Christmas Movies

[Shannon L.]

6 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Also Cĺark sexually harassing tye lingirie sales woman? I don't see it. He says some inappropriate things by mistake and then apologizes.

Yeah, from what I remember of the scene, he was flustered in front of a girl that he found attractive, misspoke, tried to cover, then got more flustered and kept digging the hole deeper from there. 

I also don't remember his wife taking her time to fix the light problem.  She turned on the switch to look at the cords to make sure it was all plugged in and didn't realize that the lights had come on.  Then, a minute after walking out, it dawned on her what the problem was and she went back in and fixed it.

It's a silly movie, but I still enjoy it. 

[SlovakPrincess]

I enjoy most parts of Home Alone - Kevin’s initial panic then exhilaration at having the house to himself, the scary elderly neighbor who turns out to be kind, and the mom doing everything she can to get home when she realizes - EXCEPT that I actually hate the revenge on the burglars, which is too gruesome and cartoony for me.   

 

White Christmas I always enjoy ... though it always bugs me that the housekeeper never owns up to causing the misunderstanding between Bob and Betty!   “Gee, Betty just took off, weird” —- YEAH, LADY, ‘CAUSE YOU MISTAKENLY THOUGHT BOB WAS EXPLOITING THE KINDLY GENERAL AND TOLD BETTY THAT!  

[GreekGeek]

I watched The Ref for the first time this year. Knowing what I know now about Kevin Spacey made it a bit less fun, but it had some good bits, like the arguments between Spacey and Judy Davis; and the dysfunctional  extended family that included Glynis Johns and Christine Baranski. I don't know that I'll make an annual tradition of watching it, though.

Speaking of annual tradition--are there any Christmas movies that you first watched as an adult that you make it a point to watch annually? Or is it strictly a "childhood memories" thing for you?

[SlovakPrincess]

On December 31, 2017 at 3:31 PM, GreekGeek said:

Speaking of annual tradition--are there any Christmas movies that you first watched as an adult that you make it a point to watch annually? Or is it strictly a "childhood memories" thing for you?

 

The Holiday and Elf joined the annual holiday must-see list after I hit adulthood.  

[festivus]

Christmas Vacation every year. Always, always funny. :)

 

Did anyone watch that Netflix movie El Camino Christmas? Based on some of the people that were in it I thought it was going to a funny movie. It was not.

[BetterButter]

[Dandesun]

Come this weekend, we will be watching Christmas Chronicles at my house. Because it's Kurt Russell. As Santa. And, sometimes, that's all I need. My younger sister and I watched the trailer the other day (and we'll soon be done with the Great British Baking Show so we need something else, dammit) and it looked fun and silly and, you know, we love Kurt Russell in our family. My youngest sister lives up in the Bay Area and just watched this the other day with her almost 3 year old. She commented about still having issues with losing father stories... which we all do even if it's been 14 years. I got after her for watching it in November (show some restraint!!) and she fired back with 'it's after Thanksgiving, it's allowed!'

ANYWAY, there will probably be some emotional moments but... again... Kurt Russell as Santa. We are there.

And then we'll bust out White Christmas because we love it so so very much.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'll be kicking off the weekend with Die-Hard (Shut up! It is SO a Christmas movie, even if it came our in the summer of '88!) and Home Alone.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'll be kicking off the weekend with Die-Hard (Shut up! It is SO a Christmas movie, even if it came our in the summer of '88!) and Home Alone.

DAMN STRAIGHT!

[GHScorpiosRule]

I'll tell ya what I'm gonna give you, Snake...I'm gonna give you to the count of ten...to get your ugly yella, no good keister off my property before I pump your guts full o' lead. one...two...TEN!"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATTTTT!!!!!

"HAHAHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! Keep the change you filthy animal."

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[anna0852]

Did Christmas With The Kranks tick anyone else off? Terrible message about conforming to the community! Why is it any of the neighbors business what the Kranks do for the holiday? Deciding to travel (and still including the charitable giving by the way) is perfectly reasonable. Especially in light of the fact that their only child will be away.

