It is that time of year wherein I find myself either indulging in multiple Christmas movies or rebelling and watching something as un-Christmasy as possible, like reruns of Criminal Minds or The Walking Dead. During my recent bout of Covid, I forced myself to try to watch some of the cheesy Christmas romantic films that blanket Netflix at this time of year. I started three and lasted no more than 5 minutes – all of them began in New York City at Christmas, showing stereotypical Christmas scenes of lights, decorations, Rockefeller Centre, etc. Often it was snowing, though I cannot imagine that there have actually been many white Christmases in NYC in the last twenty years – there certainly haven’t been many in Boston. All of the movies involved a plucky struggling career woman who got her big break in time for Christmas that just happened to involve a handsome fill-in-the-blank: blech. Just not my thing.
So, what kind of Christmas movies DO I like? I realise that my favourites really have to be divided into four categories: Rom-Com, Classics, versions of A Christmas Carol, and new Classics. There are also numerous movies designed specifically for children that I watched in the 80s and 90s such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original 1966 cartoon!) and many more, but for the purposes of this post I will stick with films I have watched more recently, or more frequently.
Christmas Rom-Coms
There is a particular affection, particularly in the UK, for Love Actually. I can fully admit to enjoying this film once upon a time, and in particular during a rousing drinking game with friends. We added our own category of ‘drink when you feel sorry for Emma Thompson’…did not go particularly well though was great fun. However as time has passed, I have found myself struggling to enjoy some of the more toxic or chronologically unbelievable storylines, and instead I find that my favourite holiday rom-com has shifted.
The Holiday quickly became an almost anti-Love Actually for me. It is by no means a perfect film, but I love the relative lack of toxicity and the messaging that all of the four leads are struggling with their lives, with finding the strength and value in themselves, and that they find someone who loves them as they are.
Kate Winslet’s character in particular (and Jack Black’s too in fairness) embodies an emotional state in which so many women, and men too I am sure, have found themselves: desperately in love with the wrong person, and struggling to find her value when that person continually treats her poorly and takes advantage of her. I love that her story is a happy ending not necessarily because she finds love, but because she rediscovers her self-worth.
Plus, the movie is really pretty.
Classic Christmas Movies
There are so many classic Christmas movies out there, from Miracle on 34th Street to It’s a Wonderful Life. Only one film, though, takes me back to my childhood and a vague memory of being allowed, for the first time, to stay up and watch a movie with the adults. I was in my pyjamas, wrapped in a bathrobe and hiding in the corner of the couch, desperately hoping that everyone would forget I was there and should really be in bed. The adults were drinking eggnog (probably with a dose of bourbon in it) and we had our Christmas bowl of nuts and clementines ready for a snack.
1954’s White Christmas is absolutely the epitome of Christmas for me. From the first scene which always catches in my throat – an army camp during World War II, soldiers missing home – to the spectacular dance numbers, I was hooked on the film from early on. A relatively large chunk of the movie really has nothing to do with Christmas and is instead, really, a screwball rom-com in between the singing and dancing.
But the final number, when the characters come out dressed in stunning red outfits (I have always coveted Rosemary Clooney’s dress in particular), the whole audience sings along and the stage is raised to reveal a real snowy evening, never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Whether I am in Scotland or celebrating with my family in New England, the magic of a White Christmas cannot be beaten, and the movie really embodies that feeling of wonder and delight.
A Christmas Carol
For me, the story of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is sacrosanct. My father used to read it to me every year, and his version of Scrooge’s voice is something I am sure I will never forget. In grade school for recitation day – in which we were all required to memorize a piece of writing to perform for the class – I chose one year to memorize the first three or four pages of Stave 1, and I remember most of it still, the richness of Dickens’ descriptive writing. The words are as evocative of Christmas to me as the Nutcracker suite, and we have had ornaments of some of the main characters on our tree for as long as I can remember.
What this means is that I take the story seriously. When I was young, I was a fan of Mickey’s Christmas Carol, a short and quick version of the tale that captures its essence but leaves out huge chunks. Wikipedia lists no fewer than 24 live-action versions of the story, plus another 11 or so animated options and numerous TV specials, so I cannot claim to have seen them all. But I have seen a play, and watched several films, the very best of which I feel is none other than 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Not only have the screenwriters gone out of their way to use some of the original text, they have written some delightfully fun songs and ensured that the feel of Dickens’ London is as genuine as in any other version. While the Muppets invite children into the story, I know plenty of adults who enjoy this version as well, not in the least for Michael Caine’s Scrooge. He is clearly just loving the role and is perfect as both grumpy and joyful versions of the character.
New Christmas CLassics
I saw an article recently which claimed you could identify a person as a Millenial, Gen X or Gen Z depending upon which Christmas movie they loved the most. Generally, I find it difficult to identify my favourite anything – books, movies, music – as it is so dependent upon the mood I am in; Christmas films are the same. But there are two which stand out to me as movies I will always re-watch, sometimes not at Christmas at all, and which I never fail to enjoy. One is apocryphal to some, but I would argue that if a movie takes places at Christmas it can be categorized as a Christmas movie and recently, Disney+ agreed by putting it in the Christmas playlist.
Home Alone does not need to debate its place as a Christmas movie. As a child of the 1980s and 90s, I experienced the original phenomenon of this film (and indeed its star, Macaulay Culkin).
The story may be a touch absurd – what Christmas story isn’t – but the place it holds in cinema and in most children’s hearts is legendary.
Most kids of my generation, I would imagine, probably had at least fleeting thoughts about how they might defend their homes as Kevin did, and all of them I am sure had daydreams about what they would do if left home alone, even for half a day. Some of us had much more in-depth plans…
A movie I did not discover until later in life is the long-debated but now officially Christmas film, Die Hard.
I did not grow up in a household where such films would have been shown – certainly not when they came out – and so I was an adult before I first enjoyed the spectacle and true legendary nature of this film.
The quotes, the bad accents, the true appeal of a young Bruce Willis, the wonder of evil Alan Rickman, all make this film worth watching not just at the holidays but year-round. The same can be said for its sequel, Die Hard 2, though the later films 3 through whatever number they ended on were less iconic.
And finally, honourable mention to the 1977 television adaptation of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s The Nutcracker. The recording is relatively poor, the visuals blurry at times, but the music is exactly what it should be and the dancing is spectacular.
Christmas is not Christmas in my house without the Nutcracker (though my other half may wish it could be🎅)
The Wandering Medievalist 