# What are your holiday movie traditions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 2, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468 "2023-11-02T12:35:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/1 "2023-11-02T12:35:18Z")
I only have a handful: Christmas: - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation - It’s a Wonderful Life - Elf (sometimes, I’m not a huge fan) Thanksgiving: - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles I think that’s about it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/2 "2023-11-02T12:46:07Z")
- About every other **St Patty’s Day** I watch _The Quiet Man_. - **July 4** I often watch _Jaws_ or _1776_. - **Christmas** often has _Miracle on 34th St_, _Die Hard_, _Fitzwilly_, _It’s a Wonderful Life_, _Bishop’s Wife_. - **Halloween** every other year it is _Arsenic and Old Lace_. - **Groundhog Day** is _Groundhog Day_ as it is always good to watch Groundhog Day so might as well watch Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day. - **Memorial Day** Weekend: _The Longest Day_, _A Bridge Too Far_ or _Patton_ come up fairly often. Or maybe just any old John Wayne WWII movie. Oh, also _The African Queen_ or _Casablanca_. - When the kids were young, **Easter** = _Wizard of Oz_. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/3 "2023-11-02T13:29:45Z")
Yeah, we do _Elf_ around Christmas when everyone is home. I also look for a rainy/stormy weekend around Thxgiving thru New Years that I’ll spend inside to watch _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. My wife has started the same thing around the same time with the _Harry Potter_ series, altho that does take several weekends. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/4 "2023-11-02T13:36:52Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Christmas: > > - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation > - It’s a Wonderful Life These are two of mine as well. Nat Lamp’s Xmas Vaca is Mrs. Solost’s favorite Christmas watch. I like all the Vaca movies too. Even the Vegas one I think is underrated. So we watch NLCV together every year. As for IAWL, Mrs. Solost sometimes watches with me, but she can take or leave it. I try to catch it every year, sometimes as a late night Xmas Eve watch on my own, because a girlfriend in my 20s loved the movie and made me watch it with her every year. At the time I hated the movie and would whine “do we have to watch it agaaaain?!?” I thought it was the glurgiest, most saccharine movie ever. “Oooh, saved by an angel! How literally deux ex machina!” (yeah, I was kind of an ass in my 20s). But in the years since, I’ve really developed an appreciation for the movie. There’s some real darkness to the way George’s frustration and anger built up over time comes out when it looks like trouble is closing in on him. The way Clarence shows George how the world would be different if he never existed is actually kind of deep (at least for the time). All the ripples in existence we make that affect others, and others as well, on and on. George was not there to save his brother as a kid, so his brother was not there to save the troop ship, and hundreds of soldiers died. What good did those soldiers do after the war that wouldn’t happen now? How many children would not be born? And Clarence did not really ‘save’ George, at least not from his legal and financial troubles, he simply gave George a new perspective. Those other troubles were solved because of the good karma George himself had built up. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/5 "2023-11-02T13:42:36Z")
Christmas must sees are _Scrooge_ with Alastair Sim and _ **A Christmas Story** _. Although I love them, I have seen IAWL and \*White Christmas \*too many times. I may peek in on _Meet Me in St Louis_ and _Vacation_ Memorial Day is _The Longest Day_. Fourth of July is _Yankee Doodle Dandy_ I am 66 and have seen each of these movies at least 20 times. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/6 "2023-11-02T13:46:14Z")
Labor Day: _Married…with Children_ S04E01 (_Hot Off the Grill_) Thanksgiving: Planes, Trains and Automobiles\* Halloween: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown\* Christmas: _National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation_, _A Charlie Brown Christmas_, _Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Christmas Concert_ ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/7 "2023-11-02T13:55:18Z")
My folks do _It’s a Wonderful Life_, _A Christmas Story_, and “Christmas Carol” (George C. Scott version) every year. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/8 "2023-11-02T13:59:54Z")
The weekend before Christmas I watch _Bad Santa_ with whiskey & some sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/9 "2023-11-02T14:09:26Z")
Christmas means the Sims version of “A Christmas Carol” though I sometimes add other versions as well. I still have never watched “A Christmas Story”, though I have seen plenty of bits of it since our kids watched it often. I also look for “The Longest Day” around Memorial Day or D Day. What a cast, though I could have done without John Wayne. Some Easters but not every one it’s “The Ten Commandments”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/10 "2023-11-02T14:10:37Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > A Christmas Story… Oh, I forgot about that one. I’m sorta lukewarm on it, but I see it in bits and pieces every holiday season. In fact, bits and pieces is the only way I’ve _ever_ seen it. I have never watched it from beginning to end, but I bet I’ve “seen” this movie 30+ times. mmm ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/11 "2023-11-02T14:13:18Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > _ **A Christmas Story** _. That is the only holiday movie I watch each year. It was a tradition of my gf’s dad, so we’d watch it with him each year. He’s gone now, so we still watch it and laugh at what he would always laugh about. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/12 "2023-11-02T14:32:06Z")
