Top 4 / Bottom 4 / Meh 4 Christmas Movies
Elisabeth had a Top 5/Bottom 5 Christmas movies post, which looked like fun. Here are mine, though I couldn’t come up with 5 of each category, so we’ll only have 4, so I added a meh category.
Top 4
- It’s a Wonderful Life – We all love this movie, and love to criticize Uncle Billy for being so stupid, and Harry for being so selfish, and yeah, we wish George would do what HE wants once in awhile, but I love love love it. It’s the first movie Ted and I ever saw together, on my couch when we first started dating.
- Scrooged – Just an awesome classic. It’s not Christmas if we haven’t watched these first 2.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Original) – Max! What a good boy!
- Charlie Brown Christmas – Sad tone but ends on such a lovely note. Tied with Year Without a Santa Claus, but really just for the Heat Miser and Cold Miser. They’re too much!
Bottom 4
- Love Actually – Even without the questionable stuff, I have always found this movie to be BORING. I could never make myself care about any of the characters.
- A Christmas Story – Again, boring and does not make me laugh.
- Polar Express – This one is beyond being bored, I HATE IT. Santa has 1 job on Earth, ONE, and somehow the poor kid (Billy the Lonely Boy) has NEVER HAD a Christmas gift before? What the actual…
- While You Were Sleeping – Dumb.
Meh 4
- Christmas in Connecticut – I watched this recently. It was OK, but not as much fun as I had hoped for.
- Die Hard – I mean, I’d watch it, but I don’t LOVE it.
- The Family Stone – I actually kind of like this one, and just watched it recently, but it doesn’t feel like a Christmas movie to me. Perhaps it should, but it doesn’t.
- Home Alone – I mean, it was cute when I saw it a million years ago, but I never felt the need to watch it again. Maybe I should?
22 Comments
NGS
I said on Elisabeth’s post that I just don’t watch movies, so I can’t particpate in this conversation, but I just remembered Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, which is such an adorable movie that never gets talked about. Have you seen it?
J
I’ve never heard of it!
nance
Oh, gosh, maybe it’s a Cleveland thing, but I love A Christmas Story. LOVE IT.
Does anyone remember The House without a Christmas Tree? I think it was made for TV. Jason Robards was in it. I liked that movie a lot as a kid.
J
I don’t think I’ve heard of that one either…
Margaret
I haven’t seen very many of the classic old Christmas movies because I abhor the Mid-Atlantic accent so prevalent in actors of that time and the (to me) over acting that was popular in those films. One of my favorites is “Joyeux Noel” which is a French film but in three languages and is based on the Christmas Eve truce of World War I.
J
I’m intrigued by that one, Margaret…I wonder where I could watch it?
Elisabeth
You know my picks, but the only place we really disagree is Home Alone. To be fair, I’d gladly skip the first hour and JUST watch the traps. I used to die laughing as a kid.
And White Christmas and The Grinch are in my tops, but the rest are spot on. Not a big fan of Love Actually or Polar Express and actively disliked The Christmas Story. So depressing!
J
I wouldn’t be against watching Home Alone again, and my husband read this post and informed me that Die Hard IS a Christmas movie and should have been in my top 5.
Tina
I definitely agree with you on both A Christmas Story and Polar Express, those two are definitely on my bottom, along with Elf. The animation in Polar Express bothers me on a level I can’t explain. I have to admit to never watching any of the Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movies, so cheesy. My top ones would be Tim Allen in the Santa Clause movies and Rudolph. But I’ve never really thought about ranking them before, I just know which ones I pull out first every Christmas and find something else to do when someone wants to watch the ones I don’t care for. It’s really fun to see how different and alike individual’s tastes are.
J
I enjoy Rudolph as well, though I think it’s all nostalgia. Santa is such a jerk in that one.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
Yay for It’s a Wonderful LIfe and how cool is it that it was the first movie that you saw with Ted? I’m going to have to think about what the first movie that I saw with the hubs was.
It’s kind of a life achievement that I only saw Love Actually once. This isn’t fair to say since I don’t remember it, but for some reason I’ve got “no” vibes from it.
I’m on the opposite path on Christmas in CT where I had meh memories but dearly loved it when I saw it a few weeks ago. I love Die Hard BUT that might be a family thing. I’ve only seen it with my family and I hope we see it again sometime this month but if I was sitting around the house alone I don’t think I would start watching it.
J
Hmmm. Maybe I will have to give Christmas in CT another shot.
My husband said Die Hard should definitely be in my top 5.
Suzanne
I am with you on A Christmas Story. Also, I used to think While You Were Sleeping was one of the! best! movies!, but rewatched it within the past several years and it IS dumb. The premise is so stupid. But I kind of want to watch it again?????
I have never seen Love Actually. So far, the FOMO of being the only human to have never watched it hasn’t inspired me to watch it, but maybe this is the year?
J
Well, Love Actually is cringy, but without that aspect, I just found it BORING. And I know people who LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Whatever.
Meike
I just realized that this topic is very country specific. There is a whole set of different movies I would add to the list no-one in America would have heard of and I have not watched It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Christmas in Connecticut or The Family Stone. I have some catching up to do it seems. I do like Scrooged and also A Christmas Carol from 1984, too. The kids liked Home Alone so I see a re-watch in the future.
J
Yay for a vote for Scrooged!
Lisa's Yarns
I haven’t watched Love Actually in years. I know it is problematic but I did really love it. I loved all the different vignettes even though some were over the top and some were sad. But I loved the general theme of love being all around us. I also LOVE The Holiday!
My favorite Christmas movie is the 2019 animated Grinch. We have watched it a ridiculous number of times in our house this year and I never get sick of it! I also love Home Alone! I can’t wait for the kids to be old enough to watch it. I have such a vivid memory of seeing it in the theater with my parents!
I’m not a big fan of It’s a Wonderful Life… It wasn’t something I watched growing up so it’s not something I feel drawn to watch. I don’t know if I have seen the movie in its entirety! My least favorite is A Christmas Story!
J
I saw The Holiday a few months ago, and I liked it. Cute! I’ve not yet seen the 2019 Grinch, though everyone with young kids seems to LOVE it.
San
It’s so funny to see which movies people love and hate – haha. I love the Polar Express in many ways (ok, it’s stupid that the poor kid never had a present though). I love The Family Stone (even though it’s a little sad in places, but also it’s not like “perfect”, everyone has their issues which makes it relatable?).
I love The Holiday.
J
It is funny, right? So many different opinions!
Anne
I have commented elsewhere that I’m not a huge movie person, so I have not seen a lot of these. I have no idea what the Family Stone is, but there seem to be strong feelings about it. 🙂
Of your list, I’ve seen: It’s a Wonderful Life; How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The Original); Charlie Brown Christmas; Love Actually; Polar Express; and Home Alone. None of them are MUST WATCH for me, though! I do love Christmas music so that is what I tend to gravitate towards, and even that is rare. (I’m not a huge holiday person, so sorry for the grinchy comment!)
Tobia | craftaliciousme
I have never liked Home Alone very much.
And even though I watch a ton of Christmas movies I have to admit I dont know any of your top 4 … Upps.