[andromeda331]

12 hours ago, anna0852 said:

Did Christmas With The Kranks tick anyone else off? Terrible message about conforming to the community! Why is it any of the neighbors business what the Kranks do for the holiday? Deciding to travel (and still including the charitable giving by the way) is perfectly reasonable. Especially in light of the fact that their only child will be away.

It really is. I don't understand how it can't be a great way to spend the holiday or means their anti-Christmas. 

[weightyghost]

The Christmas movie that I have to watch every year would be Grinch - both cartoon and Jim Carrey. 

Others I'll watch if I come across them or if I'm in the mood, but some have lost appeal over the years. But Grinch always makes my heart grow three sizes. 

 

 

Funnily enough, I was reading back through this thread and found that I had commented the exact same thing four years ago...

Edited December 1, 2018 by weightyghost

[Spartan Girl]

Trading Places is one of my favorite "not Christmasy but still Christmas" movies. Yeah they'd NEVER be able to make it today, and that's just fine because it's hilarious as is. I don't know why Dan eating a salmon through that gross Santa beard is so funny, it just is.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Christmas Movies I tend to watch every year even though I don't LOVE them:

Elf:  I don't even really think I love this movie, but I watch it every year anyway - I do LIKE it
While You were Sleeping and The Family Stone:  Newer traditions for me.  The former really grew on me, the latter again, I don't even think I really like this movie, but I do watch it every year. 
The Family Man, another one: I like this one
Home Alone 2:  I can never get through it, but I love the first half.
Four Christmases:  It's not great, but it gets a couple of laughs out of me.

 

Christmas Movies I DO love (they simply take place at Christmas):

Bridget Jones' Diary, Trading Places (mentioned upthread - it is so freaking watchable), Edward Scissorhands, Eyes Wide Shut, The Holiday, Obsessed (I have an OBSESSION with this one), Sex and the City, Mean Girls, Sleepless in Seattle 

Here's a few I tend to watch even though they are not Christmas related (they are either winter, or family themed, or both):

Groundhog Day (I know, it makes no sense), Meet the Parents, Dumb and Dumber, Uncle Buck, Mrs. Doubtfire

Edited December 2, 2018 by Ms Blue Jay

[amaranta]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:21 PM, Dandesun said:

Come this weekend, we will be watching Christmas Chronicles at my house. Because it's Kurt Russell. As Santa.

This movie had everything in it but the kitchen sink... and I loved it.  First, yes, Kurt Russell. Then great cameos, kickass elves that seemed equal parts Ewoks AND Gremlins, a cheesy but oh so fun musical performance, gorgeous reindeer, and even a shout out to the full moon flight ET sequence.  And they saved the best cameo for last. 

 

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:21 PM, Dandesun said:

She commented about still having issues with losing father stories..

I was able to handle it and I was wary for similar reasons.  Last year I lost both my Mom and Step-Dad, and no, I am still not okay.  But for some reason this movie made me feel a bit better for a little while.  It's just lots of silly fun and the missing Dad parts were not too heavy-handed.

[Dandesun]

Okay but YouTube, y'all... where I have found Christmas Specials of Years Past... like John Denver and the Muppets, and Dean Martin, and Johnny Cash. And they are all spectacular and cheesy as all fuck but so what?! Haven't watched Dolly Parton's 1990 Christmas Special yet but that's on the list. Along with Bing (natch) and Judy and Bob and Andy Williams.

[tennisgurl]

On 11/30/2018 at 8:47 AM, anna0852 said:

Did Christmas With The Kranks tick anyone else off?

