Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
Sat Dec 5, 2015, 12:59 AM Dec 2015

Favourite Christmas movie? Mine: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
"Rare Exports" (original title)
R | 84 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror | 3 December 2010 (Finland)

In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up!

This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.

Director: Jalmari Helander
Writers: Jalmari Helander, Jalmari Helander (based on the original idea by) (as The Helander Brothers) , 3 more credits »
Stars: Jorma Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Onni Tommila |

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401143/












This movie will make you fall in love with Christmas all over again.



18 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Favourite Christmas movie? Mine: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Original Post) beam me up scottie Dec 2015 OP
This message was self-deleted by its author olddots Dec 2015 #1
White Christmas Lordquinton Dec 2015 #2
That second one looks good. beam me up scottie Dec 2015 #3
It's an old favorite, and is rather secular, suprisingly Lordquinton Dec 2015 #4
As far as I remember, SusanCalvin Dec 2015 #8
The most touching Nativity scene in cinema history... onager Dec 2015 #5
Well, I'm off in search of that one! mr blur Dec 2015 #14
I saw this a while back. vanamonde Dec 2015 #6
Wasn't it a great story? beam me up scottie Dec 2015 #7
I'm definitely going to look for this. progressoid Dec 2015 #9
If he loves horror flicks and hates craptastic Xmas movies he'll love it. beam me up scottie Dec 2015 #13
The 1967 A Christmas Memory (Geraldine Page) SusanCalvin Dec 2015 #10
Bad Santa. mr blur Dec 2015 #11
Die Hard. Gore1FL Dec 2015 #12
Love that movie! haikugal Dec 2015 #15
So do you! I found a great review if people are unsure whether or not to watch it: beam me up scottie Dec 2015 #16
Good review! haikugal Dec 2015 #17
I want to see this. edhopper Dec 2015 #18

Response to beam me up scottie (Original post)

Lordquinton

(7,886 posts)
4. It's an old favorite, and is rather secular, suprisingly
Sat Dec 5, 2015, 01:50 AM
Dec 2015

and I'm a huge fan of Danny Kaye.

Bill Goldburg as Santa in a sleigh pulled by yaks with shields along the side like a viking longship is awesome.

SusanCalvin

(6,592 posts)
8. As far as I remember,
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 12:27 PM
Dec 2015

White Christmas is completely secular except for the title. And, yes, I like the movie.

onager

(9,356 posts)
5. The most touching Nativity scene in cinema history...
Sat Dec 5, 2015, 09:11 AM
Dec 2015

A young actress is trying desperately to get the non-speaking part of an Angel standing around during the birth of Jebus.

The movie's producers step aside to discuss her casting: "And what credit does this Angel get? 'Angel Who Blew The Producer To Get Her SAG Card?'"



Sorry, old-timers, I know I mention this one every Xmas. And sometimes on the Fourth of July. But it is a sadly neglected religious classic and I like to make sure newbies know about it.

Check out the casting:

Cain and Abel are portrayed by Lou Ferrigno and Andy Dick. ("What? I get KILLED?&quot

Mrs. Noah = Eve Plumb, a/k/a Jan Brady from "The Manson Bunch"

Moses = Soupy Sales

God = an old hippie in a Cadillac who likes to reminisce about dropping acid at Led Zep concerts.

Storyline: two low-budget movie producers, previously known for epics such as "Nude Ninjas," suddenly get a huge amount of studio money to film the entire Bible. From Genesis to Revelation. ("But let's leave out the Lot stuff. It's just weird.&quot

The only caveat: along with a puerile and Non-Sophisticated Theological mockery of religion, this flick is a send-up of the whole movie industry. From studio nepotism right down to the caterers, animal wranglers and truck drivers. So you might appreciate it more if you know a little about how the movie industry (mis)functions, or if you've ever worked on a movie yourself.

There are lots of great in-jokes. Like the pretentious cinematographer: "Sven Nykvist gave me this light meter. He said I needed it more than he did."

There's a running joke about filming the Ten Commandments scene at Vasquez Rocks. That's a spot in the desert right outside Los Angeles. And if you've ever seen any older B&W movie on Turner Classics, you've seen the Vasquez Rocks. Hundreds of westerns were filmed there, along with cinema classics like the 1953 "Robot Monster."

Oh, and "Star Trek." That's the Vasquez Rocks behind The Shat and his friend:



The Making of "...And God Spoke:"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107492/

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
7. Wasn't it a great story?
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 03:52 AM
Dec 2015

It's the perfect antidote to all of the sickeningly sweet and absolutely awful family-friendly movies that we're subjected to every year.

I love it so much I'm asking for the dvd as a Festivus present.


progressoid

(50,734 posts)
9. I'm definitely going to look for this.
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 02:01 PM
Dec 2015

I have a friend who needs to see this for the holidays! He will love it.

