Hamish Downie’s Christmas Playlist Part 1
Editor Note: Hamish has a new treat for us today.
Hamish shares some of the films he has been recommending to his students.
This is a great opportunity to see through the eyes of Hamish of films he likes and feels others should experience.
In the last year, I’ve been recommending classic films to students of mine, and I thought that I’d start doing so here on the TGGeeks
website. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, especially Ben and Gini who have the excellent “Old Classics/Newly Reviewed”. I’m not planning on reviewing the films, only sharing the films that I personally plan to watch and the ones I’m recommending to students. I really hope that you will enjoy these films, and if you’ve seen them before, I hope they will bring back great memories.
THE LION IN WINTER (1968)
I invite you to spend some time with Katherine Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Anthony Hopkins, and Timothy Dalton (the later two in their film debut). Every single one of these characters is a viper and a snake, or Lions in Winter. The sons are all jockeying to be the next King of England. Hepburn and O’Toole are the current King and Queen, Hepburn, who arrives by ship in grandeur from Prison, and makes her presence felt from that moment on. If you’ve ever had a good old Christmas Family Fight where different factions were jockeying for power, than this will make you feel right at home. After watching this masterpiece, you’ll certianly be ready for a family Christmas.
JOHNNY GUITAR (1954)
If you like Deadpool or Austin Powers, than this film, starring the formidable Joan Crawford, will be right up your alley. A parody of the Hollywood Western, every line is a zinger. It even ends with a Peggy Lee song. So much action, so much camp. Made on video tape on a shoestring budget, there is a reason why this is much loved. If you need a reprieve from all the family fare this holiday season, this is the film for you! It’s a masterpiece.
Martin Scorsese introduces “Johnny Guitar”:
Peggy Lee sings the theme song:
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)
This was the beginning of many things for Judy Garland. Her relationship with it’s director Vincent Minelli (who would be the
father of Liza), and her strong relationship with the Christmas Holiday. This is the movie that features “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas” after all. It’s also interesting to note that Judy’s two most famous and loved films were both about characters who just wanted to go, or to stay home. This is a simple story of a family, the two eldest daughters are falling in love. Mary Astor from “The Maltese Falcon” features as the mother. And Margaret O’Brien from “Little Women” steals the show as “Tootie”. A masterpiece, and I have no idea why I’ve never watched it before.
I have three more classic Holiday films in the next part, but before then, I hope you enjoy the Christmas Song that features in my upcoming debut feature film, “Matcha & Vanilla”, which will be released on Gagaoolala this December 24th:
Matcha & Vanilla (trailer):
