Favorite Holiday Films

[Turd Ferguson]

The thread title says it all. What are the film or films that put you in the Christmas spirit? I've got a wide range I watch all through the month of December that get me singing Christmas hymns to myself. These include:

Die Hard
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Batman Returns
Jingle All the Way - "GET OUT OF MY WIFE'S COOKIES!!!"
Gremlins
Elf
The Nightmare Before Christmas

So what gets you in the Christmas spirit?

 

[Garm Bel Iblis]

for the past 20 years it's gotta be "A Christmas Story."

 

[Agent Richard07]

Bad Santa
Christmas with the Kranks
Ebeneezer
Ernest Saves Christmas
Love Actually
Miracle on 34th Street
Scrooged
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause 2

for the past 20 years it's gotta be "A Christmas Story."

I never heard of that movie until last year when it kept popping up as a big Christmas favorite in a thread like this one.

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation has been a traditional film to watch altogether in my family for the last 15 years (I'm not ashamed to admit). Others include The Snowman, Father Christmas, Santa Claus: The Movie and (perhaps less Christmassy) Cool Runnings.

 

[auntiehill]

A Christmas Story--1st, last and always.
It's a Wonderful Life
The TV Special, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Love, Actually.
and, of course, all of the various takes on "A Christmas Carol." I particularly like the Alastair Sim version, but I also like the George C. Scott version and the Muppet version, too.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

hard to choose, really, I have several, I'd say

A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation

those are the two I watch the most frequent.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Since auntiehill included a TV special, I'll slip a few into my list as well.

1. "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
2. A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version)
3. Love Actually
4. "Christmas Eve on Sesame Street"
5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947 version)
6. "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (cartoon version)
7. The Family Stone
8. A Christmas Story
9. The Holiday
10. Home for the Holidays (even though it actually takes place at Thanksgiving)

 

[PKTrekGirl]

The only Christmas movie we do not miss, without fail, is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. That is really a tradition.

However, I generally try to catch Christmas in Connecticut - it's a great Barbara Stanwyck film. And I might try to catch two of the cartoons from my youth - How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Charile Brown Christmas.

 

[Claudia]

Love, Actually - the only Christmas movie I can watch without puking. *g* Seriously, it's just a feel-good movie that gets me into the right Christmas-mood.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Joyeux Nöel has become a recent new Christmas favourite.

I've also recently taken a liking to The Nightmare Before Christmas - a film I hadn't actually seen until recently (even though we've had it on VHS for years and years).

Plus any version of A Christmas Carol usually does it for me too - I also like the George C Scott version, but also have a soft spot for the Muppet version too.

And of course, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without The Snowman.

 

[Jadzia]

My three favourites are:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas [1993] -- I've watched it every christmas eve for the last 10 years or more.
• A Christmas Carol [1998]
• Gremlins [1984]

When I was single figures (late 80s, early 90s), I remember The Wizard of Oz was always on television on christmas day. That used to be my favourite. Nowadays it's usually shown one day during christmas week, or sometimes not at all.

Also, christmas morning wouldn't be the same without Charlie Brown. Then in the evening, an episode of the Two Ronnies, Jessica's First Christmas, and finishing off with a 1960s horror film.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Then in the evening, an episode of the Two Ronnies, Jessica's First Christmas, and finishing off with a 1960s horror film.

I remember when Morecambe and Wise were the ultimate Christmas evening entertainment fixture. Actually, no, I don't remember that exactly, but I guess it's been ingrained into our collective subconsciousness for so long...

Nowadays we have EastEnders.

 

[1001001]

A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation
The Nightmare Before Christmas

These are mandatory holiday viewing at our house.

 

[Neroon]

Love, Actually - the only Christmas movie I can watch without puking. *g* Seriously, it's just a feel-good movie that gets me into the right Christmas-mood.

I enjoyed it for the most part, and it does have some very nice uplifting stories in it (Liam Neeson's being my favorite). Yet ... the ending of the Emma Thompson/Alan Rickman storyline keeps me from calling the film overall "feel good". That part is just too sad.



My personal holiday favorites:
- A Christmas Carol (1951) with Alistair Sim. Still the best version of the "classic" era, imho

- Miracle on 34th Street (1947), with Maureen o'Hara, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwinn. This is the only version worth watching.

- It's A Wonderful Life, sappy, and not completely a "Christmas" movie... but it works. Because I've been there.

- A Charlie Brown Christmas. Poignant, nostalgic and one of the few remaining Christmas shows to simply explain "that's what Christmas iks all about"

- A Christmas Story, the most recent addition to my "must see" list during Christmas

 

[Mistral]

Sims in A Christmas Carol
It's a Wonderful Life-under the covers with my wife snuggling next to me
Charlie Brown Christmas-still gets to me after 40 years

 

[JustKate]

Gosh, there are so many. We have quite the elaborate Christmas viewing "schedule."

It starts on Thanksgiving weekend with Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version, natch) - because Miracle on 34th Street starts with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It ends with The Bishop's Wife (not The Preacher's Wife, the 1996 remake - the 1947 original starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven), usually on Christmas Day. We end with that one because it's my FAVorite.

In between, we always watch several versions of A Christmas Carol (the Alistair Sims, Muppets, George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart versions are particular favorites), A Charlie Brown Christmas (which still makes me teary at the "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown" part), the cartoon version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Nightmare Before Christmas.

There are several other movies that I love but for some reason or other haven't acquired, including Christmas in Connecticut, A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life. In fact, I just this week bought Christmas in Connecticut as a present - why the heck didn't I get one for myself while I was at it?

 

[ParticleMan]

Christmas Vacation came on AMC this past weekend and it really got me in the Christmas mood for the first time this year...I'll watch Elf anytime it comes on as well.

Christmas Story will be on in the background all Christmas Eve/Day...as for non-Christmas movies, the first two Harry Potter movies get me in the Christmas mood too...I guess because they originally came out during the holiday season. HP movies in the summer still seem weird to me because they just "feel" like winter movies...

 

[Neroon]

My daughter was introduced to "It's A Wonderful Life" last year.... and loved it!

 

[Lonemagpie]

Die Hard (and Die Hard 2)
The Bishop's Wife
Ghostbusters (not actually a Xmas movie, but was released at that time of year and so somehow feels Xmassy to me)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Lethal Weapon
Scrooged
A (Sim/Stewart/Muppet) Christmas Carol

 

[Holoaddict]

Two of my favorites have always been:

Scrooged - I saw this movie in the theater. I watch it practically evert time it comes on. Unfortunately nowadays it only shows up on HBOFAM which I do not get!


Scrooge (Albert Finney version). I discovered this version several years ago while visiting my grandparents. I was overjoyed when TCM actually showed this last year, since I had never seen the uncut version before. I really enjoy this movie and often find myself singing/humming the tunes for days afterward.