The Christmas season is once again upon us, at least for those of us who give a damn. I’m an atheist, so the religious aspect of it means nothing to me. But the community and charity it preaches always have…as have the music, food and drink, and warm glow of stringed lights. Then, of course, there are the Christmas films. My family rewatches some fifteen of them every year. It’s probably not healthy, but whatever. They bring us joy, even more so since we moved to the Southern Hemisphere where everyone insists on celebrating in board shorts and flip-flops.
So, tell me: What’s your favorite film to watch at the holidays (and why)?
You’ll notice there’s a lot of leeway in that question, so have fun with this one.
It’s nearly impossible for me to pick my favorite Christmas film. They each speak to me for very different reasons, most of which are reasons that have changed dramatically over the years. But the one I have watched almost every year of my life since I was ten or so is…drumroll…White Christmas (1954). Technicolor and VistaVision, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney looking stunning in every scene she’s in, and that gut-punch of an ending - and I don’t mean the “White Christmas” number either. I’m talking about the Old Man they’ll follow wherever he goes. Waterworks, every damn time.
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Follow the old man gets me exactly the same way!? An age thing or a father thing? A seasonal must watch is Scrooge with Alistair Sim, glorious, scary, funny, heartbreaking (anything with Sim in is wonderful anyway).
My wife made a great observation about the Old Man when we watched WHITE CHRISTMAS this week. She couldn't think of another film from the period or before where a man was allowed to cry onscreen. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE would come out the next year, too. I think it's just heartbreaking to see this man, with all this pent-up trauma, crack a little. Plus, the idea of similarly emotionally pent-up men sacrificing so much to help him. It's beautiful.
I actaully met Chuck Jones at a party I once worked. I gushed, of course, but becauase I was the waitress at the time, iIcouldnt get up the nerve to ask for an autograph. :(
What a difficult question. I'll give you three, with reason for each, and a clip for one:
1. Love Actually: my marriage had just fallen apart, and I felt utterly hopeless. Went to see LA in the theatre, and came out thinking that maybe, just maybe, I might feel love again.
2. Millions: Peter Boyle's take on Christmas. Funny and moving. The scene, near the end, between mother and son, is utterly priceless.
3. Five Easy Pieces: my dad made it a tradition that we go to a movie after Christmas dinner. I was 12 when we went to this at the theatre in Sausalito. Most folks best remember the infamous "diner scene" from this film. The most meaningful scene, to me, was between Nicholson's character and his father:
I was reading to see how many people would say Die Hard! I do have a soft spot for that as I saw it in the theatre with my dad who passed many years ago. But my ultimate favourite like the reader above, has to be a Muppet Christmas Carol. It chokes me up every single time and the songs are so wonderful. A close second is It’s a Wonderful Life, which I introduced my husband to in a real movie theatre almost 30 years ago.
MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL is a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
Our ultimate favorite is A Muppet Christmas Carol which we watched last night - but I actually put out a stack of our 'seasonal' favorites and launched the film festival with Tora, Tora, Tora last week. Technically, we start with A Miracle on 34th Street (Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara classic version), and in no required sequence The Lion in Winter, The Holiday, The Santa Clause (because it explains so much - and Dwayne Johnson's newest holiday movie should have called upon the ELF from this movie to rescue Santa), Love Actually (because we need more dancing PM's in our lives), Joyeux Noel (the ending of which also breaks me down), a made for TV George Washington movie - The Crossing - about the Christmas Day battle of Trenton, and finally my wife's contribution - RENT.
I just referenced MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL on another Note. It's a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
I usually wait until New Year’s Eve to watch it but: THE APARTMENT. Jack Lemmon’s best until Glengarry Glen Ross, and Shirley MacLaine has never been more charming.
Gremlins. I don't particularly associate it with Christmas for any reason other than it's set during the festive season, but I try to watch it once a year for nostalgic purposes
Every year I suggest my wife and I show this to our son. He's ten. But my wife then reminds me about the dead dad in a chimney. Our kid can watch NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE THING with me, but dead dads dressed as Santa, rotting in a chimney, is...too much. Great film.
