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Best Christmas movie? (Diehard excluded...)

Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
Nymphae said:
My criteria for being a Christmas movie is pretty simple. Is it about Christmas? Die Hard is not about Christmas. It is set during Christmas time. So is Lethal Weapon but it is literally never discussed as a Christmas movie. Because it isn't one, on account of it not being about Christmas.

I love Die Hard, and I love Christmas movies. I have never once put on Die Hard during the holidays.

If Die Hard is a Christmas movie, so is Batman Returns. It's set during Christmas, opens on Christmas eve, has many Christmasy elements, and ends with Merry Christmas. But lets not be stupid here.

A good rule of thumb might be: if the basic plot can be summarized without needing to mention the holidays or Christmas, it's not a Christmas movie.
Click to expand...

Batman Returns IS a Christmas movie. and so is Die Hard. Something is wrong with your head.


My order:

1. Batman Returns
2. Nightmare Before Christmas
3. Muppet Christmas Carol
4. Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer.
5. Die Hard (excluded due to OP rules)
 
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Nymphae

Nymphae

Banned
Pagusas said:
Batman Returns IS a Christmas movie. and so is Die Hard. Something is wrong with your head.
Click to expand...

Idk, they don't feel like they are about Christmas at when I watch them. To me there is a huge difference between a movie set during the holidays (with a plot that is largely unconcerned with Christmas - see Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Batman Returns), and having a story that is actually meant to be about Christmas and the holidays.
 
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JaySamra

JaySamra

Neo Member
One of the more underrated ones I feel is The Year Without a Santa Claus.
Possibly cause of the Ice Miser and Heat Miser song.
 
cr0w

cr0w

Old Member
John Lee Packard said:
A Christmas Story would be my pick too and I never get tired of it either even though boy howdy they've sure tried to even make me sick of it (we really don't need 24 hour marathons)

I remember when I first saw it as a kid in the 90s, back when it was a rising cult phenomenon and not quite as ubiquitous as it is today, it felt like an in-joke, the Christmas movie for people that didn't like the typical Christmas movies, that mystique has been lost now, but it doesn't change the fact of how great a movie it is.

It strikes a perfect balance of not being too syrupy but also not being too cynical, of subverting the whole idea of Christmas in the first place while also being a genuine celebration of it.

And for me personally, one thing I love about the movie is I have a strange affinity for early 80s period piece movies, the grit and down to Earth vibe of early 80s movies in general was a perfect match for movies with historical settings that made it feel like you were seeing the actual past being depicted and not a Hollywood facsimile of it.
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I completely agree. It also reminds me of the years I spent as a kid in and around Chicago, where Christmas was absolutely the most magical time of the year. It captured what being a kid was like, having the perfect gift that you wanted so badly at your fingertips but still just out of reach, and how maddening it was until you finally got your hands on it. My Red Ryder was Sgt. Slaughter and his Triple-T from G.I. Joe in 1986. I obsessed over its page in the Sears catalog and when I finally opened it that thing didn't leave my sight for at least a month. The movie also captured the ups and downs of family, and how each member has their quirks but at the end of the day, they're still there for each other. It's one of the most authentic movies I've ever seen.

Last year I finally bought and read all of Jean Shepherd's works, and they all have the same feeling of going home again that I feel when the movie comes on. In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash is at the top of the mountain as far as his stuff goes, but Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters is right up there with it.
 
Silent Duck

Silent Duck

Member
89f.jpg
 
MulderWasTaken

MulderWasTaken

Member
Nymphae said:
A good rule of thumb might be: if the basic plot can be summarized without needing to mention the holidays or Christmas, it's not a Christmas movie.
Click to expand...
So, Home Alone is not a Christmas movie then.
"An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during vacation"
 
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Nymphae

Nymphae

Banned
MulderWasTaken said:
So, Home Alone is not a Christmas movie then.
"An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during vacation"
Click to expand...

Nymphae said:
Ok the rule of thumb might not be the best way to determine it's official Christmas movie status lol (but you picked a pretty shitty example with A Christmas Carol.) But the more simpler determination I put forth works best - ask yourself if it's about Christmas. Is Die Hard about Christmas at all, or is it just set at Christmas? No one ever tells me how it's about Christmas or the holidays, merely that it is indeed set at that time and oh wow there are a few Christmas props. What a Christmas classic!