*raises hand* Its such a messed up movie, which basically has the message of "conformity is good, and not conforming to the suburban hive mind is bad" and pretty much everyone other than the daughter and her fiance is an asshole, or just super strange acting, so hard to really root for anyone. Its part of a weirdly specific genre of Christmas movies, the "middle aged suburban asshole drags family into his midlife crisis" movies, where middle aged suburban guy becomes obsessed with something related to Christmas and its commercial trappings, and has to learn some half assed lesson at the end. Jingle All The Way? Deck the Halls? And even good movies, like The Santa Claus and Christmas Vacation, basically fit. 

[Kel Varnsen]

Watched Santa Clause 2 with my kids yesterday and it got me thinking, if the contract requires Santa to have a wife, what happned to the previous Mrs. Clause after the previous Santa died in the 1st movie.

Also on a side note, even in a movie about Santa, elves and Christmas magic the hardest thing to believe was that Tim Allen (even with his Santa magic) was anywhere close to being in the same league as Elizabeth Mitchell.

[Sara2009]

Has anyone else seen “ Arthur Christmas?” It’s an underrated gem.

[Which Tyler]

It's excellent, but I'm not sure it's that under-rated, makes regular appearance in "top 20 Christmas films" type lists. But I guess it may be better known in the UK than US?

Edited December 9, 2018 by Which Tyler

[Sara2009]

1 hour ago, Which Tyler said:

It's excellent, but I'm not sure it's that under-rated, makes regular appearance in "top 20 Christmas films" type lists. But I guess it may be better known in the UK than US?

Maybe. I hardly ever hear about it in the US, but I could just be out of the loop.

[Captain Carrot]

Just did the annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life. Followed by the annual viewing of the movie's lost ending.

[Spartan Girl]

I like the "lost ending" better 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[tennisgurl]

"I dont want the money, I want a piece of you, Potter!" 

Oh, that never gets old. 

[Dandesun]

"You made one mistake, Potter, you double-crossed me and you left me alive!!"

I love this so much that it's kind of a drag to watch the movie and not see this at the end of it. It really feels like they dropped the ball not having Old Man Potter get called out at the very least for what he did. Yeah, yeah, friends and coming together and heartwarming and all that... I still think they could have done something about finding out what really happened.

Also, that particular Shatner-hosted Christmas episode is one of my favorites. It's got Shatner with the Sweeney Sisters, too, and that's just gold.

[tennisgurl]

Apparently in an original version of the movie, Potter died of a heart attack, and as he was dying, Clarence showed up to tell him what a crappy person he was, and how karma was a real bitch. I mean, not in those words, but yeah. But they thought that was too macabre of an ending for their feel good Christmas movie, so they just had George getting his happy ending. I get that, but I always hated that Potter never got any comeuppance, beyond his evil plan to screw George over not working.

[andromeda331]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 10:56 AM, Dandesun said:

"You made one mistake, Potter, you double-crossed me and you left me alive!!"

I love this so much that it's kind of a drag to watch the movie and not see this at the end of it. It really feels like they dropped the ball not having Old Man Potter get called out at the very least for what he did. Yeah, yeah, friends and coming together and heartwarming and all that... I still think they could have done something about finding out what really happened.

Also, that particular Shatner-hosted Christmas episode is one of my favorites. It's got Shatner with the Sweeney Sisters, too, and that's just gold.

 

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Apparently in an original version of the movie, Potter died of a heart attack, and as he was dying, Clarence showed up to tell him what a crappy person he was, and how karma was a real bitch. I mean, not in those words, but yeah. But they thought that was too macabre of an ending for their feel good Christmas movie, so they just had George getting his happy ending. I get that, but I always hated that Potter never got any comeuppance, beyond his evil plan to screw George over not working.

That's why I've always hated that movie. After all that crap he went through and all the crap Potter pulled I want to see him get his comeuppance. I mean yea George got his happy ending. But why can't it be both? George gets his happy ending and Potter gets what's coming to him.   

[methodwriter85]

10 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

That's why I've always hated that movie. After all that crap he went through and all the crap Potter pulled I want to see him get his comeuppance. I mean yea George got his happy ending. But why can't it be both? George gets his happy ending and Potter gets what's coming to him.   

