Christmas Movie Recommendations!

As a person raised by a single mother I think it’s safe to say that television filled the role of a second parent in as many ways as was possible. The square box taught me about morals, love and everything else a child could possibly need to know that the adults around you claim you don’t need to know.

One period where my love for television and movies shone more than usual was Christmas, especially since not having a big family often resulted in me not really knowing what a “real” Christmas was supposed to be. So I looked to the movies to teach me. I thought that I would try and give some recommendations for those out there looking for some last minute Christmas-films, since having loved Christmas through films for 27 years now has led to me having quite collection of movies that in one way or another connect to my favorite day of the year. I will try to keep it short, especially when it comes to the movies I assume most people have heard of. The movies will be presented in a random order and if I feel some of them are stronger than others it will come across through the text. Here we go.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

It’s the most classic Christmas movie of them all, and one of the best movies ever made. The story of a small town man named George Bailey who on one Christmas night decides to kill himself and is given the opportunity to see what the world would be like without him. Cheesy, charming and so heartwarming it makes me cry every time I see it.

Gremlins (1984)

A dark, humorous story of Billy Peltzer who receives a strange Chinese animal called a Mogwai for Christmas. It is a sweet little pet that he names Gizmo and the two become friends right away, but if Gizmo is so harmless how come with him came three rules? 1. Don’t get him wet. 2. Don’t expose him to bright light and most importantly rule 3. No matter what, never feed him after midnight. What are these rules for, and what happens when they are broken? Watch one of my essential Christmas flicks for the answer!

Joyeux Noël (2005)

One of my absolute musts on Christmas Eve these days. In fact I spend most of my time longing for Christmas just thinking of how I can watch this movie and It’s a Wonderful Life back to back. The movie is based on the true events of Christmas of 1914 when German, French and British troops in the middle of the first World War decided to stop fighting to celebrate Christmas Eve together. It’s a deeply touching story, which doesn’t take sides, doesn’t dumb down its major conflicts and shows of a magic that Christmas possesses like no other holiday. The film is beautiful, and should definitely be better known than it is. In fact, this list kind of exists for this movie to be shown off more than any other, so look it up. Because you won’t regret it.

Die Hard/Die Hard 2

Bruce Willis plays John McClane, a man trapped in a skyscraper filled with terrorists (led by Severus fucking Snape for crying out loud!) and has to shoot, swear and one-line his way out of the mess he is out. ON CHRISTMAS! Even if you don’t like action movies you should give this one a chance because it could honestly be the best action movie ever. The sequel also takes place on Christmas and has snow, unlike the first one, but the first one is absolutely the route to go if you only have time for one of them.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Story (2010)

A Finnish movie about a young boy who along with his friend end up discovering that the Finnish mountain of Korvatunturi holds the dark secret to the true story of Santa. Soon the young boy finds himself fighting off a Santa who kills reindeer and rather than leaving presents takes the children with him. A short movie with the right amount of craziness. Underrated and recommended for those looking for something a little more insane for their Christmas.

Arthur Christmas (2011)

A movie I looked at with disgust when it first came to cinemas. It looked stupid and like a cheap cash in, but it is honestly very good for what it is. It centers on Arthur Christmas, the second son of the current Santa Claus Malcolm Christmas. Arthur is bumbling, afraid of heights and fast speed and to be honest not very quick on the uptake. However he has the wide-eyed love for Christmas that of the children they work so hard for. So when a girl is missed, her present still left at the pole after the rounds, only Arthur believes enough in the power of Christmas and Santa to try and race across the world to get her the present in time. Well-animated and in spots very funny and heart-warming. One for both kids and adults.

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Another animated movie, this time from Japan. This one is a little more adult and darker. It centers on three homeless people who find a baby in the trash on Christmas Eve and set out, in an attempt to find the mother. Director Satoshi Kon (who tragically died only managing to give us a handful of films) has a way of conveying humor and bitterness together in a very good way, and in this film it works probably better than in any other of his films. It’s a bizarre movie, which still keeps its toes on the ground, giving it a good winter-feeling.

Black Christmas (1974)

One of the grandfathers of the slasher genre. A bunch of sorority sisters in the midst of preparing for Christmas start receiving a bunch of disturbing, obscene phone calls. Little do they know that the phone calls are actually coming from inside the house…

Santa’s Slay (2005)

Santa’s name is just one letter of from that of Satan’s! Coincidence? Uhm, probably not, but in this movie it is a little more directly sinister when Nicolas Yuleson, a frustrated teenager living in the colorfully named “Hell Township” finds out that Santa is real and out for blood. Soon Nicolas and his kind-of-sort-of girlfriend Mac have to fight off a giant Wrestler-looking Santa, while trying to survive until Christmas is over again. Stupid, cheap, perfect for you if you just want to laugh at some idiotic trash.

Love Actually (2003)

A ton of actors, nearly a dozen stories and all revolving around Christmas. All the stories have their ups pros and cons, but the pros are by far bigger than the cons. If you enjoyed Notting Hill and want some British humor then this is for you!

Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Like Tim Burton? Like Christmas? Like Halloween? Wish you could take the two holidays and mix them like chocolate and peanut butter? Well now you can! And let’s face it, if you clicked this link and read this far? You probably already have!  