Sadly, my wife actually likes those sickeningly sweet family-friendly movies. I'm OK with It's a Wonderful Life or Elf. But those things on the Hallmark channel...

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
13. If he loves horror flicks and hates craptastic Xmas movies he'll love it.
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 10:31 PM
Dec 2015

This movie is part folktale, part horror, part sad story about a kid who misses his mom on Christmas and it has a wicked twist which makes for a happy ending.

Well, except for Santa.

It's a perfect gift for the sick heathen on your list.

And I feel your pain, my s/o likes Lifetime and WE.


SusanCalvin

(6,592 posts)
10. The 1967 A Christmas Memory (Geraldine Page)
Sun Dec 6, 2015, 04:51 PM
Dec 2015

The George C. Scott Christmas Carol.
The Barishnikov/Kirkland Nutcracker.

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
16. So do you! I found a great review if people are unsure whether or not to watch it:
Mon Dec 7, 2015, 11:15 PM
Dec 2015
REVIEW:

It seems like The Black Saint has seen about 50 movies this week alone. I haven’t of course but it’s only Tuesday but who knows what my final tally for the week will be? I’ll tell you this though, the best movie I’ve seen this month and one of my favorites for the year is “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale”. A really strange & completely bizarre movie from Finland that takes the Santa Claus mythos & turns it on it’s ear in a really unexpected but wonderfully twisted way.

The film opens in Finland with an excavation crew looking for something buried deep inside Mount Korvatunturri. One of the workers discovers, strangely enough. some sawdust. When he reports & shows his find to his superior he immediately tells his employee that sawdust was used to keep frozen things insulated hundreds of years ago & that they are close to what he is looking for. He immediately produces some new cards for distribution to all of the other workers & instructs them to follow them to the tee. Among the new rules on the cards: No smoking, no cursing, no fighting, etc..etc. Of course, the employee curses & lights up a cigarette in response. The cigarette is promptly pulled out of his mouth & he is warned to watch his language. Seriously. The boss then instructs all of the workers to keep digging into the mountain proclaiming: “We have a grave to rob”!

Cut to a young boy named Pietari & his father Rauno who live not too far from the foot of the mountain. Pietari & his friend Juuso have cut a hole in the fence surrounding the excavation site & overheard the workers grumbling about what they’re looking for & the new rules. He doesn’t want to tell his father because he believes in Santa Claus & doesn’t want to be labeled as a bad boy. He has a book chronicling the REAL Santa Claus & is scared because according to this book when Santa is upset with you he doesn’t just leave coal in your stocking. He tortures you mercilessly & then kills you in most unpleasant ways. This really scares young Pietari so he makes sure his house is well lit & he is prepared for Santa’s imminent arrival so he can defend himself against him because he’s cut a hole into the fence & he thinks Santa will look at him as a bad child.

Meanwhile Pietari’s father & his friends notice some very strange things happening around town as the days get closer to Christmas. The movie begins on the first day of December & continues to Christmas day. Young Pietari has one of those 25 days of Christmas calendars on his wall. The kind that has little windows representing each day of the month until Christmas day. Pietari is so afraid of the day arriving that he tapes & then staples the little window representing the 25th shut. He’s afraid of Santa, really afraid. Meanwhile, someone has killed off all of the Reindeer that were in the pen outside of his home save for two of them that got away & when the men of the town (actually only 4 of them) go to the excavation site to investigate & hopefully find out what happened to their Reindeer they find the site devoid of life & a very large hole in the mountain. It’s obvious that something was dug up from very deep inside the mountain. Something evil..something like….SANTA CLAUS!

“Rare Exports” is a very rare type of film indeed. It combines elements of “John Carpenter’s The Thing” & “Night Of The Living Dead” & any number of legitimate Christmas movies & weaves them into a funny & scary little parable about what the holiday means to children. It’s even a sort of coming of age story as well because our hero, young Pietari begins the film as a very innocent little waif who carries around his teddy bear & ends the film as the one person who figures out what is going on & also devises a way to stop Santa & his army of (very strange) Elves from wreaking havoc worldwide.

http://horrornews.net/22599/film-review-rare-exports-a-christmas-tale-2010/


All those naked old elves in the snow really bring a whole new meaning to the term "shrinkage". Poor guys!

Bestest Christmas movie evah!


haikugal

(6,476 posts)
17. Good review!
Tue Dec 8, 2015, 12:02 AM
Dec 2015

Shrinkage indeed....now I have to check Netflix to see if it's still there, or was it Amazon??

I have to see it!

Thanks for the reminder, great movie!

edhopper

(34,723 posts)
18. I want to see this.
Tue Dec 8, 2015, 09:26 AM
Dec 2015

I just saw their next movie "Big Game" with Samuel Jackson. A lot of fun, and I like their style.

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»Atheists & Agnostics»Favourite Christmas movie...