Miracle on 34th Street

Of course, I'm talking about the original. I have a lot of thoughts on the remake, but they are far too scathing and long-winded to put in here. So let's talk about the Christmas movie. Let's face it, it may not be everyone's favourite, but it is without a doubt the best one out there. It has influenced every single Christmas movie to come after, with its message about commercialism, faith, the magic of childhood. Hell, even Bad Santa took from here (the drunk Santa at the beginning, lol).

My favourite scene is when Kris starts speaking Dutch to the little girl.

Community: Regional Holiday Music

This. Is. The. Best. Thing. Ever.

EVER.

The Simpsons: Holidays of Future Passed

This years Simpsons' Christmas special was surprisingly good. I say this mostly because I haven't really watched this show in years and last time I did it wasn't that funny, but this particular episode reminded me of the good ol' days, when there was a lot of humour and heart mixed together. Also, I've always been fond of the future episodes. There's not a whole lot to say about this one, other than I ended up watching it twice and it got funnier the second time because there were a lot of jokes in this episode and you won't catch them the first time around, so there's a lot of re-watch value for future holidays.

Joyeux Noel

This is not a feel-good holiday movie, this will probably do little more than depress the hell out of you, but I can't recommend it enough. It's such a moving story, and it's true. I mean, not completely true, but there was a cease-fire called during Christmas in WWI and I can imagine that what went down was probably pretty close to this movie's version. What I really love about this movie is that it's about humanity, it's about the bonds we chose to build and destroy between each other and why we do it and to what end. It's just fantastic. Also, it's pronounced "jwhy-uh no-elle." I never realized people couldn't pronounce this until I heard the Nostalgia Critic attempt to say it.

Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer

This might be the one Christmas special that everyon is familiar with. It's based on the song, of course, which was based on a add-campaign (which you might not know). It's imagery has been co copied and parodied over the years that it's hard for me to know if I've ever actually seen this before. It doesn't really hold up all that well though. I mean, I can't really stand any of the songs, but I guess the charm of this is more the look of it, the silly puns, and the wacky characters - and of course it has a nice moral. It's a classic, but it's not my favourite.

Some of the parodies on the other hand though...

While You Were Sleeping

I'm not that big on romantic comedies, but I unabashedly love this movie. I saw it a few times as a kid and it always stuck with me. It's just a really sweet movie that never feels forced, with Sandra Bullock at the height of her adorable awkwardness - and best of all it does NOT follow the romantic comedy plot (hating each other at first, predictably falling in love, only to have some sort of fight/misunderstanding and make up in the end). The focus isn't just on the boy and girl falling in love, but also on the family. I'd call this one more of a holiday film than a Christmas one though, because it starts at Christmas, has a New Years party and ends in January, but who really cares? To me that just makes it the kind of movie one can enjoy all year round. I absolutely recommend this film, especially if you're a silly girl like me.

Aw, someone made a music video for this movie <3 (Actually there are, surprisingly, a few fan videos for this film. I just happened to like this song the best.)

Gremlins

This movie is just fucking weird, and I don't mean its plot is weird - although, Jesus Christ, did anyone proofread this??? I mean, the more I watch it, the more fault I find with it, and yet I still love it and continue to watch it (probably because it has a high nostalgia factor to it). Yet I don't mean it's so bad that it's good... it's just really fucking weird. It reminds me a bit about Die Hard, in that it's an incredibly violent film that just sort of happens to take place on Christmas. Christmas has nothing to do with the plot (other than the fact that Gizmo is a Christmas present, but that's a pretty weak excuse), it just makes for pretty set-pieces.

And then there's this fucking gem:

I don't think I can recommend this film in good conscious. Unless you saw this in your childhood, it's not going to have the same effect on you as it did on me and my friends. That being said, please don't let your children watch this.

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

 A brand new Christmas film to watch! And it is already on my holiday playlist. This really is the perfect Christmas movie, taking every aspect of Christmas specials (musicals, claymation, magic) and combining it with that special kind of Harold & Kumar humour. Also, it might be the best 3D movie I've ever seen, because it actually takes advantage of the medium. They constantly had things coming out of the screen. Also, NPH was brilliant - as always! I worry some people might find the sub-plot with the toddler getting high to be a bit disturbing, but she was just so cute that it never got to me.

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Although made for Children, even as an adult I find enjoyment is this. Not in the story or the characters really, but from the music. I mean, just listen to that opening, such a beautiful and haunting Christmas melody. The soft jazz soundtrack will be stuck in your mind come every December (though mostly because you will hear it being played in EVERY MALL EVER). Despite the fact that this movie really captures a part of my childhood (I can't even count how many Christmas plays I've been in), I still can't get over the fact that Charlie Brown is the blandest main character in the world. Also the religious aspect of Christmas actually plays a role in the plot, and I'm not so big on that - even if, again, it totally reminds me of my own childhood. Okay, maybe I'm just trying to distance myself from my childhood now...

Die Hard

Die Hard is one of my favourite movies, so of course it's only natural that it's one of my favourite Christmas movies as well and always a great movie to start the Christmas season off with. It's one of those movies where the time of year has nothing to do with the plot (I mean, offices can have a multitude of excuses to have parties that Germans can break into), but the fact that they chose to set it during Christmas is genius. Remember how clever everyone thought when Tim Burton juxtaposed Christmas with something sinister in The Nightmare Before Christmas? Well Die Hard did it first! Then of course it's also just a great example of a near-perfect action movie (the amount you like this movie is directly proportional to how much you enjoy Alan Rickman's overacting).

   

Oh Alan, we <3 you. Anyway, this is a great Christmas movie and if you haven't seen it yet, 'tis the season (mother fucker!).