The holidays are upon us, and it’s time to stock up on hot chocolate, cozy blankets, and movie lists that help set the mood. We’re curating a curated selection of stories with everything from inspiring drama to swashbuckling comedy.
These and the cartoons are suitable for any mood: whether you want to laugh a little at the movies, feel the magic of Christmas or feel nostalgic.
1. Left Behind (2023)
Original title: The Holdovers
Genre: comedy, drama
Audience rating: ⭐️ 7.7 (KinoPoisk), ⭐️ 7.9 (IMDb)
Country: USA
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Davan Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston
About what: December 1970. Students at Barton Academy, a prestigious boarding school for boys, leave for the Christmas holidays, but a few misfits whose parents can’t or won’t pick them up end up staying on campus.
The hated history teacher Mr. Hanham, a principled adherent of strict pedagogical methods, and the cook Mary, who grieves for her son who died in Vietnam, were appointed to look after the children.
Where to watch: Rutub
2. Stuffed Bunny (2009)
Original title: Velveteen Rabbit.
Genre: cartoon, fantasy, drama, family
Audience rating: ⭐️ 7.2 (KinoPoisk), ⭐️ 6.3 (IMDb)
Country: USA
Director: Michael Landon Jr.
Cast: Jane Seymour, Tom Skerritt, Ellen Burstyn, Matthew Harbor
About what: A lonely boy who was strict with himself was once alienated from his father and strict grandmother with the help of a stuffed rabbit, which once turned into a real one.
Where to watch: Kinopoisk
3. New Year’s Chef (2023)
Genre: comedy
Audience rating: ⭐️ 6.4 (KinoPoisk), insufficient ratings (IMDb)
Country: Russia
Director: Vasily Rovensky
Cast: Pavel Priluchny, Zoya Berber, Vladislav Miller, Kristina Korbut
About what: Victor is the owner of a fashionable restaurant, but things are not going well there. All hope is only for New Year’s Eve, because all the tables are already booked, but December 31st comes and the chef and the whole team leave the restaurant.
It turns out that everything was lost, and then Olesya, the owner of a kitchen at home in a village near Moscow, appeared in the restaurant. She brought cakes, which Victor quite accidentally ordered from her and even managed to forget about it. Victor invites Olesya to become a chef for New Year’s Eve.
Where to watch: Okko
4. Wonka (2023)
Original title: Wonka
Genre: musical, fantasy, comedy, adventure, family
Audience rating: ⭐️ 7.2 (KinoPoisk), ⭐️ 7.0 (IMDb)
Country: USA
Director: Paul King
Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Colin O’Brien, Kala Lane, Keegan-Michael Key
About what: Dreaming of opening a shop in a town famous for its chocolate, young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by the cards of greedy chocolatiers.
Where to watch: Rutub
5. Klaus (2019)
Original title: Klaus
Genre: cartoon
Audience rating: ⭐️ 8.7 (KinoPoisk), ⭐️ 8.2 (IMDb)
Country: Spain, UK, USA, Austria, Canada, France
Director: Sergio Pablos, Carlos Martinez Lopez
Voiced by: Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Joan Cusack, Rashida Jones
About what: The owner of the postal empire, in order to teach a lazy son named Jesper wisdom, sends him to the far north to the city of Smeerensburg. In total, it is necessary to place a post office there and process at least 6,000 letters per year.
Arriving at the place, the guy finds himself in simple hostilities: two family clans, as it happened historically, harbor great hatred and sacredly honor the centuries-old tradition of beating each other up and doing packs at every opportunity.
Where to watch: Rutub
6. One House: The Fab Five (2024)
Genre: comedy
Audience rating: ⭐️ insufficient ratings (KinoPoisk)
Country: Russia
Director: Ruslan Paushu
Cast: Vitalia Kornienko, Anastasia Panina, Mikhail Politsemako, Galina Stakhanova
About what: Stefania is a smart and persistent girl who doesn’t miss a single adventure. While participating in the filming of a New Year’s Western, she blogs about acting everyday life on platforms. The project attracted the attention of several young fans – Alex, who dreams of becoming a star, the reserved excellent student Masha, the technical genius Tima, and the enterprising Vanya.
On one of the shooting days, the main character of the film, the pony Gennady, makes a statement. Stefania decides to take matters into her own hands and treats her subscribers. Masha, Taima, Alex and Vanya have to figure out how to find the pony and help them record the New Year’s hit.
Where to watch: Okko
7. A Gift for Christmas (1996)
Original title: Jingle All the Way
Genre: comedy
Audience rating: ⭐️ 6.7 (KinoPoisk), ⭐️ 5.7 (IMDb)
Country: USA
Director: Brian Levant
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson.
About what: He is terribly busy at work, his father is constantly busy with family matters. After another failure to show up, his own karate student promised to buy him a super toy for Christmas – Turbo Man and, naturally, in the bustle of Christmas troubles, the promise is happily forgotten.
And on the very last day, the frantic race for the said toy begins. But there are so many people who want it, and there are only a few toys left.
Where to watch: Rutub
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
