Two months ago, we explored what I personally feel were the best Halloween films and TV specials to watch to celebrate the season and this month I figured we would do the same for Christmas:
1. Scrooged: Although this film is now getting upward in years, it is still in my opinion one of the fresher takes on the classic Christmas story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, a TV executive who cares more about corporate success and money than people and being self-satisfied. The movie is hilarious with Murray’s brand of ‘dead pan’ comedy and the cast is great with notables like Bobcat Goldwaith, Carol Kane and Karen Allen.
If you want to never stop laughing while thinking about what is really important in life, this is the film for you.
2. A Christmas Story: Yeah, as you can see, I drift towards the comedy found in the holiday season and this is another great comedy that also in modern times is as much a Christmas Classic on television as Miracle on 34th Street or It’s a Wonderful Life.
Although the film is a blend of aspects of the 1966 short story anthology, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, by author Jean Sheppard (who also narrated the 1983 film), A Christmas Story has become a welcome part of their Christmas celebrations
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3.Christmas Vacation: Much like Scrooged, some of Christmas Vacation’s humor may not be everyone’s cup of tea and although like most holiday fare it does have a happy ending, this one is just one great scene after another and of Chevy Chase’s best comedic performances in his third outing as family man Clark Griswold.
4. It’s A Wonderful Life: Well eventually we had to throw a ‘classic’ feature in this list and this Jimmy Stewart driven Frank Capra film is the one where the message is still just as strong as it was then in 1946 when it was released.
Telling the tale of a man who thinks the life he leads has no real impact on the world around him, the narrative expresses with aplomb how one seemingly insignificant person is so important to the society around him, even if in day to day life the person feels they are not impacting the world at all.
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Another modern classic, this 1967 cartoon short was a combination of talent that perfectly fit the already brilliant children’s book written by the amazing and prolific Dr. Suess. Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame directed the animated masterpiece while the speaking role of the Grinch’s voice was given to Boris Karloff, a legend in film, particularly the ‘monster movies’ of the thirties and forties.
Again the message at the end is clear and Dr. Suess’ message rings true: Happiness and joy, may it be at Christmas or on any other day, are a product of what is in your heart, not in what objects surround you.
Merry Christmas!
