5 - Die Hard
Seriously, this is a Christmas movie for me. At least #1 and #2 are. I'll continue to argue this point until everyone agrees with me so forget about trying to change my mind.
4 - Unaccompanied Minors
Yet another classic that comes across as campy and cheesy but still deserves more appreciation.Lewis Black and Tyler James Williams are stellar in this show. And while Wilmer Valderramma does a good job acting, all I hear is Handy Manny. On top of this, we have Brett Kelly, the pickle kid from Bad Santa. Hilarious! And of course, it's very much like Home Alone, just set in an airport with five kids instead of one.
3 - I'll Be Home For Christmas
Another classic that doesn't get the airtime it deserves. Sure, it's campy and sure it's cheesy. But there's a 5k race with people running dressed as Santa, classic! And for those 7th Heaven fans out there, you get to see Adam LaVorgna (Robbie) and Jessica Biel (Mary) before they got together on the show!
2 - Scrooged
Many fans of Bill Murray are well aware of this 80's classic but it still exists on the fringes of the mainstream media. Besides, it has Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr, a very young Wendie Malick, Buddy Hackett, and Bobcat Goldthwait. It is a bit scarier than I remember but those are just the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Future. It's like Caddyshack for Christmas.
1 - The Man Who Came To Dinner
This is by far, the most under appreciated Christmas movie out there. I'd even venture to say that this is the most under appreciated movie of all time. The comedic writing, timing, and acting are by far the best you will find anywhere. If you want to write, act, do stand-up, or even spend two hours laughing, then you need to watch this movie. I've watched it every Christmas for a few years now and it gets better every time.
2 comments:
Scrooged does not get the credit it deserves for being a great Christmas movie. I watched it before the Christmas "season" started on HBO and it's a good movie on it's own.
Die Hard has been getting plenty of credit this year as a Christmas movie. Lots of people have been talking about it as a great Christmas movie.
I actually think some of the "classics" are actually underrated. I think Christmas Vacation is underrated sometimes. There's so much going on in that movie, it's easy to overlook that it's actually a great movie. The Polar Express fits under that category too.
Unfortunately, I find most of the more modern Christmas movies try to hard and fail because of it. They "feel" manufactured. Christmas Vacation took an established franchise and told a funny story in that context. Elf gets by on the talent of the people in it combined with a funny story that just uses Christmas as a setting.
Anyway, that's just my little opinion.
All valid points. I didn't include Christmas Vacation because I feel it does get some pretty good credit when it comes to being shown on TV as well as being available on DVD.
The Polar Express is a good one for an Honorable Mention since I think it snuck in under the radar when it was released. Yet it somehow has become a bit of a cult classic with the younger generation.
Elf is another good one for Honorable Mention but it's kind of in a grey area because I think a lot of Will Ferrell fans are familiar with it and it has a decent heft to it when it comes to getting some air time.
I think both The Polar Express and Elf will eventually become classics like Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation and will get plenty of respect as must-see Christmas movies.
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