With it being December and officially the Christmas season, I thought I'd go over my ten personal favorite Christmas movies or TV Specials. There are a few things I have to say about this, which I'll outline in bullets for organizational purposes:
- These are not what I consider to be the ten best Christmas movies ever. These are just ten movies (or Christmas specials) that I am very fond of and invoke nostalgia and childhood memories. These are the ten movies I'd personally pick to watch every Christmas season if I could only choose ten.
- I am allowing sequels as separate entries as some sequels I like while others I don't.
- These are ranked in order of how much I personally like them, not by how good of a movie I think they are.
- A few of these aren't your typical "theatrical release" style films, and more so TV specials or TV movies. To me, they're close enough to be considered a movie or film.
With that said, here are my personal 10 favorite Christmas movies, ranked:
10. 'Twas the Night
This is a DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie), but it's still a movie and it's about Christmas. Basically, an Uncle who's always getting into trouble (portrayed brilliantly by Bryan Cranston) has to watch over his niece and nephews on Christmas night while his brother and sister-in-law (their parents) have to work. They accidentally knock out Santa and decide to deliver toys for him. I won't get into it anymore, but it's a good family Christmas movie with a good message. You have to suspend disbelief during this film for some parts, and the technology in it has NOT aged well. But if you can get past those few things, it's really quite enjoyable.
9. Elf
Everyone else loves it, and yes, I have a certain fondness for it as well. It came out in 2003, and I didn't see it until several years after it came out. It might've been close to a decade later. It has rewatchability and it's one of the few roles I enjoy Will Ferrell in, so there's that. Perhaps I'll have this higher on my list as the years go on, but for now it's only #9 because I haven't seen it quite enough.
8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 TV special)
Don't get me wrong, I like the Jim Carrey version and the 2018 The Grinch film isn't bad, but this is the one that makes me feel all nostalgic. That classic animation style is just timeless, and I absolutely love the "You're the Mean One, Mr. Grinch" song performed admirably by the legendary Thurl Ravenscroft. This just never gets old.
7. Frosty the Snowman
This is one I watched as a small child and have seen it sporadically throughout the years. It always pulls at my heartstrings. The Frosty the Snowman song alone is enough to make me emotional. I also love the animation style and the voice acting is just classic. I have this on DVD so I can watch it anytime I want during the Christmas season, even if I can't find it on TV/streaming.
6. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
This is the one Christmas movie sequel that worked. The Santa Clause 2 wasn't bad, but it still fell a bit short. But this one ups the stakes, changes the setting, and recreates the magic of the first. In some ways, I almost enjoy it more than the first one, but the first one is such a classic. It's too bad all the rest of the "Home Alones" were not even close to the first two.
5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Another timeless classic is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's another TV special, but at 52 minutes it almost feels like a film. My favorite things about this are its songs. From "Silver and Gold" to "We are Santa's Elves" to "The Most Wonderful Day of the Year", there's a song in here for everybody. As a kid, I related to Rudolph, in being picked on for something you were born with and couldn't control (for me, it was my lack of height). I will never not love this TV special.
4. Jingle All the Way
The crazy thing is, I almost want to rank this higher. I've seen it at least a dozen times. I love Arnie in it. It's such a simple premise: A father trying to make something up to his son, goes on a hunt to find him a Christmas gift that's near impossible to find. I love all the hijinks and to me, it's entertaining from start to finish. Yes, a lot of it is a bit cringey and doesn't make logical sense, but you have to suspend belief when watching this.
3. Home Alone
Of course, it had to be here if Home Alone 2 was here. And the first just always slaps, as the kids say these days. I kind of wanted the same thing to happen to me as a kid--be able to eat as much junk as I wanted, stay up as late as I wanted, watch whatever I wanted. How Kevin learns about and later deals with the burglars is always my favorite part. And it includes some great Christmas songs from "Walking Around the Christmas Tree" to "Run Run Rudolph".
2. The Santa Clause
Similar to 'Twas the Night, Santa becomes incapacitated and the family whose home where this happens has to take over his route. This one, however, does it a bit better, with Tim Allen assuming the title of Santa Claus because of "The Santa Clause". As a kid, this movie made me believe Santa Claus was spelled with an "E" at the end. I've never been the biggest fan of the custody battle between Scott and his ex-wife for Charlie, but it does add another layer to the plot. Nevertheless, I absolutely love this movie, and I have very fond memories of watching this on ABC with my family shortly after it came out.
1. A Christmas Story
It had to be, right? And the weirdest thing is that I didn't see this until near adulthood. I think I only watched it because I was told I resembled the kid (Ralphie) from the movie. And boy, I'm glad I did. It's the perfect Christmas movie. Anyone who's ever wanted that super special Christmas gift can relate to Ralphie's quest for the Red Ryder BB gun. I sure look forward to watching this each Christmas season.
No comments:
Post a Comment