Well, now that December is upon us, Jim n' I will begin our annual tradition of watching Christmas movies over the next month. Last night we made the pseudo-transition from our regular movie watching habits to holiday films by watching The Royal Tenenbaums (which we finished this morning over breakfast.) Okay, so we were going to watch the Tenenbaums this week anyway, and it's not actually a Christmas movie, but they do play the Peanut's tune, "Christmas Time is Here" in one scene... so I like to think that it's a gentle nudge in the right direction.
As for real holiday movies, my top twelve favourites are as follows:
12. Die Hard - Hey, it's a Christmas movie!! I have to add this one to my list because Jim pulled it out one year as a Christmas flick, and I cringed. Something about testosterone-fueled violence and action doesn't quite spell Christmas to me. However, I ended up really enjoying it. It was a nice change of pace from your usual Christmas fare. Yippe ki yay mother...
11. A Christmas Story - I had never seen this movie until only a few years ago. Can you believe it? All those references of a Red Ryder BB gun shot right over my head. Anyhow, now I finally understand why it is considered such a holiday classic. Love that sexy leg lamp!
10. It's a Wonderful Life - So, I fell asleep and missed the last crucial 15 minutes the first time Jim showed it to me. What can I say? It was late. I was tired. But the next year, I stayed up, and enjoyed it to the end. I love Jimmy Stewart. Or maybe I just love his warbly voice.
9. Micky's Christmas Carol - One of my favourites as a little kid, before I realized that it was actually a take on the original Dickens story. (You will notice that I did not include the original version of A Christmas Carol, which I finally saw for the first time a year ago. The 1951 version, anyway... not the '38. I quite enjoyed it, but because I only saw it once, it didn't make the cut.)
8. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - The animated version, of course. Just another one of those classics that remind you of childhood. I'm definitely not as big a fan of the more recent live action version, despite the amazing prosthetics and makeup they used to transform Jim Carrey into the Grinch. Did they win an award for that? Because they should've!
7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - This one is a Cliffe family tradition, which they've watched together every Christmas Eve for over 10 years. I recently read a little description written by the Moviephone staff, which I felt completely captured this movie. They wrote, "Chevy Chase is at the top of his game in this site-gag-and-one-liner homage to the love/hate event that is the family Christmas." That about sums it up, doesn't it?
6. The Polar Express - Beautifully animated with a very dream-like quality. I would've loved to have seen it at an IMAX theater to get the full experience of some of those swooping train sequences.
5. Home Alone - Whatever happened to Poor Macaulay Culkin? Oh yeah, he grew up. Oh well, I have to say that Home Alone (parts one and two, despite the completely redundant formula) compose my number 5 pick. Warm, clever and fun.
4. Bad(der) Santa (The unrated version) - He's raunchy, rude, and just a despicable human being in every way... but if you can get past the crude exterior, dare I say that Bad Santa truly is a heart-warming film with a lot of great laughs. Besides, who doesn't love the late John Ritter, sandwiches, or a wooden pickle?
3. Elf - This should be a tie for third place with Bad(der) Santa, but I decided to just list them alphabetically. For me, this is definitely a warm n' fuzzy movie. It makes me laugh, it makes me feel nice, and it has that special magical touch that easily makes it one of my favourites.
2. Charlie Brown's Christmas - But of course! Whether you're into the traditional meaning of Christmas or not, this one will always be a classic. I still get a touch of chills when little Linus steps up on stage and says, "Lights please..." and then launches into the Christmas story. "That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown." Oh, and the soundtrack... the soundtrack! Vince Guaraldi never gets a break at our place around Christmastime.
And my number one favourite Christmas movie... drumroll please....
1. Scrooged - Yes, believe it or not, Scrooged is my favourite Christmas movie of all time. I love Bill Murray. I love their fun interpretation of the ghosts. I love the humour. I love that nostalgic 80's feel. I LOVE that movie.
Shoot... I just realized that I missed Garfield's Christmas Special. Oh well.... maybe next year my fat furry friend.
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