Well, there’s so many. From John Carpenter’s The Thing (set in snow) to Muppet Christmas Carol (ideal Christmas Eve watch) but the festivities start when we put on Gremlins which is the perfect mix of schmaltzy Christmas cheer and dark, cynical monster horror. Perfect for this time of year 😁
Responded to an earlier GREMLINS post with this: Every year I suggest my wife and I show this to our son. He's ten. But my wife then reminds me about the dead dad in a chimney. Our kid can watch NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE THING with me, but dead dads dressed as Santa, rotting in a chimney, is...too much.
Because I experience a broad spectrum of emotions during the holidays, my movie list is both diverse and intensely personal. This time of year, I always rewatch these movies.
The Wiz - Thanksgiving in many Black homes wouldn’t be complete without this film, its comforting presence enhanced by the delicious aromas from the kitchen. Sidney Lumet assembled one of the most star-studded casts of all time, and Quincy Jones produced a masterpiece soundtrack. Chef’s Kiss!
Love Jones - On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a holiday movie. However, the end of the year is all about transition and transformation. A feeling Nia Long’s character, Nina Mosley, encapsulates so well.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Christmas - The peanuts gang is a must for me during the holidays. It’s the cultural touchstone that reminds me of my youth. The Vince Guraldi Trio also plays on repeat on my Spotify.
The Holdovers - After watching and falling in love with this film, it became an instant holiday classic. What are we without found family who always have our back to help us through those tough times?
Love Actually - There’s been recent debate about whether Tony Curtis’ mainstay holds up. While I admit some storylines fall flat in today’s cultural environment, it has and will always be a must-watch every year for me.
So, what I want to fixate on is THE WIZ as a Thanksgiving film. How did that happen? Was it played on network TV every Thanksgiving? As for the rest, I want to say THE HOLDOVERS is amazing. I only just saw it for the first time, and I'm pretty damn sure I'll be watching it every Christmas for years to come.
That’s easy for me: It’s a Wonderful Life, which is also my favorite non-holiday film. But runner up is The Holiday, which we watch every year. There’s a scene where Jude Law and Cameron Diaz are in a “tent” with his onscreen young daughters that chokes even my husband up, every time. Plus it’s hard not to like anything that has Rufus Sewell.
I just checked, and I've seen THE HOLIDAY sixteen times now. That's how much we love it in our house. I think we actually moved to England in part because of it. I know we moved to the English countryside because of it. Jude Law's appearance at the door is one of my favorite intros of all time, for my money -- but the film's MVP for me is the Latino gardener who shakes his head at Edward Burns's character, pleading with him not to admit that he's been sleeping with his receptionist.
When I grew up everyone would gather around the then b+w television on New Year's Eve and watch the short: Dinner for One. It was a must, and one that was broadcast at a time where there was only one channel. It was on each and every year. There would have been a revolution had it not been aired each year.
It is on Youtube. We still watch it every year. I have introduced it to all my friends around the world, and they all watch it now (or at least they tell me they do). It is a wonderful 15 minutes of excellence:
Dinner for One with Freddie Frinton and May Warden
Elf is a family favourite here. I honestly thought I would hate it when I first saw the trailer but it’s so exuberantly joyful, you can’t help but love it!
If you're a contrarian looking for a feel-bad holiday movie, consider BLAST OF SILENCE, Allen Baron's 1961 crime noir cult masterpiece about a hit man on assignment in Manhattan during Christmastime. Filmed on location in NY (a rarity in those days), it pioneered guerilla-style indie filmmaking. Decades ahead of its time.
I’m with you Cole. I have many favourites but White Christmas is the longest running Christmas movie in my life. Other must watches include: Remember the Night, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Karloff version), A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Mickeys Christmas Carol to name a few.
The films that I feel are a necessity each Christmas are Elf, Love Actually and It’s A Wonderful Life. I also have a soft spot for the remake of Miracle on 34th Street and Nativity (which is a must watch for my now adult children). Last year you mentioned you’d yet to see this, Cole. Has this now been remedied?
