Top 5 Christmas Films

It's less than 2 weeks till Christmas now (it always seems to come round quickly!), so I decided to write about my Top 5 Christmas films.

This post contains spoilers.Unless otherwise stated the videos are trailers. :)


1. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

The Muppets' take on the classic story by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Michael Caine) is a very rich businessman, but he's also a miser who dislikes spending money and hates Christmas. 

One Christmas Eve he is visited by 3 ghosts (the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future) who warn him that if he doesn't change his ways, he will end up forever alone and miserable and no one will mourn him when he dies.

Gonzo plays Charles Dickens who narrates the story and Rizzo the Rat is his sidekick. Kermit the Frog plays Scrooge's employee Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy is his wife.

 

                                              One More Sleep Till Christmas song


I really like this film. :) I used to have it on video when I was a child. I have Sky+ but I don't bother keeping it on my planner because whenever they show it on TV, they always cut out the song that young Scrooge and his fiancee Belle (Meredith Braun) sing, When Love Is Gone! It's so annoying, lol. 

It's one of my favourite songs and I don't know why they cut it out?! To make the film shorter? It's on YouTube though, so I can watch it on there. If you like it too, here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfI_N0vyxaI

Update: I just read a comment on the video that the song was cut from later DVD and Blu-ray editions. :( So I think I'll just record it next time it comes on TV, unless I can find a DVD release with the song on.



2. Christmas Do-Over (2006)

Kevin ( played by Jay Mohr) is divorced from his wife Jill (Daphne Zuniga) who now has a new boyfriend, Todd (David Millbern). On Christmas Day he goes to visit his son Ben (Logan Grove) at his ex-parents in law's house and spend the day with them, Jill and Todd. 

Kevin doesn't put the most effort into things least of all with Ben's present, which is a bake oven that he has no interest in! He acts in an obnoxious manner, irritating and upsetting everyone. The day further goes downhill when Todd proposes to Jill. 

Then at bedtime Ben wishes it could be Christmas every day and Kevin wakes up the next day to find it's Christmas all over again. He soon discovers he will keep relieving Christmas Day until he changes his attitude.

                                                       Clips from the film
                           

This is similar to both Groundhog Day and The 12 Days Of Christmas Eve. I prefer it to both those others, although they're also good films. Christmas Do-Over is silly but it's funny. It has a good message too. 

Once Kevin realises that he's repeating Christmas Day over and over he starts out acting stupidly but then he realises that maybe he has a chance to change things for the better and starts thinking of others more.

Random fact: Adrienne Barbeau (Billie from Creepshow!) stars in this as Jill's mum. I haven't seen her in many modern films, only an episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch apart from this, I think. I see on her IMDB profile that she's still in a lot of films and TV series; I just haven't seen them, lol.



3. The Santa Clause (1994)

Advertising executive Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) shares custody of his son Charlie (Eric Lloyd) with his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson) and her new husband Neil (Judge Reinhold). Both Laura and Neil, who is a psychologist, don't encourage Charlie to believe in Santa Claus. 

On Christmas Eve while Charlie is staying with Scott, they hear sounds on the roof. On investigation, Scott discovers a man dressed as Santa Claus who falls off the roof after he shouts at him! Only his suit is left behind and Scott finds a card inside, instructing whoever finds it to put the suit on if anything should happen to the original owner. 

Charlie realises the mysterious man was the real Santa Claus. Scott isn't so sure but he puts on the suit and ends up taking over Santa's job. At the North Pole Scott is told that he has accepted the "Santa Clause" (a clause in the contract on the card) and will now be Father Christmas every year.

The next day Scott thinks that the whole thing was a dream but  the coming year sees some changes, including Scott putting on weight, growing a beard abnormally fast and receiving present requests from children. He starts to believe that he really is Santa after all!

I saw this at the cinema when it came out. It's a funny, feel good film. There were two sequels, The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. In my opinion the first one is the best. :)




4. All I Want For Christmas (1991)

Siblings Ethan and Hallie O'Fallon (played Ethan Randall/Embry and Thora Birch; who later starred in spooky kids' classic Hocus Pocus) live with their mum Catherine (Harley Jane Kozak) and grandma Lillian (played by legendary actress Lauren Bacall) in New York. Their parents are divorced and they often go to stay with their dad Michael (Jamey Sheridan), who lives above his restaurant. 

Catherine is now dating Tony (Kevin Nealon) who has just asked to marry him. Hallie isn't a fan of Tony (neither is Lillian particularly!), and has decided that all she wants for Christmas this year is her mum and dad back together. Ethan wants the same, so he and Hallie hatch a plan to achieve their dream.

I watched this one Christmas when I was young and enjoyed it (although I wasn't well that particular Christmas Eve, lol). It's been on again more recently and I still like it.

5. Christmas With The Kranks (2004)

Based on the book Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. When Luther and Nora Kranks' daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) goes away to serve in the Peace Corps in Peru over Christmas, Luther (Tim Allen again!) persuades Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) to skip celebrating Christmas and go on a Caribbean cruise on Christmas Day instead. 

They decide to scrap everything to do with Christmas and not do the usual things, like buy a Christmas tree or charity calendar, give cards, put a Frosty up on the roof, have a Christmas party etc), but are unprepared for the reaction from their friends, neighbours and acquaintances and the pressure to conform. Still, they persevere with their plan. 

Then something unexpected happens- Blair announces that she's getting married and is coming home for Christmas after all, along with her fiance! Can the Kranks pull together a Christmas celebration in time to welcome her home?

Here's the official Sony Pictures upload in case this one gets removed (I couldn't post it on here): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSe_CZnQ5ys

 

Spoilers below!

I have Skipping Christmas and it's good, but different to the film. The book is more menacing; the neighbours seem more threatening when the Kranks don't conform to the Christmas traditions, especially about the Frosty). (There's a house in my neighbourhood that has a light up snowman on their roof and it always make me think of this! lol). 

Christmas With The Kranks is more of a light hearted comedy. One thing I don't like about the book is Luther being worried about how "dark" Blair's fiance Enrique will be and then being relieved when he's lighter skinned than him (Luther). It just strikes me as unpleasant and doesn't fit in with the story. Unless he just doesn't want people to be more tanned than him, I don't know. They don't have it in the film, thankfully.

On another note, while it's nice that Nora and Luther want to make Christmas special for Blair, I think if it was me I would have said, "I'm really pleased that you're coming home but since I thought you weren't going to be here, I've booked a cruise on Christmas Day," and hope my daughter would understand. Maybe that's because I don't have any children! lol.

But of course, if they'd done that it would have changed the twist in the story and it's a nice ending because Luther gives their cruise tickets to their neighbour and his wife, who is ill. It's also good how the neighbours rally round to help the Kranks.



So those are my favourite Christmas films. :) I've just realised that 3 of them are based around divorced couples! lol. I suppose because Christmas is a time when people think about family and want to be together.

Hope you liked the list! What are your fave Christmas movies?