# Favorite Christmas Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884 "2010-12-12T14:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/1 "2010-12-12T14:06:53Z")
What do you watch again every year? What’s new or offbeat that makes a great Christmas movie? Of course we like the standard: A Christmas Story. Our older daughter was six last year and finally started appreciating it, which was a lot of fun. My husband and I like to watch The Ref as we wrap presents on Christmas eve. So many great actors, and so much snark. How can you not love the mom from Mary Poppins saying, “You don’t have the balls!” I’m trying to start a tradition of all of us watching Star Wars: A New Hope on Christmas eve. I think the movie is magical and fun if you come to love it as a kid - if we wait till they’re 12 it’s going to be outdated and boring. So I reckon if it’s part of staying up late at Christmastime, it will have enough draw to get them interested, and will be inextricably entwined with good memories. (Yes, I am unashamedly trying to indoctrinate my kids into my entertainment preferences. If anyone has a good timetable for getting kids into Dr. Who, let me know!) Scrooged is a lot of fun, and Muppet Christmas Carol is actually one of my favorite versions. I just grabbed a copy of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, since it’s got a quote thread here. We’ll see how it goes over. It’s a Wonderful Life has never done much for me, probably because it was playing in a constant loop during my childhood Christmases. So I’ve seen it all, and lots of scenes many times, but not sat down and watched it all in order more than once. A Christmas Tale is in my Netflix queue - it got some good buzz, so I’m interested. What’s in your holiday stable? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/2 "2010-12-12T14:25:18Z")
_Trading Places_ (love it when Dan Akroyd stuffs the whole salmon in his Santa suit. The original version has a great topless shot of Jamie Lee Curtis. Actually, I love every minute of this movie. _“It was the Dukes! It was the Dukes!”_) _The Bishop’s Wife_ (the original with Cary Grant and Loretta Young) \*A Christmas Without Snow \*(Community Chorus learns Handel’s _Messiah_. You have to love the _Messiah_ to love this movie. John Houseman plays Professor Kingsfield in it.) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/3 "2010-12-12T15:18:00Z")
Bad Santa, A Nightmare before Christmas and the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Christmas special. I know you said movies but since i already threw in a TV show special let me add all of the Southpark christmas episodes, every last one of them is a work of genius. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/4 "2010-12-12T15:46:30Z")
I used to love Emmett Otter, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and a Muppet Family Christmas. Which are all locked up in Disney’s safe and unavailable unless you have old videos or DVDs. I do like the old version of Christmas in Connecticut, and the old Miracle on 34th Street. Whether this is just nostalgia (from remembering younger, happier times) or whether the new versions really and truly suck beyond measure - it/s 50/50. (and let me put in here, not exactly movies, but those old fashioned Celebrity Family Christmas Specials - Andy Williams, Kathie Lee Gifford, etc. where they all dress alike, stand around a fake fireplace, dad wearing a Santa hat, passing around fake gifts, everyone smiling and singing and exuding clouds of Christmas Joy - I miss those!) I would happily plonk myself down in front of the TV on Christmas Day, with a pizza, some eggnog and sugar cookies, and a nice bottle of wine for later, and watch A Christmas Story on TBS over and over until it ended. I only get to see bits here and there because I’m endangering my life and sanity driving in a blizzard or ice storm to a horrendous ‘family Christmas’ every year. So my favorite is ACS. And there’s always The Yule Log! ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/5 "2010-12-12T15:58:05Z")
The Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/6 "2010-12-12T17:05:15Z")
I like the version of A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. And Elf has become one the kids like to watch. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/7 "2010-12-12T18:23:16Z")
Another one my late H used to love was “An American Christmas Carol” where Henry Winkler was the Scrooge character- he ran a furniture factory. It’s pretty good. BTW the Cary Grant-Loretta Young version of “The Bishop’s Wife” was in TCM today. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/8 "2010-12-12T18:42:36Z")
**The Nightmare Before Christmas** - one of my all-time favorites **It’s A Wonderful LIfe** - it’s become fashionable to bag on it, but I love every minute of this movie. I think it’s perfect. \*\*Elf \*\*- I’m not a Will Ferrel fan, but I like him (and especially the rest of the cast) in this. **Planes, Trains, and Automobiles** - Steve Martin and John Candy are both hilarious. **Love Actually** - saccharin and unrealistic, but hey, that’s what Christmas is all about! It’s all a bit tongue-in-cheek anyway, and I can’t help but feel good while watching this. The all-star cast is fun to watch. **The Shop Around the Corner** - Watched this for the first time last year and loved it. Jimmy Stewart is great, as are the rest of the cast. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/9 "2010-12-12T19:01:43Z")
_Die Hard I & II_ _Lethal Weapon I_ _The Long Kiss Goodnight_ _Gremlins_ _Kiss, Kiss Bang, Bang_ _Reindeer Games_ I’m diabetic. There is enough sugar in the regular Christmas fare offered on TV to kill me, so I have to dilute it seriously 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/10 "2010-12-13T00:18:36Z")