We are also going in for a second viewing of Violent Night this year to determine if it was a one time only watch or might achieve classic status.
It has not been remedied. I'm hoping to see NATIVITY over the next week sometimes...it's a family film, right? VIOLENT NIGHT is delightful stuff. The director's film DEAD SNOW is a must watch, too.
A tough choice between Arthur Christmas and The Holiday. I love the animation and story telling of an Aardman creation, and the sheer romance and great performances of the The Holiday. Plus guest star.. Mr Napkin Head! And Die Hard (yes I'm introducing that controversy) for Alan Rickman being wonderful as a scenery chewing villain, that vest and Bruce Willis being terrific.
Also want to include A Muppet Christmas Carol recent, though I need to watch the version without Belle's Song as a sobbing Michael Caine and a pathetically sobbing puppet rat nearly did for me! Heart-rending. Restored by the jokes, the skating Penguins, wonderful Michael Caine, the inventiveness, Miss Piggy's ranting!!! If you watch on a big screen, the whole audience cheering at a certain crucial moment.
And somewhere in the Christmas watching is It’s A Wonderful Life, my latest discovery The Shop Around The Corner (and You’ve Got Mail). Similar to It’s A Wonderful Life, The Shop Around The Corner is both character driven, gritty, kind, comic and charming all at the same time. And a Ray Harryhausen classic like Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger or Clash of the Titans. Star Wars and James Bond have to be in the mix too! (All reminding me of holiday watching past)…And all the versions of Little Women, but especially the 1994 version as it has great style.
I'm yet to find a Nativity movie with the scope or drama of something like The Greatest Story Ever Told, so the heart-in-mouth moment of the rapidly descending 'Angel Gabriel' from Nativity or the moving musical Black Nativity will more than fill this gap. Throwing in too the 1940's movie The Great Mr Handel for the moment when he composes Messiah and it comes to life infront of him as a sort of shadow puppet animation on the wall. It's beautiful!
I'm coming to this comment after responding to several of these choices elsewhere, so I can't run through them all as I'd like to. But I do want to say...Mr. Napkinhead. You'll enjoy this story if you love that scene as much as I do. https://medium.com/p/6eb6b3b527ff
If it has ot be just one, It's a Muppet Christmas Carol. Probably the most in the spirit of the book adaptation there is to what I consider to be the quintessential Christmas book.
If I am allowed more: Scrooged (peak douchebro Murray but it works given the character) While You were Sleeping (cause I am a sap) It's A Wonderful Life (cause a bit of righteous rage is appropriate for the religion and thus the holiday) Elf (again, sap)
I just referenced MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL on another Note. It's a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
I watched Eyes Wide Shut recently (after many years) and its Christmas setting really stood out to me this time. Xmas trees and lights everywhere. I'm sure there are all sorts of theories about it, but I was kinda just enjoying it aesthetically as it really added to the overall dreamlike quality of the film...
Every year I try to get my wife to rewatch this for Christmas. Every year, she refuses. I'm going to have to convince her to leave some night so I can watch it myself.
Home Alone. No matter how many times I’ve seen it I just can’t stop laughing at Joe Pesce and Daniel Stern. They are simply hysterical as the inept thieves. The kid is clever and cute, plus you get Catherine O’Hara and John Candy and the polka band. Just too funny !
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (in b&W): We kids were riveted to the screen every time this came on the TV even though it was frightening and bizarre. And sometimes we missed it because we couldn't find it in the TV Guide until it was too late! The scene where the soldiers come through Toyland and fend off the bogeymen gave me goosebumps. I also think that this film introduced me what justice is. Not that I thought that as a child, but as I right this I see that was one of its main themes. And, Laurel and Hardy are SUPERB in this film, as they usually are.
