When the weather gets cold and the outside starts to feel dangerous, the only logical thing to do is grab your blanket and a movie. In honor of Frozen Two coming out this weekend, we have assembled our top 10 movies in the cold for you to watch in the warm.
As far as fantasy-novel adaptations are concerned, the “Harry Potter” film series dominated pretty much the whole first decade of the 2000s. However, we can’t forget another fantasy movie that transported us to a world of unlimited imagination, and that movie is director Andrew Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Pevensies all capture the adventurous spirit of their literary counterparts; Swinton couldn’t be more entertaining and intimidating as the witch; and Neeson offers a grand sense of regality in his vocal performance for Aslan. While the novel is just over a couple of hundred pages, the movie is almost two and a half hours, expanding on certain aspects of the novel and providing the film with the epic feel that Lewis’ creation deserves, including a thrilling battle sequence between Aslan’s army and The White Witch’s army, which only takes up a few pages of the book. Between the costumes, makeup, set design, visual effects, and music, Narnia is brought to beautiful life on screen and will enthrall viewers of any age. (Vincent Abbatecola)
What happens when you have a full month of darkness and a clan of vampires coming your way? Whatever you can do to survive. 30 Days of Night focuses on an Alaskan town beset by vampires as it enters into a thirty-day long polar night. As the town gets ready, a stranger shows up and destroys any kind of communication from the outside world, bringing on the night-walkers slaughtering and feeding on the townspeople. This 2007 film, which is based on the comic book miniseries, was a fun, bloody ride. It did have its moments of scares and thrills, but it drops the ball when it comes to the third act. Also, there were a few plot holes, where the vampires move with superhuman speed in some attacks but moved with clumsy slowness in others. I can look past it because I enjoyed the dark tone and the action didn’t disappoint. Danny Huston as the vampire leader Marlow was convincing and well played, even without words and just several shrill cries into the night. They vampires didn’t sparkle when the sunlight hits them; they go up in flames as they should. It did go on to have a sequel, but it went straight-to-DVD and nobody cared about that one. (Chantal Ashford)
The Gold Rush is 3 distinct stories threaded together through the blizzards of the Klondike Gold Rush. In the film we see Chaplin’s Tramp character (aptly names “The Prospector”) setting out to try and make his fortune. Along the way the story will bend in hilarious ways. The first act sees the Prospector trapped in a cabin with a deadly fugitive and a successful miner during a raging blizzard. Sight gags erupt in classic Chaplin fashion as he tries to survive. While we are driven with laughter, Chaplin also threads the harshness of their ordeal when they are forced to eat a shoe in order to survive. The next act sees the Prospector at his lowest point as he has returned to the main camp where he falls in love with a bar maiden, Georgia Hale. Georgia and her friends play this off as a joke and set up a date with him. In his loneliness, we are given one of the most iconic scenes ever committed to celluloid-Chaplin dancing with dinner roles. The film is filled with laughs and heart. Seek this movie out. It is a must watch for any movie lover. (Daniel Hansen)
For a movie that catapulted such a big star into fame, this movie has really gone unnoticed. Winter’s Bone is about a girl who must go on a quest to find her criminal father and save her home, while caring for her two young siblings. The main attraction here, however, is the stellar acting of then newcomer, Jennifer Lawrence. Having at this point only been in small roles in small films and some work in TV, not many knew who she was. As a clean slate, Winter’s Bone gave Lawrence the platform she needed in order to showcase her acting brilliance, as well as her ability to transform into any character that she portrays with the required authenticity. The movie itself is dark, not in picture but in theme. Showing the struggle of what it means to live beneath the poverty line, it quickly becomes a difficult experience both for the characters and for the viewer. This is Lawrence being Katniss Everdeen, before she was cast in the multi-billion-dollar franchise. However, this is her being that in our world, showing that it’s already reaching a point that is alarming for any regular movie viewing. It’s raw, in more ways than one, and shows the strength of those who will do anything to protect their home and their family. Not to mention, the environment is as unforgiving as you could expect. Cold, alone and without a hope in the world, this is a true underdog film. I recommend a watch if you haven’t yet had the chance, however, maybe have a comedy lined up to chase this. (Alice-Ginevra Micheli)
If you were to go to the theater on October 2nd 2014, you would have seen my jaw hit the floor in shock at the story move in Gone Girl. I’ve never once been as bamboozled as I was in this 2014 mystery/thriller that plays out like a real horror film. David Fincher pulls you into the lives of Nick Dunne and “Amazing Amy” herself, Amy Dunne, and never lets you get a release from the sense of dread and uncertainty until the bitter end. This is one of David Finchers best directing efforts. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are also terrific as Nick and Amy Dunne, but it’s Rosamund Pike in particular who stands out. She’s diabolical, sympathetic, and down right scary. Personally, I believe she should have won the Oscar that she was nominated for in 2014. Gone Girl isn’t just a good movie, but a great movie that happens to be one of my favorites from the past decade. (Ben Davis)
What shots do you think of when John Carpenter’s horror classic The Thing comes up? Is it the severed head turning into a creepy spider creature? Is it the chest bursting open to eat the hands of the doctor? Is it the blood fighting back against Kurt Russell’s inquiry with a burning prod? Or is it Keith David and Kurt Russell sitting together at the end with frozen breath as they rest for a minute? Or could it be the frozen over Russell after he makes his way back into the compound? Two of these iconic moments utilize one of the best elements of the film…the frozen tundra. The Thing works so well due to the isolated set piece of a compound in the middle of a frozen wasteland. You can feel the cold through the screen as this group of men fear for their lives with the growing paranoia. Many creature-features really thrive with their subtler elements and Carpenter’s classic is no different. The paranoia and fear amongst these men is so much more terrifying then any creature can be. And do you know what else is terrifying? The endless snow and ice that blocks them all from safety. (Shane Conto)
