A New York Christmas at HOME
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
With Miracle on 34th Street taking over HOME’s Theatre 1, the film team have concocted an accompanying programme of festive flicks from the big apple. New York does Christmas famously well of course, and with no end of titles to choose from HOME have selected a mix of real classics, alongside some inspired offbeat choices for you to indulge in this December.
Reaching out beyond the city limits, there are a couple of films from smaller communities in New York state included. The first, Frank Capra’s gorgeous 1946 It’s A Wonderful Life (13 – 24 Dec) needs little introduction, but the second is a brand new release hoping to join the pantheon of Christmas classics. Set in Long Island suburbia, Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (29 Nov – 5 Dec) gathers an outstanding ensemble featuring Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher and Gregg Turkington as two teenage cousins escape a family gathering to wander the wintry streets in search of rebellion.
Think blizzards in Central Park, shopping at Macy’s and ice skating at the Rockerfeller Centre and you get the idea
The rest of the season takes place firmly in the snowy cityscape of New York City itself; think blizzards in Central Park, shopping at Macy’s and ice skating at the Rockerfeller Centre and you get the idea. Enduring family favourites such as Will Ferrell in Elf (Sun 15 Dec) and Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Sat 14 Dec) are accompanied by more mature fare, such as Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett in Todd Hayne’s sumptuous period romance Carol (Thu 19 Dec).
Meanwhile, Moonstruck (19 – 20 Dec) takes us from Brooklyn Heights to the The Met as Nicolas Cage and Cher star as forbidden lovers in a madcap wintertime comedy that stands tall as one of the great romances of the 1980s. Nobody would accuse Eyes Wide Shut (Sun 15 Dec) of being overly romantic, but Stanley Kubrick’s bewitching final film offers a stunning, if chilly spin on New York at Christmastime. Featuring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a complicated marriage, this sly picture offers us a glimpse into a world of desire, jealousy, sex and secrets amongst its cast of wealthy Manhattanites.