1980's SNL agrees with you:

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

1980's SNL agrees with you:

Now that was a much better ending!

[Dandesun]

On 12/11/2018 at 7:03 PM, tennisgurl said:

Apparently in an original version of the movie, Potter died of a heart attack, and as he was dying, Clarence showed up to tell him what a crappy person he was, and how karma was a real bitch. I mean, not in those words, but yeah. But they thought that was too macabre of an ending for their feel good Christmas movie, so they just had George getting his happy ending. I get that, but I always hated that Potter never got any comeuppance, beyond his evil plan to screw George over not working.

Really? Too macabre? Did they not notice the whole fucking rest of the movie? 'It's A Wonderful Life' is DARK. And I don't think it would have taken anything away from George's ending to show Clarence visiting Potter and basically saying 'It's too late for you. You do not get the redemption Ebenezer Scrooge did. You just get to die, miserable and alone, and you will receive YOUR just reward.' And then they can go back to George's house where everyone's singing and the bell rings.

I'd have been fine with that. Potter having to answer for something would have been much appreciated.

[auntiemel]

All of the talk in this thread about both Die Hard and Home Alone reminds me of the line in Brooklyn 99 where Boyle points out that it makes sense that Jake loved Home Alone when he was little, as it's basically Die Hard for kids. :)

As to my favorite Christmas movies, I love:

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
• Prancer
• The Preacher's Wife (huge gospel fan, I freaking LOVE the music)
• Muppet Christmas Carol
• Christmas Vacation
• Scrooged (again, even if the movie wasn't great, that version of Put a Little Love in Your Heart at the end....JUST STOP!!!)
• It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (1984 Mickey Rooney/Scott Grimes movie I loved as a kid. Haven't seen it for years, though!)

Also, I watched the below movie a few years ago - Angels Sing, with Harry Connick Jr and Connie Britton. I first watched it as a goof, because I was like, "Girl, I saw another story where you were given a home at significantly below market value and let's just say it did NOT work out." But I surprised myself by liking it!
 

[xls]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762121/videoplayer/vi1224147225?ref_=tt_ov_vi# The Nativity Story (2006)

Joseph had to be a pretty cool guy and a supportive partner. The movie shows Mary and Joseph as people. Also I love the way this movie shows what every day life must have been like for them. 

Little Women

Unlike most Christmas movies it shows a family that doesn't have much, but still shares what they have. 

[tennisgurl]

Another bit of Its A Wonderful Life Trivia: The movie was investigated by the the US government as possible communist propaganda, due to its supposedly negative portrayal of the free market, the upper class, and bankers!

Going to watch A Muppet Christmas Carol tonight, and I swear I love it more every year. Its just so much fun, while actually having a lot of real emotion, and keeping to the heart of the story, even with Muppet shenanigans going on. 

[Lugal]

On 12/11/2018 at 8:03 PM, tennisgurl said:

Apparently in an original version of the movie, Potter died of a heart attack, and as he was dying, Clarence showed up to tell him what a crappy person he was, and how karma was a real bitch. I mean, not in those words, but yeah. But they thought that was too macabre of an ending for their feel good Christmas movie, so they just had George getting his happy ending. I get that, but I always hated that Potter never got any comeuppance, beyond his evil plan to screw George over not working.

Although considering the rules in Hollywood at the time forbid things like portraying bankers as evil or glorifying the struggle of the common man, I guess we were lucky for what we got.

On edit, just noticed your bit of trivia.  I always had to respect It's a Wonderful Life for how subversive it really was at the time, although I do like the lost SNL ending where Potter does get his comeuppance.

Edited December 19, 2018 by Lugal

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

 

Going to watch A Muppet Christmas Carol tonight, and I swear I love it more every year. Its just so much fun, while actually having a lot of real emotion, and keeping to the heart of the story, even with Muppet shenanigans going on. 

