Tis the season to watch movies fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-la and there are plenty to choose from be it in the cinema, on DVD or on television. The only problem is deciding what to watch. Here’s a list of some of the absolute classic must-see Christmas films.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
One of the greatest and bleakest openings to Christmas you are likely to see. Nestling exactly between Beckett and Dickens, Brown (Charlie) has no idea how he is supposed to feel at Christmas. Disillusioned and sad he seeks true meaning amongst commercial greed and finds himself more alone than ever. Recorded with real children’s voices, the script strikes a curious balance between the child and adult worlds of Charlie Brown. How about this for an opening line:
Charlie Brown: I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and
sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m
still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.
Linus van Pelt:
Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem. Maybe Lucy’s right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.
A Christmas Carol
Well, it must be in the list, mustn’t it? Dickens’ classic filmed in black and white is a dark tale of redemptive cheer. You know the story but you might not have seen it looking quite this bleak.
A Muppets Christmas Carol
If the original doesn’t feel you with the warm sensation you want then the muppets are guaranteed to have you reaching for the mistletoe. There’s Christmas. There’s Michael Caine. And there are all the colourful and hilarious muppets in probably their best full length feature.
Bad Santa
Most Christmas films paint Santa as a big fat happy man dutifully coping with the enormous pressure of delivering presents to every boy and girl on the planet on Christmas Eve. There’s always a hitch, a naughty child, a difficult reindeer and a lot of good will. Bad Santa was different. Father Christmas was a drunk who liked to have sex. And he did both things very well.
Die Hard
You need to decide what you want from your Christmas flick. Snow? Music? Guns and terrorists? If you answered yes to all of the above then the chances are you’ll be settling down to another viewing of Die Hard this Christmas. It’s not only Father Christmas who has to save the world. Bruce Willis changed everything, and he did it all in a vest.
Elf
Christmas is about magic and what could be more magic than a giant adopted Elf leaving the North Pole to seek his real father in New York! Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) is one lost and misunderstood little big guy. Join him on his hilarious and really quite sweet travels to the Big Apple for a huge hug of Christmas cheer. It’s full of incredibly funny one liners and sees Will Ferrell at his very best.
Gremlins
There are usually a few monsters lurking around cinemas at Christmas but none have been so wickedly entertaining as The Gremlins. The green critters run riot chewing, clawing and killing pretty much everything in their path. And to think it all starts with a cute little Mogwai named Gizmo. Do not feed or water the animals!
Home Alone
No-one had ever heard of the child star abandoned by his parents and left alone to fend off burglars before this Christmas film had been released. Then Home Alone became a massive massive hit and Macauley Culkin found himself an overnight phenomenon. Burglar Joe Pasquale steals the show in what became an instant Christmas classic. Macauley Culkin later went on to become Michael Jackson’s best friend. Ow!
It’s A Wonderful Life
If you like your Christmas films full of angels and despair then this one is definitely for you. So popular you’ve probably seen it twice already, its blend of alcohol, attempted suicide and tragedy has struck a huge Christmas nerve with audiences all over the world. Maybe it’s the happy ending.
Miracle On 34th Street
So good they remade it this absolute Christmas classic proved that Santa Claus was real after all. After a tense court trial that is. The tale of a shopping centre Santa accused of being crazy stole the hearts of small children and families and guaranteed reruns for eternity.
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
If your biggest problem with Christmas is your family then the best thing you can do is invite them all round and sit down in front of Chevy Chase doing his very best to save Christmas Day from being the most miserable day of the whole bloody year.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Thanksgiving isn’t Christmas, that’s an important thing to remember if you’re an American. But if the sight of John Candy in a big hat trudging through the snow doesn’t fill you with Christmas cheer then you might as well not celebrate anything. Plus the dates are pretty close. Come on! You’ll be crying at the end because it’s just brilliant. I’ll put Uncle Buck in here too. That’s two films for the price of one.
Santa Claus The Movie
Starring a quite magnificent little Dudley Moore as Patch the overzealous elf versus a money-making Christmas-hating toy manufacturer John Lithgow this very 1980s twist on the festive feature was a treat when I saw it. Santa Claus starts out as a friendly old toy-maker, Patch goes from good to bad to good and the movie has an orphan boy and a posh little girl. It’s not the best but if you’re young it’ll certainly do.
Scrooged
If you’ve ever seen a better final speech than the one Bill Murray gives viewers in this modern day remake of A Christmas Carol then I’m yet to hear it. Murray is a delight in a film that could have been so sickly sweet you’d have been put off Christmas dinner for life. Instead it somehow makes you wanting Christmas Day to be extended to the other 364 days of every single year.
The Apartment
An absolute masterpiece beautifully put together and brilliantly acted The Apartment really did change cinema. It’s a twisting tale of love, friendship, life, work and a whole lot more. The action culminates throughout the Christmas holidays as one man struggles to do the right thing.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Christmas isn’t supposed to be scary and in this Tim Burton animation it wasn’t, despite the skulls and pumpkins and the undead. A musical extravaganza The Nightmare Before Christmas twisted the genre while maintaining a very pure heart. Tim Burton has rarely done better.