Christmas is almost here! Ben and I are observing Advent, or maybe I should say, figuring out how to observe Advent. We’ve each given something up, but we also celebrated an early Christmas with my mom and had multiple feast days in a row… We bought a tree but it’s only strung with lights. We plan to decorate this weekend.
It’s odd that this year the fourth Sunday of Advent is also Christmas Eve! So Advent has only been three weeks long, rather than four. It has definitely flown by, and I’m working on allowing my anticipation for Christmas to build up (hence the Advent practices).
That being said, we’ve only watched a few Christmas movies! We’re saving up most of them for the 12 days of Christmas.
And I want to hear from you! What are your top Christmas movies, the ones in regular rotation? And have you discovered anything new this year?
Comment below with your top 5, or somewhere around there — it’s okay if you go over! I’ll start the thread! ✨
Love this Corinne!! I was just talking to Ben about the Nativity Story! He’ll be so happy to hear about Scrooge haha. And I’m assuming you’re talking about the old animated Grinch?! Or the new one! Love to you today!! ✨🎄
Woah hot take on Holiday Inn! Better than White Christmas! I like it. We watched both growing up, but eventually White Christmas won out... I think we’ll need to make it Holiday Inn this year! And I haven’t heard of your honorable mentions -- love that! Both are going on our Christmastide list!!
Lol. White Christmas just feels like a commercial ploy to capitalize on the popularity of the song. Holiday Inn is just a fun romp with a lot of heart.
But I didn’t grow up watching WC so I don’t have the connection to it.
Perhaps a side-by-side viewing (if only we could have a snow day for a marathon!) is required! And I didn't realize the song came before the movie?? interesting...
Oo Ben will be so happy to hear you love the muppets Christmas carol too! This year was my first time seeing it but I also fell asleep and had an allergic reaction to cats so I missed a bit... I didn’t grow up with Home Alone for some reason, thinking that deserves a viewing this year! 😍
1. Meet Me in St. Louis !! (me and Emily make sure to watch this every Christmas time, Judy Garland sings the PREMIERE of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a heartbreaking performance)
2. It's a Wonderful Life (childhood rewatch)
3. The Grinch (family laugher)
4. Elf (one of my dad's favorite family watches)
5. Claymation Rudolph and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (I'm Mr. Heatmieser)
I *really* want to watch Meet Me in St Louis! Been wanting to for yeeaaarrsss since you told me about it! And I didn’t know that about the song! Such a great trivia question.
1. Scrooge (1970)- A classic redemptive Christmas Carol musical that always makes me cry.
2. Klaus (2019)- The newest addition to my personal Christmas classic collection. Think Emperor's New Groove with a Holiday make over. It also always makes me cry.
3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)- A redemptive classic Christmas non-musical that always makes me cry.
4. Die Hard (1988)- A controversial choice but unless we're celebrating Christmas at Nakatomi Plaza, I don't want to party. Sometimes makes me cry.
My favorite Christmas movies to watch with my family have always been:
1. A Christmas Story — I grew up with this one!
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation — my brother and dad love this one, constantly quoted it around the house during the holidays. So fun to introduce Ben to it last Christmas!
3. Christmas with the Kranks — so sweet and clever, gosh I love Jamie Lee Curtis!
4. White Christmas — my aunt gifted us VHS copies of White Christmas and Holiday Inn when I was young, and we watched it almost every year since! "The theater, the theater, what's happened to the theater...?"
It's hard to pick my last one, but I think I have to give the 1993 Little Women a shoutout here! Not technically a Christmas movie, but always so fun to watch around this time of year.
We haven't watched any of the above yet, but so far I've fallen asleep to The Muppets Christmas Carol and Charlie Brown Christmas. Ben and I also watched Klaus, which is wonderful and I think is working its way up to my top 5! It's the 20th anniversary of Elf, so we watched that one with my mom! We watched Last Christmas at a girls night, which I had seen a few years ago. Definitely a quirky one!! Doesn't hit quite the same once you know the ending...
A few more honorable mentions from growing up would be the made-for-TV movies Rudolph (1964) and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)! "Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking out the door!"
1. National Lampoon Christmas Vacation- never fails to make me laugh, no matter how many times I watch it.
2. A Christmas Story- family classic, iconic, mid century modern vibes.
3. Elf- it’s never not funny to watch Will Ferrel run around acting like an 8 year old.
4. The Holiday- classic Christmas romcom. Jack Black plays himself.
5. Santa Claus is coming to town- the 1970 claymation screams nostalgia, epic Kris Kringle origin story.
Our lists are so similar! Love this.
Here are mine! Merry Christmas to all!
