Merry Christmas everyone!
If you're having a hard time deciding on a film to watch tonight or tomorrow that the whole family will enjoy, you may consider looking for a solution from here. These are my all-time favorite yule-tide movies. I've excluded animated short films from the mix, but I do want to give a shout-out to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), both of which are very close to my heart.
Here are my honorable mentions: Elf (2003), Last Christmas (2019), The Christmas Chronicles (2018), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), The Santa Clause (1994)
10. Klaus (2019)
This delightful animated film towers above its counterparts in the "Netflix original Christmas movies" category (no offense, modern cult classics like The Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (2019) and The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020)). It is a fresh take on the Santa Claus story, with J.K. Simmons providing a fantastic voice performance as the titular Klaus, and the film's central message being a very important and powerful lesson to children (and grown-ups) watching: as is repeated throughout the film, one true selfless act always sparks another. Words to live by.
9. Joulutarina (2007)
Origin stories and gritty reboots of classic stories were all the rage in 2000's Hollywood - so leave it to us Finns to make a gritty origin story for Santa Claus himself. We follow a sympathetic person called Nikolas from his childhood, finding out how it came to be that this individual gives toys to people once a year with a merry spirit. The film nails the balance of melancholic emotion and festive holiday magic, making it a perfect Finnish Christmas film - though not quite as perfect as this list's #6 entry...
8. The Polar Express (2004)
Between Robert Zemeckis's expert directing, the animation department's fantastic work and Alan Silvestri's whimsical score, this delightful yuletide adventure hits the very heart of what Christmas is all about. I've always had a lot of love for Christmas (annoyingly much, many of my friends would surely say), and already as a child, I was deeply touched by what this film had to say about the holiday. The themes of family, friendship and giving back are dealt with magnificently. Oh, and did I mention that the merriest actor of them all, Tom Hanks, provides most of the major voice performances, from the narrator and train conductor to the adult version of the main character and even Santa Claus himself?
7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Joulutarina is the kind of Christmas movie that might move you to tears. The Polar Express is the kind of Christmas movie that will leave a warm smile on your face. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the kind of Christmas movie that will make you cringe like hell, laugh out loud, and ultimately leave you feeling pretty happy.
Before he became the worst part of my favorite sitcom, Chevy Chase was the best part of this hilarious Christmas comedy. It's the quintessential "Everything goes chaotically wrong" Christmas film, but let's just say without spoiling any specifics that everything works out towards the end. Well, almost everything (rest in peace, Fluffy the cat).
6. Rare Exports (2010)
Not just one of the oddest, most unconventional and overall greatest Christmas movies, but one of my favorite Finnish movies of all time. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Santa Claus is 'Joulupukki' in Finnish, but before Christianity found its way to this land of ours, Joulupukki was the name of a monstrous creature in pagan folklore. And that Joulupukki is the center of attention in this fantastic yuletide horror comedy.
Between the absurd humor, the intriguing fantasy lore and creepy horror elements, the creatively told story and the holiday setting, this film hits all of my tastes quite well. If you feel like something different this Christmas, you can't go wrong with this oddball choice.
5. A Christmas Story (1983)
With the possible exception of Stand By Me (1986), there is no other film that captures the feeling of childhood nostalgia as realistically and beautifully as A Christmas Story. Jean Shepherd provides the narration as the adult version of main character Ralphie, while Peter Billingsley does an iconic job playing the child Ralphie. We follow his family in all sorts of Christmas shenanigans, as the Old Man (Darren McGavin) receives a leg-shaped lamp as an award and wants everyone to see it, Ralphie and his friends navigate the world of bullies and triple-dog-dares, and Ralphie just wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
A Christmas Story is heartfelt and hilarious - even if a few of the jokes have aged rather poorly. The serious and matter-of-fact manner of adult Ralphie's narration when talking about childhood games and playground rules is absolutely hilarious, and will make pretty much any viewer somewhat nostalgic for their own childhood.
4. Die Hard (1988)
Now, a big part of me wanted to put this action classic on first place just to piss off my mother. But, the sad truth of it is, I love Christmas too much to put a film that isn't primarily about Christmas at first place. As a movie, it is better than at least some of the films ahead of it here, but as a Christmas movie, it doesn't quite make the top three. It is still ranked high, because it does take place on Christmas, and when the second-greatest action film of all time takes place on Christmas, it does deserve to be called one of the greatest Christmas movies. If you need proof that it is a Christmas film, consider the fact that I've said the word "Christmas" eight times in this paragraph. My logic is flawless.
Die Hard is amazing. From the intense setting of the Nakatomi Plaza becoming ground zero for a hostage situation to John McClane (Bruce Willis) being the quintessential modern action hero and Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) being his perfect antagonist, this has all the makings of the perfect action film. The last 15 minutes of Die Hard are one of humanity's greatest achievements. And there are just enough holiday decorations and Christmas-related lines to make the film relevant this time of year.
