Favorite Christmas movies

[Pseudonym]

Split off from another thread when the discussion turned to the many adaptations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

I think the Jim Carrey one is my favourite. 😊

Edited October 27, 2018 by Carol the Dabbler
Split off from another thread (see above)

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'd have to go with Alastair Sim.

[Pseudonym]

I don't even know who that is...

[Arcadia]

And I'll have to go with Kermit the Frog.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I'd have to go with Alastair Sim.

I don't even know who that is...

He’s in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. Not sure if I’ve seen that version.
I like Kermit The Frog’s, Mickey Mouse’s, Jim Carrey’s, & the one non-muppet live action version I saw.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Good heavens, people -- Alastair Sim is the Basil Rathbone of A Christmas Carol!  (Plus the young Marley is played by a young Patrick Macnee.)

[Artemis]

My favorite is the 1970 film starring Albert Finney, hands down.  Best Scrooge.  But I am also partial to the Muppets.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

5 hours ago, Artemis said:

My favorite is the 1970 film starring Albert Finney, hands down.  Best Scrooge.

Then Albert Finney may be the Jeremy Brett of Scrooges. 

I don't believe I've ever seen that movie.  I certainly don't recognize any of the song titles (and I tend to be leery of musical-ized productions in any case).

[Pseudonym]

At risk of being ostracised from the forum for using the 'c' word so horribly early, what Christmas films do you watch every year? I know we had this conversation last year, but my mind is feeble and can't remember that long ago. 

I watch The Family Stone, the Jim Carrey Christmas Carol, and last year I watched Nativity for the first time and enjoyed it enough I think it'll be added onto the list. I'll also endeavour to watch Home Alone this year which I haven't seen since I was a kid myself. 

 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

A Charlie Brown Christmas and, if I can, the original cartoon version of The Grinch. I would also like to catch Rudolph as well.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alex and I love Christmas movies and therefore own so many on DVD that in any given year we pick just a few to watch. Off the top of my head (and in no particular order), here's what we have:

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

It's a Wonderful Life

Love Actually

Nativity!

The Bishop's Wife

Scrooge (Alastair Sim version)

The Grinch (original)

Home Alone

A Christmas Story

Miracle on 34th Street

Holiday Inn

Christmas in Connecticut

Scrooged

The Santa Clause

[Pseudonym]

I hate Love Actually. I also hate The Holiday, which a lot of people seem to love. 

[Artemis]

4 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

(and I tend to be leery of musical-ized productions in any case).

Same here, as I tend to dislike musicals in general.  This one is quite clever though (as British films are apt to be).  You should give it a try this Christmas, it's free on YouTube if you have a good internet connection.    I wish more people would, it's not very well-known.

This song, while not my personal favorite, was nominated for an Academy Award.  In context I find it pretty humorous. 

 

 

This comment, lol:

Quote

"Gotta love the dark British humour."

"wait, is this not how the British ordinarily behave?"

"It is but normally we Brits do it with more cups of tea in our hands"

Some more YouTube comments:

Quote

"I might also point out something I've just thought about - another ingenious thing about this song is that it's probably the first time Scrooge has ever actively, openly, willingly said 'thank you' in his life. And on that first occasion, he has no idea he's actually joining in the celebration of his death. I suppose it shows he's just so bloody-minded and so oblivious to the truth that he'd even believe all these people, standing outside his own house as the coffin's brought out and his own ledgers are torn up, that even in the face of all that, he'd believe they were thanking him for all he'd given them. It's almost reminiscent of our world today, really."
 

"Best version of Scrooge. I have loved this film since I was a kid. I'm 44 now and I'm still in awe at the choreography of this scene. Amazing!"
 

"Many interpretations of A Christmas Carol add their own gruesome touches to Scrooge's future, but this one I think takes the cake. It even beats Patrick Stewart falling into his own grave, landing on his own corpse, and falling into Hell with it. I don't know which is more disturbing: The people dancing and Singing joyously while processing Scrooge to the Cemetary, or Scrooge's ignorance to what they were so grateful towards him for doing."
 

"this will always be my favorite moment in any christmas carol movie, simply because of the sheer irony and hillarious implications of this xD"
 

"Here is a selfish man, so full of himself, he has absolutely no idea the towns people were celebrating his death; relieve to be rid of someone such as him. The irony is, Mr. Scrooge is so caught up in his little world, believing he is being glorified for his work ethics. LOL! I absolutely love this movie. It’s definitely on of my favorite classics."
 

"It is nothing short of brilliant... The song, the staging, the cinematography, the very concept of a man happily oblivious to and thus joining in his neighbors' celebration of his death. Effing brilliant."
 

"This is, by a wide margin, my favorite "Christmas" song, firstly just because it's upbeat and fun to sing, but also because of just how dark and morbid it is in context."

...

 

[Artemis]

Like Carol, I have a long list of Christmas films that I pick a few from every year.  But if I can help it, I always watch 'Scrooge' (Albert Finney), 'The Muppet Christmas Carol', 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (Original), and 'Holiday Inn'.  Some others on my list of 'almost' annual watching are 'Jingle All the Way', 'White Christmas', 'It's a Wonderful Life', and 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' (+ the other claymation classics).  I also have a documentary called 'Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas' that I've watched more than a few times.

While not exactly a Christmas movie, I often watch 'The Shop Around the Corner' during Christmastime.  It ends on Christmas Eve, and it just has a Christmasy feel to me for some reason.

What do you all think of Jim Carrey's Grinch?  I thought it was silly (it's Jim Carrey, of course it is), but I still enjoy it occasionally when I catch it on TV.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

50 minutes ago, Artemis said:

While not exactly a Christmas movie, I often watch 'The Shop Around the Corner' during Christmastime.  It ends on Christmas Eve, and it just has a Christmasy feel to me for some reason.

Ha!  I very nearly put Shop Around the Corner on my list for the reasons you mentioned, then decided it wasn't "really" a Christmas movie.  But we do watch it at Christmas sometimes; also sometimes Sleepless in Seattle, for similar reasons (and generally end up watching You've Got Mail in either case).

 

In case I lost anyone with that last parenthetical remark, Mail is a loose remake of Shop, and it has the same two stars as Sleepless.

[Artemis]

10 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

But we do watch it at Christmas sometimes; also sometimes Sleepless in Seattle, for similar reasons (and generally end up watching You've Got Mail in either case).

'While You Were Sleeping' is another of that type. 

 

[Arcadia]

I won't say I watch them every year, but favorites are It's a Wonderful Life, Grinch, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, and the Nightmare Before Christmas. Also we usually watch The Court Jester, though it's not a Christmas movie.

I'm very much looking forward to BC's take on the Grinch, it looks pretty funny.

[Van Buren Supernova]

9 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

..., what Christmas films do you watch every year? 

His Last Vow. 😛

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not Scandal in Belgravia? 

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

You can argue that there is Christmas in Study in Pink too .

 

Hoo, November in two days! I don't care, my puny Christmas tree will be up!! Because my dog likes it.

And I'm not even a Christian at heart .  But I worship anything that gives me holiday from work. 

[Artemis]

I don't think anyone should feel like they can't or shouldn't celebrate Christmas because they're not Christian.  People need holidays for their mental well-being, especially in the dark of the year, which is partly why Christmas (in its various forms) has lasted so long.  The Puritans, among others, tried to ban Christmas traditions of the time (which were quite raucous), and the people wouldn't have it.  Christmas, in my opinion, is as much a secular holiday as a religious one, and can be enjoyed (or not) in whatever way one deems best.  That may include Christ, or not.  As far as I'm concerned, any excuse to bring a little more beauty and dimension to the year is okay by me.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

2 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

You can argue that there is Christmas in Study in Pink too

Not sure that I could, actually -- but I'd love to hear you do it.

[Van Buren Supernova]

AH! Four serial suicides, and now a note!!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh.

[Pseudonym]

With photographic evidence and everything.