The semester is coming to a close and the holidays are looming near. To get into the spirit of the upcoming Yuletide season, I’ve compiled a list of a dozen of my favorite Christmas-time films:
• “A Christmas Story” (1983) – I had known about this film for most of my life but hadn’t watched it until only a few years ago. Foolishly, I thought it was going to be overly schmaltzy and cutesy. Instead, what I got was a genuinely funny and heartfelt story about a boy who wants a Red Ryder BB gun more than anything for Christmas. Don’t we all remember that feeling?
• “Elf” (2003) – Will Ferrell has created many memorable characters. However, none of them encapsulate the actor’s man-childish charm more than Buddy, a human raised by elves who seeks out his true father in the Big Apple. Ferrell’s oafishly sweet-hearted and naïve performance injects an infectious energy into the movie that elevates it into a modern classic.
• “Joyeux Noël” (2004) – This poignant film is based on an incredible true story about the World War I Christmas truce, in which both sides came to ceasefires in order to celebrate the holiday. Soldiers emerged from their trenches and met in the “No Man’s Land,” where they joined together in gift giving, carol-singing and grieving for the dead.
• “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) – The beauty of this musical is that it can be watched anytime between Halloween and Christmas. However, I tend to view it as a Christmas movie, since the story is ultimately about Jack Skellington discovering the true meaning of the holiday.
• “The Ref” (1994) – An underrated and darkly humorous comedy about a criminal who kidnaps a constantly bickering, dysfunctional couple on Christmas Eve. The criminal soon finds himself serving as a reluctant marriage counselor.
• “Bad Santa” (2003) – This is another dark comedy with a heart as black as coal. A bitter, boozed-up department store Santa and his elf partner run a gambit where they rob a mall every Christmas Eve. Their plans are sidetracked, however, when the Santa attracts the unwanted friendship of a pudgy young boy.
• “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989) – Everything ends in disaster for the Griswold family, even Christmas. Especially Christmas. This is easily my favorite out of the entire “National Lampoon’s Vacation” series.
• “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003) – Probably one of the most unusual (yet thoughtful and compassionate) Christmas films you can find. This Japanese animated film follows a trio of homeless people – an alcoholic, a drag queen and a runaway girl – as they search Tokyo for the parents of an abandoned infant found in the garbage.
• “A Midnight Clear” (1992) – This is in the same vein as “Joyeux Noël,” except set in WWII. A band of American soldiers are surprised when a camp of enemy Germans engage them in a friendly hail of snowballs instead of bullets. There’s something undeniably stirring about watching people searching for peace in the face of violence.
• “Scrooged” (1988) – There are countless adaptations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Quite a few of them are actually pretty good. However, only one of them stars Bill Murray. The man is a national treasure. This modernization of the classic story follows a cynical television executive in charge of a live broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” whose own life starts to mirror the tale.
• “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) – Tim Burton’s tender and beautiful gothic fairytale follows a shy, artistic man trying to find a way to fit in with society. The scenes where Edward’s beloved Kaye dances in the snow created from his ice sculptures are simply mesmerizing.
• “Die Hard” (1988) – Nothing says Christmas like “Die Hard,” right? If you are craving excitement over sugarcoated sweetness, you can’t go wrong with this holiday-themed action movie about a lone New York cop taking down German terrorists. “Now I have a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho.”