3. Love Actually (2003)
If you have anything cynical to say about this film and how it's just a collection of unrealistic and cheesy clichés that Hollywood has done to death, I cannot empathize how little I care. This is a film that you're meant to watch with the cynical and critical part of your brain turned all the way off, and for that purpose, it's the best possible Christmas movie.
As a fan of comedy, I appreciate how incredibly funny and smile-worthy this film is. As a fan of romance, I appreciate that it is absolutely jam-packed with sweet and heartwarming love stories. As a fan of the holiday season, I appreciate how the film resonates with my Christmas spirit throughout its whimsical atmosphere. And as a fan of Hollywood movies, I appreciate the fact that the film's cast consists of every single famous actor who ever lived.
No, really. They're all in this movie. Name a famous actor, and I guarantee they have a role in Love Actually. Sure, you'd expect to see Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy or Colin Firth in any given film set in Britain, but when did you ever see all four in the same film? Not to mention Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and pretty much the rest of the Harry Potter cast? Even Liam Neeson, the actor with the least Christmas-like energy you can think of, has a major role. Even my doppelgänger Thomas Brodie-Sangster is here as a pre-stardom little kid. Did I mention that Rowan Atkinson appears as well? And of course Richard Curtis has an uncredited cameo as a trombone player. Even Elisha Cuthbert got the time off from shooting 24 to appear in this film - that's right, I bet you forgot that Kim Bauer was in this. And have you noticed that the dude playing Chiwetel Ejiofor's friend (don't even be surprised that Ejiofor is in this) is a pre-Walking Dead Rick Grimes?? No, really, it's Rick!
2. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Fantasy and reality blend beautifully to form this heartwarming yuletide classic. If you're feeling down around the holidays (or any time, really), this is the likeliest film I can think of to lift one's spirit - that is quite a powerful impact for a movie to have. I won't give away spoilers in case you missed this flick in the cinema and have been meaning to watch it for the past 74 years, but let's just say that the story is like no other, except for the dozens of tribute/parody versions that the film has inspired.
James Stewart is captivating as George Bailey, and his story is one for the ages. The film has moved me to tears every time I have seen it, as time and again it proves a lesson that feels especially important in 2020 - despite everything bad that's going on, things like family, friends and this film are a testament to the reality that it truly is, in fact, a wonderful life.
1. Home Alone (1990) and/or Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
This may be my childhood nostalgia speaking, but Home Alone is one of my all-time favorite movies. Honestly. On a subjective level, there is almost no other film that is as important to me, has such immense re-watch and entertainment value, as this Christmas extravaganza (and its damn good sequel).
For me, it's hard to imagine Christmas without watching either of these films (I like to watch the first one every second year and the second one in the in-between years, so both stay fresh after a two-year break). Macaulay Culkin is just the sweetest little protagonist in the world of cinema, Harry (Joe Pesci desperately muttering made-up words because he can't curse in a family movie) and Marv (Daniel Stern) are the funniest villains you'll ever see, and the movie is just full of amazing stuff. From the hilarious chain of events that leads to Kevin being stuck at home and his amusing enjoyment of his newfound freedom, through the heart-melting subplot of Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom) and the ultimate adrenaline thrills of Kevin setting his traps to the backdrop of John Williams's Setting The Trap, all the way to the final stand-off between Kevin and the wet bandits, I love everything about this film (and the sequel).
It's crazy how synonymous Home Alone has become with Christmas in my mind. Whenever there's a situation of last-minute panic during Christmas preparations, John Williams's Holiday Flight (the musical epitome of pre-holiday stress) starts to play in my head. Whenever I hear "The Carol Of The Bells", my brain expects it to transition into Setting The Trap like it does in the film's soundtrack. I think that as a kid, a small part of me often wished that I'd be left alone in the house while some burglars appear, just so I could booby-trap the hell out of the place and become a real-life Kevin. Unfortunately, my family has always been very caring and present and we live in a safe neighborhood so that never got to happen - what a bummer, right?
When I mentioned that It's A Wonderful Life has moved me to tears, I'm talking about 1 mellow tear running down my cheek during the final scenes. The final scene of Home Alone, on the other hand, has me openly weeping like a baby every damn time. Especially in the last few years, now that childhood nostalgia has only furthered the emotional value of that ending, I just can't help it. This film is as close to my heart as a movie can be, and I'll never not want to watch it during the holidays.
Thank you for reading - I hope you find something nice to watch this Christmas! Next week's Thursday is New Year's Eve, so I'll be posting The Big One - my ranking of 2020's greatest movies. Although I might have a little something in store already before then...stay tuned this weekend!
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