IT'S CHRISTMAS Day, around 5pm and the mountain of turkey, stuffing and assorted veg is beginning to settle in your stomach.
Then comes the moment you’ve been dreading: that time of the day when the family settles down around the TV to watch something festive that will be enjoyed by one and all.
In the past, movies like Home Alone or Miracle on 34th Street sufficed, but more recently the films of choice have been a little more leftfield with stuff like Die Hard getting the nod.
Here at The Irish Post, however, we don’t do things by half measures. So when we decided to put together a list of "Christmas" movies that aren't particularly Christmassy.
6. Lethal Weapon
Long before he was unmasked as a very bad man, Mel Gibson made a series of buddy cop movies alongside Danny Glover that rank among the very best.
Written by the always excellent Shane Black, who loves to set his films around the festive season, stick around for the final fight between Gibbo and the movie's big bad, played by Gary Busey.
5. Batman Returns
Having compromised in a lot of key areas with his first Batman film, Tim Burton was let off the leash for the sequel and went suitably mental with a film so dark studio execs turned to a combination of Joel Schumacher and Jim Carrey for the fluffier follow-up.
Set sometime around Christmas, it is nevertheless worth a watch and certainly ranks among the boldest Bat outings to date with Michele Pfeiffer stealing the show as Catwoman. Meow.
4. LA Confidential
Don't believe the hype: Gladiator wasn't the film that marked Russell Crowe's arrival as a bonafide Hollywood star it was actually this sublime James Ellroy adaptation from the late Curtis Hanson.
Plenty have tried and failed to adapt Ellroy's work to the screen (Brian De Palma for example) but Hanson nailed it with a cast featuring Crowe alongside the equally excellent Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey and Kim Basinger. Set around Christmas, it's a movie that's so much cooler than it looks.
3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Shane Black's second entry in the countdown also happens to be one of the most criminally overlooked crime capers of the early 2000s and may well be the last decent movie Val Kilmer made.
Teamed with Robert Downey Jr, in a turn that helped the reformed star land the Iron Man gig, it's fun, witty and the perfect accompaniment to Black's recent movie The Other Guys. It's also Christmassy. Go and watch it.
2. In Bruges
Another brilliant black comedy, Martin McDonagh's big screen debut is another one to savour with the playwright-turned director doing what so many have failed with before in getting a great performance out of Colin Farrell.
A tale of bumbling hitmen and religion, Farrell is ably supported by the frankly brilliant combination of Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, with the latter definitely playing against type.
1. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The hipster’s favourite, when it comes to choosing a James Bond movie, George Lazenby may be somewhat lacking as a Sean Connery replacement but the excellent script and supporting cast more than make up for it.
Set around some snowy mountaintops, the movie is a festive film thanks solely to the fact Bond ends up getting married on Christmas Eve. That doesn’t end so well though…
