By “contemporary” I mean released since 2000. By “Christmas” I mean “not merely taking place at Christmastime, or released in December, but actually involving the Yule holiday as a major part of the plot.” In other words, The Preacher’s Wife does not quallify; nor do any of the Lord of the Rings movies.
I’ll open the bidding with Love Actually. Being that it clearly a Christmas movie and also the greatest movie of all time, it is also, obviously, the greatest Christmas movie of all time. Admittedly it loses some points for Alan Rickman’s inexplicable cheating on Emma freaking Thompson with the brunette skank, but it’s so overall wonderful that no one cares. Admittedly, not showing January Jones naked was probably a mistake, but the wonderfulness of the Liam Neesom and Laura Linney storylines compensates for that.
Anyway, that’s just me. Anybody else?
ETA: Not supposed to have been a poll. I must have been distracted by work. Stoopid job.
We don’t know that he cheated. All we know for sure is that he bought her jewelry and he bought his wife a CD. Intent to cheat, maybe, but no concrete proof.
But anyway, I agree with you. Mostly because I can’t think of any other Christmas movies released since 2000 that didn’t out and out suck.
I figured I was better off with a recent cut-off date for the sake of the young’uns. Besides, if I had chosen NO cut-off date, the answer would clearly have been The Bishop’s Wife, which, as it stars NOT ONLY Cary Grant, but also David Niven and Loretta Young and that old guy whose name I just forgot, is clearly the greatest movie ever made.
It has the “sappy Christmas tale” without being syrupy (ha!), it tackles some pretty sensitive issues without being timid, and has some of the funniest moments in any movie, ever.
I feel obliged to point out that Bad Santa, for reasons not even Athena understands, does not show Lauren Graham naked despite three clear and compelling reasons to do so. It fails thus.
You know what annoyed me about Elf? it’s something that annoys me about some other “santa is real” movies as well. It’s that everybody thinks that is crazy to believe in Santa, yet, if Santa was real, then it would be obvious, because where else would all the presents come from? It makes no logical sense to have a premise that Santa is real, but no one believes it.
I have reported you to the elves, sir. You are getting a coal in your stocking.
Perhaps, in such universes, Santa passes out presents in such a way as to give the credit to someone else–placing From Mom & Dad on the card just as real-world parents sometimes write From Santa.
I was just thinking about this - they handled the whole “Is Santa real?” question perfectly. It’s a family movie - lots of slapstick and funny words - so they couldn’t blow his cover, and I love that they tackled it head on!
“Some people think it’s parents”
“That’s crazy! Parents couldn’t do all that in one night!”
Then, everyone could just let their disbelief go, and enjoy a heartwarming story. Even if you’re a grown-up, it’s still nice to believe in Santa sometimes
If I’m going to start ruling out movies because they don’t deliver goods I’d like them to deliver, I’m going to have to toss out a big chunk of my collection. I, for one, am more than satisfied with hearing Lauren Graham moan “F&ck me, Santa” over and over again.
Bad Santa pwns all Christmas movies in recent years (but is still not nearly as good as A Christmas Story which is the single best Christmas movie that will ever be made).
My favorite part of Bad Santa?
Sage advice! Since seeing this film, I now always make sure that any karmically-tainted actions are ordered by the talking walnut, so it won’t be my bad thing.
Willie: You know, I think I’ve turned a corner.
Marcus: Yeah? You fucking petites now?
Willie: No, I’m not talking about that. I beat the shit out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something, I dunno, like I accomplished something.
Marcus: You need many years of therapy. Many, many fuckin’ years of therapy.
