There are two things you should know about me, if you don’t already: 1) I Love Christmas and 2) I Love Movies! Therefore, you can imagine my unadulterated joy and squeals of glee when those two things come together in the form of Christmas Movies.
I have watched a fair number of Christmas movies, but a recent Google search of “best Christmas movies” lists revealed that I still have many to see. Therefore, I have decided to make my own list… a sort of compilation of all of the “best of” lists I have found, along with a few other of my holiday favorites that are more cheesy/sentimental than “good.” (If I have seen the movie, I have added some thoughts/notes to share why I have included it on the list.)
- Babes in Toyland – Three versions of this movie – 1934, 1961 with and 1986 with Drew Barrymore.
- The Bishop’s Wife – 1947 with Cary Grant.
- A Charlie Brown Christmas – 1965. (Adorable.)
- The Christmas Card – 2006, made for TV. Ed Asner received an Emmy nod for his performance. (Luci’s notes: Cheesy, Hallmark, romantic, feel-good type movie. It has flaws, but a little “suspension of disbelief” and a love for cheesy, Hallmark movies will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy in the end.)
- A Christmas Carol – A whopping 26 movies with this title are listed in IMDB. I’d love to hear which version is your favorite and why.
- Christmas in Connecticut – 1945 with Barbara Stanwyck. (Can’t wait to see this! It’s next up in my Netflix queue!)
- A Christmas Story – 1983 with Peter Billingsley. (I know this is a favorite for many, many people. I haven’t seen it in years and should probably watch it again to see why so many people love it…)
- Christmas Vacation – 1989 with Chevy Chase. (I will always love this movie. One of my favorites, behind It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. Classic. And who doesn’t love a John Hughes movie?)
- Christmas with a Capital C – 2011. (A delightful movie focusing on the “meaning of the season” as opposed to a love story or anything else. A great family movie… leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy and excited about the birth of Christ.)
- The Dead – 1987 with Anjelica Huston.
- Die Hard (Really??) – 1988 with Bruce Willis. (This movie was included on so many “best of” Christmas movie lists, I decided to include it here. One day I’ll see it, but until then, I’d love to know if others think of this as a Christmas movie too?)
- Edward Scissorhands – 1990 with Johnny Depp. (I probably would not have included it here, but it was mentioned on a few different “best of” lists.)
- Elf – 2003 with Will Ferrell. (Will Ferrell as “Buddy the Elf” won’t lead you to Jesus, but he will make you laugh. The escalator scene makes me giggle every time I think about it. Maple syrup anyone?)
- Gremlins (Again… Really??) – 1984 with critters. (See notes under Die Hard.)
- The Holiday – 2006 with Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. (I really adore this movie. Especially the Kate Winslet storyline. It’s a delightful, feel good, Hollywood rom-com.)
- Holiday Inn – 1942 with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Inspired the movie White Christmas. (Now that I have seen this movie, I understand why White Christmas is the more famous and watched movie. It’s enjoyable, but I confess I wanted to fast forward through a couple of songs… Sorry, Bing. Also, I know this movie was “culturally acceptable” at the time it was made, but a few scenes/comments were still hard to watch.)
- Home Alone – 1990 with Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci. (Loved this movie. Sweet, sentimental, family comedy. My favorite part was when “Kevin” unrolls his map of war zones/plans to catch the robbers.)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas – 2000 with Jim Carrey.
- I’ll Be Seeing You – 1944 with Ginger Rogers. (Next up in my Netflix queue!)
- It’s a Wonderful Life – 1946 with James Stewart. (My favorite Christmas movie of them all.)
- Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) – 2005. (In the queue… Have you seen this? What did you think?)
- Love Actually – 2003 with everyone. (Enjoyable vignettes following people in and out of love. Love these Hollywood rom-coms.)
- Meet Me in St. Louis – 1944 with Judy Garland. (“Have yourself a merry little Christmas…”)
- A Midnight Clear – 1992.
- Miracle on 34th Street – 1947 with Edmund Gwenn and Maureen O’Hara. (Classic. Not one of my favorites. But a classic.)
- Mixed Nuts – 1994 with Steve Martin. (I’m a huge Steve Martin fan. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I remember thinking it was pretty hilarious.)
- The Muppet Christmas Carol – 1992.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas – 2003 animation.
- The Polar Express – 2004 animation with Tom Hanks.
- Remember the Night – 1940 with Barbara Stanwyck.
- The Santa Clause – 1994 with Tim Allen.
- Scrooged – 1988 with Bill Murray.
- The Shop Around the Corner – 1940 with James Stewart. Inspired the movie You’ve Got Mail. (Delightful classic with a very young Jimmy Stewart.)
- The Sound of Music – 1965 with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. (Okay, so this movie doesn’t actually have anything to do with Christmas… But when I was young, the TV networks would always show this around Christmas time, so I have come to associate it with Christmas. :))
- Trading Places – 1983 with Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis. (I really like this movie. I dislike the “R” rated material, and feel it is completely unnecessary, but I really enjoy this story.)
- We’re No Angels – 1955 with Humphrey Bogart.
- While You Were Sleeping – 1995 with Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. (A young Sandra Bullock and a hilarious cast of characters make this an enjoyable Christmas-time movie.)
- White Christmas – 1954 with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. (My second favorite Christmas movie of all time. Highly recommend seeing this in a theater as a sing-along, if you can!)
What do you think? What is your favorite Christmas movie and why? What have I left off the list? I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!
Luci
Giving credit where credit is due, I pulled my list together with the help of these websites. (Their lists provided some of the titles above, but also include additional titles you may want to check out.):
http://blog.moviefone.com/2009/11/04/best-christmas-movies/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_christmas_movies/
http://www.empireonline.com/features/30-best-christmas-movies
http://www.bestromancemovies.com/top-romantic-christmas-movies.php
Luci Walks 