"We're Marley and Marley! WOOOOOOOOOOO!"

[Spartan Girl]

Does anyone remember the 90s Nutcracker movie with Macauley Culkin? Dug it up on Netflix last week. It was the first version I ever saw as a kid and I liked it fine enough back then. But now that I've seen other productions...yeah, this wasn't the best one. It was obvious they only cast Macauley because of how big he was. Poor kid, he tried, but not the best ballet dancer.

My favorite version of Nutcracker is the Royal Ballet one from a couple years back.

[luvthepros]

I'm probably in the minority here but I keep The Hallmark Channel on a continuous loop in the month of December. Some of those movies I've "seen" countless times. I don't actually sit down and watch them after the first or second time but they are on in the house when I'm home (much to my husband's dismay. He stays clear of the living room TV in December). My favorites are "A Dream of Christmas" with Nicki Deloach and Andrew Walker and the other movie tied for the first place is "A Christmas Detour" with Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Greene.

I'm not too fond of the movies Hallmark has put out for 2018 but a good one is "A Shoe Addict's Christmas". It is a take on "It's a Wonderful Life". The movie stars Candace Cameron Bure and Luke MacFarlane is her male lead. Jean Smart is the guardian angel and she is a real hoot in this movie.

 

 

 

[methodwriter85]

On 12/18/2018 at 8:05 PM, Lugal said:

Although considering the rules in Hollywood at the time forbid things like portraying bankers as evil or glorifying the struggle of the common man, I guess we were lucky for what we got.

I think they got away with it because George isn't actually from a poor family. He clearly comes from a well-to-do family, but he doesn't live extravagantly because they are always giving to those in need instead of using money on themselves. George represents the "good" banker who builds up the community while Potter is allowed to be the bad, greedy banker.

[Ms Blue Jay]

21 hours ago, luvthepros said:

I'm probably in the minority here but I keep The Hallmark Channel on a continuous loop in the month of December. Some of those movies I've "seen" countless times. I don't actually sit down and watch them after the first or second time but they are on in the house when I'm home (much to my husband's dismay. He stays clear of the living room TV in December). My favorites are "A Dream of Christmas" with Nicki Deloach and Andrew Walker and the other movie tied for the first place is "A Christmas Detour" with Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Greene.

I'm not too fond of the movies Hallmark has put out for 2018 but a good one is "A Shoe Addict's Christmas". It is a take on "It's a Wonderful Life". The movie stars Candace Cameron Bure and Luke MacFarlane is her male lead. Jean Smart is the guardian angel and she is a real hoot in this movie.

Thanks, I'm always looking for recommendations on these because there's way too many to choose from.  I saw Holidaze with Jenni Garth and I actually really genuinely liked it.

[blugirlami21]

On 12/24/2018 at 2:22 PM, luvthepros said:

I'm probably in the minority here but I keep The Hallmark Channel on a continuous loop in the month of December. Some of those movies I've "seen" countless times. I don't actually sit down and watch them after the first or second time but they are on in the house when I'm home (much to my husband's dismay. He stays clear of the living room TV in December). My favorites are "A Dream of Christmas" with Nicki Deloach and Andrew Walker and the other movie tied for the first place is "A Christmas Detour" with Candace Cameron Bure and Paul Greene.

I'm not too fond of the movies Hallmark has put out for 2018 but a good one is "A Shoe Addict's Christmas". It is a take on "It's a Wonderful Life". The movie stars Candace Cameron Bure and Luke MacFarlane is her male lead. Jean Smart is the guardian angel and she is a real hoot in this movie.

 

 

 

 

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of A Dream For Christmas?  I really liked the movie but I felt there wasn't enough conflict in her relationship to make her experience a what if you hadn't met your husband type of scenario.  In the end I felt like that angel was punishing her for no reason.  Sure she appreciated her husband a lot more afterwards but I felt she prob would have done that on her own.