I actually haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life, but while you might be able to pedantically describe these movies while avoiding any mentions of their largely Christmas related content, it's obvious when you watch and ask yourself if they are about Christmas or holiday spirit, that they are, and Die Hard is not.
Click to expand...

also
Nymphae said:
Idk, they don't feel like they are about Christmas at when I watch them. To me there is a huge difference between a movie set during the holidays (with a plot that is largely unconcerned with Christmas - see Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Batman Returns), and having a story that is actually meant to be about Christmas and the holidays.
Click to expand...
 
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dolabla

dolabla

Member
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Scrooged
A Christmas Carol
Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
The Polar Express
Ernest Saves Christmas (I'm watching right now)
Silent Night (Hallmark movie based on a true story about WW2)

And the awesome cartoons like Mickey's Christmas Carol, Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy, etc.
 
Silent Duck

Silent Duck

Member
MulderWasTaken said:
So, Home Alone is not a Christmas movie then.
"An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during vacation"
Click to expand...
Agree to disagree.
Home Alone has Christmas permeating every aspect of it. The lessons Kevin learns, and the lessons Kevin teach to the old man in church, all resonate the Christmas spirit. At it’s heart, it’s about Kevin missing his family on Christmas. The burglars are just the icing on the cake. Hell, even the soundtrack is more Christmasy than most Christmas movies.
So, to me anyway, Home Alone still stands as a Christmas movie.
 
M

Monkeylord

Member
Jingle All The Way
Krampus
Rare Exports
Christmas Vacation

(Bonus TV Episodes)
Bottom - Holy
Father Ted - A Christmassy Ted
Invader Zim - The Most Horrible Xmas Ever
 
Kadin

Kadin

Member
Scrooged is always first, then The Santa Clause movies and then Home Alone. I prefer watching these in this order and then other random ones.
 
Kenpachii

Kenpachii

Member
Christmas movies is all about putting you into the christmas spirit. If terminator or alien do that for you then they are christmas movies to you. This is also why many think die hard even while its nothing related towards a christmas spirit type of movie is considered a christmas movie. Arguing if it is or isn't a christmas movie is pointless really as for some it just is and for others its just not.

This is my list, i have no best or worst movies i enjoy them all.

- The family man
- Scourged
- Christmas Vacation
- Groundhog day
- Home alone 1 + 2
- Trading Places
- Marry Poppins
- A christmas carol
- A christmas story
- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
- The polar express ( terrible cgi even when it released, still good movie )
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947) ( if you are not in old movies skip at all cost )
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
- Jingle All the Way
- Batman returns
- Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
- Dutch
- Harry Potter
- Matilda
- Coming to America
- Flodder in America ( dutch movie, avoid if you are not dutch )
- Frozen
- Christmas with the Kranks
- The Christmas Chronicles 2018 ( netflix )
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks ( older movie )
- Chitty Chitty bang bang ( older movie )
 
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The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
Scrooged is definitely my go to outside of Die Hard.

The Night Before might be up there for me as well. Watched it for the first time last year. Great film.
 
Silent Duck

Silent Duck

Member
A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Scrooged
Halloween (1978)

Okay, so the last one is a joke. But the others aren’t.
 
brap

brap

Banned
Davey Cakes said:
I’ve never seen Christmas Vacation and I feel like a criminal. Hope to rectify that this year.
Click to expand...
I just watched it like two days ago and didn't like it that much. Thought the original Vacation was a lot better. I feel like so many people like CV just because they watched it as kids.
 
The ninja farmer

The ninja farmer

Member
In no order

it’s a wonderful life
Home alone 1 or 2
Lethal weapon

All below the festive might that is die hard (mainly 1, but 2 as well)

and for tv, any father ted Xmas special 👍🎅
 
G

Gargus

Banned
A christmas story and black christmas are the best christmas movies. They are also the only ones I'll recognize because I dont like care for Christmas much and in general hate christmas movies.

I pretty much see a christmas story every christmas as I put it on all the TVs in the lobby at work while I'm there and my wife sees it while she is at her moms. Then at night we watch black christmas before bed.

We watch holiday horror movie every holiday. Black christmas, new years evil, my bloody valentine, etc.

badblue said:
If Die Hard is excluded I'd have to go with Gremlins.

I tend to get very misanthropic around Christmas time, so I don't watch christmas movies. Unless I'm forced to.
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Die hard is excluded because it isn't a christmas movie. It's just a trendy and cool thing to say on the internet that it is.

Die hard is set during christmas but it has absolutely nothing to do with christmas. It isn't about presents, the spirit of Christmas, Santa, love, family, or anything about christmas or its themes. It just is set during that time period. Die hard is as much a movie about christmas as the movie is about california.
 
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