_A Christmas Story_ _Love Actually_ _Holiday Inn_–where’s the love for this piece of nostalgia with Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and the original “White Christmas”? Yeah, it’s a little dated, and that blackface Abraham Lincoln number makes me cringe, but the singing and dancing are lovely, and it wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without it. _Nat. Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_ _Trading Places_ _Die Hard #1_ ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/11 "2010-12-13T01:09:18Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > **Planes, Trains, and Automobiles** - Steve Martin and John Candy are both hilarious. Isn’t that a Thanksgiving movie? I like last year’s A Christmas Carol by Zemekis, with Jim Carrey as Scrooge(and as the ghosts, too). ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/12 "2010-12-13T01:13:10Z")
I too love A Christmas Story, Elf, Bad Santa, Scrooged, Die Hard, Trading Places, The Nightmare Before Christmas and some others mentioned, but one of my favorites is too too obscure. [Comfort and Joy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087072/combined), directed by Bill Forsyth (Local Hero, Gregory’s Girl). It’s about a well-known DJ whose kleptomaniac girlfriend leaves him right before Christmas, and he then accidentally gets involved in a bizarre dispute between two rival ice cream companies. It’s a quiet, gently wacky, amusing, and moving movie. Here are a few scenes. [Maddy Leaving](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE_5TgDSHQM) [Meeting Mr. Bunny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHMFooKZsFs) (that’s Clare Grogan of Altered Images\* btw. She’s so adorable) [A Visit to Mr Bunny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B67lAtNS8j8) - [“Happy Birthday”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40K2S0-5Xo0) ["I Could Be Happy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1O3aoBhgXY) [Nice interview with Clare](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQKigCnOeQE) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/13 "2010-12-13T01:43:39Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I too love A Christmas Story, Elf, Bad Santa, Scrooged, Die Hard, Trading Places, The Nightmare Before Christmas and some others mentioned, but one of my favorites is too too obscure. I love that film as well, but I’ll [raise you one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080469/) in the “Obscure Christmas Films” contest. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/14 "2010-12-13T02:36:26Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > The Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol. That is all. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/15 "2010-12-13T02:39:47Z")
[The house without a Christmas tree](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068720/) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/16 "2010-12-13T10:06:02Z")
I like “Jingle All the Way”. Arnie for the win. Sinbad. Phil Hartman. Jake Lloyd is even tolerable in this one. I also like the Patrick Stewart version of “A Christmas Carol”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/17 "2010-12-13T14:18:40Z")
I watched on the Hallmark Channel yesterday “The Santa Suit” because it starred Kevin Sorbo, whom I adore (he’s such a cute man! never changes his looks). It was a silly ‘big important executive gets knocked down a peg or two and learns the true meaning of Christmas’, but it was as agreeable a timewaster as any other. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/18 "2010-12-13T20:30:55Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > The Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol. That is all. +1 (But I also love the Muppet version of A Christmas Carol. Easily my second favorite version of my all-time favorite Christmas movie.) ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/19 "2010-12-13T20:49:01Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I like “Jingle All the Way”. Arnie for the win. Sinbad. Phil Hartman. Jake Lloyd is even tolerable in this one. > > I also like the Patrick Stewart version of “A Christmas Carol”. I still find Jake Lloyd annoying in this movie. The only reason I say he is tolerable in it, is because he is in so little of the movie ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/20 "2010-12-13T20:56:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I also like the Patrick Stewart version of “A Christmas Carol”. Yup. Some twenty-odd years ago I saw _Bernard and the Genie_, featuring Lennie Henry as the latter. Never seen it since and I wish I could. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884.md?page=2)