Best/Worst Christmas Movies?

[Galway Eagle]

Best: it's a wonderful life

Worst: love actually

[CreightonWarrior]

Best: Jingle All The Way or Christmas Vacation

Worst: the entire catalog of Christmas moves on Hulu and Netflix currently

[UWW2MU]

Best: National Lampoons Christmas Vacation or Elf

Worst: Anything made for Hallmark channel

[Pakuni]

Best: It's a Wonderful Life, Nightmare Before Christmas and Bad Santa

Worst: Fred Claus, Christmas with the Kranks, Surviving Christmas

[Spotcheck Billy]

Bad Santa is the most realistic.

[Galway Eagle]

Best: It's a Wonderful Life, Nightmare Before Christmas and Bad Santa

Worst: Fred Claus, Christmas with the Kranks, Surviving Christmas

Saw Christmas with the krans the first time over the weekend. Rough acting, cute plot though. Never seen Bad Santa going to add to my list

[Billy Hoyle]

If Die Hard is a Christmas movie then I'm voting for Trading Places as the best.  Part of it does take place over Christmas.

[wadesworld]

Best: Elf.  Honorable Metion: The Santa Clause

[Galway Eagle]

Best: Elf.  Honorable Metion: The Santa Clause

As good as the Santa clause is the second and third are god awful

[CreightonWarrior]

As good as the Santa clause is the second and third are god awful

Absolutely brutal, made the fiancé shut off 2 the other day.

[warriorchick]

Feel like stirring things up a little.

Best:  Die Hard

Worst: Bad Santa.

[CTWarrior]

I, like the movie goers of the era when it was released, don't particularly like It's a Wonderful Life.

Best:  A Christmas Story - I think it captures childhood and what it's like to be a child at Christmas during a more innocent time really well.  There's probably a backlash against it because it is on so much.

Worst:  How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version). 

Other good ones:  The Santa Clause, Home Alone.  Elf.  Jingle All the Way.  Die Hard a great movie but just having it set on Christmas Eve does not a Christmas movie make.  Traditional Christmas themes are not involved in the movie at all.

Among the Worst:  Fred Claus, Four Christmases (keep Vince Vaughan away from my Christmas movies, thank you), Deck the Halls with Matthew Broderick and Danny Devito.  Santa Clause 3.  Santa Clause 2 is not a good movie and I don't recommend it, but there are plenty of worse Christmas movies.

Cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas capture the spirit of Christmas better than any movie.

As an aside, A Christmas Carol is just a brilliant Christmas story, but none of the umpteen films of the story quite do it for me.  The old ones are wildly overacted and the newer ones never seem to quite get it right.  Scooged is the best movie version of the story I think.

[Galway Eagle]

I, like the movie goers of the era when it was released, don't particularly like It's a Wonderful Life.

Best:  A Christmas Story - I think it captures childhood and what it's like to be a child at Christmas during a more innocent time really well.  There's probably a backlash against it because it is on so much.

Worst:  How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version). 

Other good ones:  The Santa Clause, Home Alone.  Elf.  Jingle All the Way.  Die Hard a great movie but just having it set on Christmas Eve does not a Christmas movie make.  Traditional Christmas themes are not involved in the movie at all.

Among the Worst:  Fred Claus, Four Christmases (keep Vince Vaughan away from my Christmas movies, thank you), Deck the Halls with Matthew Broderick and Danny Devito.  Santa Clause 3.  Santa Clause 2 is not a good movie and I don't recommend it, but there are plenty of worse Christmas movies.

Cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas capture the spirit of Christmas better than any movie.

As an aside, A Christmas Carol is just a brilliant Christmas story, but none of the umpteen films of the story quite do it for me.  The old ones are wildly overacted and the newer ones never seem to quite get it right.  Scooged is the best movie version of the story I think.

Which animated version of the grinch? Because the recent one was horrific

[CTWarrior]

Which animated version of the grinch? Because the recent one was horrific

The old TV one with Boris Karloff doing the narration.

[Galway Eagle]

The old TV one with Boris Karloff doing the narration.

Gotcha. I assumed as much but had to check

[Warrior Code]

I thought I was the only one who had seen Jingle All The Way!

Agreed on Elf, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, original Grinch, Scrooged. Does Grumpy Old Men count?

I always like revisiting Christmas episodes of favorite shows as well (The Office, Bob's Burgers, etc.).


I wanted to, but I really didn't like Polar Express.

[Warrior Code]

As an aside, A Christmas Carol is just a brilliant Christmas story, but none of the umpteen films of the story quite do it for me.  The old ones are wildly overacted and the newer ones never seem to quite get it right.  Scooged is the best movie version of the story I think.

Mickey's Christmas Carol is good, and it's only half an hour so you don't have to commit to a feature-length film.

[buckchuckler]

Muppet Christmas Carol is fantastic.

[mu03eng]

My best are going to be is categories

Nostaligia: White Christmas
    Honorable mention: original Miracle on 34th Street

Comedy: Elf
    Honorable mention: South Park Christmas episodes (yeah not a movie but the Christmas related episodes are f'ing hysterical....Christmas critters, Red Sleigh Down, and Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo especially)

Family: A Muppet Christmas Carol
    Honorable mention: A Christmas Vacation

Action: Die Hard
    Honorable mention: Home Alone


Worst is easily It's A Wonderful Life, it is pure communist schlock and a bad story to boot powered only by warm feelings people have had transferred to them by Boomers

[warriorchick]

My best are going to be is categories

Nostaligia: White Christmas
    Honorable mention: original Miracle on 34th Street

Comedy: Elf
    Honorable mention: South Park Christmas episodes (yeah not a movie but the Christmas related episodes are f'ing hysterical....Christmas critters, Red Sleigh Down, and Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo especially)

Family: A Muppet Christmas Carol
    Honorable mention: A Christmas Vacation

Action: Die Hard
    Honorable mention: Home Alone


Worst is easily It's A Wonderful Life, it is pure communist schlock and a bad story to boot powered only by warm feelings people have had transferred to them by Boomers

??????

Care to explain?

[Pakuni]

Worst is easily It's A Wonderful Life, it is pure communist schlock and a bad story to boot powered only by warm feelings people have had transferred to them by Boomers

"+1"
-- J. Edgar Hoover

(But seriously, the FBI tried to sell this to the HUAC, which took a hard pass).

Also ... politics

[reinko]

Ah so glad to see the folks who are so clever that say Die Hard is Christmas Movie.  🙄

But for reals, Elf, Home Alone, and I actually really enjoyed the new animated Grinch with Benedict Cumberbatch.  The Jim Carey version is gutter trash, and the original is a gold standard.

Depending on age, Bad Santa, XMas Vacation are always a good watch.  And put me in the camp, The Christmas Story has run its course and don’t even bother watching when it’s on repeat.

[wadesworld]

Home Alone is a good call too.

[mu03eng]

"+1"
-- J. Edgar Hoover

(But seriously, the FBI tried to sell this to the HUAC, which took a hard pass).

Also ... politics

Had no idea about that history I meant it largely as a tongue in cheek comment.

Either way it's a boring, over acted movie with a message that's just eh.

[Cheeks]

Diehard