Cold, Cold War

For parents who have had enough of manufactured holiday goodwill, there's always the black comedy of Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa, but what do kids have as an antidote to overly saccharine Christmas specials? Steve Oedekerk's Santa vs. the Snowman might just do the trick. In this contemporary classic from the man who created Jimmy Neutron, a lonely snowman finds Santa's workshop and wants to join the fun but is rebuffed by the elf security team. So, naturally, Snowman seeks revenge by attempting to take over Santa's business and then setting himself up as the new Santa. What follows is a battle of snow minions against reindeer, Mr. Ice vs. Mr. Nice, the Cold Tingle vs. Kris Kringle — but it's a kids Christmas movie, so there's a happy ending. Santa vs. the Snowmanscreens at noon and 3 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, at the Saint Louis Science Center OMNIMAX Theater (5050 Oakland Avenue; 314-289-4424 or www.slsc.org). Tickets are $7 to $8, and the film continues daily through Sunday, January 4.
Dec. 8-24; Dec. 26-Jan. 4, 2008