Best/Worst Christmas Movies?

[mu03eng]

This. Honestly the whole incompetent hotel staff thing seems a bit too forced for me personally and doesn't add much humor. It's still a good movie though.

I'm not with you there, I think it was fine generally. My big issue with HA2 especially when I was younger was the "realism" of the traps he set. I mean the bad guys would have died at least 6 times if it were the real world. As I've gotten older, I definitely care less but it's still in my brain a little bit.

[shoothoops]

The best Christmas movie is actually a Thanksgiving Movie: "Planes Trains and Automobiles"

Of course Die Hard is a Christmas movie. As the story goes below (Jake Tapper):

'Twas the night before Christmas
At  Nakatomi Tower
When our story of homecoming
Begins with brute power.
At Los Angeles airport, meet our savior, McClaine;
With toys for his kids, he disembarks from his plane.
To not see that this tale's about Christmas is folly;
Did I mention that Mrs. McClane's name is Holly?
"How 'bout some Christmas music?" McClane asks of Argyle.
"That *is* Christmas music," the driver says with a smile.
To reunite with Holly, his aim is shared with shy laughter;
T'would be a holiday miracle to last ever after.
"You throw quite party," says John to Tagaki-San.
"I didn't know they Christmas in Japan."
John is weary from travel; Holly offers a bed.
While down in the lobby, the guard's shot in the head.
In Theo! In Kyle! In Tony, Ed, Fritz!
Into the party the armed thugs run a blitz.
(Argyle still waits; this is long before Uber.)
While havoc is wreaked by the evil Hans Gruber.
John McClane, he escapes. Saves the day - he's just gotta;
Without shoes he tracks blood as if bearing wounds of stigmata;
One thug tries to kill him but that German's too slow; Now John McClane has a machine gun. HO-HO-HO.
Sgt. Al Powell is told of disturbance;
In response the fake guard feigns a bit of perturbance.
Does he hear anything? The answer is no.
Except for the song, "LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW."
"Merry Christmas," says Powell, not realizing the peril;
Driving off while he sings a beloved Christmas carol.
A corpse falls from above with a clear rationale;
McClane says to the cop, "Welcome to the party, pal."
Gruber talks to McClane, or rather he sneers,
Survival would be a miracle, he plays on his fears.
The policeman is bloodied and in dire need of succor.
"Yipee-ki-yea," McClane says, "mother-f--cker."
A woman hostage with child in of its glory
Is also a part of our Christmas Eve story
With Johnny McC traveling great distance
With hope and with love of fighting evil resistance.
Theo, a wise man, who's also quite naughty
Is stealing the money in spirit quite haughty
Ellis, the Judas, attempts an amenity
By disclosing the cowboy's secret identity.
McClane gets a bad feeling and asks Sgt. Powell
To relay to his wife a redemptive avowal.
"When things panned out for her, I should've been behind her all the way,"
He says this thinking he'll never see the light of day.
"I got it," says the sergeant," but you can tell her yourself."
In a scene that's as seasonal as a reindeer or elf.
"I hope so, but that's up to the guy upstairs," says McClane
Who's traveled far for peace but encountered only pain.
If Christmas is love, rebirth, and a savior
McClane was all of the above in his 'Die Hard' behavior.
God was truly with him, the success was empirical
At Nakatomi they experienced a miracle.
That Die Hard is a Christmas film seems to me just a fact
I declare this without any tact
But whether you agree or your disapproval won't cease
I wish you a season of love and of peace.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Home Alone 1 is best. John Candy / South Bend Shovel Slayer > Tim Curry / Pigeon lady.

That said, Home Alone 2 has been growing on me in recent years. It is still a great film and a worthy sequel.

I miss John Candy. 

[Benny B]

Showing my kids the ORD-H/K Hallway scene to my kids has paid dividends when we travel.  The rest of the movie is forgettable. 

[Coleman]

I miss John Candy.

Me too. BTW, this is a great read, if anyone is interested. Currently about halfway through. Candy isn't on the cover but they spend plenty of time talking about him too.

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Crazy-Guys-Mavericks-Hollywood/dp/1984826646

[Eldon]

Just saw Gremlins included in a montage of Christmas movies run by AMC.

Your move, anti-Gremlins-as-Christmas-movie crowd.

[Billy Hoyle]

I miss John Candy.

