Top 5 Ski Resort Movies of All Time

Around this time of year, there’s not much better than hitting the slopes for a day, grabbing some apres-ski nachos and a brew, then heading home for a hilarious ski movie. Some may argue that there aren’t enough ski-themed flicks to warrant a top 5 list, but you’d be surprised. While recent years haven’t been to fruitful, the late 80s and early 90s were the heyday of the genre. Before global warming melted all the powder and the recession wiped out the profits of the boom years, people still had loot to go skiing and high-concept comedies were still in style. That said, if ever a film about “saving the mountain” were relevant, it would be now, so hopefully 2009 will be a comeback year for the genre that can basically be called “Movies About Awesome Dudes Saving the Mountain from Assholes.” Anyway, here’s my list—feel free to add your own picks in the comments.

5) Out Cold

This one’s sort of an anomaly insofar as it’s post-millennial and the main characters are snowboarders instead of skiers. (Maybe that’s why it came in last!) But in spite of trying to be a bit “trendy” with the ‘boarding element and the inclusion of a gay, it is extremely loyal to its pedigree, cashing in on many of the stock tropes of the genre: a no-frills ski resort threatened by a latte-slinging, yuppy-loving developer; an extremely old school founder of the mountain (here memorialized in a Stein Erickson-esque statue of “Papa Muntz”); a band of good-hearted misfits who drink lots of beer and mostly act insanely; and hot ski bunnies who manipulate the bad guys. For these reasons people might claim it’s a parody, but then all ski movies since Hot Dog would be as well. It does, however, reference #3 on this list by having a black dude in the mix, and it’s apparently a campy retelling of Casablanca (who knew?). But that’s all somewhat irrelevant, because the real reason Out Cold makes the grade is due to the outstanding comedic performance of Zach Galifianakis, who delights throughout as he defiles a hot tub and drops lines like, “These suit is really cramping my Hardy Boys. It’s no mystery.”

Hit the jump for the rest of the list…