A Christmas Carol (various)

Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a man so stingy he practically sucks the warmth out of the room when he steps into it just to save coal. This story is so simple yet effective that I have never seen a single version of it that doesn’t at least have some aspect of the story intact. My recommendations are for the George C. Scott-version from 1984, the animated Disney-version or my personal favorite; A Mupper Christmas Carol. All are great, and oh so Christmassy.

The Shop Around the Corner

Seen the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan-movie “You’ve Got Mail”? Then you’ve seen a crappy version of this movie! This movie, starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan takes place in the Hungarian capital of Budapest and focuses on two shop employees who can’t stand each other. Both of them are involved in anonymous letter-relationships. What they don’t know is that their perfect someone, just so happens to be the one person they just can’t stand.

Pretty much any movie written or directed by Shane Black.

Shane Black has written or directed some really great films, and for some reason he likes setting films around Christmas. Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang all take place during the holidays and if you want you can check them out. Out of Black’s movie’s Lethal Weapon is the best and now only has a Christmassy feeling, but also shows why Mel Gibson is solely missed in Hollywood. Dammit, why did you have to go crazy, Mel?

Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)

This movie (in Sweden that is) is so damned overlooked it drives me crazy. During Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade the hired Santa Claus gets drunk and has to be replaced by a man who just happens to be passing by on the street. He is so convincing as Santa that he is hired to play the part for the department store throughout the holiday season, but problems soon come up when the man’s real identity is called into question. He claims that he is the real Santa Claus, and question is… Could he be?
A great movie that captures the Christmas spirit, great acting from Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle as well as from Maureen O’Hara as the woman in charge of the would be Santa, but even more impressive is a very young Natalie Wood as her daughter, who is raised to find all ideas of fantasy ridiculous, but still finds herself intrigued by Kris Kringle. See it, or if you REALLY hate black and white films, at least the kind-of-good remake with Richard Attenborough and see if you believe in the man who would be Santa!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

NO! Not the Jim Carrey movie, but the real, traditional rendition of the Dr. Seuss book of the same name. Simple, rhyming story about a green, sinister creature called the Grinch who hates Christmas and decides to do something about it. Narrated by Frankenstein’s Monster himself Boris Karloff!

Home Alone (1990)

Kevin McCallister finds himself left without a family when they set off for Christmas in France. At first happy with being alone after a bitter argument, he soon starts missing his family and realizing that even his most annoying family members bring something to the table. Everything gets far worse (and funnier) when two burglars decide to rob the McCallister home and the only one who can stop them is Kevin, using only what he has in the house along with his imagination. Most people only talk about this movie for the violent slapstick, but I honestly prefer the parts focusing on Kevin’s development as he confronts his fears and does chores. As well as the bits showing Kevin’s mother maniacally trying to make her way back home to her son.
The sequel where Kevin gets lost in New York is basically the same movie in every way, but still isn’t bad (just not that good). The third one is… stupid in a lot of ways but is the only one of the movies to have a legitimate reason for why the child is home alone and also has Scarlett Johansson in an early role as an older sister. Whatever you do, don’t go further than the third one, it’s like going from nice to naughty. Just

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

It doesn’t take place during Christmas, but DOES have a lot of snow and Santa is one of its main characters. This animated feature centers on Jack Frost, a mythological character who doesn’t remember who he was before he was what he is. When the man in the moon chooses Jack to become a guardian of the children of the world along with Santa, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to fight the evils of the Boogeyman it is the start of a beautiful, fun adventure that I watch whenever I want to feel a winter-y feeling.

The Hogfather (2006)

Taking place in Terry Pratchett’s Discsworld-universe (a giant land set on the back of four elephants standing on a turtle swimming through space) the story is about how the assassin’s guild of the city Ankh-Morpork get a contract for the slaying of The Hogfather (this world’s Santa Claus) on Hogwatchnight (again, this world’s Christmas). When the Hogfather goes missing, Death himself decides that he better take over the job of Hogfather and with the help of his granddaughter Susan (Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery) try to solve the mystery of the real Hogfather’s disappearance before Hogwatchnight is over.
This two-part TV-movie is 3 hours long, but is worth it. It is filled with British quirk and despite having rather cheap effects still sucks you in and makes you forget you are watching a TV-production. And believe it or not, Death is a very compelling character here, spouting wisdoms and gentle advice to people he meets. Highly recommended, if you have the time.

There are of course more movies worth mentioning, we all have our favorites. Some I know will probably get brought up as “you missed” are Bad Santa, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, but these movies, while good just aren’t on my priorities list. Along with that I want to recommend that you think back to TV-shows since nearly every TV-show has at least one really good Christmas episode. For me these are things like South Park’s Woodland Critter Christmas, The Simpsons episode where Bart shoplifts, the first two O.C. Season’s Chrismukkah episodes, but most importantly the pilot episode of Batman the Animated Series where the Joker terrorizes Gotham with a very bizarre Christmas special.

Finally I want to wish all my friends, acquaintances, enemies and all the people I just haven’t met yet a very Merry Christmas! Have a good, and hopefully safe one!