MIRACLE ON 34th ST: Seeing the cane by the fireplace gets me every time. I loved the whole fairy taleness of it and the cooperation among Gimbel's and Macy's and I guess since I lived near the Bronx as a kid, it was like the story could have happened to me. Plus Natalie Wood was so darn adorable and onery.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: "George Bailey I'm gonna love you to the day I die." "There's poison in there Mr. Gower." "Zuzu's petals!" "My lip's bleeding Burt." "Get me, I'm givin' out wings." "No man is a failure who has friends." "What do you want Mary? You want the moon? I'll lasso it for you." -- I know all these by heart. "Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!"
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: The original cartoon with Boris Karloff is beyond captivating. The songs, the humor, that flippin' dog Max when he hops on the sled thinking he's sledding down rather than pulling the damn thing. Just a marvelous show.
A CHRISTMAS STORY: Though it's been played to death, I love Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon. McGavin was such a wonderful actor. KOLCHAK: NIGHT STALKER was a fantastic show. I'd watch him in anything.
MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL: Maybe I'm a sentimental sap, but this version of Scrooge always makes me cry. I love the songs and the ghosts and how heartfelt and endearing it is.
Okay, the last few are also cartoons: THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (Heat Miser!!), SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (Fred Astaire!), and of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN.
Hi Cole, I remember this question last Christmas. I love a Christmas carol with Jim Carrey, Gary oldman and Colin Firth voices. Cheat here a bit, but for TV. I always watch the last vicar of Dibley with Richard Armitage on Christmas Eve and the Tudors I watch from time to time always felt like Christmas, but maybe more a dark Christmas ah! They seemed to have Christmas twice in a season!
A CHRISTMAS STORY - Knew nothing about this one walking in, and totally charmed me. The setting, tone, humor. The cantankerous Dad, the patient, loving mother, and the imagination of the our main character, along with his obsession to get a gift that will only "hurt" him in the end, and to be protected by Mom. Sweet, inventive, and fun.
CHRISTMAS VACATION - Again, knew nothing going in, and saw it on a night where I really needed good laugh, and this flick delivers. Dad trying to make the perfect Christmas despite the chaos of his extended family, and trying to avoid them all, only to have most unlikely one of them come to his rescue in the end. Silly, crass, and relatable.
DIE HARD - Is this technically a Christmas movie? Who cares, it's one of the greatest, leanest, most fun action films ever made, and it happens to be set during the holidays. It also happens to feature one of the most iconic movie villains of all time. “It’s Christmas, Theo, it’s the time of miracles, so be of good cheer... and call me when you hit the last lock.”
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - Avoided this one for nearly 40 years, much to my chagrin. My goal was to never see it, because it's hard to avoid during December, but when a friend finally gave me a DVD I felt obligated to watch it. I thought it was gonna be saccharine sweet because of that final "every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings" scene, but the rest of this movie is dark, and kinda depressing until it's a happy ending. Amazing storytelling, and just like REAR WINDOW, one of the few times you SEE a person fall in love in a movie ... when Jimmy Stewart shares the phone with Donna Reed.
Follow the old man gets me exactly the same way!? An age thing or a father thing? A seasonal must watch is Scrooge with Alistair Sim, glorious, scary, funny, heartbreaking (anything with Sim in is wonderful anyway).
My wife made a great observation about the Old Man when we watched WHITE CHRISTMAS this week. She couldn't think of another film from the period or before where a man was allowed to cry onscreen. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE would come out the next year, too. I think it's just heartbreaking to see this man, with all this pent-up trauma, crack a little. Plus, the idea of similarly emotionally pent-up men sacrificing so much to help him. It's beautiful.
It’s a Wonderful Life, a socialist tale of how people who need people are the luckiest people…
Yeah, I wrote about this film last year. It's a whopper of a film that gets harder to watch every year. https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/why-you-never-get-tired-of-its-a
Wonderful essay. I agree. I watch It’s a Wonderful Life every year. I am most certainly George Bailey!
DIE HARD. It’s a Christmas movie and no one can convince me otherwise
Yes.. I second that.
