There have been at least a half dozen slasher flicks set on Valentine’s Day. I think My Bloody Valentine is probably the most well known.
Midsommar and The Wicker Man were set at May Day.
The OP made me think of “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown”—but that’s not really a movie.
Are there a lot of movies set during Thanksgiving, though? I honestly can only think of one, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Home for the Holidays is a great example. It’s not just set during Thanksgiving; it’s about an American holiday tradition, warts and all.
Bastille Day (2016) starring Idris Elba.
I couldn’t swear to it, but I think the second and third Godfather films took place at the feast of San Gennaro, which takes place in September. There is a similar feast of San Rocco every year in August. Both have been celebrated in Little Italy annually since the 1920s at least. One or the other of them is also featured in Mean Streets, and probably other movies set in Little Italy.
Seems like a lot of gangster films revolve around holidays. The influence of the St. Valentines Day massacre, perhaps.
Pieces of April is another Thanksgiving movie.
And Free Birds.
Miracle on 34th Street starts on Thanksgiving Day (several scenes, actually - Santa getting hired, watching the parade, etc.).
“The Fugitive” has scenes on St. Patrick’s Day (the parade scene).
Umm…take another look at the last line of the OP…
Oops.
Nobody’s going to mention Die Hard and Die Hard 2 which both take place around Christmastime (Christmas Eve, IINM)?
Tripler
. . . and Lethal Weapon for that matter?
Umm…take another look at the first line of the OP…
The second part of Full Metal Jacket begins on Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, at the start of the Tet Offensive.
Much of Abbot and Costello Go to Mars takes place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.
Point made. I maintain there is wide debate on whether both franchises serve as a Christmas movie. For example, one is a buddy-cop action movie, located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, taking place during the Christmas season. The other is a buddy-cop action movie, located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, taking place during the Christmas season. Both were marketed as ‘action’ flicks, that just happen to have the shared characteristic of the Yuletide season.
I posted them in the same vein as Independence Day, another action flick, with a holiday theme.
Tripler
C’est la vie.
The point is that, regardless of whether one considers those to be Christmas movies, Christmas is hardly an obscure holiday.
Fair enough.