taste in period romances? Try Greta Gerwig’s take on Louisa May Alcott’s classic family tale, “Little Women,” featuring performances from Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper. There are many opportunities to catch the film, starting on December 21 and playing every day up to Christmas. Last on the list is another 1950s affair, this time starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as a housewife and department store clerk drawn to each other by some magic magnetic force at a time where falling in love with one another could put them both at great risk. Todd Haynes’ “Carol” may be a holiday film for adults, but it still feeds the soul in the same way films like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol” do. It can be seen in DCP on December 21 and 26 and in 35mm on December 23 and 25.
Village East by Angelika
On its own, Vincente Minelli’s “Meet Me in St. Louis” is a trite, unsubstantial musical filled with catchy but forgettable standards and a wasted Judy Garland pushing her talent across every inch of the frame as best she can. However, as one of the films that fueled the relationship between Minelli and Garland and led to the birth of their daughter, Liza Minelli, one can’t help but bask in its mediocre glory. Following a year in the life of a family at the turn of the 20th century, “Meet Me in St. Louis” would cement Minelli’s talents as a musical film director, leading to a long career at MGM helming projects like “An American in Paris” and “The Band Wagon.” To see where it all started, catch “Meet Me in St. Louis” at the Village East on Monday, December 23.
Tired of seeing Hugh Grant plays villains and creeps? Go back to a time when the handsome Brit charmed and romanced with a viewing of the 2003 seminal classic, “Love Actually.” Comprised of an all-star cast that includes Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, and many more, the Richard Curtis film follows a string of Londoners experiencing the highs and lows of love around Christmas time and cemented Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” as one of the greatest holiday tunes of all time. Catch it with your favorite loved ones on Wednesday, December 18 at 7pm. And of course, no Christmas would be complete without a viewing of Frank Capra’s touching drama, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. Following building and loan manager George Bailey on an odyssey of rediscovery, the film continues to hold a place in the hearts of multiple generations with its message of value and appreciation for the everyman in America just trying to help his fellow neighbor get by. It screens twice on Wednesday, December 11.
LOS ANGELES
American Cinematheque
It may still be reaching 70 degrees and higher here in Los Angeles, but with lights strung up and preparations underway for Jeremy Renner to serve as Grand Marshal of the 92nd Annual Hollywood Christmas Parade, it’s hard not to feel in a festive mood. If you’re wanting to feed that spirit, take your pick of two holiday gems screening on December 21 through American Cinematheque. The television version of Ingmar Bergman’s childhood tale “Fanny and Alexander” screens in all its glorious 312 minutes at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood starting at 12pm and follows a pair of siblings during turn of the 20th century Sweden as they have their first experiences with familial strife. At 4pm, Tyler Taormina’s loving ode to family and community, “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,” screens at the Los Feliz 3. Featuring Maria Dizzia, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Shankman, Elsie Fisher, and a host of unknown, yet terrific talent, the film premiered at Cannes this year and hit theaters in November, but if you missed it, there’s no better opportunity to catch this soon-to-be-holiday-classic than later this month.
Another modern favorite returns to the screen for the holiday season and in glorious 35mm. Starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, Peter Dinklage, and Mary Steenburgen, Jon Favreau’s “Elf” is a classic fish-out-of-water tale with a healthy dose of silly winter cheer. It plays at the Egyptian on Christmas Eve at 7:30pm. Need a shift from all the candy canes and holly jolly after Christmas? Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” has you covered. Screening in 70mm at the Aero Theater on December 27, Kubrick’s dark journey through the cosmos is a visual feast that defies description and the perfect film to cap off a year that truly showed us the horrors technology can bring forth.
New Beverly Cinema
Run, don’t walk to tonight’s screening of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” at New Beverly Cinema, shown in glorious 70mm from an IB Tech Print and featuring the only performance from then-model George Lazenby as James Bond. Set mostly in a chilly research institute in the Swiss Alps, Lazenby’s Bond is as debonair as he is deadly, courting multiple women at the same time as he’s trying to stop the spread of a biological weapon. If you can’t make it tonight, there’s another showing tomorrow night, December 7, as well. Later in the month, for those adults seeking out some mature, yet festive fare, Kubrick’s dizzying erotic epic “Eyes Wide Shut,” starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, plays on December 19 and 20, while the action thriller “Die Hard,” starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, screens December 23 and 24.
For our last selection, something the entire family can enjoy: “The Muppets Christmas Carol.” While the film does follow all of the beats and much of the traditional dialogue from Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, by surrounding Michael Caine’s forceful, yet grounded performance as Ebenezer Scrooge with the Muppet players, the story is given a new buoyancy that pulls audiences into the fantastical journey more than ever before. There are two matinee showings of the film this month, on Saturday, December 21 and Sunday, December 22.
