The Lists: My top 10 perennial must-watch Christmas movies
Getting into the holiday spirit
This article first appeared in part at InContention.com on December 23, 2008. It seemed like a good time to re-purpose it for new readers here at HitFix and to give the usual list-making shenanigans a rest for a week.
Tis the season, no?
I don’t have the heart to call this a “best” list per se. So I'm giving it a different angle. Every year I have a few staples of the season that make their way into my DVD player or, in some instances — gasp! — my VCR, like new friends come home to visit before going back on the shelf for another 12-month stretch.
While the films on my list might not be the "best" Christmas movies or, in some cases, even considered Christmas movies, they are my Christmas movies. Typically, I just can’t feel right about the holiday season without making my way through each of them at least once. They’ve slowly gelled into my “must-watch” Christmas movie list for various reasons: reminiscence, unavoidable television programming, uniqueness in the face of the typical seasonal film glut, etc.
While there are a handful of classic, well-made staples that would be agreeable to the masses as far as quality is concerned, I think everyone’s list would be different when it comes to this kind of thing. So check out my picks at our new gallery. And as always, feel free to rifle off your holiday favorites in the comments section below.
We'll be back to the normal order of things next week as I close out the year with an assessment of Steven Spielberg's movie portfolio.
For year-round entertainment news and awards season commentary follow @kristapley on Twitter.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJCS
December 20, 2011 at 3:29PM EST Reply to CommentMuppet Christmas Carol! Muppet Christmas Carol! Muppet Christmas Carol! Muppet Christmas Carol!
But completely agreed on Home Alone 2 > Home Alone.
via collins Here in Melbourne, our best screen ACMI programmes Muppets Christmas Carol every year.
December 20, 2011 at 7:18PM ESTAnd every year, the kids and I go and enjoy.
"It's good to be back heckling again!"
"It's good to be back doing anything again!"
bsquared318
December 20, 2011 at 3:38PM EST Reply to CommentYou're gonna have to explain that anti "Wonderful Life" line.
Otherwise, great list.
Kristopher Tapley It's a fine film. I own it. But it's relentless on the tube that time of year and it's not the kind of movie I want stalking me. A Christmas Story is.
December 20, 2011 at 3:45PM ESTbsquared318 Yeah I'll give you that. But at least there isn't a 24-hour marathon of it.
December 20, 2011 at 4:11PM ESTBill_the_Bear The Christmas film I really want to see hasn't been made: It's a film about what the world would be like if "It's a Wonderful Life" had never been made.
December 20, 2011 at 4:47PM ESTReally, it's one of my least favourite movies of all time.
The only Christmas film I feel that I have to see is the 1945 "Christmas in Connecticut" with Barbara Stanwyck.
DylanS I tend to be annoyed by christmas movies, but "It's A Wonderful Life" is too unquestionably charming and well-executed for me to raise any objections.
December 20, 2011 at 5:00PM ESTIsaac Am I the only one who finds It's a Wonderful Life really difficult to sit through? I mean yes, the ending is uplifting and filled with cheer but the road there is painful and depressing, and I've never liked the way Frank Capra hits you over the head when it comes to the miserable parts of his movies. It becomes too much for too long!
December 20, 2011 at 7:27PM ESTj
December 20, 2011 at 3:43PM EST Reply to CommentMy only must-see Xmas film is Wonderful Life even if I have some issues with the themes. It doesn't hurt that Stewart plays someone within his range...which I don't think he does in supposedly iconic performances like Vertigo or Rear Window (or his winning performance in Philadelphia Story).
Sometimes I'll rewatch select storylines from Love Actually.
Sonja
December 20, 2011 at 3:45PM EST Reply to CommentMuppet Christmas Carol is a must!
SJG
December 20, 2011 at 4:13PM EST Reply to CommentUgh, A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation are my two most-hated Christmas movies of all time. I hate hate hate those movies.
But kudos to you Kris for including Batman Returns, which I never thought of as a Christmas movie, but I may have to start thinking of it that way. The most underrated Batman film, for sure.
And, to close, I just have to say that I long thought of "Nightmare Before Christmas" as a Halloween movie, and it wasn't until just 2 Christmases ago that I watched it during the Christmas season, and it's amazing how differently I responded to it at that time of year. It would probably have to be my favorite... it's really kind of sadistically anti-Christmas.
