Like Slade on the radio or unwanted socks from a distant relative, there’s something both comfortingly familiar and dispiritingly predictable about the traditional Christmas movie canon. But if you can’t change the movie, you can at least alter the surroundings. Even a cheery old chestnut like It’s A Wonderful Life or Home Alone can feel brand new again with the right combination of themed decor and heated alcoholic beverage; and fortunately, in London at least, there are myriad options this year.
One such is The Winter Night Garden (E3, to 23 Dec), part of Victoria Park’s Winterville. Decked out as a Narnia-like enchanted forest (but indoors) it offers a selection that also includes non-Christmas films (Inside Out plays this afternoon) as well as the traditional favourites. It’s a similar deal with Pop-Up Screens’ Cinema In The Snow (W11, to 23 Dec), an event that transforms the 20th Century Theatre in Notting Hill into a warm, wintry wonderland, and promising even more snow this year.
The Underground Film Club (SE1, to 23 Dec), in the vaults beneath Waterloo station, has multiple screenings of Elf and Love Actually to cope with demand this year, though it also has off-piste movies such as An American Werewolf In London (Mon). Pop-up specialists Nomad Cinema have a new, covered courtyard venue in Belgravia (Eccleston Place Courtyard, SW1, to Sun) – blankets provided. Or, going even further in the bedding department, there’s Pillow Cinema (Sutton House, E9, to 22 Dec), aiming for a slumber-party vibe in Hackney with bean bags, blankets and ripe Christmas cheeses such as Frozen (Tue) and Jingle All The Way (Wed). There’s also the higher-end Festive Film Club (Sat to 31 Dec) at the West End’s Soho, Charlotte Street and Covent Garden Hotels – where you can have lunch or afternoon tea before settling into White Christmas or Miracle On 34th Street in one of their plush screening rooms.
Outside London, your options are more limited. From next week, Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre has an American-style drive-in cinema (Fri to 23 Dec). It’s the usual suspects on the giant LED screen but unlimited guests per car and an in-car karaoke singalong. For something a bit more local, the festive seasons at Edinburgh’s Filmhouse (20 Dec) and Glasgow Film Theatre (27 Dec) both include screenings of Bill Forsyth’s 1980s comedy Comfort And Joy, a seasonal tale of ice-cream warfare.
Staying in the north, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester has The Snowman with live orchestral accompaniment (22 & 23 Dec), while Newcastle’s Tyneside Cinema is presenting It’s A Wonderful Life with live music (22 Dec), as well as 70s slasher Black Christmas (Tuesday) and festive chiller Rare Exports (23 Dec).
But if you’re desperate for something genuinely different, the pick of the bunch this year would have to be Jingle Bell Rocks!, a 2013 documentary on the quest for the ultimate alternative Christmas soundtrack, featuring the Flaming Lips and Run-DMC, among others. Described as “a trippy, cinematic sleigh ride”, it plays at Picturehouse cinemas in Liverpool (Sun), Hackney (Thu) and Crouch End (19 Dec).
