Songs, snow and sweet endings – what would Christmas be without a good Yuletide movie?
6. Die Hard
For many men, Christmas just ain’t Christmas without Alan Rickman barking threats into a walky-talky. Some may not think Die Hard a Christmas film, but just like every other movie on this list it’s all about good triumphing over evil. It’s just that this time good triumphs with an Uzi.
With wise-crackin’, vest-wearing Willis and the brooding evil of Rickman’s Hans Gruber, not to mention some terrific action scenes, it’s one of the greatest action films ever, and the perfect way to cleanse your palette if you’ve overdosed on one too many sickly-sweet Christmas movies.
5. White Christmas
This is one of those films that engenders the feeling of curling up in front of a log fire with a hot cup of cocoa. The incomparable Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are the song and dance duo who help their former Commanding Officer run his snowless Vermont inn, and along the way fall for a couple of swell gals.
Of course the star attraction is butter-voiced Bing crooning the eponymous song, but there are other wonderful musical numbers, including Sisters and Snow. It’s a real feel-good affair that manages to warm the heart without being saccharine.
4. The Nightmare Before Christmas
A ‘90s classic, Jack Skellington’s skewed take on Christmas neatly knits together the two otherwise antithetical days when kids get free stuff: Halloween and Christmas. Even though he goes about executing Christmas in a macabre fashion, we can tell he means well, and that’s the true spirit of the season.
As with many Tim Burton tales, it’s a sweet story wrapped in gothic paper. The stop-motion animation is beautiful, and the whole film has a quality that, in watching it, you can’t help but feel that you’re getting a glimpse into Burton’s Christmas Eve dreams.
3. Elf
A Christmas movie that the whole family can watch and find funny is as rare as snow on Christmas Day but Elf is one of the few.
Will Ferrell can be accused of being too overbearingly ‘Will Ferrell’ at times, but here he puts in a restrained and sweet performance as Buddy the human who thinks he’s an elf. There’s wit and warmth in the script, and the film takes delight in making Buddy a fish out of water, both at his North Pole home and in New York.
If the final scene with everyone singing ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’ doesn’t give you a lump in your throat, then you must have a throat made of stone.
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