Best/Worst Holiday Movies

[Big RR]

I reluctantly admit I am a sucker for holiday (I use holiday instead of Christmas, becuase most are concerned with the secular Christmas celebrated rather than the religious one), even TV holiday episodes. I have sat through meany horrendous movies of this genre (especially the more recent ones), but there are some diamonds among the coal. I would like to see which holiday movies people love or hate here, and will start it here with one of each of my own.

Bad

One Magic Christmas is an incredibly bad movie IMHO because it misses on many points and results in a movie not worth the watch. It was released by Disney in the 1980s, and is an updated retelling (with liberties) of It's a Wonderful Life. The protagonist is played by Mary Steenbergen (a very underrated actress who does it well here) who lives with her husband and children in a company town, and they are losing their house by Jan 1 as her husband was being laid off. She works in a minimum wage job in a store, and is pretty pissed at the world, having no time for Christmas. So by Christmas movie standards she needs to be taught a lesson.

However, unlike George Bailey's, her lesson is horrible; she has a fight with her husband about not wanting to use any of their small nest egg (around 3-6 months pay), and he storms off to the bank to take some money for presents (saying "Christmas is about presents for kids" a big turn away from most of the holiday movies, but then Disney is a toy company) . He leaves the kids in the car and goes into the bank, where a bankrobber shoots and kills him, and then steals the car with the kids and skids of a bridge into the water. So she's lost everything--except she hasn't--somehow the kids are found alive (you see, they need the kids for the rest of the movie).

Mourning the death`of their dads, the kids meet an angel who says he can help them if they help their mother get Christmas back in her heart, and they have to tell no one about him. Except this isn't any garden variety angel with wings and an ethereal glow, it's Harry Dean Stanton (about the most un-angelic guy I can think of) dressed in shabby clothes meeting them in the shadows. To hell with all the stranger danger, if he's an angel, just do what he wants kids.

Then, in an almost unintelligible set of sequences he takes them to see Santa Claus who raises their father from the dead (can he do that? I guess so, he's a saint) as their mom realizes it's a wonderful life.

Toning down the tragedy, dropping the gift plugs, and not making Santa akin to god could have made it a much better movie, as could using a less menacing angel, but IMHO they missed the mark. And it is sad, the recession and loss of jobs, especially in small towns, was rampant at the time (remember the SNL skits about the mall closing and only the scotch tape stores making sales so the others could post their closing signs?) and a movie using this as a backdrop could have been very good, but such was not to be. I think it's available on DVD, but can't recall the last time I saw it broadcast.

Good

FX Christmas Carol is a dark reworking of the Scrooge story which is made for mature audiences. It has the usual settings with the ghosts, Marley, and Scrooge and ends with Scrooge's redemption, but in a very cynical way. Basically, we are treated to a litany of misdeeds of Scrooge and Marley in the early days, and Scrooge later, and some of them are perverse, some horrifying. We also got to see how these misdeeds gave Scrooge the few little pleasures he had, and he comes across as someone undeserving of any understanding, less redemption. It's long--nearly 3 hours--and is a compilation of a 3 part BBC series called A Christmas Carol. What I especially enjoy about it is that Scrooge doesn't change completely, but, in a way, cannot forgive himself after seeing himself through the mirror of the ghosts. He says he will try to be the best he can be, but he (at least in his mind) has much to atone for.

I think it is a good retelling of the story and focuses a modern eye on it. Also, unlike the above move it is not marketed to children and is replete with warnings of the scenes to come. It's well worth the watch.

I would guess FX will broadcast this once or twice in the coming weeks, and I think it is available for streaming, but do not believe it is avaialable on DVD.


Post some of your own.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, A Christmas Story, it has to be . . . was just considering taking #1 to the actual Christmas Story House in the Tremont area tomorrow but it closes at 5pm and it makes the timing a bit tough. It's a classic good vs. evil movie, captures the joy (and terror) of childhood, the dreams and disappointments of kids and adults (mom in general and dad with his "major award". Rationalizing the leg-lamp as a wonderful thing rather than a let-down is a gentle observance of (some) human tendencies. It will always be schmaltzy but always worth the annual watch.

And I have a fondness for "Elf" of all things . . .

I can't come up with a bad Christmas movie that we've seen because we've always managed to not-watch those that seemed likely to be crap. Bad Santa, for example. Christmas with the Kranks. Black Christmas. Unaccompanied Minors. Home Alone 3. Oh I lie! I couldn't stand Polar Express.

[BoSoxGal]

I want to second the recommendation to watch the FX version of A Christmas Carol, it’s definitely worth seeing.

A good fairly recent movie I would also recommend is The Man Who Invented Christmas about Charles Dickens’s writing of A Christmas Carol.

I still haven’t seen Polar Express.

I don’t want to think about bad Christmas movies.

[Big RR]

I did enjoy The Man Who Invented Christmas; I recall my kids liked The Polar Express, I could take or leave it.

[Big RR]

Just to expand the discussion I figured I'd throw in three TV animated movies which I really like:

A Charlie Brown Christmas--sappy and silly? Sure. A public school putting on a Christmas pageant you wouldn't see in the 60s? Of course. But it has some good music and is the best of the Peanuts cartoons.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas--the animated TV one, not the later movie which I did not like (but my kids did). Another traditional favorite and a lot of fun; narrated by none other than Boris Karloff and featuring the singing voice of Thurl Ravenscroft (aka Tony the Tiger). What's not to like?

