Access Atlanta > Movies > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 03 > Entry
What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s that time of year, when we cozy up near the fireplace to watch our favorite holiday movies. I’ve realized over the years, that my favorite Christmas movies are as much about memories and traditions as about the movie themselves. So it’s no surprise then that my top five list has not changed much in the past 15 years except for one movie that came out in 2004.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This is a movie that I watch every year. In fact, for years, I didn’t get in the Christmas spirit until I’d seen that little doggie trying to pull that humongous sled of stolen toys up the mountain. But watching the Grinch’s heart grow three times bigger just before he returns the items to Whoville is what Christmas is all about.
The Year Without A Santa Claus. “I’m Mr. Heat Miser, I’m Mr. Sun. I’m Mr. Green Christmas. I’m Mr. Heat Blister. I’m Mr. Hundred and One. They call me Heat Miser. Whatever I touch starts to melt in my clutch. I’m too much.” Okay, I watch just to hear the Snow Miser Heat Miser song….
It’s A Wonderful Life. This is a movie that’s on most people’s list, and how can it not be? An angel comes to earth to save a suicidal man on Christmas Eve. In the end, a husband and father who thought he’d be better off dead realizes just how important the small things he did during his life were to others.
The Polar Express. Several children board a magical steam locomotive for a trip to the North Pole on the night before Christmas. Along the way, they learn about friendship, trusting others and the true spirit of Christmas. My daughter was 6 years old when this movie was released in 2004. For years, the story of the bell helped me to explain why some kids believed in Santa, while others didn’t. “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell,” says the lead character in the movie. “Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”
The Sound of Music. Okay, this 1965 movie musical about the Von Trapp family really has nothing to do with Christmas except that it seemed to come on television every year during the holidays. In my mind, it was always a Christmas movie for that reason and it’s now a movie that I watch with my family every Christmas. Its theme of love, family and helping others sounds Christmasy to me…
That’s my favorite list, what’s yours? Do you like the classics such as “Christmas Carol” and Miracle on 34th” or prefer the comical ones such as “Bad Santa” and “Home Alone” or horror flicks like “Gremlins” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas?”
For more holiday news and tips. Also take our holiday movie poll
Comments
By Heat Miser
December 3, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Anything but Christmas Story! I don’t get why anyone likes that movie!
By Blanca_19
December 3, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
Love Actually, all the way! I like the contemporary humor, but am a total sap for the romantic yet quirky story lines and airport scenes.
By finally
December 3, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
Bad Santa very sick humor, and really not for everyone, but it is my favorite! It was John Ritter’s last film and he extremely uptight and hilarious. Sadly, Bernie Mac is now gone too and he is great as well.
By Becky
December 3, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this
It’s a Wonderful Life..
By RankinBassFan
December 3, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this
Santa Claus is Coming Town The Little Drummer Boy A First Christmas Snow Nestor the Long Eared Donkey Cricket of the Hearth
All of these are Rankin-Bass productions that far exceed anything broadcast today.
By Shica
December 3, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this
Emmitt Otter’s Jug Band Christmas is my ALL TIME favorite!
By Jewels
December 3, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this
Classic—It’s a Wonderful Like and 34th Street.
Cartoons—Frosty the Snowman and Charlie Brown (I love when he puts the scarf on the tree and it comes to life.)
New— This Christmas
By DB
December 3, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this
“White Christmas” — sappy, but my very favorite!
“A Christmas Story” — for the joy of the Red Ryder BB gun
“It’s A Wonderful Life” — desperation turned to joy
“Family Man” — Nicholas Cage learning what really matters
“Love, Actually” — for the final airport scenes, for Emma Thompson’s quiet dignity and for Hugh Grant styling Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” :-)
And, somehow, the original “Star Wars” trilogy became our “trimming the tree” movie years ago, when I realized that my son, who was 8 at the time, had never seen “Star Wars” — I put it on while unpacking the ornaments, and immediately lost a helper, but gained an instant tradition — now, “Star Wars” goes on every year when the tree goes up!
BTW, I hate, hate, hate “The Christmas Shoes.” What downer of a holiday movie!
