White Christmas! It makes me cry! I have a videotape of my sister and I reenacting the song-and-dance to “Sisters”. (That makes everyone else cry). Then, Holiday Inn (a sucker for old musicals, I guess). And then, the Charlie Brown Christmas - haven’t missed it in 25 years!
Hey, what about Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck?
Ditto on:
Alister Simm’s A Christmas Carol
Holiday Inn–both versions (Love that Fred Astaire! And Bing Crosby–what a crooner!)
Scrooged
Miracle on 34th Street-old one.
Now I feel like singing–
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas! (I have to dream since I have never experienced a white christmas in my life!)
OK, here we go:
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A Christmas Story.
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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (it’s on CBS tonight, by the way. FYI).
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Home Alone.
No one has mentioned either of these, but I believe they deserve honorable mention:
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Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. I’ve never seen it at any video store; any TM’s have a copy?
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The NEW Miracle on 34th St., with Sir Richard Attenborough and one of the Baldwin’s. The scene with the little deaf girl chokes me up every time. snif
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
C’mon, Wally! Where’s your CHRISTMAS SPIRIT?
[slops his eggnog on Wally’s good necktie as he slaps Wally on the back.]
You ol’ SCROOGE!
What! No “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”, that 1964 classic with a very young Pia Zadora??
“A Christmas Story” is a rare modern tru classic;
Alistair Sim was/is the best Scrooge of all time;
It ain’t Christmas till we open the last can of Who Hash;
We never, never, ever miss the Christmas morning tradition of watching the Queen’s Christmas Message.
The Yule log on channel 11. I miss it so much. ::sniff::
Well, this isn’t a traditional Christmas movie, but The Dead by John Huston happens at Christmas and I thought it was a good movie.
To mention movies that haven’t been mentioned by other people:
Do any canadians remember seeing a movie about a martian at Christmas? I remember seeing it and liking it as a kid. I think it was a french canadian movie.
And I remember seeing (also as a kid) a movie with Bob Hope called “The Lemon Drop Kid”. If I remember right, that had a Christmas theme also.
In Switzerland, for some reason, around Christmas, they used to show Charlie Chaplin movies on TV every year. So those movies have become associated with Christmas in my mind. “City lights” was one of my favourites.
My favourite movie:
It’s a Wonderful Life
My favourite story:
A Christmas Carol
My favourite “birth of Christ” scene:
From “The Life of Brian”.
La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry
In no particular order:
Miracle on 34th Street (the original; I haven’t seen the remake)
Lethal Weapon
Die Hard
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Little Drummer Boy
I cannot stand It’s a Wonderful Life.
Rudolph might have made the list, except that Santa Claus is such a jerk about Rudolph’s red nose and a grouch through so much of the movie.
Where to start?
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A Christmas Story – No explanation needed. Simply wonderful.
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A Christmas Carol w/ George C. Scott – Why do I prefer this version? Call me a purist, but it is the most faithful to the original story of any that I’ve seen.
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A Charlie Brown Christmas – The best Peanuts special ever, with the possible exception of The Great Pumpkin. Linus’ recitation of the Christmas story from St. Luke makes it. Even if you’re atheistic, the concept is still wonderful.
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Miracle on 34th Street (1994) – I’m not sure why, but I actually prefer the recent remake to the original. Maybe it’s Richard Attenborough’s performance as Kris Kringle. Maybe I’m not such a purist after all.
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A Wish for Wings that Work – AFAIK, the only Bloom County/Outland animated special. Great artwork, and does a very good job of delivering the feel of the comic strip.
Mr. K’s Link of the Month:
I know nothing about the movie, but a horse by that name won this year’s Belmont Stakes, upsetting Charismatic’s Triple Crown bid. Now I know the reference to his name! (Some racehorse names are like that–years later, you find out they actually meant something).
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. Best Christmas movies/specials:
- A Christmas Story. Absolutely no contest.
- (original) Miracle on 34th Street. The only black and white movie I’ve ever seen that I’ve ever really liked. Very touching.
- Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas. No, I have never seen the video for sale, either, but I did happen upon it for the first time in 15 years last year on…Disney? Just the last half, though. But it was enough to remind me how much I still love it.
- Christmas Vacation. I honestly think it’s the funniest of all the “Vacation” movies.
I used to think the world was against me. Now I know better. Some of the smaller countries are neutral.
I’m with Phouka on “The Ref.” I was actually hoping that I would be the first to mention it…
Aside from that, I’ve never seen a version of “A Christmas Carol” that I didn’t like (including “Scrooged”.)
Another big favorite is “Santa Claus: The Movie” with Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. Wonderful stuff.
“…all the prettiest girls live in Des Moines…”
–Jack Kerouac, On the Road
A Nightmare Before Christmas
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Gremlins
Beavis and Butt-Head Do Christmas (actually a collection of episodes)
Favorites that have already been mentioned:
1 - It’s a Wondeful Life
2 - Miracle on 34th Street (the original)
3 - A Christmas Story
4 - Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
5 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the Karloff version)
6 - Scrooged
and two that haven’t:
7 - Santa Claus is Coming to Town
8 - Blackadder’s Christmas Carol
The “Christmas theme” from THE LEMON DROP KID was “Silver Bells.”
Uke
Last year I saw an adaptation of A Christmas Carol produced for TV by TNT (Turner Network), IIRC. The setting was the American “wild west” and Scrooge (who owned the local saloon and cheated at poker) was played by Jack Palance. Absolutely the best version of the classic tale that I have ever seen. Palance IS Scrooge. I hope they re-broadcast this year.
The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik
A Christmas Story- one of my fave movies no matter what time of year.
Home Alone-cracks me up every time.
Scrooged
Die Hard
so you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts. what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts? Tori Amos
Ukulele Ike, you’re right, they had “Silver Bells” in that movie “The Lemon Drop Kid.” Forgot about that.
What I meant by Christmas “theme” was not a “theme song”, but that the plot involved Christmastime generosity (I forget exactly how, haven’t seen the movie since that time when I was little.) I should rent it to refresh my memory, but of course, I might be disappointed with the film now that I’m an adult.
La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit.
H. de Livry