Best Christmas films

[GreyLord]

furthermore its a wonderful life is an absolutely terrible movie that says that the poor should be expected to bear the cost of banker negligence and outright theft and corruption- there is no justice or system correction, just community absorbing the loss. Thats not a Christmas message at all

Die Hard on the other hand is about a man trying to get hom to his family for Christmas

Or you could view it as a movie that people who had recently gone though a great depression, then a World War, and then another shorter and less terrible depression would understand.

They knew life was unfair and that the blows sometimes just keep coming. That could drive them to despair (just like the main character of the film). It's about what happens to a man that loses what they feel is everything...and how they can handle it.

Which for those of us with parents from the Great Depression, or those who had grandparents (or now, great grandparents) is still somewhat relatable. We can't do much about how unfair the world is sometimes, and that's not the point. It's what comes after that.

 

[aco175]

It's a Wonderful Life- c'mon people.

A second might be the Disney Christmas Carol. Mostly since it spun off Uncle Scrooge and Duck Tails- whoo Hoo.

 

[Morrus]

Die Hard on the other hand is about a man trying to get hom to his family for Christmas

No it’s not.

 

[Muad'dib Pendragon]

It’s that time of year again, and we all knew this was going to come up and all have some opinions. Just asking all y’all for your nominations for the following Christmas film categories:

1) Best classic Christmas film: A film that is clearly intended for Christmas viewing and celebration, and preferably hit cinemas (or streaming, etc.) during the season. Examples include It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Nativity!, The Polar Express, Santa Claus the Movie, most adaptations of A Christmas Carol (including Scrooged etc.), and (God help us) most Hallmark Christmas movies.

• My nomination here is Klaus, which for me is absolutely the perfect Christmas film and one of the best animated films of all time.

2) Best alternative Christmas film: A film that doesn’t really fit into the category above but is widely recognised as a Christmas film because it takes place at Christmas and does in fact celebrate the spirit of the season in some way. Examples include Love Actually (ugh), The Holdovers, Tokyo Godfathers, The Ref, Rent, Home Alone, and Trading Places.

• My nomination here is The Holdovers, which I thought was the best film of 2023, with some very fine performances from the main cast (especially Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

3) Best film that happens at Christmas: These films don’t do much to celebrate the season but do clearly happen at Christmas, and the characters note this. Clearly the distinction between this category and the one above is highly subjective and depends on whether you think a given film is “in the spirit of the season”. Examples include Die Hard, The Family Stone, The Thin Man, The Apartment, The Sure Thing, and While You Were Sleeping.

• My nomination here is The Apartment, which has Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine at their cynical but heartfelt best, with great direction from Billy Wilder and some lovely camera tricks (such as the typing room).

Classic: It's a Wonderful Life (film), Klaus (animated)
Alternative: Home Alone
At Christmas: Die Hard

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

That being said...

1. Nightmare Before Christmas

2. Life of Brian

3. It's a Wonderful Life

Life of Brian? I mean, there’s a christmassy birth scene but I’d say that’s more of an Easter movie than a Christmas one.

 

[Morrus]

Life of Brian? I mean, there’s a christmassy birth scene but I’d say that’s more of an Easter movie than a Christmas one.

Any movie which even so much as mentions Christmas, has a snowflake, or is partially set during the month of December, is a Christmas movie. Or so I’m told.

 

[R_J_K75]

1. Either Scrooged or Muppet Christmas Carol.

2. Gremlins.

3. Die Hard.

I'll second Scrooged. One of the best re-interpretations of "A Christmas Carol" IMO. Saw it in the theater when it came out 87 or 88 and didn't see it again until Christmas 2020, COVID, and lockdown. I watched it, got drunk and when the movie was over, I called my father and talked to him for 2 hours. I had forgotten how good that movie was.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

1. A Christmas Story. Runners up: Muppet's Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th St.

2. Nightmare Before Christmas. (Struggled with this categorization.) Love Actually runner up, I guess.

3. Die Hard. Runner up: Home Alone.

Edit: what I think would help differentiating Christmas movies from happening-at-Christmas movies is if you set them at a different time of the year, or included a holiday but selected a different one, and the movie doesn't work, it's a Christmas movie. If you can find-replace the holiday and the movie still works, it's not a Christmas movie.

 

[TiQuinn]

My personal trifecta is Scrooge (musical version with Albert Finney), Love Actually (I actually love this movie), and Die Hard (which is totally a Christmas movie).

 

[sevenbastard]

Fury Road

I mean there is a 1/12 chance it takes place in December.

Actually scratch that it definitely does as this guy is wearing his Christmas PJs.