By Chris
December 3, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Holiday Inn - Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, The movie that debuted the most classic christmas song of all time Bing’s “White Christmas”
By bobfromcanton
December 3, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this
My favorite has to be National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation! What a dysfunctional family Christmas… It is great.
By Art Adams
December 3, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
How could anyone forget the classic… FRIDAY AFTER NEXT
CRAIG DA’ DA’ MONEY MIKE DAMON
Com on now!
By Snow Miser
December 3, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
Heat Miser, How can you not love Ralphie, this is one of my all time favorites. When they do 24-hours of a Christmas Story on Christmas Eve, my family will have the tv on while we cook, wrap presents, and just sit around and talk. Great Fun!!!!!!!!! My top 5 picks. 1)The Year Without A Santa Claus 2)A Christmas Story 3)Home Alone 1 4)Santa Clause Is Coming To Town 5)Twas the night before Christmas
By Cross927
December 3, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
I have to agree with Finally. Bad Santa was hilarious! Although not my fave, it is in the top ten. Billy Bob Thorton is in rare form in this movie.
By Lucille Willoughby
December 3, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
I hate to break it to ya, but the original “Grinch” (with Boris Karloff) and “The Year Without Santa Claus” aren’t ‘movies’—they’re TV specials. In regard to actual movies,my favorites are The classic B&W British version of “A Christmas Carol”, with Alastair Sim as Ebenezeer Scrooge, which combines humor, fine dramatic acting & some genuine spookiness in a perfect plum pudding. “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, which is Tim Burton’s own love note to the Rankin Bass animated classics of the 1960s. “Scrooge”, the musical version of A Christmas Carol, featuring Albert Finney. It’s worth watching if only for the spirited “Thank You Very Much” number. The original “Miracle on 34th Street”, with everyone’s favorite department store Santa.
By tiff
December 3, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
bobfromcanton, Although I love this movie, and watch it every Christmas, most of us won’t include it on our favorite movie list because it reminds us to much of our own family. And who wants to be reminded that their family is as crazy as the Griswalds.
By Corey
December 3, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
By Texas Pete
December 3, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this
Bad Santa is the best Christmas movie ever. I actually saw Badder Santa and other than a brief minute of him at a strip club it was the same.
By Andy Harrison
December 3, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
The Santa Claus, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, It’s A Wonderful Life, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (w/ Jim Carrey)
By Andy Harrison
December 3, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
The Santa Claus, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, It’s A Wonderful Life, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (w/ Jim Carrey)
By Old School
December 3, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
Muppet Christmas Carol. Gotta love Gonzo!
By Just Me
December 3, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this
Heat Miser … I like Christmas Story because I can relate to it… and obviously you can’t … bah-hum-bug!
By Porter Versfelt III
December 3, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this
Christmas Story and It’s A Wonderful Life, no doubt.
For the adults, Citizen Kane is a good life lesson as this thoughtful time of year. Orson Welles is brilliant!
By RALPHIE
December 3, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
Earnest Saves Christmas. “What we have here is a failure to accumulate”, “Becuase you am him” Hmm
By ccs
December 3, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this
The Santa Clause, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Scrooged, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I also enjoyed Love, Actually (great movie)and of course, Home Alone.
By Jo
December 3, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
My favorite is Trading Places! There’s nothing better than watching sick, drunk, Dan Ackroyd eating that smoked salmon through his beard! Or watching Eddie Murphy discover what really happened. I’ve watched it every Christmas since it came out. It’s got a great happy ending too!
By Brian
December 3, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this
Christmas Vacation and Elf, watch them every year with friends and family…great entertainment.
By Mike D
December 3, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
I like Eyefull Tower. Not much of a Christmas movie, but has hours of clips from the best adult movies from the 70’s - 90’s.
By RHONDA
December 3, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this
I love “Love Actually”!!! Some of the others are good too of course. But Love Actually is great fun and the Airport scenes at the end are just the BEST!!!!!