In typical Coen brothers fashion, Fargo is a black comedy about a small town in the midwest. This movie brings you in with the dark intrigue of an illegal scheme, but makes you stay with the lovely kindness of Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson. It’s a movie about choices and family, and it forces you to think about the importance of both. Additionally, you can’t help but feel the cold of Minnesota in the winter as you see every inch of the ground covered in piles of snow. (Robert Bouffard)
If someone asked you what the most iconic shot of cold in film was, what would you say? There are many great shots in cinema that feature the crippling force of the frigid cold but none of them truly captures your attention more than the frozen corpse of Jack Torrance at the end of The Shining. The cold is Kubrick’s weapon in the film. If it were not for the cold, would Danny and Wendy Torrance be stuck with Jack? And honestly, would they even be at The Overlook at all? The truth is that the frigid cold of Colorado is what allows the hotel to snare its prey. Kubrick uses this setting so well and the frozen maze during the film’s climax is one of the most iconic set pieces in horror. (Shane Conto)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu captures a completely immersive experience by making you feel as if you’re there every step of the way going through the treacherous elements and the brutality of one man’s survival. This movie made me feel cold, and not in the emotional sense, but the physical sense. The way that Alejandro G. Iñárritu shot this movie in these very long and gorgeous shots using only natural light enhances the feeling of realism. It really hits you in the bear attack sequence that is pure brutality. It’s not pretty, but my god it is one of the more intense and realistic looking sequences I’ve ever seen. Alejandro G. Iñárritu would go on to win Best Director at The Oscars for the second year in a row, and rightfully so. The performances are also fantastic here with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. Both actors rightfully earned Oscar nominations and Leonardo DiCaprio finally got his big Oscar win. While it’s not his most showy performance, the sheer amount of physical acting DiCaprio does in this film is absolutely incredible. You feel his pain, his hurt, and his determination to get his revenge and to survive. At the end, while The Revenant is a revenge tale, it’s much more than that. It’s the story of will, survival , determination, and the power of the human spirit. (Ben Davis)
Post apocalyptic films are frequent and vary in quality, but when Bong Joon Ho tackles it, you pay attention. Taking place in a future where a failed climate control experiment plunges the world into another Ice Age, the last remnants of humankind are now subjected to a new class system on a huge multi-car train called, Snowpiercer. Snowpiercer (2013) takes a premise that can be seen as completely outlandish, but makes you buy into it due to the vision of the director. The set design and the characters of the film make you want to dive deeper into the world. The cast round-up includes Chris Evans, Kang-Ho Song, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer and Ko Asung just to name a few. Curtis Everett played by Chris Evans does a great job leading this film as the Co-Conspirer of a Rebellion against the unjust class system of the train. He is a layered character who has to make difficult decisions in order to make it to the front of the train. You get a good sense of the kind of person he was and has formed into with both clever reveals through writing and Evans solid performance. His relationship and exchanges with Gilliam (John Hurt) are well executed and John Hurt is excellent in his role as his mentor/Co-Conspirator. The film does an excellent job of illustrating the disease ridden situation that the people at the back of the train have to endure. Everything from the train car that they live in, the food they consume to the dishevelled clothes that they wear, you can tell the dire situation that they are in. As a whole Snowpiercer is a standout film in all departments and engrossing through and through.(Joseph Vargas)
Honorable Mentions:
Hateful 8
Now Daisy, I want us to work out a signal system of communication. When I elbow you real hard in the face, that means “shut up”!When it comes to Tarentino movies, it’s just too hard for any movie to top Pulp Fiction or Inglorious Basterds. Then the rest of them follow real close to one another, as long as we can agree that Kill Bill Vol. 2 lands on bottom (which is still a pretty good movie). But one that always closes in on the top for me that doesn’t seem to for anyone else is The Hateful Eight. When I heard Tarentino was going back to a Western after Django, my heart kind of felt sad because if Tarentino is really only going to do 10 films, I want them to be 10 unique films. Then, the cast was announced and my anticipation could not have been higher. When the script leaked and Tarentino said he wouldn’t make it, I nearly cried. Luckily, we still got the movie with a revised ending that I still really enjoyed. I think all of these characters are fascinating, the whodunnit aspect feels original and complex but not overly so, and Tarentino’s script is on full display here. It’s challenging to create so much tension with mostly dialogue, but Tarentino is the one to do it. At the end of the day, I don’t watch The Hateful Eight the most (mostly for its 3-hour runtime), but it is the one that I think about most often and the one I want to revisit most. Though this movie takes place in the cold, it holds a very warm spot in my heart. (Aaron Schweitzer)
Happy Feet
Happy Feet is weird if we’re putting things lightly. Somehow, the guy behind all the Mad Max films was convinced to make a fully-animated film for children about a penguin. However, this is the right mix of weird. George Miller’s attention to detail is what makes what would be an otherwise direct to DVD movie feel like it has charm, a sense of humor, and a world that makes Mumble’s penguin plights fun for the whole family to enjoy. (Austin Belzer)
Also See:
Alive, The Ice Storm, Misery, Frozen, A Simple Plan, Cliffhanger, Cold Mountain, The Grey Mystery, Alaska, Wind River, Cool Runnings, Doctor Zhivago, March of the Penguins, Hanna, Ice Age