It’s not Christmas without watching **Die Hard**. We also watch [A Holiday Affair](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041473/?ref_=nmbio_mbio) because the actor who played the young boy in the film is a friend of ours. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/13 "2023-11-02T14:47:12Z")
I usually watch _Scrooged_ around Christmastime, and it never gets old (“I’m sorry, I thought you were Richard Pryor.”) Used to screen _The Ref_ a lot, but Spacey kind of soured that, though I still think it’s a brilliant movie. I don’t make a point of popping on the _Die Hard_ BluRay every year, but if it’s on TV, I’ll watch 'til the end. Guess I’m in the minority…I’ve never thought _Christmas Vacation_ was more than fitfully funny, and I don’t get the love for it beyond what I assume is the “I watched it when I was a kid hence I love it” philosophy. And while I loved _A Christmas Story_ as a kid, I cringe so hard at over-acting as an adult that much of the movie makes my skin crawl now, though I don’t begrudge anyone else their devotion to it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/14 "2023-11-02T14:49:17Z")
None, I rarely rewatch a movie. (don’t mean to threadshit, but I think “none” fits the topic reasonably well. I have no beef with holiday movie traditions. I just don’t have one.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/15 "2023-11-02T14:52:54Z")
Labor Day: from _Mork and Mindy_: [Mork’s encounters with Exidor.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDnbJjuVVYk) Christmas: I like the George C. Scott version of _A Christmas Carol._ Edward Woodward is an excellent Ghost of Christmas Present, even if he is obviously on stilts in a couple of scenes. The Patrick Stewart version is not bad. Joel Gray’s version of the Ghost of Christmas Past is interesting, even if he bears no resemblance to the book. The Guy Pearce version is very hard to watch (3 hours of grimdark), but I love the ending. “I don’t want redemption. But I want Tiny Tim to live.” Easter: Some channel will have _The Greatest Story Ever Told_ or _Ben-Hur_ on. I rarely watch an entire film, but I often watch pieces. _The Greatest Story Ever Told_ is the epitome of everything wrong with Hollywood depictions of the Bible. (blue-eyed Jesus, etc.) but I enjoy it anyway. In _Ben-Hur_, I love Sheik Ilderim. “One god, I can understand, but one wife? It is not civilized!. It is not . . . generous!” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/16 "2023-11-02T14:55:36Z")
I am allergic to schmaltz so I tread lightly here. **Die Hard** for Christmas is about all the sentiment I can handle and I even like that holiday. I just generally don’t like feeling manipulated. I suppose I have seen the Charlie Brown Halloween special enough years at the appropriate time to mark that one as well. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/17 "2023-11-02T14:58:13Z")
The only thing that’ll get the family back together around the DVD player and TV at the same time is our annual showing of _A Wish For Wings That Work_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/18 "2023-11-02T15:03:24Z")
Christmas: **How the Grinch Stole Christmas** – Only the original Chuck Jones cartoon, narrated by Boris Karloff. Why bother with Jim Carey and Bededict Cumberbach? **Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol** – the first version I saw, and still overall my favorite. **A Christmas Carol** – the Robert Zemeckis CGI version with Jim Carey doing several parts. It might be heretical to say this, but it’s overall the most faithful version, including obscure lines of dialogue direct from Dickens and often copying the original illustrations. I’ll tolerate the sometimes blatant slapstick in order to get the rest. There are other really good versions of the story (many of which I have on disc), including Alastair Sim’s 1951 classic, or Richard Owens’ 1938 version, or George C. Scott’s magnificent TV movie (with no special effects to speak of), or Michael Caine in the Muppet version, or the Chuck Jones/Richard Williams animated version that was even more faithful in copying the original illustrations (sand which used Alastair Sim as Scrooge, again). And a whole lot of others. But I prefer the two above. **A Charlie Brown Christmas** – The original, and nostalgic. It’s also the most blatant and honest Trojan Horsing of the Biblical account into prime time popular media of any Christmas product, yet it doesn’t feel forced. I might watch **Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer** , but I’m not committed to it (Did you know that there’s a much earlier animated cartoon version produced and directed by Max Fleischer? It’s in color, and from 1948. Fleischer studios was long gone, but Fleischer got much of his crew together for this classically animated version that predates the song by one year. It’s based on Robert L. May’s original book of Rudolph, so the story is completely different from either the song or the later Rankin-Bass versions . Interesting, and worth a look – [Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_the_Red-Nosed_Reindeer_(1948_film)) ) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/19 "2023-11-02T15:07:15Z")
Incidentally, the cartoon is on YouTube. Several times > [@](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkLO9PWdDz4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkLO9PWdDz4) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468/20 "2023-11-02T15:20:46Z")
We just started this a couple years ago but somehow we decided to watch Warm Bodies for Christmas, then we followed it up with Shaun of the Dead. So it’s zombie movies for Christmas which I think fits because Jesus was a zombie, wasn’t he? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-holiday-movie-traditions/992468.md?page=2)