A Very NoBudge Christmas
Christmas movies on NoBudge hit a bit different than your average holiday fare. Of course, there’s the requisite family tensions, as seen in “Disforia” and “Clean Blood,” but this isn't light family viewing -- they register almost as horror films. We offer contrast to those dark visions with a couple of silly L.A. comedies with “Gilbert’s Little Christmas” and “A Seasonal Thing,” films that stand out with their warm weather settings and anything-goes humor. There’s also a sprinkling of loneliness and melancholy as in “Storms Named After People,” and holiday grumpiness like in the documentary, “The Christmas Light Killer.” Perhaps the most quintessential Christmas films of the group are “The Letter” about an odd letter written to Santa, and “Kim Bush’s Abduction,” a comedy about a missing mom at a Christmas party.
-
Carmen & Moony
A semi-recovered kleptomaniac goes home for the holidays and is joined by an unlikely guest. Kate Adams and Max Azulay direct “Carmen and Moony,” a romantic comedy where antics, bits, and banter unravel at the dinner table and beyond. It’s a snowy winter day and Carmen is returning home to celebr...
-
One Eye Small
On a winter afternoon in New York City, two strangers meet and decide to keep each other company for the night. Directed by and starring Jane Stiles, “One Eye Small,” is an endearing portrait of relationship blues, and a love letter to Big Apple spontaneity. We find two young women starring out a...
-
The Letter
A little girl receives a letter from Santa Claus in this short and sweet holiday film from director Eric Paschal Johnson, co-director of “Observatory Blues”. Over a series of richly melancholic 16mm compositions of a young girl lugging a Christmas tree through fields and forests, Santa narrates a...
-
Kim Bush's Abduction
Several hours of unanswered texts and phone calls have everyone at a Christmas party wondering: where is Kim Bush? Filmed in Gulfport, Mississippi, and starring real-life sisters Courtney and Gabe Bush (playing themselves), “Kim Bush’s Abduction,” is a rolling mix of mystery and comedy, brimming ...
-
Gilbert's Little Christmas
Gilbert refuses to have a sad Christmas this year. NoBudge regular Alex Kavutskiy directs “Gilbert’s Little Christmas,” an L.A. holiday comedy which monitors an aspiring entrepreneur (his big idea is hamburgers on a stick) that’s lost all hope after being dumped on Christmas day a year ago. Gilbe...
-
A Seasonal Thing
New to Los Angeles, an aspiring music supervisor dreams of leaving his soul-sucking day job and establishing a new relationship. An easygoing comedy that tracks a couple days in the life of a well-meaning, self-described “idiot” during the holiday season in L.A. | Written and directed by Marcus J...
-
Five Song Tour
A dispirited young musician living out of her car comes to a crossroads when she reconnects with an ex-girlfriend for one night. Chloe Jury-Fogel directs “Five Song Tour,” a portrait of solitude and longing set around Christmas that highlights the flip side of holiday frivolity. Making her way t...
-
Disforia
Jack returns home to find his family has sold their house without his knowledge, perhaps because he’s no longer the Jane they all know. Lio Mehiel directs and stars in “Disforia” (Heidi Hartwig co-directs), a psychological horror about coming out as trans, a haunting vision of alienation and dist...
-
Clean Blood
A Christmas movie about family, the Apocalypse and an immaculately pregnant man. “Clean Blood” is one of the strangest shorts you’ll ever see. It’s a blood-soaked affair with an outlandish premise but just as defined by an ultra mundane family argument. Written, directed and produced by Jordan Mi...
-
Storms Named After People
Jess is alone in Tarpon Springs, Florida on Christmas Eve. “Storms Named After People,” directed by Sarah Ballard, is a poetic glimpse into the headspace and disaffection of a young woman skulking around a small tourist town avoiding her father. She tries to delay and defer — instead of returning...
