There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of Christmas movies out there. And let’s be honest, the majority of them suck. Stick some bells, a bad Santa and snow into the mix and you have yourself a festive movie. As with anything that brings the feels, people are highly opinionated about what movies make the cut and I am no different. If The Santa Clause films float your boat then leave this page now, we can’t be friends.
So here are my top five Christmas movies – hopefully you agree with some!
1. HOME ALONE!!!!!!
To be honest, there was never any contest. Home Alone is quite possibly the best Christmas movie ever. It reminds me of my childhood so much, and I don’t get the festive feeling until I’ve seen Kevin sadistically torturing a pair of grown men and doing the grocery shopping. Is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association?
Although this film is primarily a comedy to me, when you watch this film as an adult there are many scenes that you realize were a lot darker that you thought. Home Alone has everything you need in a Christmas movie – snow, lots of fairy lights, frantic airport trips, family feuds, a battle plan in crayon, wet bandits, polka bands, extreme violence and of course, the warm & fuzzies when Kevin is reunited with his crazy family. Who then all immediately ignore him again. Seriously though, if the scene with the lonely old neighbor being reunited with family doesn’t get you, you’re dead inside.
2. A Muppet’s Christmas Carol
This adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is by far my favorite because I think Michael Caine is a brilliant Ebenezer Scrooge. Even though it’s played by a cast of muppets and has very few real life actors, it still manages to get to me more than other completely human variations. Plus it has some seriously catchy songs that I always find myself singing along to… especially ‘It Feels Like Christmas’!
Plus the scenes with Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchett and his little baby frog son Tiny Tim… too adorable. In general the story gets me every time and I always find myself tearing up at the scenes the ghost of Christmas past shows Scrooge, also Fozzy Bear as the genial old boss… genius casting.
This is a feel-good family favorite that I’ve unashamedly watched three times already this year and will probably watch a couple of times more…
3. The Grinch
The main reason I love this movie is because of how PERFECTLY Jim Carrey manages to portray the Grinch. He personifies every cartoon image of the nasty ol’ Grinch that I’ve ever seen and even though I find it creepy that he wears no pants, I love this movie. I just love the make up and special effects, even though it’s a little over the top. The scene where creepy ugly lil’ baby Grinch cuts his face shaving to look nice for Martha May and all the mean kids and HIS TEACHER laugh at him actually chokes me up.
The rest of the movie is kinda mediocre but full of enough Christmas themes to make you feel festive and the moral of the story is spot on for the season, treat everyone a bit nicer even if you find them a little strange…
4.Batman Returns
Not conventionally a soppy festive movie, but Tim Burton’s second Batman movie is still a definite around Christmas. And yes, it is a Christmas movie! It tries to (yet doesn’t) quite manage to juggle numerous Gotham villains and throws in some Yuletide greetings for good measures.
Plus Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer is clearly the best Catwoman ever btw) teaches us the very valid lesson that mistletoe can be dangerous if you eat it…but a kiss even deadlier. The Bat/Cat crew battle out it against a Grinch-worthy Penguin to save Christmas in a snowy Gotham city, they even attack each other with Christmas decorations for Santa’s sake.
5.Gremlins
This is what you get when you buy creepy toys at Christmas, Gremlins also hammers home the importance of following rules. Don’t feed the furry monsters after midnight, don’t get them wet and don’t expose it to bright light. Naturally all of these rules are broken in Gremlins. Gizmo is shy and cute enough to make you start thinking, hmm maybe I’d like one of those lil’ guys. Until he gets wet and pops out five more Mogwais who turn to the dark side.
This most festive of monster movies is the perfect cheesey Christmas movie to pop on and feel your heart swell with festive cheer when Kate recounts the tale of how her dad dressed up as Santa one year… and oh yeah, got trapped in the chimney and died. Happy Yuletide!
Have your favourites made my list? If not let me know what films get you all festive