December 2021: Santa Claus
Jolly old Saint Nick has been a staple film character since 1898! Here are some of our favorite portrayals.
Chris’s Rec
The Hebrew Hammer (2003)
More than Andy Dick’s performance as Santa Clause (which is very Andy Dickish, as you can imagine), I love the concept of Santa Clause as a position instead of a person. “Santa Clause” is the godfather-esque boss of the White Christian religion in a world where religious groups maintain a tenuous peace teetering on war. Andy Dick plays a classic mafia loose cannon who gets a little too big for his red Santa britches. He’s half Sonny Corleone, half Tommy DeVito, and ALL Andy Dick. The film’s race-related humor aged well enough to get hired on SNL and immediately fired, but I appreciate the gangland-style treatment of our favorite winter holidays.
Stephanie’s Rec
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
What conveys the Christmas Spirit more than Santa on trial? This classic tale is retold through Richard Attenborough’s genuine and warm performance as Santa, who is just trying to live his life and bring joy to Mara Wilson and the kids of New York city. Attenborough is the quintessential Santa!
Dylan's Rec
Go (1999)
Let's expand your mind and perception on who Santa Clause is. No, Timothy Olyphant in Go isn't a jolly old man with a belly like a bowl full of jelly who spreads Christmas joy to all. He is, in fact a drug dealer who is trying to kill Sarah Polley for selling him fake ecstasy. But in one scene in the movie, he's shirtless wearing a Santa hat, and at that moment he transforms from a skeezball to a man whose lap I want to sit on and tell all of my desires to.
Kir’s Rec
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Just because Christmastown represents the exact opposite of Halloweentown in The Nightmare Before Christmas, doesn’t mean that Santa Claus himself isn’t exempt from Tim Burton & Henry Selick’s iconically goth aesthetic! This claymation masterpiece features a classical ho-ho-ho Santa but with a twist. Sure, he isn’t the ferocious monster Sandy Claws that the Halloweentown inhabitants anticipated, but he sure gives good scaredy-cat face when he gets belittled by Oogie Boogie in arguably the best musical number in the whole film.
Jesse’s Rec
Trading Places (1983)
In 2021, is there a more relatable Santa than the one portrayed by Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places? He’s drunk, lost everything, embittered by his former coworkers after being laid off, and in one of cinema’s darker pseudo-comedic moments tries to commit suicide with a gun that fortuitously jams as he pulls the trigger. In terms of pathos, this Santa is leagues beneath Billy Bob Thornton’s Bad Santa and gives the movie a sordid rock bottom from which it spectacularly recovers. He is the patron Saint Nick of our age, especially with another difficult pandemic winter ahead. If he can make it back from the Grinchiest of circumstances, we should be able to as well.