# 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:** 2
**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, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/21 "2010-12-13T20:57:44Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > 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 Yeah, the focus isn’t on him like it was in Episode I, when he played Anakin (or as some critics called him, “Mannequin”) Skywalker. And even though it was a TV special, can anything else compare with Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol with the wonderful Jim Backus? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/22 "2010-12-13T21:33:22Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > 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 you, sir, are a GRINCH. jingle all the way is my vote. ---
**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 20, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/23 "2010-12-20T21:42:51Z")
Another one I just remembered this morning is _We’re No Angels_, with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray -1955. > **[We're No Angels (1955) ⭐ 7.4 | Comedy, Crime, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048801/)** > > 1h 46m | Not Rated They’re three convicts who escape from Devil’s Island and bring Christmas to the family of Leo G. Carroll. Basil Rathbone is the evil uncle. (I’m having a _deja vu_. Maybe I already posted this… or maybe I posted it last year…) Charming movie. I think there might have been a remake- don’t know anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/24 "2010-12-20T22:21:54Z")
If it’s obscure Christmas movies you’re looking for, don’t forget “The Cheaters” (1945). > **[The Cheaters (1945) ⭐ 6.8 | Comedy, Drama, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037588/)** > > 1h 27m | Passed A beautiful, funny Christmas story performed by a cast of excellent character actors, including Billie Burke, the Good Witch from “The Wizard of Oz.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/25 "2010-12-20T22:45:44Z")
**It’s a Wonderful Life A Christmas Story Scrooged Elf** ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/26 "2010-12-20T23:06:41Z")
One that hasn’t been mentioned so far: [Tokyo Godfathers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Godfathers). (Yes, they have Christmas in Japan, but this movie takes an unconventional look at it.) ---
**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 20, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/27 "2010-12-20T23:22:01Z")
I just thought of this today, as I read “Christmas,” and said in my head, “Ch-a-rist-MAS!” Then I said to myself, “How could I have forgotten [Better Off Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088794/)?!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@The\_Amazing\_Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Amazing_Hanna)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/28 "2010-12-21T00:36:07Z")
Oh yes, Tokyo Godfathers. It´s an animated movie about a homeless guy - a drunken, lying, spineless bastard, to be honest, but one with a heart of gold -, a drag queen way past her prime, and a pudgy girl on the run after stabbing her dad. They find a baby in an ally and decide to find its parents. The movie takes them on a wild ride through the weirder nooks and crannies of Tokyo and their own pasts. It´s not a depressing or difficult movie in any way, but you will cry a lot at the heartwarming end. If you don´t, you´re probably not human. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/29 "2010-12-21T01:42:41Z")
I’ll be the first to mention a Charlie Brown Christmas. Then, Alistair Sim’s Scrooge. Then, It’s a Wonderful Life. Die Hard Trading Places. Home Alone. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/30 "2010-12-21T02:14:24Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > [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. Thank you for the tip! It’s going on my Netflix queue in time for Christmas. I missed that one. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/31 "2010-12-21T04:32:43Z")
I’m going to go a bit off the board here and go with [The Ice Harvest](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400525/), which is more of a mob related heist story, but which occurs during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There are too many good lines, like “Ho ho fuckin’ ho.” “Ho ho ho, mo fo!” and “Turkey Lurkey.” as well as others. It’s a dark comedy, shot in a blue light, and is probably considered film noirish (I’m sure someone else with a higher movie IQ will correct this if I’m wrong). But, I watch it ever year during Christmas. Hmm. I wonder what this says about me. FTR, A Christmas Story is off my list for one reason. My mother. She loved this movie so much, she jammed it down our throats ever since she got her hands on the Video tape and now the dvd. She was TBS before TBS. And it wasn’t just one day, but all week. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/32 "2010-12-21T04:47:02Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I’m going to go a bit off the board here and go with [The Ice Harvest](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0400525/), which is more of a mob related heist story, but which occurs during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Well, I don’t know what it says about either of us, but it’s on my list, too. Oliver Platt especially is hilarious when he gets drunk (“Man remains down!”) My other choices are a mix of classic and twisted, I guess:[ul][_]A Christmas Story[_]Scrooge (Alistair Sim in the 1954 version of “A Christmas Carol”)[_]Scrooged (Bill Murray)[_]Elf[_]Bad Santa[_]It’s a Wonderful Life (yeah, I know, but I’m still a sucker for this one.)[/ul]Oh, and a new short I’m definitely adding to my list this year - an animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s poem “[Nicholas Was](http://vimeo.com/17911948)” from 39 Degrees North (yeah, I don’t know who they are either, but this thing is fantastic). ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/33 "2010-12-21T04:47:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Another one I just remembered this morning is _We’re No Angels_ This is what I came in to mention. I love this movie and seeing it really makes my Christmas. So other ones I really enjoy: the original Miracle on 34th Street, the original Bishop’s Wife, Die Hard and the Santa Clause. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/34 "2010-12-21T13:07:23Z")
In no particular order: White Christmas (the 2nd videotape i ever bought) w/Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. good fun and great tunes. Home Alone Die Hard\* ‘yippee kay yay mo-fo-’\* (makes me laugh every time) It’s a Wonderful Life ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/35 "2010-12-21T15:10:16Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > [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. Not available on Netflix. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/36 "2010-12-21T16:25:44Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > [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) I’m NOT the only person on earth to have seen and love this movie?!??!?!?!!!?!?! My mind is completely blown. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/37 "2010-12-21T22:58:34Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I’m NOT the only person on earth to have seen and love this movie?!??!?!?!!!?!?! > My mind is completely blown. Great movie. I’ve seen it on TV in the US but not in over a decade. ---
**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 22, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/38 "2010-12-22T04:06:11Z")
☹ It looks like _Comfort and Joy_ is not available from Netflix. They have a movie by that title, but Nancy McKeon is in it and it’s not the right one. Rats. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/39 "2010-12-22T06:39:48Z")
[**The Lion in Winter**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063227/) I watch it every Christmas. It has the best quotes of any Christmas movie, and an all star cast. ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884/40 "2010-12-24T03:44:52Z")
I always watch lots of the above at Christmas, but add to that While You Were Sleeping. I think you can safely add it to the same genre as Love, Actually…I just have always been in the mood to watch it at the holidays. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-christmas-movies/563884.md?page=3)