Get in the Yuletide Mood With Some Great Christmas Movies
Looking for great Christmas movies? Here are some family classics, old and new, that you shouldn't miss.
You know, it's no easy task to pare down the lengthy list of Christmas movies to just a wonderful few, if only because it's a given that somebody's favorite is going to be left out. But then we figured, "It's a tough job, but someone has to do it," so we thought we'd give it a try. And here you have it: capsule reviews of five of the Christmas movies that you definitely shouldn't miss this season.
"Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings."
You couldn't make a list like this without putting It's a Wonderful Life right at the top. Who would have thought, back in 1946, that a tale of near-suicidal holiday despair would end up being one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time?
The story of George Bailey coming to terms with what truly matters is heartwarming without being schmaltzy, as it might easily have been. It's enough to bring a tear to a manly viewer's eye... but if you're like us, you'd also like to go give that absentminded twit Uncle Billy a good, hard whack for causing all the trouble in the first place.
On the less-angsty holiday front there's the original 1966 animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on Dr. Seuss's book. Nobody does quirky morality fables quite like Suess -- and the Grinch's story is certainly one of the best, with its elfin Whos and the cranky Grinch, who quite literally steals every physical manifestation of Christmas in Whoville... only to discover that Christmas is the heart, not just in all the trappings. Dawww! It's enough to melt the most cynical heart.
And speaking of holiday emotion, who hasn't felt for Ralphie in 1983's A Christmas Story? All he wants is a Red Ryder BB gun, but all anyone ever tells him is, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" And of course, he just about does (thank goodness for thick glasses!). Add in a hapless turkey-loving father, an unlikely lamp, a bully-beating, and the occasional tongue stuck to a cold metal pole, and you've got a holiday romp to remember.
Another heaping helping of holiday goodness comes in the form of that perennial puppetry favorite, 1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. All the elements of this one just come together so well.
The Island of Misfit Toys, Yukon Cornelius, the unhappy elf Hermey ("I want to be a dentist!"), and of course Rudolph himself are all delightful gifts to the senses. And let's not forget all the wonderful songs interspersed throughout. Silver and Gold, anyone?
Let's wrap this up with one of the best recent live-action Christmas movies, 1994's cleverly-titled The Santa Clause. The less said of the two sequels the better, but this one just clicked.
Watching funnyman Tim Allen slowly grow into the role of Santa (quite literally) after accidentally killing the previous Santa, and reconnecting with his son in the process, proves hilarious and touching by turns. It's a great addition to any list of modern Christmas movies, and we can't recommend it highly enough.