I adore Christmas. I always have and can pretty much guarantee I always will. I love every single bit of it. The shopping, decorating, pageants, music, the Nutcracker. Every damn cheery thing. Even egg nog. But, of all, I think I love the movies the most.
Christmas is just a naturally nostalgic holiday. Memories get stored up around Christmas trees. We harken back to our childhood, still get excited about the potential of gifts, even use words like "harken". So it really is only natural that holiday movies become part of the nostalgia landscape.
You should know that I am very picky about holiday movies. My list is an elite one that not many modern movies break in to. The Hallmark Channel actually offends me with their dime a dozen holiday tales with C-list stars. Holiday movies are a beautiful genre with quite a bit of prestige. Ok, so not many Christmas movies are going to win Oscars, but there is an art to balancing humor, seasonal cheer, worn out storylines and schmaltz. So, since I love lists, I present my top 10 holiday movies:
10. Home Alone - Not really a great movie, but falls in my personal nostalgia category as it was released in 1990, making it somewhat new when I was at movie viewing age. There are a lot of classic scenes and a great holiday theme of family and obnoxious kids.
9. The Santa Clause - Yet another of my childhood favorites. A classically 90's Disney produced movie held a lot of charm that modern movies seem to miss. Humorous elves, nodding reindeer, pretty much all win. I'm gonna ignore that sequels were made to this. It ruins the charm.
8. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - One of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Sure, the whole thing ends up far fetched, but if you can't laugh at the squirrel scene, you're dead.
7. One Magic Christmas - One of those odd 80's movies that most people haven't seen, but is really a great flick that airs on the darker side of Christmas movies. Has one of the best movie Santas I have ever seen and a great performance by Harry Dean Stanton. Plus, you can always accuse someone of being a Ginny if you're tired of calling them a Grinch.
6. Elf - I laughed until I cried when I saw this movie in the theater and it still makes me giggle immensely. Amazing casting in all parts. A simple, sweet hearted movie that throws us all back to childhood and dares people to be a bit unorthodox in their Christmas cheer.
5. it's A Wonderful Life - Harry! Harry! Iconic is about all that can serve as a descriptor. Really, only a small fraction of the movie centers around Christmas, but the worth of a man's life is a reminder that can be applied any day of the year. Sometimes I wish more people would take this movie to heart.
4. Holiday Inn - I love dancing flicks and I adore Bing Crosby, so this movie is simply awesome. Features on of the finest dance scenes I have ever seen in Astaire's 4th of July solo dance. The debut of White Christmas makes it invaluable right there, but throw on killer singing and dancing talent as well as a home run performance by Louise Beavers, and you have classic awesomeness.
3. Miracle On 34th Street - The Maureen O'Hara/Natalie Wood one. Don't give me that crap from the 90's. Remaking some movies is simply a sin. I mentioned the One Magic Christmas being one of the best movie Santas. Well, Edmund Gwenn takes the cake there. So many priceless scenes including a wonderful childhood performance by Wood.
2. A Christmas Story - Um, I don't really think I need to expound on this one. If you are alive on Christmas day and anywhere near TBS, you know why you need to watch it every year. It is so weird and so funny and so wonderful all at the same time. It takes us all back to a time that some of us never even lived in, yet it represents that beautiful memory every kid has of the one toy they dreamed of for weeks and weeks, pushing and shoving, fretting, until there is was. That Christmas memory, which would now be labeled as being consumerism at its best, it golden for most kids. Plus the awesome scenes interjected are priceless: Leg lamp, Chinese Christmas dinner, Randy in the cupboard (there seriously was something wrong with that kid), the bunny pajamas. See ya Christmas Day on TBS....
1. White Christmas - I warned you previously that I adore Bing Crosby. I know this is a very untraditional movie to have at #1, but I refuse to waver. I have always adored it. It is Crosby at his finest, Danny Kaye in a beautifully awkward humorous state, Rosemary Clooney oozing class and Vera Ellen kicking everyone's ass dancing. This movie sums up an awful lot of my regrets about living in this era. This is a kickback to a world of nightclubs, dancing, trains, post-war patriotism, beautiful costuming, genuine singing talent (ok, I know, that wasn't Vera Ellen's real voice, but she didn't sing much) and just simply a great holiday flick. Plus, I've always wanted one of those Santa dresses in the end. To die for.
Honorable Mention: Christmas in Connecticut, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Prancer.
So there ya have it. If you haven't seen any of these, give them a shot and most of all, enjoy your holiday season. Merry Christmas!
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