Get Your Reps In: “Tokyo Godfathers” Is Still the King of Niche Christmas Movies

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Entry to the 21st-century Christmas movie canon is a slippery invite. Try to join the pantheon directly in any holiday subgenre—Red One (winking action), The Night Before (raunchy comedy), The Polar Express (sentimental fantasy)—and all the $100 million budgets do is get the movie lost in a blizzard of content.

Those movies would gladly swap their destinies for the steady 21-year trajectory of Tokyo Godfathers: the anime cult classic that appears at more repertory screenings with each passing winter. This year, Tokyo Godfathers plays Dec. 8, 9 and 12 at Cinemagic as part of A Very Cinemagic Christmas.

Satoshi Kon’s Yuletide street odyssey follows three unhoused Tokyo men (read: funhouse-mirror Magi) discovering an abandoned baby and undertaking a wild overnight quest to find the parents.

Inarguably the warmest of Kon’s films, Tokyo Godfathers has a Christmas miracle’s way with tone. Poignancy gives way to self-conscious sitcom shtick, which morphs into violent tension. It’s a balance so deft the movie elides subgenre altogether and just picks “a holiday classic to those who know.” Cinemagic, Dec. 8, 9 and 12.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: First Cow (2020), Dec. 6–8. Cinemagic: Infernal Affairs (2002), Dec. 4. Princess Mononoke (1997), Dec. 5. Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Dec. 5. Santa’s Slay (2005) on VHS, Dec. 6. Gremlins (1984), Dec. 6, 7 and 11. Die Hard (1988), Dec. 7 and 12. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Dec. 7, 8 and 12. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Dec. 8. Home Alone (1990), Dec. 9–11. Clinton: The Monkey King Conquers the Demon (1985), Dec. 4. Black Orpheus (1959), Dec. 7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Dec. 7. Miller’s Crossing (1990), Dec. 10. Hollywood: Gone Girl (2014), Dec. 6. Blast of Silence (1961), Dec. 7 and 8. The Holiday (2006), Dec. 7. The Sugarland Express (1974), Dec. 8. Fist of the North Star (1986), Dec. 8. Carol (2015), Dec. 9. Tomorrow: Back in Black (2003), Dec. 5. A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Dec. 7. Last Holiday (2006), Dec. 8.