The Annual Christmas Film Thread!

[TheDude18]

Yes, its that time of year again where your allowed to watch Christmas Vacation 2 without people giving you weird looks........

So, what are your favourites? Which ones do you hate? Or do you go all hipster and only watch a film no one else considers a Christmas film? This is the thread for all of the above and anything else you can think of.

Rambling thoughts - Now that Die Hard has been embraced as Christmas film, would you also include Lethal Weapon? I watched it recently only to realize it's set at Christmas! Yes, Shane Black (look him up) has some obsession with setting films during this festive season, but does anyone think of Lethal Weapon in this regard? I didn't! So with this in mind, here my pick of a Christmas film - The Long Kiss Goodnight. Again, I'd never thought of this as a Christmas film but again with Shane Black involved, I should have guessed. It has action, tension, very bad language and Samuel L Jackson. What's not to like? Are there other films which could be included but aren't?

[The Hardest of All Freds]

Gremlins. Just Gremlins.

[rocky1980]

National lampoon's christmas vacation, what a film love it

[markopoloman]

Christmas Vacation - one of the best Christmas films... but Christmas Vacation 2? Didn't even know there was one!!! Just had a quick look on iMDB and it has 2.7/10 Hmmmmm worth a watch?

[TheDude18]

Nor did I until Red Letter Media slated.....................sorry reviewed it! I think the review would much better to watch than the film!

[TheDude18]

Gremlins. Just Gremlins.

I adore Gremlins, from it's tone to it's special effects and it's two fingered salute to 'traditional' Christmas films. The second one is even funnier, 'extracting the urine' from the original. I would love to watch it with my 7 year old as we've been scouring Netfilx and the family DVD collection for our Christmas fix. But I think he still might be a little too young for it.

[Big Shoes]

We have watched Christmas Vacation so far, next is Scrooged, then Home Alone, Muppet Christmas Carol, Die Hard, Gremlins and Elf.

[markopoloman]

Surely Trading Places needs to be on everyones Xmas film list??!! Not only because Dan Aykroyd dresses as Santa and gets beard hear/salmon in his mouth - but for the amazing Xmas prezzie that is Jamie Lee Curtis' breasts...

[joefish]

Some I'll give a miss - It's a Wonderful Life; I'd never actually seen it so sought it out on DVD a few years ago. It's so ruddy long though. I guess it needs some build-up to a suicide attempt, but you could just watch the last third of it and not miss anything. And exactly the opposite with Christmas Vacation - it's great right up until the in-laws arrive; and they are such revolting characters it becomes unwatchable - like Ricky Gervais at his skin-crawling worst. And Scrooged is just too corny. I know it's meant to start that way but they don't know how to stop it. And Bill Murray as a lead is just too selfish a performer. The only decent bit comes near the end where the taxi driver shoves the cigar into the corner of his mouth, leers up and says "Which floor?"

So for me it's Gremlins - as it's awesome. And does actually reference It's a Wonderful Life both in a clip on a TV and the layout of the town. It has a nice mix of classic Americana as well as the 80s setting, and the star that is Dick Miller.

Muppet Christmas Carol - the best of all versions. Michael Caine and Bean Bunny on the billing - what more could you want? God bless us, every one. Though I also like the songs from Albert Finney's 1970 Scrooge (not the usually mentioned 1950 black & white Alastair Sim one), and the fact that it's Alec Guiness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) that appears as Marley's ghost!

I'll be watching a rather peculiar TV special from 1979 that someone here finally identified for me - Quincy's Quest. A toys-come-to-life musical distinct for featuring contemporary toys (clockwork robots, LEGO, Airfix Flight Deck), some really menacing baddies, and an out-of-nowhere tragic semi-ending.

Also Toys - a Robin Williams film with fantastic design work that's similarly melancholic; at least I'd rather that than flat-out slit-your-wrists depressing like his usual offerings.

I think I'll have to watch Star Wars too at some point. Just because in the 70s and 80s you only ever got the big film TV premieres at Christmas. Somewhere I have a bootleg DVD of the Star Wars Christmas Special, but it's frankly too awful to watch again.

Is The Great Escape on? Pom pom, . . , pom pommmm pa pom pom, . .

[The Beans]

Arthur Christmas.

[Antiriad2097]

Bizarrely, my grandaughter named her Christmas elf 'pomp pomp pomp pomp' last year and it's stuck through to this year. Wonder if she's seen The Great Escape?

I might try her with Gremlins. Not sure if she's old enough at 3, but she adores Labyrinth following a random showing I gave one weekend. She's not quite sure how to deal with scary stuff - she's glued to it, declares she doesn't like it later, but then wants to watch again.

[theantmeister]

Mixed Nuts. Ignoring Adam Sandler, of course.

[joefish]

I might try her with Gremlins. Not sure if she's old enough at 3, but she adores Labyrinth following a random showing I gave one weekend. She's not quite sure how to deal with scary stuff - she's glued to it, declares she doesn't like it later, but then wants to watch again.

Well it was rated 15 when it was released! Depends on what you see, as like Ghostbusters, the original you get on DVD is a bit more grown-up than what's usually shown on TV. It has its gruesome bits.

[RetroAerosmith]

For newbie kids can i recommend BBC classics on the run up to xmas, maybe an episode every few days??... They are The Children of Green Knowe, Chronicles of Narnia and the sublime yet overrated Box of Delights.

Yes Quincys Quest is a curve ball of a choice if you can stomach twee Tommy Steele but its never been repeated or released officially so watch it where you can. I do have The Christmas Martian too which is a canadian/french thing where most people have seen it but only remember the bit where the alien fills his ship with smarties for the kids to eat.

For me chitty chitty bang bang, Oliver! Willy wonka , mary poppins are "the week after" xmas movies.

Christmas movies that ill watch up until xmas day include - Home Alone, Scrooge the musical and Gremlins which have all been mentioned.
I do scour Youtube for popular animations i may like or are for some reason American classics like Twas the night before christmas.

[DPrinny]

Bottom - Holy,