Non-Traditional Christmas Holiday Movies

If "A Christmas Story" and "It's a Wonderful Life" are prime examples of traditional holiday movies, then my annual Christmas movie list is anything but traditional.

Chevy Chase, Jim Carrey, and Will Ferrell highlight my version of the Christmas classics in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "Elf."

These movies, non-traditional though they may be, are still Christmas stories at heart. Here are five films I like to fire up around the holidays that are not Christmas stories but still play well with the season:

"Love Actually" (2003)
Featuring an ensemble cast of some of Europe's most popular actors, and a series of separate-but-connected stories that all build toward a Christmas Eve climax, "Love Actually" is a fun film that has become a yearly tradition for my wife and I around the holidays. The movie is, essentially, a romantic comedy with a Christmas backdrop, and although it feels a tad long at 2 hours, 15 minutes, the stories are endearing and contain equal parts depth and comedic relief. Richard Curtis, writer of "Notting Hill" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral," wrote and directed "Love Actually," which features a star-studded cast list that includes Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and Billy Bob Thornton, among others.

"Just Friends" (2005)
Ryan Reynolds is great in this goofy romantic comedy that's set around the Christmas season. Reynolds plays Chris Brander, a former high school geek turned Los Angeles music industry executive. Brander returns home for the holidays, reconnects with his high school crush, played by Amy Smart, and finds himself transforming back into the hapless high school kid he'd tried desperately to leave behind. Anna Farris and Chris Klein are great in off-beat, supporting roles, and Reynolds displays his usual comedic brilliance throughout this Roger Kumble-directed movie. "Just Friends" is just fun, and the movie's setting makes it a good non-traditional holiday film.

"Gremlins" (1984)
Billy Peltzer's Christmas present from his father is a cute, cuddly creature called a Mogwai. Rand Peltzer, played by Hoyt Axton, explains to his son that he must follow a set of rules in caring for the Mogwai, which he's named Gizmo. Of course, Billy fails to follow the rules, Gizmo ends up reproducing a set of mischievous Mogwai and major hijinx ensue. The humor is often dark and the movie gets a bit violent at times, but "Gremlins" remains a favorite from my childhood, and its Christmas-season setting makes it a fun and different film to watch around the holidays. Zach Galligan, as Billy, and Phoebe Cates, as Kate, are the two main characters tasked with stopping the evil Gremlins and restoring order to the town. Chris Columbus wrote the screenplay, Joe Dante directed and Steven Spielberg is listed among the executive producers.

"Die Hard" (1988)
Bruce Willis' signature character, John McClane, is in Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife. Instead, the New York City cop finds himself in the middle of a terrorist hostage situation at his wife's office building on Christmas Eve. The holiday festivities pretty much end there, as Willis goes into full action-figure mode in this 1980s classic. "Die Hard" was actually released in July, as a summer blockbuster, but the movie's Christmas Eve setting makes it a perfect, non-traditional holiday flick. Alan Rickman is fantastic as bad guy Hans Gruber in this John McTiernan-directed action film.

"Trading Places" (1983)
Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy are superb in this early-1980s comedy classic that spans the Christmas season. Murphy plays street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, who trades places with the wealthy Louis Winthorpe III, played by Aykroyd, as part of a bet placed between the ultra-rich Duke brothers, Mortimer and Randolph. Murphy is his usual hilarious self while strutting around in unfamiliar surroundings among Philadelphia's high society. "Trading Places" is one of director John Landis' early successes, written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod.