The Best Films to Watch This Time of Year...

(Simply my opinion, but these would be what I deem Holiday Classics, films that I try to watch at least once around this time every year, and some I actually watch throughout other seasons of the year also.)

"Scrooged" is an all-time favorite of mine, both around Christmas and even throughout the year. Based on Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol," this is probably the only film version of the story I can watch over and over again and never get tired of. Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, the ruthless head of a major TV network who gets a dose of reality when visited by 3 ghosts on Christmas Eve. Bill Murray brings his comedic genius to a role that is one of the least celebrated of his career, but still among his greatest in my opinion. Picture Peter Venkman from "Ghostbusters" with more of a chip on his shoulder, no ghosts or Stay Puft Marshmallow man, and Bobcat Goldwait.


"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" was the third film in the "Vacation" series, and by far the greatest. The simplicity of the story is what makes it so ironically great; the Griswold's don't go anywhere on vacation, but rather have their wacky in-laws stay with them for Christmas. Chevy Chase is at his comedic peak, but still gets overshadowed by Randy Quaid's Cousin Eddie who rolls into town in a broken down Winnebago with his wife, son Rocky with the lip fungus, daughter Ruby Sue whose eyes are no longer crossed, and the family Rottweiler Snot, who loves it when people rub his belly. Uncle Louis and senile Aunt Bethany also add to the Griswold family fun in this festive funny film.



"Elf" is a more recent film that has since become a Christmas classic. While it takes an unrealistic character and thrusts him into a realistic world, the film still works because Will Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf so convincingly and innocent. It's an original and smile-inducing film and a role that could never have been pulled off by any other actor past or present. It's as funny as Bad Santa, but without all the four letter words and Santa loving nymphomaniac.



"A Christmas Story" is the film that coined the catchphrase "You'll shoot your eye out" and came from the same guy who brought us the comedy classic "Porky's," the late Bob Clark. The world would never know what a "major award" could be personified as until this film showed us, in the form of a voluptuous leg lamp. It's also the only film that continues to be played for 24 hours straight on Christmas that I still continue to watch over and over.



"The Santa Clause" is probably Tim Allen's best cinematic work next to his voice over as Buzz Lightyear in the "Toy Story" films. In one of the oddest casting moves in the history of merry movies, Tim Allen is the first, and most likely only onscreen Santa to sport a mullet. When Santa falls off his roof, he is forced into the role of Kris Kringle in a film that maintains the level of innocence in "Elf" but falls just short of it's side-splitting comedy. However, this is still a worthy holiday motion picture.



"Gremlins" isn't a conventional Christmas film, but still has all the evidence of a holiday film: Furry critters, snow, Christmas carols, and a youthful Corey Feldman. My earliest memory of this film is how creeped out I was when Phoebe Cates tells the story of how her father died trying to come down the chimney dressed as Santa one Christmas. The traumatic effect of this is most likely why this film is still etched in my memory...and Corey Feldman.



"Bad Santa" is not only one of the funniest Christmas films I've ever seen, but probably one of the funniest films period I've ever seen. If ever there was a role Billy Bob Thornton was born to play, it was Willy, the safe-cracking, booze guzzling, manner-less, moral-less, and often homeless store robbing Santa poser. His character is the epitome of a person on their own self-imposed highway to hell, befriending a nympho bartender, overweight victim of bullies and his senile grandma along the way. This was also the last film performance of John Ritter, best known for his role as Jack in "Three's Company," and Junior's father in the "Problem Child" films.



"Die Hard" might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of holiday-centric films, but my list is comprised of films whose story is somewhat built on the notion of the Christmas holiday around it. "Die Hard" pulls this off from the start as NYPD Detective John McClane is visiting his ex-wife and children in Los Angeles but his ex-wife's company Christmas party is crashed by money hungry German terrorists. McClane brings the audience further into the Christmas spirit after killing the first terrorist, clothing him in a Santa hat, and marking up his sweatshirt in red marker with "Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho." He takes out the terrorists with some outside assistance and moral support from Reginald Vel Johnson who would shortly after go on to portray another famous police officer, Carl Winslow in the classic TV series "Family Matters."



"Batman Returns," like "Die Hard," is another obscure but nonetheless worthy pick of this list. The second film in the first "Batman" series had the Penguin and Catwoman pinned up against the Caped Crusader in the midst of Gotham City's busiest shopping season. Of all the things that have after all these years stood out and remained etched in my memory these are the most prevalent from this film; Paul Reubens A.K.A. Pee Wee Herman's cameo as the Penguin's father in the beginning of the film, Danny DeVito's portrayal of the Penguin as he was perfect for the role, and Christopher Walken as Max Shreck. Seeing this film in the theaters, one of the things that stuck with me were his hair and awkward vernacular. This was my first experience with Christopher Walken on film, and would cause me to always seek out more of these eccentric performances to this very day.



"Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York" were the pinnacle of comedy in my childhood, only to be matched later by "Mrs. Doubtfire." These Christmas films were slapstick at its finest, a child's answer to the 3 stooges, and a brilliant yet simple story. A kid gets left alone at Christmas by his annoying family, neighborhood robbers try to break into his house, and he fights back with the best household booby traps since Data in "The Goonies." Without Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as thieves Harry and Marv, this film would never have been so widely popular or deservedly great. Their chemistry that recalled such dummy pairings as Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, and Martin and Lewis, gave these films their luster and countless laugh out loud moments years before the acronym LOL was even conceived.



"The Nightmare Before Christmas." Is it a Halloween film? Is it a Christmas film? Well, it's got a character named Jack Skellington headlining it, but he does have Santa envy and the film is sprinkled with holiday cheer and musical numbers. The answer lies in the agent of this unique story, Tim Burton. Burton's dark themes portrayed in his other films of the period, "Beetlejuice," "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman," and previously mentioned "Batman Returns," simply give us the explanation that it's a Christmas film, Tim Burton style. The animation was visually perfect for the story, and before Pixar started the computer trend with "Toy Story." If this film were made ten years later than it was, it would likely have been rendered on a computer, but it would have lost its effect as its gritty claymation adds to its quality even over a decade and a half since it's original release.



"Jingle All the Way" gives us two things never before seen in a holiday film before it. A factory full of bootlegging Santas and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Coming out around the same time as the Tickle Me Elmo craze, Turbo man was the Red Ryder BB gun of this film. Arnold plays the underachieving Christmas Dad in this film (see James Caan in "Elf," Tim Allen in "The Santa Clause") who is challenged with the next to impossible task of finding his son the unattainable Turbo Man action figure on Christmas eve. With Leon the mailman (played by Sinbad) hot on his trail, and his neighbor (Phil Hartman) hot on his wife, Ahnuld faces a challenge he never saw with Terminators or Predators: bringing joy home for the holidays.