Have your ‘Elf’ a Movie Little Christmas at Plaza Theatre
‘Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas’ author Alonso Duralde discusses holiday films after the Plaza Theatre’s Dec. 16 screening of ‘Elf.’
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Think “Christmas movie” and you’ll probably hark back to such well-roasted chestnuts as It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. With his new book Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, film critic Alonso Duralde reveals that how yuletide cinema can also include the witty historical romance The Lion in Winter, the iconic action flick Die Hard, the angsty teen drama Less Than Zero and even Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In additions to extensive sections on Christmas Classics and adaptations of A Christmas Carol (from Alastair Sim to Tori Spelling), Duralde surveys Christmas comedies, tear-jerkers shoot-em-ups, grown-up dramas, kid flicks and even horror films. Did you know that there was a Silent Night, Bloody Night and a Silent Night, Deadly Night?
On Thursday, Dec. 16, the Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas sleigh brings Duralde to the Plaza Theatre for a 7 p.m. screening of the Will Ferrell comedy Elf, followed by a Q&A with, um, me. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that Alonso’s one of my oldest friends. But he clearly did not include Brazil in his book just because he knows it’s one of my faves: Terry Gilliam’s dystopian satire actually takes place at the holidays.) This montage conveys the flavor of the book and its subjects:
If you can’t make the Thursday show, the Plaza offers a cool consolation prize: for the Saturday and Sunday matinees of Elf at 3 p.m., kids under 13 years old get in free. (There’s also a screening at midnight Friday.) By the way, did you know that the Elf screenings are happening simultaneously with the Broadway run of a musical adaptation of the film? Coincidence, or what?