Whether you like your holiday movies big-screen-big-sound-big-bucket-of-popcorn-in-the-theatre style or prefer more of an on-the-couch-under-a-blanket-cup-of-cocoa experience, it’s the time of year to feed your body, mind and spirit with as many films as you can: ones with buzz, the under-the-radar gems, box-office behemoths and Oscar contenders. Below is a veritable feast of noteworthy flicks to put you on a path to pop culture wellness. Plus, allow me to offer up one fun intergenerational bonding recommendation: give the teenagers in your family a holiday surprise by suggesting “Marty Supreme Christmas Day” (said with enthusiasm). Thanks to a brilliantly bizarro Zoom meeting viral video featuring the movie’s star, Timothée Chalamet (who’s part of a much wider marketing campaign / performance art piece), the place to be on December 25 for the TikTok generation is in the theatre watching that particular flick. But whatever you end up seeing, we wish you a merry moviegoing.

 

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BODY

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Body of Work
Jay Kelly (streaming now on Netflix)

It’s not easy being Jay Kelly. The new film by Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), with George Clooney playing the titular movie-star character, asks a question that is bound to say more about us, the viewers, than it does about the movie: can you feel sorry for a world-famous leading man who has sacrificed his relationships with friends and family in order to be adored by strangers? It also asks a slightly more complex one: can you feel sorry for the people surrounding said star, who have also let their loved ones down too many times in service of keeping the celebrity machine pumping? The film is a mashup of screwball comedy and Woody Allen-esque dialogue with Oscar-baiting showbiz glamour. It has a tender, insightful script by Baumbach (who co-wrote Barbie) and British actress Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom), and is performed with depth and sincerity by Clooney (who’s just received a Golden Globe nod for basically playing himself); Laura Dern (who won an Oscar for her role in Baumbach’s Marriage Story); Adam Sandler (who also got a Globes nom, officially recognizing the Sandman’s dramatic charms); and Billy Crudup (scene-stealing here as he does in The Morning Show). No matter where you land on the “it sucks to be famous” question, there are plenty of impossible-not-to-enjoy moments in this film, from small details like Sandler’s character’s choice of neck wear (please wear it to the awards ceremony, Adam); Crudup’s character’s regret that he passed on Beverly Hills 90210 to play Hamlet in Kentucky (which has to be a tip of the hat to Keanu Reeves’s Hamlet in Winnipeg over Speed 2 decision); and a scene in which Clooney’s character is dancing at an outdoor rave (with very little of the signature debonair Clooney-ness, and more of the sweet-goofiness he had back on The Facts of Life). By the time we get to the film’s grand finale, which goes all-out in blurring the lines between Jay and George’s careers, the Hollywood magic is full throttle and is bound to get your nostalgic juices flowing.

 

Body Electric
Marty Supreme (in theatres Dec. 25)

Timothée Chalamet is a lean, mean, Ping-Pong-playing machine in Marty Supreme. His character, New Yorker Marty Mauser – based on a real guy – has the talent and temperament of John McEnroe, with the determined showmanship to make tennis’s more juvenile cousin an international phenomenon, circa the 1950s. And yet, director Josh Safdie (of the critically acclaimed Safdie brothers, who made Daddy Long Legs and Uncut Gems) has not served up a sports movie. If you’re expecting an intense athletic journey, you’ll have to turn to Benny, the other Safdie brother who made this year’s The Smashing Machine – in which Dwayne Johnson’s MMA pioneer Mark Kerr (also based on a real person) pushes his body over the limit. Marty Supreme, on the other hand, is a hustler movie, like The Color of Money on speed, with a sexy turn by Gwyneth Paltrow as Marty’s object of affection. Safdie’s a manic filmmaker, and he’s found his ultimate muse/match in Chalamet’s frenetic portrayal of the Ping-Pong star. After losing the Oscar last year for his depiction of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, Chalamet will likely get nominated again for Marty Supreme. And if the Academy likes to reward range, this 29-year-old will be hard to beat. His jump from that last film to this one is comparable to Dylan himself – had the folk musician not just gone electric but straight to heavy metal.

