Christmas Movies I Plan to Watch 

Kerry Kadel | Editor-in-Chief

‘Tis the season for baking gingerbread, stocking your bathrooms with Bath and Body Works’ Twisted Peppermint hand soap, hanging up the Christmas lights that give off warm feelings, and watching classic holiday movies. 

I’m one to enjoy every genre of a classic Christmas movie, like rom-coms such as While You Were Sleeping, or even the comedy classic Elf. I also love the extremely goofy films such as National Lampoons and childhood specials such as A Muppets’ Christmas Carol. 

Before I get into the rest of the movies I intend to watch, there are some of which I cannot stand once December hits, such as: 

1. A Christmas Story – Overplayed on too many channels (one even runs it for 24 hours), I never liked how everyone was so mean to Ralphie (especially his father and the mall Santa), and it breaks my heart that the mother made such a special meal on Christmas Day just to have it destroyed by a pack of wild dogs in Ralphie’s neighborhood that broke into his home. Call me soft, but I do not find anything positively memorable about this film. 
2. Office Christmas Party – Love Jason Bateman, love Jennifer Aniston, and love Kate McKinnon, but I don’t do well with comedies such as this where substances are involved just so the absolutely wild antics get a few laughs. Mainly just one scene where a character falls off a high point in the office building. I recall watching this and liking the build up for the party, but I don’t think the humor is for me, and there have been comedy films and shows that walk along this type of humor that I watch. I don’t know, maybe I’ll give it another chance. 
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) – I do not like Dr. Seuss’ art style, and never had ever since I was a kid. I love bright colors and funky art styles, but something about Dr. Seuss’ style makes me queasy. I don’t like how the Grinch looks in this film, albeit it’s the original and hand drawn I bet, to which I applaud the animators (I love animation), but my feelings towards the sketchy black shading against vibrant and pale colors Dr. Seuss used in his books haunt me and impact how I feel about the original Grinch. Truthfully, I’ll take Jim Carrey’s Grinch any day over the original. 
4. Literally any Hallmark movie ever – I’m an English major. You can have your cutesy little tropes but please, change the plot, and get rid of the “Christmas in July” segment. 

And now, I present to you, the movies I plan to watch this Christmas break and why: 