[luvthepros]

16 hours ago, blugirlami21 said:

 

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of A Dream For Christmas?  I really liked the movie but I felt there wasn't enough conflict in her relationship to make her experience a what if you hadn't met your husband type of scenario.  In the end I felt like that angel was punishing her for no reason.  Sure she appreciated her husband a lot more afterwards but I felt she prob would have done that on her own.

Her life was chaotic with her sister's family living with her and hubby. She did not look happy at all. In the beginning of the movie when she woke up, she gave her husband a look that gave me the impression she was not at all happy with him either. It was a look of disdain.

I think the premise worked. Another one of those movies that followed the "It's a Wonderful Life" formula.
 

[xaxat]

Last summer Bruce Willis was the subject of a comedy roast. The final words of his acceptance speech? "Die Hard is not a Christmas movie!" 

He is wrong.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper has an unhealthy obsession with proving this fact.

On 12/1/2018 at 5:47 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Trading Places is one of my favorite "not Christmasy but still Christmas" movies. Yeah they'd NEVER be able to make it today, and that's just fine because it's hilarious as is. I don't know why Dan eating a salmon through that gross Santa beard is so funny, it just is.

Given that people are far more aware of income inequality, I think you could remake it (minus the gorilla rape). Except for one big problem. 

The movie inspired a real life financial rule to prevent what happened in the movie.

Quote

Finally, we have recommended banning using misappropriated government information to trade in the commodity markets. Many of you in this audience may have seen the movie “Trading Places,” starring Eddie Murphy. In the movie, the Duke brothers intend to profit from trades in frozen orange juice futures using an illicitly obtained and not yet public Department of Agriculture orange crop report. Characters played by Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd intercept the misappropriated report and trade on it to profit and ruin the Duke brothers. In real life, using such misappropriated government information actually is not illegal under our statute. To prevent misappropriation and misuse of such information, we have recommended what we call the “Eddie Murphy” rule to ban insider trading using nonpublic information acquired from a government source.

That quote is from an official US government document.

(I wonder how Dan feels about getting left out?)

Edited December 28, 2018 by xaxat

[Ms Blue Jay]

Normal for Canadians.

[BetterButter]

[Chaos Theory]

I will watch any and all versions of A Christmas Carol.  I even like the old musical one.  “Thank you very much” and “I hate People” are still two of my favorite songs ever.

Other than that I try to avoid Christmas themed tv at any and all costs.

[Zola]

I will be making a point of watching "The Haunting" on Christmas Eve night, because I want to be scared shitless; and to watch "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" on Christmas Day, for that feelgood factor.

[proserpina65]

I finally got to see my favorite Christmas movie on a big screen (I'd only ever seen it on tv).  Damn, but Die Hard looked magnificent that way, and there were details I'd never noticed before.  For example, when Reginald VelJohnson's character, Al,  is walking in the hallway off the lobby of the Nakatomi building, there is one of the 'terrorists' standing a bit farther down the hall behind a pillar; all you can see of him is the machine gun and his hand/arm.  Al turns away just in time to avoid getting killed.

[kiddo82]

So I'm watching The Family Stone as I do every year.  I'll be the first person to admit, this is not a good movie and it's about terrible people.  The worst kind of people in fact as they pride themselves on being so open and progressive when all they do is judge and judge and judge. It's eye rollingly annoying how perfect they think they are vs how awful they really are.  Having said that, and the reason I pull this one out every year, I love the brief Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas scene.  I love the original melancholy version of the song and you have that playing over an appropriately melancholy face of the eldest (and least objectionable, IMO) daughter as she marinates over the fact that this will be the last Christmas with her family as she knows it and it's a really good moment in a movie that is mostly devoid of them.  Pair that with a seasonal adult beverage and I'll be damned if it doesn't get me every time.

Edited December 24, 2019 by kiddo82

[Chas411]

They’re such an utterly awful family though. Especially Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams.