There are two types of people in America. Those that appreciate and celebrate Thanksgiving properly, without a Christmas tree or twinkling light in sight, and those heathens that put up all the Christmas decorations the second week in November.
Facetiousness aside, this weekend marks the beginning of the season to make hot chocolate, wrap up in your favorite blanket, and get into the Christmas spirit with a few Christmas movies. Here are our favorite ones.
A Christmas Carol (with Jim Carrey) - the most accurate movie adaptation of the most iconic non-religious Christmas story, also has the best Christmas-y soundtrack ever.
Second would have to A Charlie Brown Christmas. I grew up watching this so it is the most nostalgic Christmas movie for me personally. Also whenever I hear the Nativity story from Luke, it is inevitably in Linus’ voice.
Jade McIntosh:
You probably haven’t seen this film but it is SO GOOD!!! Whitney Houston stars in it. The Preachers Wife. Whitney is married to a pastor and this particular Christmas her husband realizes that he had been so caught up into ministry and catering to his church members he forgot about his number one ministry which is his family. It is definitely one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies!
I enjoy A Charlie Brown Christmas. Aired every December on ABC, I enjoy watching/hearing the Linus character recites Luke 2:1-14. While it reminds me of the real reason for the Christmas season, I enjoy knowing that someone somewhere heard a portion of The Greatest True Story Ever Told. Amazingly, this special almost never aired. In 2015, Lee Habeeb wrote a fantastic article about this in National Review. Basically, people were concerned it was too religious. I could see that happening today, but A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired in 1965.
First on my list is The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is an excellent adaptation made back when the Muppets were good. Very fun, heartwarming, and scary with great songs to boot.
Next is The Polar Express. Yes, the mocap is a bit unsettling, but this film has always pulled on my heartstrings. Also, the songs are great and the soundtrack is breathtaking. (I even wrote an article about it.)
Finally, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Father Christmas is in it and they get gifts. It's a Christmas movie. Deal with it.
My family loves How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I love both the animated and the live-action version.
Austin Brooks:
It's A Wonderful Life is the greatest Christmas movie of all time! I love it because it puts life into perspective. It is a reminder of what's really important: the love of family and friends. Though, not a religious movie, it also places a high value on life and how much one person makes a difference in a community. Also, I just love Jimmy Stewart.
My husband and I love Christmas in Connecticut and The Bells of Saint Mary! These are great black-and-white classics that we started watching together once we were married. A new Christmas tradition!
I love Elf because it is by far the cleanest Will Ferrell movie and, in my opinion, one of the funniest Christmas movies ever.
While I love A Charlie Brown Christmas and Elf, my top spot has to go to Tim Allen in The Santa Clause. I don’t just watch the first one, but I have to watch the entire trilogy before Christmas. I can neither confirm nor deny that it gave me thoughts of knocking Santa off the roof and putting on his robe (but that hot chocolate may have been worth it).
I’m usually a ho-humbug about Christmas movies because I can’t stand the formula where everything magically gets put together by midnight Christmas morning as the snow falls and giant plot holes are ignored and explained away because of the “magic of Christmas.” But I’m going to go with While You Were Sleeping. Even though it’s technically a Christmas movie, my mom and I watch it all year long! It never gets old and we quote it all the time.
That’s our list. What movie do you have to watch while decorating the tree or before anyone can open gifts? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Image via Flickr.