1994, my senior year of HS I spent a week volunteering in a village in the Yucatan. I come back to the US, having not seen a TV or newspaper the entire time, and learned John Candy had died while I was gone. A true legend taken too soon.

[Galway Eagle]

Why are the Harry Potter movies always played at Christmas? They have a brief Christmas or winter scene and that's it.

[warriorchick]

Why are the Harry Potter movies always played at Christmas? They have a brief Christmas or winter scene and that's it.

Assuming normal times, my guess is that it is more a function of all the kids being on Christmas break and having a lot of time to watch movies.  Easy way to use up many hours of programming time.

[JWags85]

1994, my senior year of HS I spent a week volunteering in a village in the Yucatan. I come back to the US, having not seen a TV or newspaper the entire time, and learned John Candy had died while I was gone. A true legend taken too soon.

Not only was Candy an absolute phenom who died far too early, he was a great friend and collaborator of John Hughes. Candy's death is one of the primary reasons Hughes took large step back from the industry. He never directed again after Candy's death until his own far too premature death 15 years later.

Candy was in advanced talks to play Ignatius Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces which also stings as it's one of my all time favorite books.  Given Candy's participation, I would have had higher expectations than another of my favorite books that was adapted in that general time, Bonfire of the Vanities, which is an incredible book but an absolute mess of movie

[warriorchick]

Not only was Candy an absolute phenom who died far too early, he was a great friend and collaborator of John Hughes. Candy's death is one of the primary reasons Hughes took large step back from the industry. He never directed again after Candy's death until his own far too premature death 15 years later.

Candy was in advanced talks to play Ignatius Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces which also stings as it's one of my all time favorite books.  Given Candy's participation, I would have had higher expectations than another of my favorite books that was adapted in that general time, Bonfire of the Vanities, which is an incredible book but an absolute mess of movie

So was John Belushi.  And Chris Farley.

As a matter of fact, there seems to be a curse on this movie, as proposed leads keep dying:

https://www.vulture.com/2013/03/8-actors-who-came-close-to-starring-in-a-confederacy-of-dunces.html

[CreightonWarrior]

Why are the Harry Potter movies always played at Christmas? They have a brief Christmas or winter scene and that's it.

They are played frequently year round.

[muwarrior69]

I also don't think of Die Hard as a Christmas movie, and I think the above explains why.  It's a summer blockbuster action movie that happens to be set at Christmas.  But these things are somewhat subjective, and when discussing whether something is or is not a "Christmas Movie" I'll simply invoke the wisdom of Potter Stewart:  "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description, and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."


My personal opinion is that this whole debate probably started with someone jokingly answering "Die Hard" when asked to name a favorite Christmas movie and then it took on a life of its own.

Miracle on 34th Street was released to theatres in May 1947.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Trading Places and Gremlins also came out in June.

[CTWarrior]

Why are the Harry Potter movies always played at Christmas? They have a brief Christmas or winter scene and that's it.

Aren't the Harry Potter always played, period?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Josh Gates interviewed Reginald VelJohnson, a.k.a. Sgt Powell, last week who said he always considered Die Hard a Christmas movie.

[Galway Eagle]

Bump

[wadesworld]

Home Alones, Santa Clause 1, and Elf.

[Galway Eagle]

Home Alones, Santa Clause 1, and Elf.

hoping this is a best list not worst...

[The Sultan]

I miss John Candy. 

Everytime I have a hot dog:  "Do you know what this is made of?  Lips and a**holes."

[wadesworld]

hoping this is a best list not worst...

Sorry, yes.  That's my best.

[warriorchick]

Sorry, yes.  That's my best.

How can you rate the Home Alone movies together as a group?

The original was great, the second one was okay. The rest were crap.

[wadesworld]

How can you rate the Home Alone movies together as a group?

The original was great, the second one was okay. The rest were crap.

I'm not sure I knew there were more than two.  So Home Alones 1 and 2 are on my list.

[tower912]

Anything on Hallmark.  I don't care that it is the exact same movie every time, I mist up every time.

[warriorchick]

Anything on Hallmark.  I don't care that it is the exact same movie every time, I mist up every time.

I saw one with a different plot last night.

Cynical single woman from the big city who is too busy with her career for love visits her small hometown for Christmas. She meets a nice guy with an adorable dog. Romance ensues. Just as they kiss, it starts to snow. The End