Made a Movie List, Checked It Twice

I was thinking… which movies would qualify as “Christmas Classics,” according to our culture? Not how I, you, or any individual would see it, but if we put together a list of all the movies that the majority of people in North America would agree are Christmas classics. A good measuring stick is the percentage of people who would identify it as a holiday must-watch. Here’s what I came up with as a top 10:

• Scrooge aka Alistair Sim’s A Christmas Carol (1951)
  

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
  

• Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

• A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
  

• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
  

• Home Alone (1990)
  

• Elf (2003)
  

• A Christmas Story (1983)
  

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
  

• It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Honourable Mentions:White Christmas (1954), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Polar Express (2004), Scrooged (1988), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Santa Clause (1994)

This list would look different made 20 years ago, and I’m sure it will look different in another 20. And now, I’ve updated my own personal favourite Christmas movie list. And I’ve changed my mind… I no longer consider movies like Die Hard, Edward Scissorhands, and Gremlins Christmas movies. I do realize that they have a good amount of Christmas in them (arguably as much as It’s a Wonderful Life has), but I qualify movies as “Christmas movies” by how I watch them. The movies I just gave as examples I could watch any time of the year. But if someone puts Elf or even Home Alone on the TV, I immediately think, “Why aren’t we watching this in December?”

So, having said that, here is my own personal favourite Christmas movie list:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
  

• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

• Love Actually (2003)
  

• Joyeux Noel (2005)
  

• Klaus (2019)
  

• Home Alone (1990)
  

• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
  

• Elf (2004)
  

• Nat’l Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation(1989)
  

• A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Honourable Mentions: Happiest Season (2020), A Christmas Story, Blizzard

And this is how I would rate the best movie Santas:

1. Ed Ivory in The Nightmare Before Christmas

2. Dan Aykroyd (drunk Santa) in Trading Places

3. Paul Giamatti in Fred Claus (2007)
   

4. Alec Baldwin in Rise of the Guardians (2012)
   

5. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
   

6. Ed Asner in Elf

7. J. K. Simmons in Klaus

8. Richard Attenborough in Miracles on 34th Street (1994)
   

9. Christopher Plummer in Blizzard (2003)
   

10. Kurt Russell in The Christmas Chronicles

Congratulations Ed Asner and Elf. This is your week.

And the Oscar goes to…

Best Actress:

Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus in The Christmas Chronicles

Best Actor: Will Ferrell as Buddy in Elf

Best Quote: “Wait, wait, wait. Time out. Really? THAT’S how you laugh?” – Jason Schwartzman as Jesper in Klaus

I saw two new Christmas movies this year, and both are centered on an LGBTQ romance. The first, Single All the Way I wasn’t crazy about. It was very much like a Hallmark movie (So I know SOMEBODY who will probably like it! wink*wink). The other is a Kristen Stewart movie on Prime that I was not anticipating to enjoy at all, but wow it was good. I loved it! This year my goal is to watch Meet Me in St. Louis and maybe another old one like Little Shop Around the Corner or White Christmas.

Don’t let the pandemic get you down. Have a great weekend and a Merry Christmas next weekend!