Yes! It is that time of the year!
While I am having my own personal issues with the holidays this year due to the loss of a family member earlier this year, I am making an effort to get into the Christmas Spirit this year!
And to do that I decided to make a list of my favorite Christmas movies!
Alright?
Let’s get to it!
Number 5: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
This movie is a must watch for me and my family every year. It doesn’t feel like Christmas until we watch this movie.
It is an utterly silly movie filled with laughs and quotable lines to make you laugh year after year. Honestly, this movie never, ever gets old.
Every time I watch it, I laugh.
I don’t care that it’s not exactly politically correct or perfect. It’s filled with hilarious characters.
None of them are exactly interested in spending Christmas together or making the holiday perfect. And the holiday isn’t perfect because they never come out the way we hope they will. But this movie doesn’t care about being perfect.
All that matters is family being together for Christmas.
Even if it’s crazy and filled with flames. As long as it’s filled with laughter and love, the holiday will be perfect.
Number Four: Snow
Okay. This is a weird one, I’ll admit.
I saw this movie many moons ago when I was a little kid and Freeform was ABC Family running the 25 days of Christmas. I remember sitting in my daybed, in my pajamas after a bath because I was only allowed to stay up and watch this new movie if I was ready for bed.
All snuggled up in my bed on a cold winter night on a weekend with no school the next day I watched this new movie about Santa Claus.
Having already watched The Santa Clause and treated it as gospel as a little kid, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this new take on Santa.
But it definitely became a favorite I looked forward to watching every year. Tom Cavanagh does a fantastic job as a new and weird take on Santa. Since he was born and raised away from people, he has no idea how to interact with them, has crazy sayings, and a great memory.
This movie sparked my following of Tom Cavanagh’s career because I liked him so much in this movie.
He’s quirky and kind. He tries to be clever as he tries to wrangle his reindeer back to the North Pole only to fail at every turn.
Listening to him practice speeches to people over and over while they’re not there is hilarious. It’s so funny I could have watched an entire movie of him doing that over and over.
It’s a silly Santa movie that gets one very important detail right: It doesn’t try to be The Santa Clause.
Snow is its own movie with its own storyline and doesn’t rip off what came before. For me, this is another one I watch every year!
Number Three: Happiest Season
Now, I’ll admit up until this point I went with nostalgia. Movies I watched when I was a kid and for me make up the best Christmas memories.
Happiest Season is where I stray from the norm on this list.
I don’t have a long list of reasons as to why it makes the list, it’s just a simple one. I like this movie.
For me, it all the typical romance of a Hallmark movie, knowing things will work out in the end because that’s what happens in these movies, but it represents so much more.
Sure, there are other movies that might have better writing or something but I don’t care.
Happiest Season has two women at the helm in this weird romantic comedy where everyone is trying so hard to be something they’re not to get things they don’t really want while Abby is the normal person in the middle of all this going… What?
Honestly, Kristen Stewart does a fantastic job with all the subtle facial expressions and not so subtle ones. Her performance is to tier.
I also just love Abby basically being so confused the entire movie. She basically spends the entire movie wondering what is wrong with everyone.
Why is everyone so obsessed with their image? Why is Harper acting so weird? Where is the woman I’ve been living with? What is happening right now?
She basically steps into an alternate universe where no one understands what a lesbian is.
Meanwhile, Riley shows up and is like, same, I get you.
Honestly, the movie is a riot. The characters make all the wrong choices, especially Harper.
But here’s the thing. They all grow up!
The parents realize how much they messed up their kids and try to be better. The older sister gets a divorce so they’re happier. Harper admits her wrongdoings.
The best thing about this is that no one is perfect. They make mistakes.
And I am not of the mind that Abby should have ended up with Riley because there is a quote, “People are the sum of more than one mistake.”
Harper is more than one mistake. Albeit a big one. She still owns up and tries to do better. I think it would be remiss of Abby to throw their life away.
It’s messy and great. Love it.
Number Two: The Santa Clause
Yes, number two is the first movie. I’m aware.
This is intentional.
Let me preface it by saying, I adore this movie. I do. I adore it so much. It is without a doubt one of my favorite Christmas movies.
I cannot at all say when I first saw it because this movie came out around the time I was born so I grew up with it. When I pictured Santa Claus as a kid, this is who I saw. This is what I pictured the North Pole to look like. This movie was perfect in my childhood opinion, and I keep that opinion because it holds such sentimental value for me.
