25 Days Of Christmas Movies (2019)

[october27]

7th Annual 25 Days Of Christmas Movies!


Thanks everyone for being a part of this great event every year, enjoy the movies and enjoy this thread.


Since this is holiday based, the goal here is to watch 25 Holiday/Christmas themed movies (any movie counts as long as you consider it a Holiday/Christmas movie) starting Dec.1st leading up to Christmas (we know holidays can be busy so watch as little or as many movies as you like.) I am starting this early so feel free to start your holiday movies anytime and please give feedback etc on this event here.


Every time you watch a movie, make your post and give a rating and your thoughts on it. This should get everyone into the Christmas spirit and give us movie buffs ideas on movies we may not have seen. Please keep your thoughts generic and if you post spoilers, use the spoiler tags. The movies don't have to be on Blu-ray.


Happy Holidays And Enjoy Everyone!!!!

- Epic Disaster; one of the worst out there
- Tad under average (2.5 would make it an average viewing)
- Above average
- Great Highly Recommended
- Masterpiece!; one of the best


Previous 25 Days of Christmas

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

All credit and thanks to Snobird, original thread creator.

[CelluloidPal]

11/27:
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) (New to 4K UltraHD) An annual fave with a nice 4K transfer.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
11/29:
Christmas staples
Scrooge (1951)
An American Christmas Carol (1979)
11/30:
Christmas staple
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
12/1:
Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979)
The Glo Friends Save Christmas (1985) *First time viewing*
Well, here's one from the archives. A charming but standard nostalgia trip.
12/2:
Christmas staples
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) *New to 4K Ultra HD*
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992) *New to 4K Ultra HD*
Both have neat 4K transfers though I enjoyed Christmastime Again as it's much more livelier and funnier than A Charlie Brown Christmas, which despite having some funny moments and the iconic music of Vince Guaraldi, it was mainly a downer but still worthy of being a Christmas staple.
12/3:
The Christmas Tree (1991) *First time viewing* 1/2 I've seen some bad Christmas specials in my lifetime but this one is on a whole other level that words can't even do justice to adequately describe. The animation, the story, the voice acting, the editing were just abysmal. This one truly has to be seen to believed. What an embarrassment.
How Murray Saved Christmas (2014) *Dish On Demand*
A truly odd yet funny and clever Christmas special with great voice talent lead by Jerry Stiller as the title character.
12/4:
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)
12/5:
The Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper (2005) 1/2
Funny short film spin off but nothing all that special or memorable. Oddly, this was the short that was shown before Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which was released in October.
The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) *First time viewing*
Rankin/Rass' dark and downright bizarre rehash of Santa Claus is Coming to Town mixed in with Lord of the Rings. Honestly don't know what to make of this one.
12/6:]
Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays (2012) 1/2
The standard Scooby-Doo shenanigans but still a fun watch.
Frosty the Snowman (1969) Last season, I gave this a 5 and still remain a delightful and fun filled watch but the story does have much breathing space, which is something that is become more and more noticeable.
Cricket on the Hearth (1967) *First time viewing* 1/2
While the animation wasn't the best, this Charles Dickens based story is one of the more straight forward, more focused and better structured of the Rankin/Bass specials despite a few quite interesting additions, to say the least. Danny Thomas and his daughter, Marlo along with Roddy McDowall were great here and the songs are quite beautiful.
Surprised to find out that Aaron Spelling was a producer on this.
12/7:
Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas (1977) *First time viewing*
I remember seeing bits and pieces growing up but this is the first time watching the whole thing. This has to be one of Jim Henson's best works with some truly impressive puppetry and even more impressively detailed, elaborate sets.
You can also throw in great music by Paul Williams and a simple yet heartfelt story at its core. A truly underrated Christmas special.
12/8:
Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976)
It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
12/9:
The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973) *First time viewing*
There's a few moments of delight and humor but a lackluster story that's hard to buy into lets it all down.
12/10:
Gremlins (1984) *Regal 4DX screening*
Nice to see this on the big screen again. The 4DX experience for this was kinda neat but overall, the movie stills holds up and is still an awesome flick after 30 years and I have the 4K Blu-Ray en route to me.
12/11:
Christmas staples
Yogi Bear's All-Star Christmas Caper (1982)
Christmas Comes to Pacland (1982)
12/12:
Christmas staple
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Deck The Halls (1994) (Amazon Prime)
Haven't seen this one in while since it was on Fox Family (currently known as Freeform). The story's pretty standard about two orphans choosing between their loving uncle or their selfish aunt and should've been a little longer to flesh things out some more but it's still enjoyable and worth checking out if you have Prime especially for the aunt character because it was quite funny watching her trying to get the kids to like her.
12/13:
Christmas Eve (1947) *First time viewing*
A dull and disjointed mix of film noir and family drama that fails at both.
12/14:
O' Christmas Tree (1999) (Vudu) *First time viewing* 1/2
Though it has a ton of the Yuletide spirit, it still winds up being an average effort. Familiar story but has decent animation with a few humorous spots.
Santa's Christmas Crash (1995) (Vudu) *First time viewing*
I can't make heads or tails of this one. All I know that it's not any good.
12/15:
Santa's Christmas Snooze (1995) *First time viewing* Interesting story letdown by a less than solid execution.
Holiday Affair (1949) *First time viewing* 1/2
Despite being released in the 40s, it felt a lot like many modern rom-coms in a way.
Though heartfelt and charming with many great performances from Robert Mitchum in role that was a change of pace for him back then,
Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey in a thankless role, the movie wasn't quite engaging enough for me.
12/16:
Remember The Night (1940) *First time viewing*
The charisma of Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck and a few solid moments here and there isn't enough to mask an unengaging film with a nonsensical plot setup.
12/17:
Black Christmas (1974) *Theatrical screening*
The original and the best. It was such a treat to see this on the big screen and it still remains a horror/suspense masterpiece.
12/18:
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
12/19:
A Christmas Carol (2019) *FX Premiere*
Despite some good performances of Guy Pearce, Stephen Graham and Andy Serkis, this is the absolute darkest, bleakest adaptation of Dickens' story that I've seen and it seriously lacks any form of heart, soul or redemptive joy that comes with the story and the changes made to the story borders on disturbing and cringey, thanks to some truly unnecessary subplots that makes it much longer than it needed to be.
It just doesn't work in any sort of way and it's a complete disappointment.
12/20:
Christmas staple
The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974)
Christmas Eve (1986) *First time viewing*
A made for TV remake of the 1947 film that drops the film noir and goes full on family drama and it's a major improvement. While cliched and predictable in a Hallmark Hall of Fame kind of way, it's still a solid story that's engaging, full of heart and really emotional where you might get a teary eyed.
Loretta Young and Trevor Howard are magnificent here but the performances all around are really good along with a beautiful score. (If you are familiar with A Christmas Love Song, it spawned from this film.)
12/21:
Christmas Staples
The Lawrence Welk Show Christmas Reunion (1985) 1/2
Goof Troop: Have Yourself A Goofy Little Christmas (1993) 1/2
Toy Tinkers (1949) Funny and delightful Donald Duck/Chip & Dale short.
Trading Places (1983)
12/22:
29th Street (1991) *First time viewing*
I went to look this one up in tribute to Danny Aiello. It's been described as a mix of It's A Wonderful Life and Goodfellas and that's an accurate description.
The movie overall is just fantastic. Filled with laughs and it's matched by its pure emotion and heart that leaves you floating on cloud nine with a huge smile on your face. The performances from Aiello and Anthony LaPaglia were extraordinary and the chemistry between the two as father and son was incredible. This just showed what a great actor Aiello was. A true undiscovered gem of a movie that's worth finding.
RIP Danny.
Christmas Staples
A Christmas Carol (1984) *35th Anniversary*
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) *30th Anniversary*

