Top 10 Christmas movies

[Olympic Fan]

'Tis the season to be bombarded with new Christmas movies (I think Lifeline is about to become the Christmas movie network). The NBC showed "It's A Wonderful Life" the other night and I couldn't help watching it for the millionth (I exaggerate ... maybe only the hundred-thousandth) time. Plus, I see that TBS will show "A Christmas Story" 24 straight hours on Christmas Day.

It got me thinking about Christmas movies and the ones I love and those that leave me cold. I thought I'd offer my personal top 10 list ... and see if I can solicit some of your favorites (and ones you dislike). These are my 10 (in order of preference):

1. It's A Wonderful Life ... For years it was overexposed during the holidays because the studio failed to get a copywright. About 6-7 years ago, the author of the original story won a suit upholding his copywright and that stopped the blizzard of TV showings. Now that it's only on once or twice a season, it's possible to step back and appreciate the only Christmas movie that's truely a great movie -- Frank Capra's masterpiece.

2. Miracle on 34th Street ... Edmund Gwen's Kris Kringle is a just great performance -- and a good reason not to accept substitutes. Maureen O'Hara is wonderful as always and little Natalie Wood is excellent. Love Gene Lockhart as the befuddled judge. I still get chills during the courtroom scene when John Payne proclaims "Ah but he is ... I intend to prove that my client is the one and only Santa Claus!" Great little twist at the very end.

3. A Christmas Story ... I can almost forgive director Bob Clark for the Porky's series because of this. Of course, this film really belongs to author (and narrator) Jean Shepherd. You got to love Ralphie and admire his obsessive quest for the Taj Mahal of Christmas gifts. I've never laughed harder at the Santa Claus scene or the moment when Ralphie DOES shoot his eye out.

4. Scrooged ... I feel like I should list one version of A Christmas Carol. But in truth, the filmed versons (even the classic Alistar Sims version) are all a little dull. This smart take -- with Bill Murray as the Scrooge figure is full of laughs. Plus it has Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim!

5. Bad Santa ... A great antidote for when all the Christmas cheer gets a little treacly. Billy Bob Thornton as the Santa from Hell and a great performance by Tony Cox as the Christmas Elf. And what can you say about the flat kid, Brett Kelly. Kind of sorry they sold out and tacked on a happy ending.

6. Christmas in Connecticut ... an oldie, but in my mind, very much a goodie. Barbara Stanwyck entertains wounded sailor Dennis Morgan for the holidays and has to pretend to be married to Reginald Gardiner to fool her publisher Sidney Greenstreet. I find it funny -- especially the exchanges between Greenstreet and S.K. Sakal. I understand that a remake, due next year, is in the works.

7. Love Actually ... Very underrated film. A great ensemble goes through a half-dozen interconnected romances during the Christmas season. Great bits with Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister and Bill Nighty as the washed-up rock star. And wait to you hear Olivia Olson belt out "All I Want for Christmas" (yes, that is her voice and she is 12 years old). I also love Kris Marshall, who visits America looking for love and finds ... well, wait til you meet Harriett "the sexy one!" PS Rowan (Mr. Bean) Atkinson, who has two small scenes, was originally supposed to be an angel.

8. Christmas Vacation ... Chevy Chase and the Griswald clan back at it. Randy Quaid as cousin Eddie is a hoot. And can you believe that Juliette Lewis takes over as the Griswald daughter?

9. All I Want for Christmas ... Sort of a "Parent Trap" for Christmas. Thora Birch is the little girl who asks Santa to re-unite her seperated parents. Leslie Neilson as Santa gets a lot of help from her older brother.

10. Die Hard ... Okay, it isn't very Christmassy, but John McClane does use Christmas tape for his final trick. Remember the final line: "If this is how they celebrate Christmas, I've got to see what they do on New Year's"

I'm waiting to see if Fred Claus can crack the top 10. Just for the record, I can't stand:

Elf (I honestly think Will Ferrell has never made me laugh)
How the Grinch Store Christmas (ditto Jim Carrey)
The Santa Clause (and sequel)
White Christmas (I like Bing, but this is blah!)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (although I do like the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version)

[allenmurray]

Every year I shed my usually cynical nature to become the biggest Christmas geek that I know. Even my wife and kids get tired of my perpetual Christmas cheerfulness. However, I would rather poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick than watch "Its a Wonderful Life"

[Bostondevil]

You forgot Casablanca!

(It's one my family watches every Christmas.)

[juise]

Maybe it's just my age and predisposition toward comedies, but Home Alone is a top tier Christmas movie in my book. Also, I'd put Christmas Vacation in the top 5. While getting a tour of Cleveland last week on a business trip, I got to see a landmark from A Christmas Story... it was quite the thrill.

[Olympic Fan]

You forgot Casablanca!

(It's one my family watches every Christmas.)

Interesting to me that at one point, when Rick's drinking alone, Sam comes in and they start talking. Rick points out that it's December in Casablanca and asks Sam what time it is in America (Sam says, "I don't know, my watch has stopped") -- and for various reasons (I'm not sure if we see a calender), it's got to be December of 1941 and not 1940.

I can't believe they put that in, then don't bring in Pearl Harbor ... anyway, it's got to be set in the first week of December ... a fairly long time before Christmas.