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol--if you haven't seen it (and you may well have missed it, it was absent from TV for years), it's a (for the most part, some parts were edited to meet the time limit) faithful retelling of the story, replete with many well known 60s actors doing the voices. Not only that, it boasts a musical score and songs written by two respected Broadway composers--some of the songs alone are worth the watch. Yes, it has a few Mr. Magoo gags, but not many--for the most part he portrays Scrooge well without the slapstick (and Backus does OK as a singer as well). I don't know if it's streaming, but I recall NBC screening it a bit back and cutting the hell out of it to fit more commercials; try to find it in the unedited form.

All of the above are entertainment suitable for the entire family.

[BoSoxGal]

I would heartily recommend in the animation category the brilliant BAFTA winning film of the children’s classic book The Snowman. You can stream the whole movie on Amazon or Vudu.

Here is the very lovely segment of the film that includes the fine child tenor performance of Walking in the Air by Peter Auty.

https://youtu.be/upH1QZU4Z0Y?si=9w9kDxSqvoazcuzr

[MGMcAnick]

And then there is Diehard. Good or bad, I don't know.

[Long Run]

And then there is Diehard. Good or bad, I don't know.

Which leads to the eternal question. You're probably better off talking politics or where to merge when a lane is coming to an end.

[BoSoxGal]

Diehard is a Christmas movie, period. Fight me.

[Big RR]

I don't think it is, but no fight from me. Call it what you want, it's not worth arguing about. FWIW, I have seen it on a number of Christmas movie lists.

[MajGenl.Meade]

It exudes peace, joy and goodwill to all persons.

[Bicycle Bill]

Diehard is a Christmas movie, period. Fight me.

If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then so is Battle of the Bulge (it also took place over the Christmas holiday), and I'm pretty sure there are Christmas tree and some other references to Christmas in it.
Same with the original Poseidon Adventure. Sure it's a New Year's Eve party on the cruise liner, but there's a huge Christmas tree in the ballroom, and it's even used as a ladder for the survivors to start their climb to the bottom.

-"BB"-

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, this seems determinative . . .

[Sue U]

Not really a Christmas movie aficionado (just not my thing), but I will agree with Meade that A Christmas Story and Elf are always worth watching. I grew up on Jean Shepherd telling stories on the radio (they should really make a movie out of his Fourth of July story as well), and while I'm hot/cold on Will Ferrell stuff, the goofy mayhem of Elf was pretty well done. Plus it's got Ed Asner, Bob Newhart and Peter Dinklage, so who couldn't like that?

[Big RR]

Yes, Jean Shepard was great; I listened for years--even had autographed copies of his first two books; I would have loved to hear him when he did the overnight shows (I like to imgaine 4 or 5 hours of him), but that was a little before my time.

[MajGenl.Meade]

they should really make a movie out of his Fourth of July story as well

Does this count?

[Sue U]

Yes, Jean Shepard was great; I listened for years--even had autographed copies of his first two books; I would have loved to hear him when he did the overnight shows (I like to imgaine 4 or 5 hours of him), but that was a little before my time.

It was NOT before your time. He was on WOR (710 AM) every night from 10 to 11 during the 1960s and 70s up until the time both you and I were in college. He actually came to my school to do a talk and autographed a copy of Ferrari in the Bedroom I had recently bought (my copy of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash had been left at home).

they should really make a movie out of his Fourth of July story as well

Does this count?

I have never seen this, will have to watch! He told this story every year and I just couldn't wait to hear it again (a version is also in In God We Trust).

[Crackpot]

The Christmas Story sequel that came out a year or two ago was worth a watch. Not as good as the original (hard to beat that bunny suit) but I thought it carried the heart of the original.

[Bicycle Bill]

The Shepherd story that resounded the most with me was "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories".  I first read it sometime when I was in my late 30s-early 40s, and even though I'd never gone to prom or even dated while in high school, I could just imagine myself in the same boat as the protagonist ... trying my damnedest to make everything just perfect, only for it all to blow up in my face.  And it also made me realize just how much I'd missed, just letting things slip through my fingers back then, and that it was too late to ever get it back.  I was in a deep blue funk for about three days.

I've got a copy of it around here somewhere ... I'll have to dig it out again and re-read it.  It seems that I'm destined to be a virtual hermit just sitting and moping around my apartment for the rest of my life, so I might as well have another good reason to do so.

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

Sue--I started listening in 64 or 65 for that 10:00 - 11:00 show (I even got my dad to listen), but I also have heard he was on the air overnight (all night) before then; maybe 11 or 12 to 5. That was in the 50s I think. I think giving him a long time to do stream of consciousness stories could be fun

Sadly, my autograhed copies of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash ... and Wanda hickey's Night of Golden Memories (both from his appearances at A&S in downtown Brooklyn) were lost when the basement flooded.

Bill--the Bumpus hounds stealing the turkey came from one of the stories inthe Wanda Hickey book--but it was a ham and easter there. I think the Orphan Annie decoder as well.