Top Five Christmas Movies

A person’s favorite Christmas movies is an unavoidable talking point at holiday parties every year.  Like the weather, local sports teams, “what is new with you,” people who hardly know one another at public social gatherings hit these hot topics because they have only so much they can talk about.  When the theme of the party is Christmas, your most liked holiday movies naturally get thrown into the rotation of compulsory questions.
Each year my answers were always the same, but this past summer I watched a Christmas classic that now is in my top five favorites.  After going to Grapevine’s Palace Arts Theatre to view Frank Capra’s 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life last night, I felt it necessary to throw up my favorite Christmas movies of all time.  One reason for the trip to Grapevine last night was because It’s a Wonderful Life is my most beloved of Christmas movies.  The superb acting, laugh-out-loud comedy, and heart-tugging drama make this a must watch, whether for Christmas or otherwise.  It is just a great film in general.  It is amazing that when initially released it was a financial failure.  However, thanks to numerous broadcasts at Christmas in the 1970s and 80s it has grown in popularity to become a staple of holiday viewing, right alongside A Christmas Story, which also makes the list.
Coming in second on my favorite holiday-themed films list is the Chevy Chase masterpiece National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  My favorite of the Lampoon Vacation movies is certainly the funniest of all Christmas movies, but Wonderful Life has it beat out as the emotional swings you go through in the James Stewart film is so much more poignant.
My next pick might be a controversial one for the elder generation as it is too new to be considered a classic, but it certainly will reach that status after another 15 years or so.  The film I speak of is Elf, the 2003 comedy starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, and Ed Asner.  Although the film is chock-full of the slapstick antics of Ferrell, at its core is a sentimental story where family, no matter how nutty they may be, comes first.  Elf has given the general public new quotes to exclaim during the holiday season, such as screaming out “I know that guy!” when someone mentions Santa Claus or calling a person a cotton headed ninny muggings as a insult, and it also reminds us that Christmas spirit is magical and contagious.
The fourth best Christmas movie is what was mentioned before that sees a 24-hour marathon on Christmas Day.  It is 1983’s A Christmas Story.  The memorable moments are too many to count, but some highlights include a kid sticking his tongue to a frozen pole, the Chinese carolers, female leg lampshade, secret society decoder ring, the Queen Mother of Dirty Words, and, of course, the Red Ryder BB gun.  Plus, my brother has always looked like Ralphie, so I felt a personal connection to the movie.
We come to the newest member of my Top 5 Christmas Movies list.  After a single viewing this past summer, the original 1947-version of Miracle on 34th Street, starring Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, and Edmund Gwenn, has catapulted itself into the top echelon of Christmas movies for me.  Like It’s a Wonderful Life, this movie isn’t just a great Christmas movie, but a fine film by itself that can be viewed at any time during the year without the need of the holiday as reason enough.  However, unlike It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street was a financial and critical success, winning three Academy Awards for supporting actor and writing and being nominated for Best Picture, but ultimately losing.  This season, I suggest picking one of these top five Christmas movies and sharing them with your family.  Start a tradition of watching a Christmas movie with your kids every year and choose a new film each season.