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As much as I love the holidays, I equally hate the overly put-on schmaltz that accompanies the season. It's either super cheesy to the ultimate extreme or a ticky-tack orgy of Christmas clichés.

 

Besides, no family is lovey-dovey happy; we’re all a dysfunctional mess! I don’t need some fantasy flick messing with my head. That’s not how real life works!

Never one to settle for a happy medium, my faves are always on this side of unconventional. Here are five of the best unconventional Christmas movies:

 

1. The Ref

A burglar holds a dysfunctional family hostage for the holidays and hilarity ensues. Loveable scamp Denis Leary plays a down-on-his-luck criminal who needs a break and isn’t putting up with the insane family antics served up at Christmas supper.

 

2. A Christmas Story

"You'll shoot your eye out!" A true family classic that puts the genre on its ear. There are no sweet happy endings, yet somehow it all works out. In this crazy world, that’s the best we can hope for!

 

3. Die Hard

Although the holiday primarily serves as a background in this high-octane action flick, some of the best lines absurdly reference the Christmas spirit. "Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho!"

 

4. Scrooged

Simply the wackiest, funniest, and best adaptation of A Christmas Carol ever to hit the big screen. I also have a thing for physical comedy, which this film delivers with head-smashing satisfaction. 

 

5. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

An ‘80s comedy classic that holds up today. Another imperfect family just trying to make their way in the world. Even when it seems to be against them. A real family isn’t about being perfect; it's about sticking together through thick, thin, and crazy.

 

Wes Ferguson was a mild-mannered computer geek until a printer accident gave him superhuman powers. Now he’s on a mission to make the world a little more fabulous, one blog at a time. Follow him on Twitter @Westopher