After 30 years, it still remains not only the best in the Vacation franchise but still remains one of the funniest Christmas flicks ever thanks to John Hughes' witty and heartfelt script and a talented cast. Perhaps a 4K release is in order.
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) *55th Anniversary*
The story is heavily flawed and inconsistent but has plenty of charm, delight and good songs to make it a worthwhile Christmas staple.
12/23:
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch 3D (2018) 1/2
I never understood the hate for this one. Unlike the live action Jim Carrey version,
it wasn't a carbon copy of the 1966 classic nor was it over the top clownish as this was much funnier, more heartfelt and just outright cute
with an better story, colorful characters and beautiful animation and design (which looks awesome in 3D).
This stood on its own and it's really fun and joyous movie to watch.
White Christmas (1954) *65th Anniversary*
12/24:
Elf: Buddy's Musical Adventure (2014)
*Christmas staple*
Scrooged (1988)
Sonic's Christmas Blast (1996) Funny and enjoyable Christmas episode of the syndicated animated series.
Silent Night (2012)
One of the few slasher remakes/reimaginings that improves upon and exceeds the original. Despite a few silly moments, it's still a nasty, vicious yet bold and fun Christmas slasher that delivers plenty of bloody mayhem along with a lot of funny dark humor.
*Christmas staple*
Christmas Evil aka You Better Watch Out (1980)
*12th Annual Christmas Eve viewing*
Black Christmas (1974)
Despite seeing this on the big screen a week ago, our household's Christmas Eve tradition continues.

[Peavey]

Reserved

[AaronJ]

RESERVED

I'm really going to try this year. Holiday films are not normally my bailiwick, but this year I'm going for it. I'll try and create a mixture of favorites I've seen numerous times and try and see a good number of first-time movies.

I am going to probably start this weekend, though.

[rocklobster]

Reserved!

I actually planned what movies our family are going to watch this year! We started last Friday, 11/15, with Noelle, and every night we have my stepdaughter, we watch/start watching one. So far we've watched Noelle and The Holiday (that one was just for my wife & I).

[Falaskan]

Yay!

[HD Canuck]

Right on. Gonna start when the Grey Cup wraps-up here in Calgary. We got a blast of winter coming next week so that will be a good time to start.

[AaronJ]

A blast of winter? In Calgary?

Yeah. That's probably a perfect time.

[HD Canuck]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

A blast of winter? In Calgary?

What people don't understand is we get Chinooks here coming out from Bow Valley by Banff. Get a day of snow and cold, and then warmth. Temps are in the pluses now, but going down to -11C on Wednesday.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by HD Canuck

What people don't understand is we get Chinooks here coming out from Bow Valley by Banff. Get a day of snow and cold, and then warmth. Temps are in the pluses now, but going down to -11C on Wednesday.

One of my close friends in Madison was from near Calgary. She used to talk about the weather now and then.

I've always wanted to visit that part of Canada. I just haven't made it out West yet -- just places like Windsor, Ottawa, Quebec City, etc. My parents really loved both Calgary and Vancouver.

[Bullitt]

Reserved.I'll see how many I get watched.

[MifuneFan]

If anyone has Netflix, I hear the animated movie Klaus is pretty excellent. Will definitely be watching it myself for the holidays.

[tcripe]

Watching Die Hard 25 days in a row lol

[hagios]

Running Tab

*First Time Viewing

Cup of tea theatre

11/22/19

Planes, Trains and Automobiles



A John Hughes screwball classic with the great comedic team of Steve Martin as (Neal Page), an advertising exec trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving and John Candy as (Del Griffith) a very lovable, awkward shower curtain-ring salesman who ends up with Page across country in all kinds of mishaps with transportation. My 'cup of tea'!



11/23



A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving



SPEND THANKSGIVING WITH GOOD OL’ CHARLIE BROWN!
Turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie… and the Peanuts gang to share them with. This is going to be the greatest Thanksgiving ever! The fun begins when Peppermint Patty invites herself and her pals to Charlie Brown’s house for a REALLY big turkey party. Good grief! All our hero can cook is cold cereal and maybe toast. Is Charlie Brown doomed? Not when Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock chip in to save the (Thanksgiving) Day. With such good friends, Charlie Brown – and all of us – have so many reasons to be thankful.

11/24



*One Special Night



Julie Andrews and James Garner portray two strangers who take refuge in a small cabin during a stormy winter night and, despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, they are undeniably drawn to one another in this holiday classic that demonstrates once again the charisma that has made them two of the world's most beloved stars.

12/5



*A Christmas Carol (1999)



Scrooge is a miserly old businessman in 1840s London. One Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of Marley, his dead business partner. Marley foretells that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits, each of whom will attempt to show Scrooge the error of his ways. Will Scrooge reform his ways in time to celebrate Christmas?

[Falaskan]

Noelle on Disney+ looks perfect. Will definitely be checking out closer to Xmas.

[october27]

1. A CHRISTMAS CAROL 1938

I'm kicking it off with my favorite story/ book/ movie of all time. I now own 6 movie versions having added this one to my collection since last year's marathon. Reginald Owen gives a great performance as Scrooge and the rest of the cast also do a great job in bringing the world of 1840's London to life. It's not as elaborate or special effects filled as the more modern versions but I loved every moment especially since I'm not as familiar with it compared to some of the others. I might check this out again closer to Christmas day and will no doubt enjoy revisiting it again around holiday times in the future.

[hagios]

11/23



A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Oh Chuck and the gang are up for a little Thanksgiving party, thanks to master chef Snoopy and his pal Woodstock! Looks like more of a stomach-ache Snoopy... the sly little pup had his way in the end! A timeless classic, that I always enjoy, my 'cup of tea'!

[october27]

Originally Posted by hagios

11/23



A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Oh Chuck and the gang are up for a little Thanksgiving party, thanks to master chef Snoopy and his pal Woodstock! Looks like more of a stomach-ache Snoopy... the sly little pup had his way in the end! A timeless classic, that I always enjoy, my 'cup of tea'!

I just picked up this set for the Halloween and Christmas episodes. Both come on tv each year but I seem to always miss them the last few years. I guess I have never seen the Thanksgiving special so I will have to check it out in the next few days.

[hagios]

11/24



One Special Night

Kinda sappy for me. However I did enjoy James Garner and Julie Andrews and it had some special moments w/them dealing with loss of their loved ones.

[RickyBetter]

Originally Posted by hagios

11/23



A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Oh Chuck and the gang are up for a little Thanksgiving party, thanks to master chef Snoopy and his pal Woodstock!...

As a wee lad, I found popcorn not all that great tasting. It's possible that that cartoon was responsible for my turnaround and continued mass servings of popcorn. Yummy! lol