[JBDuke]

Interesting to me that at one point, when Rick's drinking alone, Sam comes in and they start talking. Rick points out that it's December in Casablanca and asks Sam what time it is in America (Sam says, "I don't know, my watch has stopped") -- and for various reasons (I'm not sure if we see a calender), it's got to be December of 1941 and not 1940.

I can't believe they put that in, then don't bring in Pearl Harbor ... anyway, it's got to be set in the first week of December ... a fairly long time before Christmas.

If you watch closely, you'll note that about 9 minutes into the film, Rick signs a voucher dated December 2, 1941.

[YmoBeThere]

a fairly long time before Christmas.

I thought the Christmas season started around Oct. 30. When the stores are getting rid of the junk they couldn't sell for Halloween.

[ugadevil]

The Polar Express is one of my favorites. I saw it last year for the first time and loved it. It puts me in a Christmas mood.

[tecumseh]

A number of years back our family went to the George Eastman Museum to see the annual showing of It's a Wonderful Life. There was a talk beforehand and the show was sold out. Seeing the entire film (on TV several scenes are routinely cut out) without interruption and with and audience the film seems much different. It is a wonderful film.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Among the recent "made for television movies" several favorites come to mind.
The Christmas List: a department store employee creates a wish list for Christmas. A co-worker slips the list into Santa's mailbox at the store. The store employee also enters a contest to win a new car with a young boy who comes to her department. Her life begins to change as the winning ticket for the car is drawn....

On the Second Day of Christmas: A woman and her young niece are caught stealing in a department store just before Christmas. It's at the end of the day. They can't be sent to jail because it's closed, so a security officer employed by the store must keep the two in his custody until after the holiday. A fanciful and interesting tale unfolds.

Recipe for a Perfect Christmas A restaurant critic talks a struggling chef into dating her mother in exchange for having his restaurant reviewed. By the end of the movie everyone is saying "Opa!"

[dkbaseball]

Jeesh, blasting White Christmas seems downright unpatriotic. OF, doesn't it warm the cockels of your heart to revisit the cultural matrix out of which we sprang nearly sixty years ago? People riding in trains, the WWII generation coming together for a grand hurrah of magnanimous community right before the atomizing disintegration of post-war suburbanization began. I heard Rosie Clooney sing "Snow" in the grocery store tonight and felt transported back into the bosom of civilization.

[Lavabe]

Call me nuts, but I love watching those 60's/70's RankinBass clay/model animation features (sans Frosty the Snowman). Last night, my daughter and I HOWLED in laughter at "Nestor: The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey," featuring music by the late Roger Miller. Absolutely bizarre!

Otherwise, it's the animated Grinch (#2) & Charlie Brown (#1).

Cheers,
Lavabe

[dukemomLA]

Top of the list always: The Bishop's Wife. Then, let's add "wonderful life", Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street (original), Elf.

[Udaman]

My spouse and I watch three films every Christmas season:

1) It's a Wonderful Life.

2) A Christmas Story

3) When Harry Met Salary. Ends with the New Year's party. Perhaps the best romantic comedy ever.

Also, I would add one of the A Christmas Carol to the list. There have been a ton. Personally, I really enjoyed the one that Henry Winkler starred in - but that's just me. George C. Scott was great in one of them as well.

[allenmurray]

Jeesh, blasting White Christmas seems downright unpatriotic. OF, doesn't it warm the cockels of your heart to revisit the cultural matrix out of which we sprang nearly sixty years ago? People riding in trains, the WWII generation coming together for a grand hurrah of magnanimous community right before the atomizing disintegration of post-war suburbanization began. I heard Rosie Clooney sing "Snow" in the grocery store tonight and felt transported back into the bosom of civilization.

I really don't like the movie. I'm not a fan of Crosby or Kaye, I don't like musicals, and I think the film is trite. However, it will always be at the very top of my list. Why?

I was coming home from work one night near Christmas, 17 years ago. I came in the back door, and neither my wife or my daughter heard me. My daughter was then 3 years old. I walked from the back of the house to the living room where I found my wife and my 3 year old daughter lying on the floor on their stomachs, chins proped in their hands, under a quilt my grandmother made 70 years ago, absolutly enraptured by the movie White Christmas. That scene is etched so strongly in my mind that it is, and will always be, my favorite Christmas memory.

[MrBisonDevil]

Sometimes a really bad movie can put a smile on your face. Three of my favorite movies to watch over holiday season include:

The Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058548/plotsummary

Santa Clause and The Ice Cream Bunny (1972)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138074/plotsummary

Santa Slay (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393685/plotsummary

[dkbaseball]

I was coming home from work one night near Christmas, 17 years ago. I came in the back door, and neither my wife or my daughter heard me. My daughter was then 3 years old. I walked from the back of the house to the living room where I found my wife and my 3 year old daughter lying on the floor on their stomachs, chins proped in their hands, under a quilt my grandmother made 70 years ago, absolutly enraptured by the movie White Christmas. That scene is etched so strongly in my mind that it is, and will always be, my favorite Christmas memory.

A great image.

[mr. synellinden]

I love that movie - nobody seems to mention it among Christmas movies.