I wrote about DIE HARD last year, in fact, as a Christmas film that unites Americans of all stripes. https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/die-hard-is-the-only-christmas-movie?utm_source=publication-search
Love Actually. Wish we could still fold loved ones in our arms as they first deboard their flights.
WHITE CHRISTMAS, The Chuck Jones cartoon of HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, Any verison of A Christmas Carol and my absolute fav- MIRACLE ON 34TH ST.
The cartoon version of The Grinch was a staple of my childhood Christmases.
I actaully met Chuck Jones at a party I once worked. I gushed, of course, but becauase I was the waitress at the time, iIcouldnt get up the nerve to ask for an autograph. :(
The Grinch rocks!
What a difficult question. I'll give you three, with reason for each, and a clip for one:
1. Love Actually: my marriage had just fallen apart, and I felt utterly hopeless. Went to see LA in the theatre, and came out thinking that maybe, just maybe, I might feel love again.
2. Millions: Peter Boyle's take on Christmas. Funny and moving. The scene, near the end, between mother and son, is utterly priceless.
3. Five Easy Pieces: my dad made it a tradition that we go to a movie after Christmas dinner. I was 12 when we went to this at the theatre in Sausalito. Most folks best remember the infamous "diner scene" from this film. The most meaningful scene, to me, was between Nicholson's character and his father:
https://youtu.be/H3jEPpORApc?si=ZpDCItcs9777qzxa
My dad loved movies, and the movies he and I saw together are precious memories...
Lorin, I love all of these memories as lenses through which to experience these films. Thank you so much for sharing them with us.
I was reading to see how many people would say Die Hard! I do have a soft spot for that as I saw it in the theatre with my dad who passed many years ago. But my ultimate favourite like the reader above, has to be a Muppet Christmas Carol. It chokes me up every single time and the songs are so wonderful. A close second is It’s a Wonderful Life, which I introduced my husband to in a real movie theatre almost 30 years ago.
MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL is a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
Our ultimate favorite is A Muppet Christmas Carol which we watched last night - but I actually put out a stack of our 'seasonal' favorites and launched the film festival with Tora, Tora, Tora last week. Technically, we start with A Miracle on 34th Street (Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara classic version), and in no required sequence The Lion in Winter, The Holiday, The Santa Clause (because it explains so much - and Dwayne Johnson's newest holiday movie should have called upon the ELF from this movie to rescue Santa), Love Actually (because we need more dancing PM's in our lives), Joyeux Noel (the ending of which also breaks me down), a made for TV George Washington movie - The Crossing - about the Christmas Day battle of Trenton, and finally my wife's contribution - RENT.
Yes! I love a Muppet Christmas Carol!💕
I just referenced MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL on another Note. It's a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
I usually wait until New Year’s Eve to watch it but: THE APARTMENT. Jack Lemmon’s best until Glengarry Glen Ross, and Shirley MacLaine has never been more charming.
I’ve still never seen this but I noticed it’s available on Prime at the moment so it’s on my list.
I highly recommend and if you end up watching it. Let me know what you think.
It's a brilliant film. I've never felt it something especially connected to the holidays, at least for me, but I know many people do.
Gremlins. I don't particularly associate it with Christmas for any reason other than it's set during the festive season, but I try to watch it once a year for nostalgic purposes
Every year I suggest my wife and I show this to our son. He's ten. But my wife then reminds me about the dead dad in a chimney. Our kid can watch NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE THING with me, but dead dads dressed as Santa, rotting in a chimney, is...too much. Great film.
Well, there’s so many. From John Carpenter’s The Thing (set in snow) to Muppet Christmas Carol (ideal Christmas Eve watch) but the festivities start when we put on Gremlins which is the perfect mix of schmaltzy Christmas cheer and dark, cynical monster horror. Perfect for this time of year 😁
Responded to an earlier GREMLINS post with this: Every year I suggest my wife and I show this to our son. He's ten. But my wife then reminds me about the dead dad in a chimney. Our kid can watch NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE THING with me, but dead dads dressed as Santa, rotting in a chimney, is...too much.
Rare Exports!!! Just never tire of it.
