It’s every holiday-enthusiasts’ favorite time of year. Houses are lit up in multi-colored lights and store windows are full of cardboard-boxed wrapped presents and decorated Christmas trees. Turn on the television, and every-other channel is sure to be playing its 20th rerun of the movie Elf or Home Alone. One of the best things about Christmas is the classic films, from the heartwarming tales of A Christmas Carol and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to the more humorous stories of Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation and Christmas with the Cranks. Here is a list of the some of the must-sees this holiday season, and others that aren’t worth skipping an extra day of present shopping over.
Elf – Starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, this is a more recent holiday movie that definitely makes the cut for a cute Christmas tale that people of all ages can enjoy. If Ferrell hopping around the streets of New York in a tight green and yellow elf suit isn’t funny enough, his one-liners and childlike enthusiasm over Christmas and Santa Clause will have even the biggest Scrooge chuckling. Appearances by Bob Newhart as Papa Elf and Zooey Deschanel as Buddy’s love interest add an extra dose of good entertainment.
A Christmas Carol – Even after tons of remakes, the 1951 British version of Charles Dickens’ novel is the only one really worth watching. (Okay, maybe the 1981 made-for-television movie starring George C. Scott isn’t so bad either). First released as Scrooge and later rereleased in the U.S. as A Christmas Carol, the film follows a grumpy old man Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Alastair Sim) as he is visited by three Christmas spirits over the course of one night to help him realize the true joys of family, friends, and Christmas. In the end, when Scrooge runs ecstatic throughout the streets and buys a huge Christmas feast for Tiny Tim and his poor family, it makes one realize the importance of Christmas doesn’t lie within lavish and expensive gifts and knickknacks.
Surviving Christmas – This isn’t one that usually makes list, but Surviving Christmas, starring Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate, is a great comedy-mixed-holiday film. Drew Latham (Affleck), a wealthy New York advertising executive, hires a middle-class family for $250,000 to take him in for the holidays when he realizes that he is doomed to spend Christmas alone. Latham drags the already struggling Valco family through Hell as he attempts to live his fantasized childhood Christmas through hired actors and expensive excursions. In the end, like any other holiday classic, Latham learns a valuable life lesson of love and family, just as the Valco family comes together and learns the same.
What not to watch this holiday season is any Lifetime or Hallmark Channel original movie. Not to be mean, I’ve given these movies many, many tries, they just simply aren’t very good. Maybe they are nice to have on in the background as the family is decorating the tree while simultaneously listening to Christmas music, but other than that they just don’t make the cut. What’s the word, not trying to be harsh, but corny? That probably sums up every one of these films in a single word. Just stick with ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas countdown, that is the best way to catch some of your favorite Christmas classics all this December.
Elf – Starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, this is a more recent holiday movie that definitely makes the cut for a cute Christmas tale that people of all ages can enjoy. If Ferrell hopping around the streets of New York in a tight green and yellow elf suit isn’t funny enough, his one-liners and childlike enthusiasm over Christmas and Santa Clause will have even the biggest Scrooge chuckling. Appearances by Bob Newhart as Papa Elf and Zooey Deschanel as Buddy’s love interest add an extra dose of good entertainment.
A Christmas Carol – Even after tons of remakes, the 1951 British version of Charles Dickens’ novel is the only one really worth watching. (Okay, maybe the 1981 made-for-television movie starring George C. Scott isn’t so bad either). First released as Scrooge and later rereleased in the U.S. as A Christmas Carol, the film follows a grumpy old man Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Alastair Sim) as he is visited by three Christmas spirits over the course of one night to help him realize the true joys of family, friends, and Christmas. In the end, when Scrooge runs ecstatic throughout the streets and buys a huge Christmas feast for Tiny Tim and his poor family, it makes one realize the importance of Christmas doesn’t lie within lavish and expensive gifts and knickknacks.
Surviving Christmas – This isn’t one that usually makes list, but Surviving Christmas, starring Ben Affleck and Christina Applegate, is a great comedy-mixed-holiday film. Drew Latham (Affleck), a wealthy New York advertising executive, hires a middle-class family for $250,000 to take him in for the holidays when he realizes that he is doomed to spend Christmas alone. Latham drags the already struggling Valco family through Hell as he attempts to live his fantasized childhood Christmas through hired actors and expensive excursions. In the end, like any other holiday classic, Latham learns a valuable life lesson of love and family, just as the Valco family comes together and learns the same.
What not to watch this holiday season is any Lifetime or Hallmark Channel original movie. Not to be mean, I’ve given these movies many, many tries, they just simply aren’t very good. Maybe they are nice to have on in the background as the family is decorating the tree while simultaneously listening to Christmas music, but other than that they just don’t make the cut. What’s the word, not trying to be harsh, but corny? That probably sums up every one of these films in a single word. Just stick with ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas countdown, that is the best way to catch some of your favorite Christmas classics all this December.
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