Pages

Monday, December 5, 2011

Top Ten Christmas Movies

The Wife: Well here we are once again...It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry for our lack of Monday posts and movie reviews, it has been quite a busy fall for us! To make up for that we have an early holiday gift for you, our Top Ten Christmas Movies! These are the films we like to watch over and over and over and OVER again every holiday season!

Please note that all of these movies are so close, and with the exception of numbers one through three, it was very hard to rank them! So let's get started, shall we?

10. Die Hard — YES THIS DOES SO COUNT! Die Hard is a movie set at Christmas that brings the awesomeness of Bruce Willis and Carl Winslow...as a COP, of course! This film also has a young Snape in it. Basically Bruce Willis saves Christmas just like Rocky defeated communism. Win!

9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon) — You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch! This flick doesn't need an explanation. I have watched this every Christmas since I was a tot!

8. The Santa Clause 2 — Not as good as the original, but still cute and funny. It just "feels" like Christmas in this movie and Tim Allen once again shines as Santa. This film paints a perfect picture of how I always dreamed the North Pole would look like as kid.

7. Jingle All the Way — I seriously LOVE this movie. I don't get the hate it tends to receive. I think Sinbad is hilarious in it and I love how it realistically portrays the crazy greed that the holiday season brings. Not to mention this movie is so unintentionally funny, and that makes it even more awesome! You would think that they would have given Arnold's kid in the movie a name that he could pronounce. Instead they named the kid Jamie, which sounds like "Chamie" in Arnold speak. "Chamie, get ya muddah on da phone please!" I would say that the little boy who plays Jamie is the only annoying aspect of this movie. George Lucas, did you not bother to watch this movie before casting this kid as a young Anakin Skywalker?

6. The Santa Clause — I wish I could put this movie higher on the list because I love it so much, but alas, I can't have a tie. As I mentioned earlier, Tim Allen is awesome in The Santa Clause movies. I credit this film for making me spell "Santa Claus" wrong for SEVERAL years. It also taught me that hot cocoa tastes best when "shaken, not stirred." The Santa Clause is simply wonderful. It's kid friendly, but has jokes that adults can enjoy too. As a child I was fiercely defensive when it came to the question of Santa's existence, so much so that I would argue with kids at school about it. I WANTED to believe and wasn't ready to let the magic of Christmas go. That's why I love this movie; it shows you that you can "believe" in Santa at any age. "Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing."

5. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — I absolutely LOVE this movie! When I was younger I preferred this over the original, however, due to nostalgia and my "older" taste, the first Home Alone is now my favorite. However, this movie is almost just as good. I credit Home Alone 2 for beginning my obsession with New York City. I still have yet to experience NYC at Christmas time, but it is on my list of things to do. Sure, people gripe that it's a carbon copy of the original movie mixed with more harmful traps, but I say why ruin a good thing? Home Alone 2 delivers just as many laughs and of course, gives you that warm and fuzzy Christmas feeling.

4. Elf — How can you not LOVE this movie? I could watch Elf year round! I love Will Ferrell and I love Christmas, so this is the perfect combination! Along with my sister-in-law, I can pretty much quote this movie word for word. Elf is a hilarious, fun Christmas movie. In fact, it has become our traditional movie of choice when we celebrate Christmas with the husband's dad and stepmom. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

3. Home Alone — Another favorite and probably one of my most constantly watched movies during the Christmas season. I LOVE Home Alone! This movie never gets old and I still laugh now just as much as I did when I first watched this at age five. I come from a rather large extended family, so it always reminds me of that. It also feels "Christmasy," so that's another reason why it's so good. When I watch Home Alone I find it necessary to have "a lovely cheese pizza just for me." I also always question if Kevin ever ate that awesome looking macaroni and cheese after his defeat of the wet bandits. Watching in 2011, I love noticing how dated this movie is and I love knowing that it couldn't be duplicated in the technology-savvy world we live in now. Home Alone simply makes me happy and it's not Christmas until I've watched this over and over, yes, and OVER again!

2. A Christmas Story — Many of you might be shocked that this isn't number one, but believe me it comes in at a very CLOSE SECOND to the number one Christmas movie. Again, I LOVE THIS MOVIE! A Christmas Story is just one of those classics that never gets old. It has so many great scenes and it's not Christmas until I watch this. While I own this movie, I still make sure I tune my television to 24 Hours of A Christmas Story starting on Christmas Eve evening. The dad is probably my favorite character. "Fra-gi-layyyy, must be Italian!" So many other great quotes come from this film as well. I love little brother Randy, especially when he is dressed in his snowsuit and "can't put his arms down!" Ralphie and his quest to get his perfect Christmas present, a Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air riffle, is classic! It reminds us of when we were little and desperately wanted our perfect Christmas present. The Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant is, of course, one of the best scenes. So politically incorrect, but hey, that makes it all the more funny. "Ra Ra Ra Ra!" I want a leg lamp...it's a major award!

1. Christmas Vacation — If you know me or my family at all this shouldn't come as a surprise! Christmas Vacation is my absolute favorite Christmas movie of all time! It's hilarious and every year it just gets better and better! I always feel like I notice something new and funny with each viewing. Much like the jelly of the month club, my family quotes this movie all year because it is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year! Our quote fest really heats up on Thanksgiving! Clark Griswold's quest to have the perfect fun-old-fashioned-family-Christmas and all the obstacles it takes to achieve this equals awesome comedy. Cousin Eddie is at his best in this movie as well! To keep the blog clean, I won't do Eddie's famous quote from Christmas Vacation, but I am sure all you Christmas Vacation fans know it by heart! Clark's angry rants are another great aspect of this film. I should also mention that I love Rusty's facial expressions throughout this entire movie (by the way Big Bang Theory fans, Rusty is a young Leonard!). Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis are great too as are all the grandparents! Christmas Vacation gives me that holiday feel with laughter and, like many other movies on this list, it wouldn't be the holiday season without watching it several times. "And WHY is the carpet all wet, Todd?!" "I DON'T KNOW, MARGO!"

Before this post is wrapped like a perfect Christmas present, here are some honorable mentions: The Polar Express, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Muppet Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday in Handcuffs (yes, I know this is an ABC Family Original...but it's really cute), The Preacher's Wife and Merry Christmas Charlie Brown.

There are several other Christmas movies that I love, but it could take forever to mention them! Let us know your favorite Christmas movies! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

3 comments:

  1. Can't go wrong with Michael Cain as Scrooge!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't believe I forgot to include Love Actually in the Honorable Mentions! I really should have done a Top 20 list that way everything I like could have been included! Christmas is my favorite! I just like smiling! Smilings my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Scrooged! I love me some Bill Murray

    ReplyDelete