1. A Miracle on 34th Street (1994) – Perhaps it’s my love for Jurassic Park, but Richard Attenborough plays a perfect Santa. He has the look and plays the type of kindness we all imagine Santa to have. This is one of my mom’s favorite Christmas movies, and one year she had the whole family watching it. I think what also makes me adore this movie is that they take Santa to court to prove he is in fact Santa Clause. Also, if you’re a huge fan of Matilda, Mara Wilson stars in A Miracle on 34th Street as Susan Walker, the young girl who doesn’t believe in Santa Clause, a skeptical trait she learned from her mother, Dorey. 
2. The Santa Clause (1994, 2002, 2006) – You know, this movie series has quite a few plot holes, especially in the first film, but I think that the plot of the original movie is so iconic that it weirdly works? As kids, we don’t realize how dark the plot is, because we get to see Tim Allen aka Buzz Lightyear turn into Santa Clause even though he doesn’t want to–I mean, before Tim Allen’s character Scott Calvin puts on the coat, he scared Santa off the roof, incapacitating him to continue being Santa, and no one thought this was weird, which is why I love it now as an adult. Famous YouTuber and former Vine content creator Danny Gonzalez made a video commentating on pivotal plot points in the film, which never fails to make me laugh. It’s titled “The Worst Christmas Movie Ever Made” if you want to check it out. 
3. The Polar Express (2004) – I mean, a classic. Another film I love for the unique animation style that was filmed using special effect suits and all acted out by Tom Hanks (I think he acted for every single character–even the girl). I have the song “Hot Chocolate” from this movie on my Christmas playlist, it goes hard. I’m also wondering if I was the only young kid who thought that by watching this movie that the Polar Express would actually come by my house and take me to the North Pole. 
4. Violent Night (2022) – Okay, okay, okay, I might be a hypocrite since this is making the list of movies I’ll watch and not Office Christmas Party, but this has Santa saving a little girl’s family after a team of bad guys are after her family’s fortune. David Harbour stars as Santa, who is losing his own sense of the Christmas spirit in this modern age when his reindeer abandon him accidentally at a little girl’s wealthy family estate. Upon trying to get help for himself, Santa realizes that this family is in danger, and he must save the little girl by taking out each robber. This humour is more of my speed where people aren’t being harmed or drugged just for some laughs, it’s a mythical folk legend who finds his inspiration of staying Santa because kids count on him just like this little girl is to save her and her family. 
5. Mickey’s Once & Twice Upon a Christmas (1999, 2004) – I have loved these two films ever since I was a kid, one being hand drawn animation and the other CGI, which isn’t too bad for 2004, but definitely gives the “straight to DVD” vibes (in fact I think these films are). The first film harps on some classic Christmas tales such as The Gift of the Magi, a short story about a man and a woman trying to afford Christmas gifts for each other by giving up the items they love most in order to earn some cash. Of course, for the audience mainly being children, the film shows Mickey giving up his gold harmonica to pay for a gold chain for Minnie’s pocket watch, and Minnie giving up her pocket watch to buy Mickey a nice case for his harmonica. The sequel film has a very funny story with Goofy and his son Max, who brings home his girlfriend for Christmas, who’s worried that his girlfriend will find Max weird because his dad is…well…goofy. I think this is super relatable and funny now as an adult in a relationship where everyone’s asking about your partner. 
6. Home Alone 1 & 2 (1990, 1992): I absolutely love the first film just a little more than the second. I mean, I think we all wanted to booby-trap our house in order to scare away some burglars because of Kevin McCallister. I think what also gets me about this film is that it’s such a big family scammering around the house in the beginning, full of cousins and siblings causing chaos that it makes me think if my lovely dysfunctional family would forget someone. Although if we were to leave someone, it wouldn’t be my youngest brother, the baby of the family, since we joke about him being the favorite. So, actually, it’s kind of crazy that Kevin got left behind. Honestly, Kevin’s a super smart kid, and emotionally regulated in order to not panic when he’s not just left alone in his home, but also in New York City. I would be bawling my eyes out at the ripe age of 22 if I got on the wrong flight to a completely different destination, and here’s some ten-year-old kid living it up in the fanciest hotel ever racking up bills on his dad’s credit card. 
7. A Christmas Carol (2009) – Specifically speaking, this is the Jim Carrey version, and much like The Polar Express, Jim Carrey plays almost every single character in this one. I recall Disney Channel’s ads around the holidays promoting this movie to air on the commercials and they would announce Jim Carrey starring in it by saying something along the lines of “Starring Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey, and…Jim Carrey?” like it was so weird that it cracks me up whenever I think about it. I think what I like a lot about this movie as well is that it’s pretty close to the original work of Charles Dickens’ novel, but of course spruced up with comical timings because you don’t hire Jim Carrey just to play a decrepit old man. You see Carey’s serious acting come through as well, and I think that this movie cements his talent for indulging in comedy and serious acting–though, The Truman Show was the best movie that showcased both of Carrey’s talent, in my opinion. 

This is as much as I’ll list, because a lot would be repetitive films that anyone at any age could watch, but I thought it’d be funny if I added some of my childhood favorites that I will watch just for nostalgia. I do want to watch the classics just for the feel of Christmas, because as I write this, Ohio has been nothing but rain and bitter winds–absolutely no snow, and if there is, it’s just something to lightly brush off the grass. I’ve started watching the first Home Alone movie while writing this, so I think I’ll leave this article here for now and maybe write an update on if I watched all of these films! 

Which movies do you watch around the holidays? Tell us your favorites by tweeting at us on X @FlyerNews, Instagram @flyernews, and Facebook!