5 Christmas Movies For This Holiday Season.

The holiday season is upon us and I thought it would be fun to surround yourself with friends and loved ones with a great Christmas movie, a filmmaking tradition that dates back to the silent era. I hope you might consider one of these five films here below. If not, be sure to steer me towards your favourite Christmas movie. But tell me why you love it. Anyway, [drum roll please] here are my 5 Christmas picks for this holiday season.

Die Hard (1988).

Every year Die Hard is still being debated whether it’s an actual Christmas movie. But that has never been a question to me. The story takes place at a Christmas (Eve) party in Los Angeles and when New York cop John McClane’s (Bruce Willis) Christmas is ruined by a group of terrorists, he pays out by killing his first bad guy (in self-defence, of course), and decides to leave his new friend Hans Gruber with a little Christmas message that he means business. The message of course is written on the sweater of the dead bad guy McClane sends down in the Nakatomi Plaza elevator, telling Hans,  “Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho”. So yes, its true, Die Hard is a Christmas movie filled with action, mayhem, suspense, Christmas tinsel and a hero who is out to safe Christmas, and a bunch of hostages but maybe more importantly his stoic wife. 

Home Alone (1990).

John Hughes’ Home Alone in my opinion is the ideal Christmas movie to watch during the holiday period. How do I know it’s a Christmas movie? If you are like me and love physical copies (DVDs) of the movie, it’s always sold out at this time of year. Set in Chicago during the holiday period, the McCallister family mistakenly leave for Christmas vacation without their eight year old son Kevin, played by child prodigy Macaulay Culkin. When Kevin realises he is home alone (after wishing his family never existed), his initial excitement is soured when two con men (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister home. There is enough hi jinx and mayhem to make you laugh yourself silly. Actor Daniel Stern almost steals the show as a bumbling idiot, but what makes this film an absolute classic is that it captures the true essence of Christmas like no other comedy of its time. 

The Holiday (2006).

Don’t believe anyone out there that tells you The Holiday (2006) isn’t a Christmas movie. It is directed by Nancy Meyers, one of my favourite filmmakers of all time. When you need comfort, joy and a little inspiration during the holiday season, this Christmas-themed romcom is it! It has four wonderful actors, who make the most of every scene. Our story finds Cameron Diaz (Amanda) and Kate Winslet (Iris) as two strong very relatable young woman, who are trying to move on with their lives after failed relationships. They decide to switch homes and scenery as part of their opportunity to start all over again but unintentionally fall in love. Just so you know, Diaz meets up with a handsome widower played by Jude Law and Winslet meets up with the adorable Jack Black (can I say that?). While the usual Christmas tropes kind of take a back sit to this romcom’s antics, we are always reminded this is a Christmas film. But I’ve read criticism of The Holiday that it would be a much better film without Jack Black, but that’s just hogwash. Sure, he basically plays himself, but that is why Meyers cast him. Meyers apparently loved Black’s performance in School of Rock (2003) so much that she thought he’d be perfect for the role to play opposite Kate Winslet. Meyers once said, “Everybody has a heart and deserves to fall in love and he (Black) should get a great girl. So I fixed him up with Kate Winslet.”

Elf (2003).

Elf was released in 2003 and has since then become a holiday cult classic. No one thought it would resonate so much with audience at the time least Will Farrell. But Farrell’s over the top but sincere and child-like performace as Buddy the Elf is exactly what we need sometimes to pass the time in our cynical world. There is so much joy to Elf that it is contagious to say the least. Buddy’s story sees him leave the North Pole and Santa’s workshop in search of his biological father, played by the perfectly cast and villainous James Caan. Sorry that’s a little harsh, but the dude is on Santa’s naughty list for good reason. Anyway, with a smorgasbord of hilarious scenes and memorable quotes, I promise you wont be disappointed even if it’s at times cheesy. By the way, one of my favourites scenes is when Buddy screams with excitement in a department store: “Santa!!! Oh my God!!! I know him.”

Miracle on 34th Street (1947).

Let us close out this year’s list with one of the best Black & White holiday treasures from the classic Hollywood era. It easily could have been Christmas in Connecticut (1945) starring Barbara Stanwyck and or Frank Capra’s masterpiece It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), but instead I’ve settled for Miracle on 34th Street (1947). A lot like It’s a Wonderful Life, George Seaton’s Miracle on 34th Street became a staple each and very year during the holiday season on television beginning in the 1970s. Its reputation over the decades since has grown exponentially but now mainly with older audiences. Our younger generation is too distracted to even consider a classic like this over Elf (2003) or Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020). But there is something enduring about Miracle’s story which is bringing more audiences back to it. And why not, it’s a cool story, which sees a very young Natalie Wood play Susan, a six-year-old girl, who is skeptical of a man she meets at Macy’s department store, who says he is Santa Claus. In short, her encounter with Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) forever changes her worldview. A better part of the film takes places in a courtroom, where Kris must prove he is actually Santa himself. Like Fox Mulder says in The X Files, “I want to believe” but not in Aliens but that Edmund Gwenn is Santa. And I’d bet Elf’s Buddy would vouch for him too.