My five favorite Christmas movies consist of magic, music, and mmmmm….multiple Marvel actors? Hey, that works!
T minus ten days till the big day! However, I should clarify that I start the holiday on the 23rd (as “New Girl” intended). As time rolls on, I’m gearing up to listen to all the music, watch all the “Christmas Episodes,” and make all the cookies. In addition, it’s time to watch my five favorite Christmas movies. I’ve watched all the classics (or, at least, most of them) at some point or another. But some of them have been in rotation for years. I don’t know if the next generation will get a Christmas classic the way that mine did (foreshadowing)! Certainly, my five favorite Christmas movies will probably stick around for me until my last Christmas.
MY FIVE FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES
- “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I think that this one, technically, is a Christmas special that aired on TV in the sixties. However, I grew up watching it on VHS each year. As a result, it gets the title “Christmas Movie,” not “Christmas Episode”! Charlie Brown feels nothing but good grief this year. To cheer him up, Lucy asks him to direct the Christmas play! He does his best, but ends up disappointing everyone with his choice of Christmas tree. Linus provides Charlie Brown with the meaning of Christmas when all seems lost. This forty-minute movie has classic “Peanuts” moments and touches on all the holiday themes. I recommend this one for when you feel at peace at the end of the night on Christmas Eve.
- “Elf.” This is as close to a “modern” Christmas classic that you can get! Will Ferrell plays Buddy the “elf,” an orphan who meandered into Santa’s sack of presents as a baby. When his, um, “distinction” proves too large to overlook, Papa Elf reveals his true parentage: his father is a publishing executive… on the naughty list. Buddy sets out to find his father, and in turn experiences what life is like outside the North Pole! Can he save his family… and Christmas? If you squint really hard, you’ll see Jon Favreau, who went on to direct “Iron Man” and eventually become Tony Stark’s driver and best friend. I have no proof, but I’m about ninety-nine percent sure that “Elf“‘ as a modern Christmas classic is why this song went viral on TikTok around December of last year!
- “Love Actually.” Christmas AND multiple love stories? Sign me (and every other romantic sap) up, please! Chasing the success of this movie, several movies came out with star studded casts about finding love during “A” holiday. However, the intersecting lives of these Londonites could not be beat! Throughout the city, people of different backgrounds, ages, and relationship statuses find love, heartbreak, and fulfillment, all with a bit of Christmas magic. I know that some people say parts of it feel “problematic,” but I find the strength to look past it. God only knows what I’d be without this movie.
- “Home Alone.” Watching “Home Alone” has become an annual tradition for most, as has realizing that Moira from “Schitt’s Creek” plays the mother. For those who have never seen it: how? The McCallister family plans to celebrate Christmas with extended family in Paris. However, after a power outage knocks out the electricity (turning off all alarm clocks in the pre-smartphone era), the race to the airport leaves youngest son, Kevin, alone in the house. He first relishes in the solitude, but eventually finds himself in a game of “Defend your castle” against a pair of hapless bandits. This movie has some of my favorite Christmas songs/musical moments. As I’ve mentioned previously, I grew up valuing the sentiments of Christmas: lights, love, and family. This movie has all of that and then some!
- “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Did cinema peak with this movie? Yes. Yes it did. George Bailey, bank owner and family man, finds himself feeling the worst kind of discouraged on Christmas Eve. Clarence, an angel, grants him his wish to have never been born. The film takes the audience through George’s life of sacrifice, from saving his brother from drowning in an icy pond to abandoning his dreams of world travel to take on his family’s business. There’s a lot of traditional Christmas values in this movie, but the one that matters most is clear: the value of being a friend.
My five favorite Christmas movies have heart, happiness, and family-friendly fun (okay, maybe only the TV friendly version of “Love Actually” is fun for the WHOLE family). I don’t watch these in any particular order, but I tend to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on Christmas Eve, and “Home Alone” on Christmas morning! No matter when it happens, I can count on these movies to inspire the Christmas spirit during this final countdown!