 

Home Bodies
The Housemaid (in theatres Dec. 19)

Fans of the global bestselling book The Housemaid, by dark domestic-thriller queen Frieda McFadden, have predictably taken to social media to complain about multiple aspects of the movie adaptation (before it’s even been released): from the size of the housemaid’s bedroom – too big – to the casting. Amanda Seyfried as wife Nina is “too thin,” and Sydney Sweeney as live-in help Millie is “not gritty enough.” Still, it’s bound to be a holiday box-office topper, as it’s just the right amount of sexy, camp and suspense to appeal to a wide mainstream audience – and it stays pretty true to the book. Even your more discerning indie film fans might be interested in what director Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks, Bridesmaids) will bring to this BookTok phenomenon. The answer? One uncomfortable gaslighting sequence after another, and gripping guesswork as to who is the real psycho here. If anything, The Housemaid is a welcome distraction from cleaning up that post-Christmas mess at home.

 

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MIND

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Mind Bender
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (streaming now on Netflix)

It’s best to go into Wake Up Dead Man knowing nothing about it. I was surprised by the setting, the characters and the tone at a time when movies rarely catch you off guard. But that makes it hard to write a review, so I’ll tread gently. This third instalment of the Knives Out franchise is unlike the other two in that it doesn’t deal with flashy rich folks trying to get richer. That said, the murder that needs solving – by the always devilishly clever Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) – is still financially motivated. This Knives Out-ing is darker and yet feels more homespun. And while the cast, as usual, is filled with bold-faced names, including Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Jeffrey Wright and Thomas Hayden Church, this is Josh O’Connor’s show. In fact, it’s a sin that he didn’t get a Golden Globe nomination, and fingers crossed the Academy sees the light. It’s especially impressive because, to me at least, O’Connor had nearly worn out his welcome. After a hangdog interpretation of Prince Charles on The Crown, he’s been a non-stop presence on the big screen, including six films since April 2024 when he showed his saucier side in Challengers. I was tiring of that goofy smile. But now, I’m wide awake – and utterly impressed.

 

Cast Your Mind Back
Ella McKay (in theatres now)

James L. Brooks set his new movie in an unnamed U.S. state at a time when – the film’s narrator says unironically – “we all still liked each other.” This magical, undivisive year turns out to be 2008, at the beginning of the financial crisis and while it’s not stated, the start of President Obama’s first term. So much has happened since then that it’s hard to remember if life really was as sweet and innocent, and if politics were as altruistic and bipartisan as Ella McKay makes them out to be. Realistic or not, this film – about an impressive 34-year-old state governor whose distractingly eccentric husband and family members are keeping her from getting the job done – comes off as a somewhat tone-deaf nostalgic fantasy. There are plenty of lovable actors – Albert Brooks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani and Ayo Edebiri – playing lovable people. And as the lead, French-British actress Emma Mackey (Sex Education), is undoubtedly delightful in a Rachel McAdams and Mary Tyler Moore kind of way. Not surprising, as Brooks created The Mary Tyler Moore Show and directed McAdams in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. He’s also the man behind TV shows Cheers and The Simpsons and movies Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News – all of which nailed the zeitgeist at the time. This one doesn’t, and that might have to do with the fact that Brooks admitted to the L.A. Times that, while he believes you should write a narrative first and then come up with characters, this time he did it the other way around. The story just doesn’t live up to the people in it.

