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What's your favourite Christmas movie?
Yep. It's that time of year. We buy presents, go to parties, listen to carols... and watch old Christmas movies!
What's your favourite movie? Is it an old classic drama? A big glitzy spectacle? A soppy tear-jerker? A goofy comedy? Which Christmas movie is the one you watch over and over again, year after year?
It's a Wonderful Life is the definitive movie for me and speaks to me like no other Christmas movie.
Everything about it is perfect - the actors, the setting, the plot, the songs, and the jokes, the jokes are tremendous. The lead character Bailey is a great guy, but not so great as to be unbelievable. Clarence, the bumbling angel, is a treasure. The ending makes me tear up every time and speaks to the true meaning of Christmas (giving).
Either Groundhog Day or Die Hard, and yes, Die Hard is DEFINITELY a Christmas movie.
For me it's definitely Die Hard. That's on my list of 'movies that run in the background' when I'm being productive - groovy working static. Happy! is now the best Christmas story ever told, though. Honorable mentions for Scrooged and A Christmas Carol (the George C Scott version, of course).
Have you ever watched the censored for TV cut of Die Hard? I cleaned up the audio from the most iconic scene and put it with the proper video.
https://streamable.com/dkhhe
It hadn't crystallised for me until today, just now, when I watched this movie again, having bought the DVD from a bargain bin this week. I knew I liked this movie, but I always thought that one or another movie was my favourite Christmas viewing. Until I watched the Ghost of Christmas Present dance up to TV executive Frank Cross and whack him with a toaster... and knew. It's 'Scrooged'. It has always been 'Scrooged'. Even when I thought my favourite Christmas movie was 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' or the original 'Miracle on 34th Street'... it was actually 'Scrooged'.
I love this movie! It's strange, it's bizarre, and it is one of the best versions of 'A Christmas Carol' I've ever seen. It has heart, it has romance, it has cynicism, it has violence, it has comedy. It's tacky and heartfelt. Bill Murray is brilliant as the aforementioned Frank Cross. Bobcat Goldthwait is endearing and nutso all at the same time. The Ghost of Christmas Past is a bastard, and the Ghost of Christmas Present is the sweetest deranged psycho you could ever not hope to meet. There are cameos galore - even the Solid Gold Dancers!
And the theme song at the end is irresistible.
I love 'Scrooged'.
Arthur Christmas was a surprisingly good Christmas flick. It's a good movie, but I think Home Alone is the best Christmas movie.
Christmas makes me more curmudgeonly than usual, so my favorites have been jolly little flicks like Rare Exports or Bad Santa (NSFW at all).
Yesterday, I learned that Dr. Phibes' Abominable Christmas Special was a thing that existed, and I may not be able to claim any favorites again until I see it.
Every year when I visit my mother we watch the Alistair Sim Christmas Carol, so that's deeply ingrained in me, but I'll cast my vote for Elf. It's hilarious, it's heartwarming, it's good for young and old. If I can stretch the category a bit, however, let me tell you the perfect New Year's Eve movie that I watch year after year after year: Peter's Friends. A group of old college friends reunite for a weekend at New Year's. Hijinks ensue! I feel like these characters are old friends of mine after watching this so many times.
The Sound of Music is kind of that "run in the background" Christmas movie for my family. It's not my favorite, though. My favorite remains A Christmas Story, mostly because it reminds me of just how important Christmas was for young me. No other movie encapsulates that joy and anticipation quite the same.
I absolutely adore the super obscure christmas film Robie the Reindeer. It is a hilarious claymation film about Rudolph's lazy son Robbie. You can watch the (relatively short) film free on youtube
Clearly Home Alone 2. It's more adventurous than the first movie, and more rewatchable than Die Hard franchise for me. I should also check out some of the other movies mentioned in this thread, maybe they are the same good.
I don't know if they are my favorite, but the ones I watch every year are Elf and Polar Express.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is pretty much a childhood memory, so that too.
I'm kind of surprised/disappointed that nobody has said Baryshnikov's The Nutcracker yet. It was my favorite as a kid and I watch it every year. I am surrounded by uncultured Philistines!!! :P
p.s. In Full, enjoy! :)