For the Weirdos: 12 Non-Traditional Christmas Movies

Hello, and welcome back to Silver Linings where I shower gifts of attention on the maligned, forgotten, and ignored.

It's Christmastime again, and I love digging into my movie collection. While I do enjoy some of the season's staples like Miracle on 34th Street and A Charlie Brown Christmas, I do find myself aching for something different. I established last year that I'm not really a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas media, seeing as I talked about Christmas games, joke songs, and obscure foreign language films. However, it goes further than that.

When I'm not in the mood to indulge in the 24-hour marathons of It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story, I plug in movies that I consider Christmas movies solely because they take place at Christmas rather than because they spit out the same trite seasonal cliches. Here are 12 that are worth considering when you're sick of Scrooge or the Grinch.

This is the ultimate reversal of the sentimental mush that pervades typical Christmas movies. Billy Bob Thornton plays a crook who takes the role of a mall Santa while casing for a heist. He soon crosses paths with a frequently bullied kid and tries to help him. This movie is wrong in every way, shape, and form, and it is hysterical. Whether Billy Bob's elf accomplice is berating him at lunch or a marathon of groin punches breaks out, it never stops being funny.

While reactions to Tim Burton's second Batman movie are mixed, I do still enjoy plugging it in this time of year. The Penguin and Catwoman join forces to take down the Dark Knight. The plot goes all over the place with political schemes, emotional breakdowns, and Christopher Walken... well... being Christopher Walken. However, the action scenes are energized, Michelle Pfeiffer is still the perfect Catwoman, and there's plenty of creativity and weirdness everywhere.

What better way to celebrate the season of joy than with one of the godfathers of slasher flicks! As much as I love horror movies, I'm generally not a fan of slashers due to how cliched they tend to be. Black Christmas dodges that issue by providing memorable characters and peerless atmosphere that keeps it entertaining even after the shocks had worn off. It's funny that this movie was made by Bob Clark, the same guy that made A Christmas Story. Could the killer be Ralphie?

If I didn't include this one, I'd deserve to get my butt kicked. Considered the greatest action movie of all time, I shouldn't have to say why Die Hard belongs on this list. This movie made Bruce Willis an action icon and was an amazing launching pad for a then-unknown British actor named Alan Rickman. The first sequel, Die Hard 2, is also an enjoyable, not-quite-Christmas film, though it does copy a lot from the first.

This is one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies; the other is further down the list. This fantasy film about an imaginative innocent with a weird deformity is the best thing ever to have Tim Burton's name attached to it. The story is heartwarming and wrenching at the same time and the visuals are a feast for the eyes, as Johnny Depp gives his best performance as the title character. Seriously, I like him as Edward more than as Jack Sparrow.

This French psychological thriller seemed tailor-made for my girlfriend and me. Directed by one of my favorite directors Paul Verhoeven, this movie shows the mental breakdown of a powerful woman, played by Ally's favorite actress Isabelle Huppert, after a violent sexual assault. The story and the way Verhoeven showed it was uncompromising and full of surprises, and Huppert's performance was phenomenal. There's never a bad time for a good thriller.

Stanley Kubrick's last film may seems like an odd choice for Christmas viewing. After all, a movie about a frustrated couple (played by then-power couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) descending into a world of sexual deviance doesn't seem like it fits at all. However, the plot is excellent if weird, and the cinematography brings tons of Christmas glow to the proceedings. Who knows? Surely there's someone who thinks masked orgies and Nicole Kidman naked are perfect Christmas gifts...

This is my other favorite Christmas movie and another one that I hardly need to comment on like Die Hard. Everyone knows Gizmo, the mogwai, and the three rules that get broken, leading to a small town being destroyed by a hoard of little monsters. However, it still fills the screen with warm Christmas colors, it still spoils the ending of It's a Wonderful Life, and it's still the perfect blend of comedy and horror.

Here's a noir-style crime thriller perfect for this time of year. A lawyer steals millions from a mobster and tries to lam it. The story is engaging with plenty of humor added in. The cast is great including John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton (again), and Connie Nielsen. Hell, even the usually annoying Randy Quaid did a great job with this one. I consider this the official Christmas gangster movie (not that there are many).

How about a dark comedy with a more international flavor? Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play two hitmen who are sent to a small town in Belgium after a failed hit to wait for word from their boss played by Voldemort himself Ralph Fiennes. The interplay between Farrell and Gleeson and their interactions with the locals really bring on the laughs, and it even has plenty of action and tension near the end.

While Iron Man 3 is one of the weaker entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is still an enjoyable action romp for Christmas that's safe for the kids. Robert Downey, Jr. is still the perfect Tony Stark, and it's nice to see him resolving more with his mind and guts than just the Iron Man suit. It's also a more emotional story than most superhero films as Stark tries to come to grips with his role in the Avengers.

It's funny that, while everyone keeps talking about Die Hard being the perfect Christmas action movie, they keep forgetting about the original Lethal Weapon. The first team-up of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as Riggs and Murtaugh also brings thrills to LA during Christmas and arguably has MORE connection to Christmas than Die Hard does! Put this one on with Die Hard for the perfect action double-feature!

I'm sure there are more, but I just had to limit the list to twelve for obvious reasons. Let me know your favorites, and Merry Christmas!