On the 12th day before Christmas, you’ve simply got to watch . . .
#12 Die Hard (1988) – While this may not be regarded as a traditional Christmas film – it takes place during Christmas and has a constant Christmas soundtrack, plus, someone gets a Machine Gun for Christmas. My kind of gift!
On the 11th day before Christmas . . . yea, I am not doing that theme for 11 more films. You catch my drift, right?
#11 Home Alone (1990) – an endearing tale about a boy in a large family that wishes his family would disappear – and they do. He has to overcome his fears and thwart burglars, all whilst remembering what Christmas is all about . . . family.
#10 Elf (2003) – One of the funniest films ever made about Christmas, and how you are never too old, nor too big, to get caught up in the Christmas spirit. This film introduced me to Peter Dinklage, and watching James Caan navigate across Will Ferrel is just epic.
#9 Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – A touching look at how Santa is real, whether you believe it or not. This has been remade over and over again, but the original is the best, starring Natalie Wood as a little girl who wants a family for Christmas . . . something that everyone thinks is impossible (including her), except one nut who insists he is Santa.
#8 The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t (1966) – A unique story about Santa Claus facing eviction by an evil banker. This one always kept me glued to the tube, the music is good, catchy, and the effects and dubbing were sub-par, but that hasn’t ever bothered me.
#7 Scrooged (1988) – Bill Murray takes us on a yule-trip set against the film industry and is a powerful, modern take on the Dickens Classic “A Christmas Carol” – and it is freakin’ hilarious!
#6 – A Christmas Carol (1984) – With George C. Scott as Scrooge, whenever I personally see a new, or different, version of this classic tale – this version is what I am comparing it with. Scott will always be MY Scrooge. The special effects were solid, and still hold up well, I think.
#5 – The Santa Clause (1994) – Tim Allen faces divorce and is forced to become Santa, reluctantly he obliges, and how society treats him is a metaphor for what has happened to Christmas in America. The spirit of magic seems dead, or dying.
#4 – Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) – Because it reminds me a bit of The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t and features a novel interpretation of “Oh Christmas Tree” that I find myself still laughing to. Plus, it reminds me that people shouldn’t take themselves so seriously, especially during the holidays.
#3 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – I love all the Lampoon movies featuring Chevy Chase, and when this one came out, it almost replaced the top spot. When he rants about what he wants for Christmas, I swear that is the longest rant ever in film history. With Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the yuppie neighbor who is trying to essentially ignore Christmas, it’s just a great flick. Leonard of The Big Bang Theory plays Rusty and Juliette Lewis is Audrey.
#2 Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas (1977) – Very rough puppet work, but one of the best stories Jim Henson ever told, about a little Otter whose father died and his mother struggles to afford the simplest of gifts. An adaptation of the Gift of the Magi that reminds us what is important about Christmas isn’t the gift, it is the giving.
#1 – A Christmas Story (1983) – This has been overly saturated, as TBS plays it on an endless loop to let them run a skeleton crew over the holidays. But, it is still the best Christmas Movie. I can watch it a thousand times, and it has become a tradition that I can’t miss.
Don’t forget these little TV special stocking-stuffers: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) and, of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)!
Oh, and my favorite R-Rated Christmas film is The Ref (1994) starring Dr. Denis Leary as a robber who happens to break into the home of the most dysfunctional family, with Kevin Spacey as the father who is trying to keep everything together. One of the funniest films of Leary’s, and easily Spacey’s career. NOT a family friendly film though . . . but it should be in your adult holiday film rotation.
So, what are YOUR must watch Christmas Flicks?