By Classic Christmas
December 3, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this
By Nubs
December 3, 2008 1:45 PM | Link to this
White Chistmas The Family Stone The Holiday
By DL
December 3, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this
LOVE ACTUALLY! This is the best script and the best acting of any movie I have seen in probably 10 years. While considered a Christmas movie, I watch is all year long.
By Cindylou Who
December 3, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
I love “White Christmas,” with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney.
By MD N8tv in GA
December 3, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
three way tie:
A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and The Ref.
If you haven’t seen The Ref, check it out. Stars Denis Leary.
“From now on, the only person who gets to yell is me. Why? Because I have a gun. People with guns get to do whatever they want. Married people without guns - for instance, you - DO NOT get to yell. Why? NO GUNS! No guns, no yelling. See? Simple little equation.”
Rose: You’re a “Wong”?
Gus: Well, my mother was Irish.
Rose: And your father?
Gus: Wasn’t.
By Erin, again
December 3, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this
A CHRISTMAS STORY!!!! That’s probably my favorite …
But I also like “A Christmas Carol” (the version with George C. Scott as Scrooge), “Home Alone,” “White Christmas,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and “Sound of Music.”
I kinda hate Jim Carrey’s version of the Grinch, more because I had a roommate for awhile who insisted on watching it SEVEN TIMES IN A ROW!!!! I’m sorry, but ANY movie seven non-stop times in a row is entirely too much!
As for the Christmas specials, I LOVE all the Rankin-Bass ones. And the original Grinch cartoon. And Frosty. And I always watch the Miser brothers part of “Year Without a Santa Claus”!
By Kwellin
December 3, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this
Hands down A Christmas Story. I have literally watched that movie 500 times and I still can’t get enough of it.
By George Bailey
December 3, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this
“It’s A Wonderful Life” not only is my favorite Christmas movie, but my favorite movie of all time. Very few movies have the ability to move you emotionally like this one. I cry everytime.
By Super Dad
December 3, 2008 2:14 PM | Link to this
My family gets together often during the holidays, and our favorite movies are the Snuff films my Grandfather made during his tours of duty in Europe. Not a lot of plot but plenty of real life horror.
By darryl
December 3, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this
Miracle on 34th street
By sharon
December 3, 2008 2:27 PM | Link to this
Art, you are right! Friday After Next is the bomb! My husband and I watched it Saturday for the umpteenth time.
By Love Christmas
December 3, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this
Our family’s favorite is “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” followed closely by “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.
By loislane
December 3, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!
By Mrs. Warren
December 3, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation hands down!!!! Best Christmas movie ever! “Are you serious Clark?”
My hubby and I also love Ernest Saves Christmas… so cheesy but funny. “Is dis where da haaara movie pod to be?”
By ninga
December 3, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this
I agree with Old School. Muppet Christmas Carol is my favorite. The Nightmare Before Christmas runs a close second.
By IloveChristmas
December 3, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this
“A Christmas Story” with Ralphie and the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Boris Korloff!”
By pam
December 3, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
By GT FAN
December 3, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this
Debbie Does Dallas!
By Drew
December 3, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” - Hands Down
By Ilene
December 3, 2008 3:54 PM | Link to this
Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds (not Ginger Rogers). I’ve seen it over 50 times.
White Christmas is pretty good, too. Great musical numbers.
By the way, some of the items in people’s lists here are not MOVIES, they are TV shows.
Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is incredible.
They don’t make movies like that anymore. I don’t like the crappy, crude stuff that passes for comedies.
If people are mentioning TV shows, I still like the episode of the Brady Bunch where little Cindy asks Santa Claus for her mommy’s voice to come back (Florence Henderson had laryngitis in that episode).
By snow white
December 3, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this
MD N8tv in GA, Totally agree on The Ref - one of the funniest movies ever. I just watched it again the other day. Good stuff!
By Blkshepherd
December 3, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
Its a Wonderful life hands down the best ever. Makes you think of the contributions however small they are to your family and folks around you. The Christmas Story is by far the worst movie and dumbest ever made. And the run the damn thing back to back which makes you wonder if that is the only movie they have. Its absolutely the worst. Grinch with Jim Carey is pretty bad too but Christmas story I hate with a passion.