Christmas Movies - Recommend and Review

[Deadset]

I've been getting into the spirit of things so far this year. Every year the family tries to watch holiday or Christmas movies that symbolize what this time of year means to us.

That said, I'm going to start a list similar to the Halloween thread I created in Oct. with a list of movies, synopsis (if not widely known) and ratings. I look forward to your recommendations and reviews of movies you've watched!

So far we have watched:

Christmas Vacation - 1989 - everyone knows this movie and if you don't run out and buy it. The 2nd best Christmas movie of the season

5/5 - Chevy Chase was at his prime in this movie. I absolutely love his neighboors. Classic. We watched this in blu-ray and it looks great, a worthy upgrade from my DVD. I have owned this since VHS and it's a must watch for us every year.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - 1964 - the one with Burl Ives. A great stop motion TV movie for you stop motion junkies. My favorite song is Misfits, which was originally replaced with another song 1 year after it's release, 1965, but was restored for the DVD set. A great addition to anyone's movie collection.

4.5/5 - Looks great upconverted

Elf - 2003 - I've read where many people hate this movie, however I consider this to be a great movie, one that will become a classic in years to come. With all the extremely bad newer christmas movies, this is a standout.

5/5 - looks ok upconverted, I'll be putting this on my blu-ray upgrade list

Muppet's Christmas Carol - 1992 - The muppets take on the famous Christmas Carol and knock this one out of the park. While a kids movie, we watch this every year and it's available on DVD. A great pickup for anyone who has not seen this movie and has children. Michael Caine does a fantastic job as Scrooge and it's a great mix of live characters and puppets.

4.5/5 - This movie looks great upconverted, for anyone looking for a great classic movie that can be enjoyed by parents (yes there are some funny subtle parent humor in it) and children, this is it.

[toef]

It's be too much work to give full written reviews, so I'll just be brief:

It's A Wonderful Life (1946): 5/5 --- the best "Christmas" movie, even though it's not really related to Christmas

Home Alone (1990): 3.5/5 --- I find it really re-watchable, and I always look forward to watching some it Thanksgiving night (if it's on TV), to kick things into the Christmas-season

Jingle All The Way (1996): 1/5 --- It's so bad that it's actually addicting to watch...for me, anyway. The Christmas after it came out, it was on one of the premium movie channels, and I remember waking up early on Christmas morning (maybe around 6am or so) and watching the entire movie two times through, and then about halfway through the 3rd go-round, I finally woke everyone else up.

[doctorD]

A Christmas Story: 5/5
This is one of my all time favorites to watch during the holidays. Can't get enough of it. Haven't watched the Blu ray version yet but will do so soon.

[Blu-Benny]

Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, The Muppets Christmas Carol are all great movies that we watch @ my house every year.

one i'll add:

Scrooged: yet another take on the classic xmas carol story this time starring Bill Murray. i love this movie too. haven't watched it yet this year so don't know how the PQ is.

[assydingo]

Invader Zim's 2-part Christmas episode is classic

[DigitalfreakNYC]

Love Actually 4.5/5
Die Hard 4.5/5
Die Hard 2 4/5
Gremlins 4.5/5

[Variable]

Die Hard - 5/5

Love, Actually - 4/5 I like to think of this as 5 of your favorite romantic comedies put in a blender and set in Engliand at Christmas time. I absolutely adore this movie, it's probably the only movie of the type I enjoy.

[wnicholas76]

1. A Christmas Story (1983)

5/5 - You have to see it! It's tradition! I'll be getting it on Blu-ray real soon!

2. The Polar Express (2004)

4.5/5 - An almost perfect film. Tom Hanks is excellent in his six roles, including the Hero Boy, the Conductor, and Santa Claus!

3. Jingle All the Way (1996)

4/5 - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad are at their hilarious best in this one!

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

5/5 - Another traditional Christmas movie that you have to watch! Chevy Chase has never been funnier!

5. Elf (2003)

5/5 - Will Ferrell is hilarious, especially amongst the likes of James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, and Bob Newhart! I'll be getting this one on Blu-ray also!

6. Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

4/5 - This isn't on Blu-ray yet, but I still watch this one whenever ABC Family airs it on TV. Still a classic in its own right. It stars the late, great Dudley Moore ("Arthur") as an elf named Patch. The film also features John Lithgow and Burgess Meredith ("Rocky").

7. Prancer (1989)

5/5 - Still a timeless classic after all these years! Not on Blu-ray yet, but still looking forward to that eventual Blu release! I never get tired of watching this one on DVD!

8. Love Actually (2003)

5/5 - Like the tagline of the film, it's "the ultimate romantic comedy"! Hugh Grant gives an excellent performance, as he leads an all-star cast including Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Martin Freeman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rowan Atkinson, and some cameo appearances by Billy Bob Thornton, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Claudia Schiffer, Shannon Elizabeth, and Denise Richards! Can't wait until Universal announces this one on Blu-ray!

[STARSCREAM]

Surprised noone has mentioned this one yet:

CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS: very funny, great family movie, great message.

Also:

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (live action version): Really liked this live version. Funny and good family movie.

[nycomet]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

Surprised noone has mentioned this one yet:
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (live action version): Really liked this live version. Funny and good family movie.

I'm with you STARSCREAM. Jim Carrey as The Grinch is nothing less than spectacular. I watched this on Sunday (ahem) on an oldray DVD
( ) and it wasn't that bad, upconverted. I can't wait for The Grinch to come out on BD (my fingers are crossed for next holiday season).
I also watched Polar Express (BD) again this weekend. This time I checked it out in 2D verses 3D. I just love this holiday film.

Christmas is coming up fast. I still need to watch A Christmas Story, Jungle All The Way, Fred Claus and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (all on BD). I already watched Elf and Home Alone (both are soooooooooo good!).

[nolfoc]

elf
home alone
how the grinch stole christmas(cartoon version)

[fronn]

Favorites of mine are:

Love Actually (5/5) - One of the best made movies of its kind.
Elf (5/5) - Easily one of Farrel's best.
White Christmas (5/5) - Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are awesome... totally classic.
A Christmas Story (5/5) - I watched it growing up each year (it was hard not to, seeing as it was on TV so damn often!) and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.

Another that I've watched every year since it came out:
Santa Claus 2 (4/5) - Tim Allen as Toy Santa makes me chuckle just thinking about it.

Scrooged, Home Alone and Santa Claus: The Movie also get watched from time to time.

[Grant Matrix]

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

It's really more of a one hour TV special than a movie, but anyone who grew up with HBO during the early years, might remeber this playing all the time in the month of December. Long before muppets Christmas Carol, Jim henson brought this tale to life. It's really family friendly, not always the happiest of tales, but in the end, really delivers the message about what the holiday season is truely about, family and friends depsite how hard times may become. It's a shame that it has never reached the same level as other TV specials, but is def worth seeing.

[Deadset]

We watched:

Prancer - I hadn't seen this before but was surprised to see the boy from Christmas vacation in it. Overall a great childrens movie for this time of year.

4/5

Up next of the list:

Love Actually - I'm SOOO glad you guys reminded me this takes place around Christmas. I have the DVD and it's a favorite of the wife and mine

also

Die Hard - another one I forgot that it takes place around Christmas time. Glad you guys reminded me!!!

Cheers!

[Grant Matrix]

Santa's Slay (2005)

Ok, it's not really a holiday movie in the traditional sense, but it is some great horror/comedy that really entertains. Santa wasn't always a saint. In fact Santa (Bill Goldberg) was a demonic killer who terrorized the world until an Angel won a bet with him, forcing Santa to becoming the icon we all know and love. But the bet is now over and Santa is hellbent on revenge and no one can stand in his way. This is some of the best holiday satire to ever grace the screen and it has an amazing cast to carry it along including Robert Culp and Emilie de Ravin.

[Deadset]

Bad (er) Santa - 2003 - While not the traditional Christmas movie, this crass movie has offended many people, but I find it a great adult movie. Here you have a guy who ultimately finds redemption in the eyes of a child...and a purpose to live. This movie is laugh out loud funny but also has a moral lesson that everyone is not hopeless and turning your life around is possible. It's sad that 2 very well known and talented actors have passed away from this movie way before their time, RIP John Ritter and Bernie Mac.

4.5/5 - Upconverted from DVD, the picture looks good, not the best. I look forward to the day I can upgrade the DVD to blu. Recommended for Big Lebowski fans as the Cohen Brothers produced this and it feels like one of their movies.

[Pelican170]

Just a little FYI, if you already own A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation on DVD, you really dont need to upgrade to blu. I did and kind of with I didnt since the PQ is not very good and the AQ is even worse... But I would suggest getting Elf, since it looks and sounds good...

[Deadset]

Originally Posted by doctorD

A Christmas Story: 5/5
This is one of my all time favorites to watch during the holidays. Can't get enough of it. Haven't watched the Blu ray version yet but will do so soon.

I have the blu-ray and that movie is reserved for Christmas eve and day. We tend to play it in the background as we go about our business. A classic movie, the ultimate Christmas movie, it'd take a miracle to knock this off the number 1 seat.

[jadedeath]

Originally Posted by fronn

Favorites of mine are:

Love Actually (5/5) - One of the best made movies of its kind.

Totally agree here, just looking at the special features and seeing how much work they put into the soundtrack alone is simply amazing.

Elf (5/5) - Easily one of Farrel's best.

Not saying much at all...

A Christmas Story (5/5) - I watched it growing up each year (it was hard not to, seeing as it was on TV so damn often!) and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.

I've never understood the fascination with this movie... I've always thought it sucked donkey balls.

Logan