11/22:
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Highly entertaining Peanuts special. One my faves and one of the best of the Peanut specials.
11/24:
A Christmas Carol (1951)
The best adaptation of the Dickens' novel and the best portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge by Alastair Sim.
Always my fave around this festive season.
11/25:
An American Christmas Carol (1979)
An effective and engaging adaptation of the Dickens' novel, set during the Great Depression with a really good performance from Henry Winkler.
11/27:
Jack Frost (1979)
Besides an nice opening song, it has to be one of Rankin/Bass' worst.
11/28:
Home Alone (1990)
Neat premise with some funny scenes and slapstick but way too mean-spirited and a lot of forced sentimentality to where it feels fake.
11/29:
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
A near shot for shot remake of the first film but on a bigger canvas. Still managed to get some laughs out of it.
12/1:
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)
Delightful and charming with lots of great songs.
12/2:
It's A Spongebob Christmas (2012)
Really funny with some well done stop-motion animation.
12/3:
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Jim Carrey's funny as The Grinch and has some eye-catching Christmas scenery but has so much unneccessary and terrible filler that brings the whole movie down.
12/4: *First time viewing*
Christmas in Wonderland (2007)
Laughably stupid beyond belief "Home Alone at the Mall".
12/5:
Bump in the Night: Twas the Night Before Bumpy (1995)
Witty, cute and completely fun to watch.
12/6:
Reindeer Games (2001)
The overall plot is not particually strong but it's a entertaining movie to watch.
12/7:
A Christmas Story (1972)
An adorable little special, though a little cheesy here and there.
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979)
A funny Looney Tunes special with two new (at that time) shorts with a classic one thrown in.
Santa and the Three Bears (1970)
A true heartwarmer of an old school animated film. The animation is not like what we're used to nowadays but it's still beautiful nonetheless.
12/8:
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Not perfect but still a delight to watch and still remains one of my faves during the holidays.
*First time viewing*
Scrooge (1935)
A dull adaptation. Felt incomplete, rushed and lacks any sort of heart, soul or even energy (if that's the right word) that any of the later versions had.
12/9:
*First Time Viewing*
A Christmas Carol (1938)
Lavish and glamorous MGM production but another lackluster adaptation. Felt much longer than it was, stiff acting and overall dull.
Ace Ventura: Reindeer Hunter (1995)
Funny animated Christmas version of the original movie.
12/10:
*First time viewing*
Arthur Christmas 3D (2011)
Standard plot but has beautiful visuals with some clever and funny moments here and there. Still enjoyable overall.
Goof Troop: Have Yourself A Goofy Little Christmas (1993)
santa: Starts out funny but loses steam from there.
The Town That Santa Forgot (1993)
Generic and fake feeling with the usual "better to give than receive" message.
The Twelve Days of Christmas (1993)
Crazy and really funny. One of my faves to watch every holiday season.
12/12:
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Excellent and delightful movie with such a clever and witty screenplay. Still holds up after 70 years and still remains one of the greats.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack and some funny moments here and there but feels too preachy and borders on a downer.
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)
Funnier, livelier and much better than A Charlie Brown Christmas.
12/13:
Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas (1999)
Not half bad and quite enjoyable made-for-video flick.
12/14:
Friday After Next (2002)
Not as great as the first but way better than the second and much funnier mostly thanks to the many outlandish side characters.
12/15:
Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper (1982)
Enjoyable little holiday special.
Christmas Comes to Pacland (1982)
Funny to watch just for the nostalgic factor. Clearly, a product of it's time.
12/16:
*First time viewing*
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
Capra-esque farce that's kind of far fetched but it's filled with delight, joy and heart.
The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974)
Weak plot but still nice to watch mostly thanks to The Miser Brothers, who steal the show.
12/17:
*First time viewing*
Christmas In Connecticut (1992)
Beyond chaotic and cheap looking remake of the Barbara Stanwyck 1945 version.
12/18:
Gremlins (1984)
An outright bizarre and inventive horror-comedy.
12/19:
*First time viewing*
March of the Wooden Soldiers 3D (1934)
Funny (intentionally and unintentionally) and completely weird (and creepy looking at times) Laurel & Hardy MGM musical/comedy. The 3D is solid and actually fits the movie.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Clever, heartfelt and really funny adaptation done in the way only the Muppets could with Michael Caine making a pretty good Scrooge. My third favorite film version of Dickens' novel.
12/20:
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
Great entertainment for fans of extremely bad and cheaply made cinema with a lot charm to it.
12/21:
Mixed Nuts (1994)
Nora Ephron's underrated dark Christmas comedy. Essentric but has real charm, a great cast and it's really funny.
12/22:
*First time viewing*
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
Flat-out hilarious charmer with some nice songs sprinkled in. (The song "Silver Bells" originated here)
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas (2014)
Stylishly stop-motion animated musical version that's much livelier and way better than the original live action film.
Santa Claus is Coming To Town (1970)
Likeable in spots with some nice songs but has a lame story.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976)
Another likable but average Rankin-Bass special.
12/23:
Scrooged (1988)
The best of the contemporary adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Well written, inventive and outright funny with a rock solid cast and one of Bill Murray's best performances, comedic or dramatic.
Trading Places (1983)
Pure comedy gold on many levels from its clever script down to the performances from the cast. Even some of the smallest of things in the movie are down right hilarious.
12/24:
The Ref (1994)
Such a criminally underrated film. Solid drama mixed with a lot of dark humor done with real class.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
An outright comedy riot and the best in the Vacation franchise.
*First time viewing*
Better Watch Out (2017)
Starts cheerfully silly then descents in disturbing territory but overall it was a decent movie but way overhyped and not as clever as it thinks.
Christmas Evil (1980)
Underrated Christmas slasher that's much more than a mere cheap bloody slasher film. Despite its low budget shortcomings, it's a well directed and quite effective character study about one's deep obsession that's on the brink of madness.
Black Christmas (1974)
A pure unadulterated masterpiece of horror. Highly suspenseful and full of tension with plenty of humor at right moments. Avoid that butcher job embarrassment of a remake at all costs. This is the real deal.