To have a little fun for Christmas time, The Times staff selected their favorite holiday movies to share with readers. Some are classics, some bring laughs, and others we’re not quite sure are Christmas movies — but they are in our heart.
There are so many classic Christmas movies to consider when thinking of my favorite but none have as large a place in my heart as “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” It’s one of those movies where most of the people who’ve seen it can converse in quotes alone, but more personally it’s just a movie I remember growing up watching with my parents and then sharing with my friends every holiday season. While some movies happen to take place during the Christmas season, “Christmas Vacation” really capitalizes on the modern meaning of the holiday, depicting a family that, despite their differences, ultimately enjoys gathering and celebrating the holiday together.
DEREK BARICHELLO: “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947 version)
The more I watched “Miracle on 34th Street” in my older years, I realized just how clever the movie is, because the story is different depending on a child or adult’s perspective. It made me re-believe in Santa Claus. The concept of Santa literally goes on trial and there’s more to believing in Santa than just magic. There’s also imagination and charity. My favorite scene is when Kris Kringle sings the Dutch Christmas carol to the little orphan girl from Rotterdam who doesn’t know any English and it brings her immediate joy.
TAMMIE SLOUP: “Home Alone”
I wasn’t much older than Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone” when the movie hit theaters. I come from a big family so I could kind of relate to his relationship with his siblings, and the chaos surrounding Christmas. (Our house was a bit more modest, though — more the size of the attic where Kevin was sent.) There’s something about this movie that just makes it feel like Christmas whatever time of year I watch it. And although I didn’t really appreciate her work until I was older, Catherine O’Hara is comedy gold.
MICHAEL URBANEC: “The Mighty Ducks”
I don’t know if “The Mighty Ducks” is considered a Christmas movie, but it’s full of Christmas themes and scenes. I’ve seen “Ducks” so many times at this point it’s essentially movie comfort food. There’s nothing that screams winter quite like alcoholic Emilio Estevez leading a floundering pee-wee hockey team to victory while trying to fight off a DUI conviction and hitting on his team captain’s mom. What a feel good Christmas movie.
JT PEDELTY: “Bad Santa”
It’s not a Christmas movie you gather in the living room with the entire family to enjoy — at least I hope you don’t — but as ridiculously and intentionally raunchy as “Bad Santa” is, it still has that Christmas heart of gold. “Should I fix you some sandwiches?”
CHARLIE ELLERBROCK: “It’s a Wonderful Life”
So many to choose from! I love the original animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Home Alone,” and “Holiday Affair” with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. Still, I just can’t get away from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Humor, pathos, romance and Zuzu’s petals. Even after seeing it thousands of times, I still well up when Clarence gets his wings.
ANGIE BARRY: “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”
In this Shane Black neo-noir, thief Harry (Robert Downey Jr.) is mistaken for an actor and sent to L.A. over Christmas to shadow a detective, the aptly named Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), to improve his acting. The odd couple get caught up in a series of real murders worthy of pulp fiction, trading barbed quips while dodging baddies.
It’s Robert Downey Jr.’s first big movie post-rehab, and the start of his phoenix rise. It’s also a true Black film, full of hysterical dialogue, extreme violence and holiday trappings. Downey and Kilmer are a winning duo, and I’m forever sad this didn’t lead to a Harry Lockhart/Gay Perry series. Also, this is the only Christmas movie where a dog eats a severed finger.
TRACEY MACLEOD: “A Year Without a Santa Claus” or “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”
OK. This Christmas we will be watching “Zombieland: Double Tap” — it has Christmassy content. Plus it makes me laugh. Woody Harrelson at one point plays Santa and, like any other grownup, gets shot down by the teenager. Hey, the man tries!
Oh wait, you want a real Christmassy movie. Hmmm… OK. I can do this. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” or “A Year Without a Santa Claus.” Both have catchy soundtracks, so it’s hard for me to pick just one. I have to say I do love Boris Karloff’s gruff voice, and in “Year,” Dick Shawn (who plays Snow Miser) and George Irving (Heat Miser) steal the show. What more could you ask for?
JULIE BARICHELLO: “The Muppet Christmas Carol”
There are so many things to love about this movie. Michael Caine delivers the most believable “bah humbug” performance of any Ebenezer Scrooge. There’s a fuzzy blue Charles Dickens who, despite palling around with a rat and being surrounded by singing vegetables, sticks remarkably close to the original story. The Muppets deliver an incredible soundtrack — the opening song when Scrooge enters is an earworm, and “Marley and Marley” is fun to shout along with (especially when you get to the line, “You’re DOOMED, SCROOGE, doomed for all time”).
But mostly, it’s an adaptation that is equal parts startling (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come), sad (the poor bunny shivering in the cold), hilarious (Rizzo in general) and sweet. There will never be an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” to replace this one in my heart, and filmmakers have Kermit-sized shoes to fill if they want to replace this as my eternal No. 1 holiday movie.
BRIAN HOXSEY: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” or “A Christmas Story”
There are so many all-time great Christmas movies to choose from — but you’re telling me none of my coworkers picked “Die Hard”?!
I’m just kidding.
I just could not bring myself to pick just one. I see a lot of Christmases past in myself from Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) as far as wanting that one special gift (although it was never a “Red Ryder air rifle”) and hoping so bad I would get it. The struggle of Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) to make a perfect Christmas for his family also rivals the adult in me in certain aspects, but I’ve never been one for heights, so the lights covering the entire roof would never happen. Plus, come on, we all have that cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) that we see somewhere within our family tree.
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