The Ref and Trading Places
We watch The Ref every year. The candle scene is classic.
Yes, it is. I don't know anyone else who's seen it!
I...have never seen THE REF. I feel like I've missed out on a lot here.
Because I experience a broad spectrum of emotions during the holidays, my movie list is both diverse and intensely personal. This time of year, I always rewatch these movies.
The Wiz - Thanksgiving in many Black homes wouldn’t be complete without this film, its comforting presence enhanced by the delicious aromas from the kitchen. Sidney Lumet assembled one of the most star-studded casts of all time, and Quincy Jones produced a masterpiece soundtrack. Chef’s Kiss!
Love Jones - On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a holiday movie. However, the end of the year is all about transition and transformation. A feeling Nia Long’s character, Nina Mosley, encapsulates so well.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Christmas - The peanuts gang is a must for me during the holidays. It’s the cultural touchstone that reminds me of my youth. The Vince Guraldi Trio also plays on repeat on my Spotify.
The Holdovers - After watching and falling in love with this film, it became an instant holiday classic. What are we without found family who always have our back to help us through those tough times?
Love Actually - There’s been recent debate about whether Tony Curtis’ mainstay holds up. While I admit some storylines fall flat in today’s cultural environment, it has and will always be a must-watch every year for me.
So, what I want to fixate on is THE WIZ as a Thanksgiving film. How did that happen? Was it played on network TV every Thanksgiving? As for the rest, I want to say THE HOLDOVERS is amazing. I only just saw it for the first time, and I'm pretty damn sure I'll be watching it every Christmas for years to come.
That’s easy for me: It’s a Wonderful Life, which is also my favorite non-holiday film. But runner up is The Holiday, which we watch every year. There’s a scene where Jude Law and Cameron Diaz are in a “tent” with his onscreen young daughters that chokes even my husband up, every time. Plus it’s hard not to like anything that has Rufus Sewell.
I just checked, and I've seen THE HOLIDAY sixteen times now. That's how much we love it in our house. I think we actually moved to England in part because of it. I know we moved to the English countryside because of it. Jude Law's appearance at the door is one of my favorite intros of all time, for my money -- but the film's MVP for me is the Latino gardener who shakes his head at Edward Burns's character, pleading with him not to admit that he's been sleeping with his receptionist.
When I grew up everyone would gather around the then b+w television on New Year's Eve and watch the short: Dinner for One. It was a must, and one that was broadcast at a time where there was only one channel. It was on each and every year. There would have been a revolution had it not been aired each year.
It is on Youtube. We still watch it every year. I have introduced it to all my friends around the world, and they all watch it now (or at least they tell me they do). It is a wonderful 15 minutes of excellence:
Dinner for One with Freddie Frinton and May Warden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnozL_Ugx4E
I've never seen, but will try to get to - thanks!
Elf
Elf is a family favourite here. I honestly thought I would hate it when I first saw the trailer but it’s so exuberantly joyful, you can’t help but love it!
The best
It's a film I struggled with on the first couple viewings, but the same: that exuberant joyfulness is just impossible not to surrender to.
The Night Before - hilarious
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
Just watched this at American Thanksgiving. Such a wonderful film.
If you're a contrarian looking for a feel-bad holiday movie, consider BLAST OF SILENCE, Allen Baron's 1961 crime noir cult masterpiece about a hit man on assignment in Manhattan during Christmastime. Filmed on location in NY (a rarity in those days), it pioneered guerilla-style indie filmmaking. Decades ahead of its time.
I've never seen it, but I award you points for being such a contrarian here, ha!
I’m with you Cole. I have many favourites but White Christmas is the longest running Christmas movie in my life. Other must watches include: Remember the Night, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Karloff version), A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Mickeys Christmas Carol to name a few.
Wait, wait, wait, REMEMBER THE NIGHT? How did I not know this film existed?! Is it just very good, or is it great?
Thank you!
Go (1999) tops my list.
Die Hard and Gremlins are honorable mentions.