Kristopher Tapley I tend to watch Nightmare around Thanksgiving.
December 20, 2011 at 4:16PM ESTLouise
December 20, 2011 at 4:16PM EST Reply to CommentI can't get enough of 'Elf' this time of the year. Cracks me up sooooooo much.
Joe
December 20, 2011 at 4:20PM EST Reply to CommentOur Christmas viewing experience is never complete without a Yule-time screening of The Ref with Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis
Rashad
December 20, 2011 at 4:55PM EST Reply to CommentWord up on HM2 > HM
Matthew Starr
December 20, 2011 at 5:37PM EST Reply to CommentDie Hard, Batman Returns, Home Alone, Babes in Toyland, Scrooged
SJG
December 20, 2011 at 5:51PM EST Reply to CommentMy father-in-law's "perennial must-watch Christmas movie" is Full Metal Jacket.
I'm not quite sure why I feel the need to share that... but I do.
ben1283
December 20, 2011 at 6:25PM EST Reply to CommentI suppose I should call it my Love, Actually, but I have such a soft spot for The Family Stone. It's as sugary and sentimental as you'd expect, but Sarah Jessica Parker is at her absolute funniest (and it's easy to forget that she can be funny given her recent choice of roles), and both Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams give - to my mind - lovely performances. Strip away the icky Dermot Mulroney / Clare Danes subplot, and it would be even better.
Liz That's interesting that you would call The Family Stone "sugary." The word that first comes to my mind is "toxic." Every person in that movie is completely horrible, expect for maybe Luke Wilson. And we're actually supposed to like the Stones! Sarah Jessica Parker's character didn't deserve 1/10 of what they dished out to her.
December 21, 2011 at 12:35AM ESTHorrible, horrible movie.
Louise I agree with Liz. The Family Stone is the worst movie I've ever had the misfortune of seeing.
December 21, 2011 at 7:00AM ESTJJ1 I always want to give 'The Family Stone' another chance. It SEEMS like something I'd really like. But then I watch it, and I remember all-too-soon that it is so tonally allllll over the place. Toxic is a good word; sprinkled with faux-holiday warmth.
December 21, 2011 at 9:46AM ESTJJ1
December 20, 2011 at 7:12PM EST Reply to CommentIt's a TV movie. But does anyone know of 'Smoky Mountain Christmas' from 1986 with Dolly Parton? It could be THE corniest, sappiest, sentimental thing you've ever seen ... and yet ... it warms the cockles of my heart every single year when I pop it in to my VCR (still have it) player. :)
/3rt
December 20, 2011 at 9:42PM EST Reply to CommentThank you Kris for reminding me how cute Chris Walas' Gizmo design is to Rick Baker's.
Zoe Zaftig
December 20, 2011 at 10:21PM EST Reply to CommentFor me, Batman Returns the best Batman movie period. Michelle Pfeiffer have one of her greatest performances as Catwoman, which saying a lot about a much under-appreciated actress. Her chemistry with Keaton crackled. Danny de Vito was perfection as the Penguin - his "funeral" is chillingly moving. And what brilliance to cast Paul Reubens in a cameo as Penguin's father?
Keith L
December 21, 2011 at 5:24AM EST Reply to Commentlove love love Batman Returns. Used to watch it *everyday after school. I can still recite some of the lines...
Shawn
December 21, 2011 at 9:18AM EST Reply to CommentMy list:
10.While You Were Sleeping
9. Grumpy Old Men
8. My Night at Maud's
7. 8 Women
6. Bridget Jones's Diary
5. A Charlie Brown Christmas
4. Die Hard
3. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Hudsucker Proxy
1. The Ref
Also enjoy: Christmas in Connecticut, Fanny and Alexander, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Italian for Beginners, 101 Reykyavik, Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Scrooged.
Want to see: Remember the Night
Liz I love Remember the Night! A sweet, romantic movie, tinged with just the perfect touch of sadness. I was really disappointed that Turner Classic Movies didn't play it this year, unless it was back during November and I missed it.
December 21, 2011 at 9:30PM ESTChris138
December 24, 2011 at 10:48PM EST Reply to CommentThe Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Santa Clause (1994)
Batman Returns (1992)
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Those are the movies I always pop in my DVD or Blu-ray player every Christmas season.