# Christmas movies



## Dieu et les Dames (Jul 18, 2012)

My lady friend and I were watching _It's a Wonderful Life_ yesterday evening and I was nearly choking up by the time Clarence got his wings. The generosity of the town was just so darn heart-warming.

Do you have any favorites? Do you watch a certain movie with your family & friends every year at this time?


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

No favorite, but I am proud, *proud *to say I have never in my 62 years seen _It's a Wonderful Life_


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

phyrpowr said:


> No favorite, but I am proud, *proud *to say I have never in my 62 years seen _It's a Wonderful Life_


Neither have I! My favorite Xmas movie of all time has to be "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation"


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## drlivingston (Jun 21, 2012)

phyrpowr said:


> No favorite, but I am proud, *proud *to say I have never in my 62 years seen _It's a Wonderful Life_


I have (on numerous occasions) tried to watch it. But, invariably, I fall asleep less than an hour into the movie. My favorite, even if it isn't very old, is National Lampoon's _Christmas Vacation_.


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

drlivingston said:


> I have (on numerous occasions) tried to watch it. But, invariably, I fall asleep less than an hour into the movie. My favorite, even if it isn't very old, is National Lampoon's _Christmas Vacation_.


Wow, we were basically typing the same reply at the same time... :icon_cheers:


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## phyrpowr (Aug 30, 2009)

_Wonderful Life_ is just too gee-whiz schmaltzy for me, but I do like the George C. Scott version of _A Christmas Carol. _Also, Jean Shepherd's _Christmas Story. _His books are probably out of print, but they're great


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## TSWalker (Nov 2, 2011)

Not much on the movies, though there were members of my family who had that tradition. I think Mom liked Miracle on 34th Street. For me, it's Bing, Dean, and Frank playing in the background.


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## blairrob (Oct 30, 2010)

TSWalker said:


> Not much on the movies, though there were members of my family who had that tradition. I think Mom liked Miracle on 34th Street. For me, it's Bing, Dean, and Frank playing in the background.


While not a big fan of Christmas movies I do like;

The seldom seen but always loved _Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas,_ the classic Christmas movie, which to boot has one of the greatest live rock performances ever recorded as a centrepiece, a rendition by the Riverbottom Nightmare Band of their eponymous first hit (shown here)...





*How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey

A Midnight Clear, *which I consider to be a real sleeper, is an excellent film with great performances and story though it is not a feel good film, which, when combined with a Christmas theme, is just a bad business decision for Hollywood.


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## Mike Petrik (Jul 5, 2005)

phyrpowr said:


> No favorite, but I am proud, *proud *to say I have never in my 62 years seen _It's a Wonderful Life_


Which presumably is why you remain mystified.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

A Christmas Story


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## sbdivemaster (Nov 13, 2011)

Bad Santa


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## Acme (Oct 5, 2011)

*The Ref*, with Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis.










The best part has to be the scene where Kevin Spacey assaults the christmas tree with a fire place poker while shouting "_the corpse has the floor!_"


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## salgy (May 1, 2009)

Not a christmas movie, per se, but the original "Die Hard" with Bruce Willis is another holiday favorite of mine


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## ArtVandalay (Apr 29, 2010)

Home Alone and Home Alone 2.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

*The Lemon Drop Kid* with Bob Hope! It introduced the song "Silver Bells"!

And there wasn't a sad moment in the film!


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## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

I've seen _It's a Wonderful Life_ a couple of times and I think it's a bit schmaltzy also. I'd have to go with _A Christmas Story_.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young. 

A more obscure movie but very much in the vein of 'It's a Wonderful Life' :icon_smile:


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## Mike Petrik (Jul 5, 2005)

Shaver said:


> The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young.
> 
> A more obscure movie but very much in the vein of 'It's a Wonderful Life' :icon_smile:


Agreed. Underrated film. Watched it again last night on TCM.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

phyrpowr said:


> _Wonderful Life_ is just too gee-whiz schmaltzy for me, but I do like the George C. Scott version of _A Christmas Carol. _Also, Jean Shepherd's _Christmas Story. _His books are probably out of print, but they're great


I agree that the George C Scott version of "A Christmas Carol" is a nice version of the story.

I have to disagree a bit about AWL being too schmaltzy. It's themes are more sophisticated and honest than most movies that pass for adult entertainment today.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Shaver said:


> The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young.
> 
> A more obscure movie but very much in the vein of 'It's a Wonderful Life' :icon_smile:


Good movie...definitely a minor classic. Not to get sidetracked, but I think Cary Grant wears a buttondown shirt with his suit in this one.


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## Mike Petrik (Jul 5, 2005)

Snow Hill Pond said:


> Good movie...definitely a minor classic. Not to get sidetracked, but I think Cary Grant wears a buttondown shirt with his suit in this one.


Yes, I thought I noticed that actually, but the TV I was watching was too small to be sure.


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## Big T (Jun 25, 2010)

I would go with the Alistair Sims version of "A Christmas Carol". Next would be "A Christmas Story".


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## Hitch (Apr 25, 2012)

_The Man Who Came To Dinner_ , with Monty Woolley and Jimmy Duranty


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## Lieutenant (May 17, 2007)

Every year I re-watch the 1988 Bill Murray movie "Scrooged". I went on a near-blind date when it came out, and for some reason that movie has worked its way into my personal traditions and is my main Christmas movie.


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## 1woolybugger (Nov 20, 2012)

Definitely Christmas Vacation. Scrooged, with Bill Murray is pretty fun as well.


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## mr.v (Sep 26, 2011)

Love Actually and The Family Man (nic cage)


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

There's only 1 chrimbo film that doesn't suck - The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Every other xmas film I've seen has been terrible.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Beware! The Christmas movies we watch and acknowledge enjoying can come back to haunt us. Over the years, in the Eagles roost, we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation several times. My gift from our adult kids this year was a set of the moose antlered mugs from which Chevy Chase and his cohorts drank their eggnog in that movie. Quoting the Clark Grisswold character, "I'm just the hap, hap, happiest a**hole to be found outside the Nuthouse!" Cute but LOL, they take up a fair amount of space and the practicality/usefulness of the gift escapes me. :crazy:


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Christmas Eve On Sesame Street


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Goodbye Mr Chips - not explicitly xmas themed but a heartwarming tear-jearker that's just perfect for xmas-time.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Andy said:


> *The Lemon Drop Kid* with Bob Hope! It introduced the song "Silver Bells"!
> 
> And there wasn't a sad moment in the film!


An excellent choice.

I took the wife to see White Christmas the Musical at the Kennedy Center.

BOFFO!!


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