I just rewatched GO a couple of months ago. Great film.
The films that I feel are a necessity each Christmas are Elf, Love Actually and It’s A Wonderful Life. I also have a soft spot for the remake of Miracle on 34th Street and Nativity (which is a must watch for my now adult children). Last year you mentioned you’d yet to see this, Cole. Has this now been remedied?
We are also going in for a second viewing of Violent Night this year to determine if it was a one time only watch or might achieve classic status.
It has not been remedied. I'm hoping to see NATIVITY over the next week sometimes...it's a family film, right? VIOLENT NIGHT is delightful stuff. The director's film DEAD SNOW is a must watch, too.
A tough choice between Arthur Christmas and The Holiday. I love the animation and story telling of an Aardman creation, and the sheer romance and great performances of the The Holiday. Plus guest star.. Mr Napkin Head! And Die Hard (yes I'm introducing that controversy) for Alan Rickman being wonderful as a scenery chewing villain, that vest and Bruce Willis being terrific.
Also want to include A Muppet Christmas Carol recent, though I need to watch the version without Belle's Song as a sobbing Michael Caine and a pathetically sobbing puppet rat nearly did for me! Heart-rending. Restored by the jokes, the skating Penguins, wonderful Michael Caine, the inventiveness, Miss Piggy's ranting!!! If you watch on a big screen, the whole audience cheering at a certain crucial moment.
And somewhere in the Christmas watching is It’s A Wonderful Life, my latest discovery The Shop Around The Corner (and You’ve Got Mail). Similar to It’s A Wonderful Life, The Shop Around The Corner is both character driven, gritty, kind, comic and charming all at the same time. And a Ray Harryhausen classic like Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger or Clash of the Titans. Star Wars and James Bond have to be in the mix too! (All reminding me of holiday watching past)…And all the versions of Little Women, but especially the 1994 version as it has great style.
I'm yet to find a Nativity movie with the scope or drama of something like The Greatest Story Ever Told, so the heart-in-mouth moment of the rapidly descending 'Angel Gabriel' from Nativity or the moving musical Black Nativity will more than fill this gap. Throwing in too the 1940's movie The Great Mr Handel for the moment when he composes Messiah and it comes to life infront of him as a sort of shadow puppet animation on the wall. It's beautiful!
I'm coming to this comment after responding to several of these choices elsewhere, so I can't run through them all as I'd like to. But I do want to say...Mr. Napkinhead. You'll enjoy this story if you love that scene as much as I do. https://medium.com/p/6eb6b3b527ff
If it has ot be just one, It's a Muppet Christmas Carol. Probably the most in the spirit of the book adaptation there is to what I consider to be the quintessential Christmas book.
If I am allowed more: Scrooged (peak douchebro Murray but it works given the character) While You were Sleeping (cause I am a sap) It's A Wonderful Life (cause a bit of righteous rage is appropriate for the religion and thus the holiday) Elf (again, sap)
I just referenced MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL on another Note. It's a film I largely ignored for oh, pretty much my entire life...until a random Christmas in a cottage in the Cotswolds. My friend insisted we watch it instead of one of the oldest classics. Now, I can't stop myself from rewatching it every year.
I know. It is shockingly good. I always liked the Muppet Show as a kid, but I was amazed at how well they did Dickens when I finally saw it.
Christmas Vacation. Enduringly funny even now (when enough dialog is memorized to repeat along with the movie.)
I don't understand how this film continues to be so funny when there isn't an inflection of a line delivery in it that can surprise me anymore.
I watched Eyes Wide Shut recently (after many years) and its Christmas setting really stood out to me this time. Xmas trees and lights everywhere. I'm sure there are all sorts of theories about it, but I was kinda just enjoying it aesthetically as it really added to the overall dreamlike quality of the film...
Every year I try to get my wife to rewatch this for Christmas. Every year, she refuses. I'm going to have to convince her to leave some night so I can watch it myself.
