That great Christmas Day movie tradition

MANILA, Philippines – Christmas Day movie releases, around Christmas or on Dec. 25, are not only a huge tradition in the Philippines but also in the US. Not necessarily about feel-good holiday themes but can also deal with scarier subjects, the operating words are great cinematic entertainment after fulfilling the special day’s must-dos.

But it became a much-awaited tradition in the US only in the ’90s. Stunning Christmas Day film releases initialed if Dec. 25 is a Friday, the standard film opening day in the US like in 1962 when To Kill a Mockingbird, the best American film ever made, opened. But they were never about Christmas and never solely about quality releases.

But more of a mix of viewer-grabber reasons like big-name actors as Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained or Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, pre-sold themes as Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables or Macaulay Culkin in Ritchie Rich and much-awaited releases like Madonna in Evita or Al Pacino in Godfather Part III.

Tracing its history, the Christmas Day movie tradition may have originated right here in film-crazy Metro Manila where the Metropolitan Film Festival, the only Christmas season film festival kicked off way back on Dec. 25, 1975. It changed to its current name, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), in 1977 and stays as the only film festival in the world that opens on Christmas Day and runs through the season.

Exempt from the all-local movie fare are 3Ds and IMAX theaters. The MMFF thrived into a tried-and-true tradition due to its history of great titles and ever-increasing ticket sales grosses but not without well-remembered controversies.

It produced Filipino film classics like GMA Films’ Jose Rizal that won all the trophies, except Best Actress; Regal Films’ Mano Po jumpstarted the country’s second most successful film franchise at six releases; and Quantum Films’ English Only, Please that put Jennylyn Mercado in the rank of Best Actresses Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos.

And it has not changed name since but underwent reformats including commercial appeal as main criteria in selecting its three Best Films. The untested current one in the 2016 MMFF that put quality as main criteria of the selection process. The 2016 MMFF executive committee corrected it with an abrupt overhaul.

For sure, there are alternative cinema possibilities outside of the 2016 MMFF that span from re-upping the IMAX offering to streaming services from Hulu and HBO Now/Go. If we are not adventurous enough, they will soon turn into a Christmas Day tradition.