I quote this movie all the time. My entire family does. I could probably recite it from start to finish.
Charlie is an adorable kid who believes in magic and Santa with everything in his little body. His father is a cold grinch who needs a wake-up call. It’s a mix of magic and crazy that I find wonderful time after time.
The only reason this movie finds itself number two instead of one, is because the climax always, without fail breaks my heart a little.
As the audience we know the truth, Scott is now Santa. In the movie only Charlie truly knows the truth because he believes. Without belief the rest of the people believe Scott has twisted Charlie into believing something unhealthy and altering himself to ensure it sticks. The part where Charlie is forcibly taken from Scott is so saddening.
I always found it unfair for Charlie.
All these adults are warring over what’s best for him instead of listening to him or really trying to understand. Which since Neal is a shrink is hilarious because he should be listening. Instead, all the adults are only focused on what they want for Charlie.
Until he’s returned home, and Scott grows up. He tells Charlie to stay, and Laura realizes the truth. He is Santa. And she wants him to have his dad however that might be.
No matter what I find those scenes truly heart wrenching.
Which don’t get me wrong is excellent writing. Those are the emotions intended to be felt in those scenes.
However, I don’t always want sadness – such profound – sadness in my Christmas movies.
I want hope. Happiness.
Not the cops getting called on Santa.
Seriously, in 1994 when that crossed the storyboard or the script who was like ‘Yes, we are totally going to have a scene of the police harassing every Santa they can find on Christmas Eve.’
Like, just stop for a moment, and think about that.
Think about if you were a kid on Christmas Eve that year and look out your window to see the police arresting Santa!
Like what?
I’d be so confused if I saw that out of context. Then think about all the poor parents who have to answer those questions. How do explain the presents if Santa got arrested? Or do you explain that’s not really Santa?
Yeesh.
Anyway…
Number One: The Santa Clause 2
Man – oh – man this is a doozy of a movie.
It is my favorite Christmas movie ever. I will even watch this one without watching the others in the trilogy I love it so much. I quote this movie more often than the first, it is awesome.
My only complaint about this movie is why is the time limit for finding a Mrs. Claus eight years?
Like most things are five or ten. Normal numbers. Metric numbers. Instead, the timeline for this is eight years.
Also, I love to nitpick movies, even ones I love because honestly it endears me more to them.
Like how do you forget the single most important detail in the history of Christmas? I mean, honestly, Bernard even if Curtis forgot, aren’t you still his boss? Didn’t you know you needed a Mrs. Claus too?
Why don’t the other legendary figures know about this? Does anyone else know Father Time looks like Scott’s boss from the first movie? Are they the same person?
One of the other things my family and I joke about when it comes to these movies especially since we learn in this one, we need a Mrs. Claus. Uh, what happened to the first guy’s wife?
You know? The one who fell off the roof?
Did the elves just show up and be life, whoops sorry, your husband’s dead but now we got a new guy, so we need you to leave?
Or did he not have one?
In my family we joke the elves forgot about the whole Mrs. Claus thing because they kept going through Santas like underwear. None of them lasted long enough without falling off a roof until Scott to worry about getting him hitched.
I joke.
I digress too.
See? Considering I only watch this movie within a month or two at most in a year I know it far too well.
Beside all the plot holes which as I’ve stated before don’t really bother me as long as I like the characters and I love these people.
Scott explains to Laura and Neal what’s happening to him and the offer to help. Both of them are played with more childlike wonder and optimism than the first movie. They have almost a childlike quality to them now, which is played so well by the actors.
I also love how welcome Scott is in their home.
He’s clearly been there before, and their child calls him Uncle Scott. I will say it until I’m blue in the face, the divorced parents having a better relationship after the divorce is a wonderful thing to see.
Everything about this movie is a family. A family with the elves, to their children, to the people they’ve chosen to be with them.
It’s goofy. It’s silly. It’s wise.
And it reminds me every year why I refuse to grow up and lose my silly nature.
Believing is seeing. And I believe that as long as I choose to keep my childlike wonder and nature, I get to see the world in a better light.
Growing up is no fun.
Like Lucy, I always want toys on Christmas.
Whew!
Alright, that’s my list of my top Christmas movies. I hope you liked it! In fact, I think you should let me know your favorite holiday movies!
As always read on and spread the love!
And if you like this, please follow me here and help me save up to buy a dirt bike! 😉
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