Home Alone. No matter how many times I’ve seen it I just can’t stop laughing at Joe Pesce and Daniel Stern. They are simply hysterical as the inept thieves. The kid is clever and cute, plus you get Catherine O’Hara and John Candy and the polka band. Just too funny !
My son just got to see this with a Q&A beforehand with Macauley Culkin, which delighted him to no end.
The Great Outdoors.
I have a few favorites:
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (in b&W): We kids were riveted to the screen every time this came on the TV even though it was frightening and bizarre. And sometimes we missed it because we couldn't find it in the TV Guide until it was too late! The scene where the soldiers come through Toyland and fend off the bogeymen gave me goosebumps. I also think that this film introduced me what justice is. Not that I thought that as a child, but as I right this I see that was one of its main themes. And, Laurel and Hardy are SUPERB in this film, as they usually are.
MIRACLE ON 34th ST: Seeing the cane by the fireplace gets me every time. I loved the whole fairy taleness of it and the cooperation among Gimbel's and Macy's and I guess since I lived near the Bronx as a kid, it was like the story could have happened to me. Plus Natalie Wood was so darn adorable and onery.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: "George Bailey I'm gonna love you to the day I die." "There's poison in there Mr. Gower." "Zuzu's petals!" "My lip's bleeding Burt." "Get me, I'm givin' out wings." "No man is a failure who has friends." "What do you want Mary? You want the moon? I'll lasso it for you." -- I know all these by heart. "Merry Christmas Mr. Potter!"
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS: The original cartoon with Boris Karloff is beyond captivating. The songs, the humor, that flippin' dog Max when he hops on the sled thinking he's sledding down rather than pulling the damn thing. Just a marvelous show.
A CHRISTMAS STORY: Though it's been played to death, I love Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon. McGavin was such a wonderful actor. KOLCHAK: NIGHT STALKER was a fantastic show. I'd watch him in anything.
MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL: Maybe I'm a sentimental sap, but this version of Scrooge always makes me cry. I love the songs and the ghosts and how heartfelt and endearing it is.
Okay, the last few are also cartoons: THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS (Heat Miser!!), SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (Fred Astaire!), and of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS CHARLIE BROWN.
Hi Cole, I remember this question last Christmas. I love a Christmas carol with Jim Carrey, Gary oldman and Colin Firth voices. Cheat here a bit, but for TV. I always watch the last vicar of Dibley with Richard Armitage on Christmas Eve and the Tudors I watch from time to time always felt like Christmas, but maybe more a dark Christmas ah! They seemed to have Christmas twice in a season!
Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black. It was my private terror, but the entire family adopted it as their own.
I love this choice! I’ve never heard of this film but there’s always room for a bit of horror at Christmas.
A CHRISTMAS STORY - Knew nothing about this one walking in, and totally charmed me. The setting, tone, humor. The cantankerous Dad, the patient, loving mother, and the imagination of the our main character, along with his obsession to get a gift that will only "hurt" him in the end, and to be protected by Mom. Sweet, inventive, and fun.
CHRISTMAS VACATION - Again, knew nothing going in, and saw it on a night where I really needed good laugh, and this flick delivers. Dad trying to make the perfect Christmas despite the chaos of his extended family, and trying to avoid them all, only to have most unlikely one of them come to his rescue in the end. Silly, crass, and relatable.
DIE HARD - Is this technically a Christmas movie? Who cares, it's one of the greatest, leanest, most fun action films ever made, and it happens to be set during the holidays. It also happens to feature one of the most iconic movie villains of all time. “It’s Christmas, Theo, it’s the time of miracles, so be of good cheer... and call me when you hit the last lock.”
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - Avoided this one for nearly 40 years, much to my chagrin. My goal was to never see it, because it's hard to avoid during December, but when a friend finally gave me a DVD I felt obligated to watch it. I thought it was gonna be saccharine sweet because of that final "every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings" scene, but the rest of this movie is dark, and kinda depressing until it's a happy ending. Amazing storytelling, and just like REAR WINDOW, one of the few times you SEE a person fall in love in a movie ... when Jimmy Stewart shares the phone with Donna Reed.