 

Mind Blowing
Breakdown: 1975 (streaming on Netflix Dec. 18)

This documentary starts with footage of a young Steven Spielberg sitting in the Jaws boat. “It’s my second day at sea and if I survive this,” he says, “I’ll have learned a lot.” Add in narration by Jodi Foster and you’ve got our attention. Breakdown goes on to insist that 1975, the year that audiences were told, “You’ll never go in the water again,” is the most important year in filmmaking. Sure, 1969 started a wave of gonzo American auteur classics with Easy Rider, but it became a swell in 1975 with movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Passenger, Shampoo, Cooley High and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (one British export that has to be included). It was just a year after Watergate and two years before the Vietnam War would come to an end. New York City was bankrupt, and there was a nationwide recession, high inflation and a national energy crisis. Politics were crossing over into the messages of films, as well as the shows that honour those films –  as Dustin Hoffman and Frank Sinatra were in a war of words over whether the Academy Awards was worth a damn. Hoffman, who was shooting All the President’s Men in 1975, called the Oscars garish and embarrassing, while Sinatra, as the host that year, grouchily disagreed. Meanwhile, Richard Pryor was the comedic conscience of the age, thanks to his back-to-back, Grammy-winning comedy albums and his 1975 gig as the first Black host of Saturday Night Live. The doc, made by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom), is whiplash quick in its footage, wide-ranging in its talking heads – Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Ellen Burstyn, Seth Rogen –  and thought-provoking in its arguments. There’s a fascinating exploration of Jack Nicholson as the centre of New Hollywood, having made Easy Rider in ’69, Chinatown in ’74, and Cuckoo’s Nest in ’75. And a the scene of Al Pacino as the bank robber in Dog Day Afternoon – who tells the police, “I’m dying here” – is described as the character who may most embody the depressed spirit of America at that time. That said, and as Breakdown proves, filmmaking was the one area in American life that was very much alive and kicking.

 

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SPIRIT

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That’s the Spirit!
Merrily We Roll Along (in theatres now)

There’s an argument for wanting something more than just a movie over the holidays, for wanting something grander, whirlwindier, jazz-handsier – something from the theatre. Enter Merrily We Roll Along. This film of the original Broadway cast production – the 2024 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jonathan Groff) and Best Featured Actor (Daniel Radcliffe) – will fill the Stephen Sondheim-sized hole in the season. Broadway-legend-in-the-making Groff (who you’ve seen on the big screen as King George III in Hamilton) and Radcliffe (Harry Potter in all things Harry Potter) play a successful musical writing duo, alongside 2018 Tony winner Lindsay Mendez (Carousel), who portrays their bestselling-author gal pal. While Merrily We Roll Along was Sondheim’s biggest failure, this revival struck a chord with modern audiences, thanks to its emphasis on authenticity in art and the all-consuming, soul-sucking, relationship-wrecking dangers of stardom – see Jay Kelly. It also happens to be one of those productions that non-musical-loving people can get behind, where the songs and choreographed numbers make sense in service of a well-written, compelling story – which just happens to be told backwards. Sound complicated? Just roll with it.

 

In the Giving Spirit
Oh. What. Fun. (streaming now on Amazon Prime)

While this Christmas movie does not live up to its title, it’s this year’s only new holiday-themed flick with an A-list star in the lead. Michelle Pfeiffer plays unappreciated mom Claire Clauster opposite clueless dad Nick (Dennis Leary), the parents to three adult children. Like 2005’s The Family Stone (with Diane Keaton in the overbearing maternal role), the brood comes home for the holidays, dragging their own families or new partners or mopey heartache with them – and regress to their childhood in-jokes, bickering and eye-rolling at Mom, who’s way too into the holidays and her children’s lives. Only this time, Pfeiffer’s character is simmering with resentment and hurt because her kids haven’t given her the present that she’s been hinting at for weeks – one that would truly show their love for her (Keaton, it has to be said, didn’t play the mother as a victim). With plot nods to other contemporary holiday classics, like Home Alone, Christmas Vacation and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Oh. What. Fun. does have some laugh-out-loud moments and a younger supporting cast – Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) and Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) breathe life into the rambling, not-all-that-merry script. But in the end, the do-right-by-Mom moralizing (and this is coming from another mom of the unappreciated kind) is so blunt and aggressive, it feels like you’ve been hit over the head with a frozen turkey.

 

When the Spirit Moves You

 

 

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