Scrooge (1951) Alistair Sim is an incredible actor!
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Nativity Story
Elf
The Santa Clause
The Grinch (the animated one lol)
Love this Corinne!! I was just talking to Ben about the Nativity Story! He’ll be so happy to hear about Scrooge haha. And I’m assuming you’re talking about the old animated Grinch?! Or the new one! Love to you today!! ✨🎄
Oh and Meet Me In St Louis. Technicolor musical that gave us the song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Mine are all B/W:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life
Masterpiece. What more can you say.
2. Holiday Inn (1942)
The movie that gifted us Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. It’s fun and sentimental and the cast is terrific.
Overlooked in modern times because one of the musical numbers does not fit with current social mores.
Must watch (and better than White Christmas)
Honorable mentions:
Meet John Doe (1941)
Another Capra classic with Christmas connections.
Going My Way (1944)
Earned Bing Crosby an Oscar.
Woah hot take on Holiday Inn! Better than White Christmas! I like it. We watched both growing up, but eventually White Christmas won out... I think we’ll need to make it Holiday Inn this year! And I haven’t heard of your honorable mentions -- love that! Both are going on our Christmastide list!!
Lol. White Christmas just feels like a commercial ploy to capitalize on the popularity of the song. Holiday Inn is just a fun romp with a lot of heart.
But I didn’t grow up watching WC so I don’t have the connection to it.
Perhaps a side-by-side viewing (if only we could have a snow day for a marathon!) is required! And I didn't realize the song came before the movie?? interesting...
1. A Muppet Christmas Carol (on Hulu right now if you haven’t seen it. It holds up so well, I mean that genuinely lol)
2. It’s a wonderful life (I tear up at the last scene every time)
3. Home alone 1 & 2
4. 1994 Little Women (love 2019 too but the coloring of 1994 is so Christmas)
Oo Ben will be so happy to hear you love the muppets Christmas carol too! This year was my first time seeing it but I also fell asleep and had an allergic reaction to cats so I missed a bit... I didn’t grow up with Home Alone for some reason, thinking that deserves a viewing this year! 😍
1. Meet Me in St. Louis !! (me and Emily make sure to watch this every Christmas time, Judy Garland sings the PREMIERE of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," a heartbreaking performance)
2. It's a Wonderful Life (childhood rewatch)
3. The Grinch (family laugher)
4. Elf (one of my dad's favorite family watches)
5. Claymation Rudolph and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (I'm Mr. Heatmieser)
Merry Christmas to all!!! ho ho ho
I *really* want to watch Meet Me in St Louis! Been wanting to for yeeaaarrsss since you told me about it! And I didn’t know that about the song! Such a great trivia question.
Burgermeister meisterburger!
Merry Christmas! ✨
And it's the Jim Carey Grinch lol ridiculous but classic
Yes!! I also like the newer cartoon Grinch, it’s so sweet!! Dreamworks maybe?
1. Scrooge (1970)- A classic redemptive Christmas Carol musical that always makes me cry.
2. Klaus (2019)- The newest addition to my personal Christmas classic collection. Think Emperor's New Groove with a Holiday make over. It also always makes me cry.
3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)- A redemptive classic Christmas non-musical that always makes me cry.
4. Die Hard (1988)- A controversial choice but unless we're celebrating Christmas at Nakatomi Plaza, I don't want to party. Sometimes makes me cry.
#3 and #4 need to be on our list for next week!! I've never seen Die Hard 😬
My favorite Christmas movies to watch with my family have always been:
1. A Christmas Story — I grew up with this one!
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation — my brother and dad love this one, constantly quoted it around the house during the holidays. So fun to introduce Ben to it last Christmas!
3. Christmas with the Kranks — so sweet and clever, gosh I love Jamie Lee Curtis!
4. White Christmas — my aunt gifted us VHS copies of White Christmas and Holiday Inn when I was young, and we watched it almost every year since! "The theater, the theater, what's happened to the theater...?"
It's hard to pick my last one, but I think I have to give the 1993 Little Women a shoutout here! Not technically a Christmas movie, but always so fun to watch around this time of year.
We haven't watched any of the above yet, but so far I've fallen asleep to The Muppets Christmas Carol and Charlie Brown Christmas. Ben and I also watched Klaus, which is wonderful and I think is working its way up to my top 5! It's the 20th anniversary of Elf, so we watched that one with my mom! We watched Last Christmas at a girls night, which I had seen a few years ago. Definitely a quirky one!! Doesn't hit quite the same once you know the ending...
A few more honorable mentions from growing up would be the made-for-TV movies Rudolph (1964) and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)! "Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking out the door!"