Top 10 "Holiday" Movies/Specials ever!
Honorable Mention: White Christmas - Favorite Quote(s): "Well how do you like that? Not so much as a "kiss my foot" or "have an apple". Actually that's one of my mom's and my aunts' favorite quotes but that's part of the likability of this one it was definitely a regular in our household.
10. Die Hard - Favorite Quote(s): "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." Yeah I know it's not your typical holiday movie but it started the franchise and takes place over Christmas. Plus every guy has this movie on his top 25 can't be without it.
9. The Santa Clause - Favorite Quote(s): "Tinsel. Not just for decoration" Alright this might have gone higher if there weren't two sequels to spoil the fun of the original. Tim Allen was given carte blanche for this movie so if you listen closely you'll get the "grown up" jokes too.
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas - Favorite Quote(s): "Jack, please! I'm only an elected official here, I can't make decisions by myself!", "There are children throwing snowballs here instead of throwing heads They're busy building toys And absolutely no one's dead." While this film might fall into the "Halloween" movie genre as well it's endearing tale definitely fits into the Christmas spirit. The soundtrack is witty and the artistic quality of the "stop-motion" is insane, truly a work of art in story and in graphics.
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Favorite Quote(s): "You're a monster, Mr. Grinch, Your heart's an empty hole, Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch, I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole." With all due respect to the Jim Carrey/Ron Howard remake, (which I do believe heightened the legacy instead of hurting it favorite quote from this one "and I'm leaking") Boris Karloff and Chuck Jones' interpretation of this Dr. Suess classic, warms the heart and is still one of the best.
6. Scrooged - Favorite Quote(s): "The Jews taught me this great word. "Schmuck". I was a schmuck, and now I'm not a schmuck" "It's a toaster!" This is a "modern" classic of the Dickens' work "A Christmas Carol." We all know the story and we're tired of the traditional telling of it in word and on stage. Honorable Mention on the re-telling: The Muppet Christmas Carol, Bill Murray and crew just take it that one step further.
5. Elf - Favorite Quote(s): "Whose gonna put the star on top of the tree?" "You sit on a throne of lies." I'm probably a little biased towards this "new classic" but Will Farrell is at his best in this film. Scene after scene Favreau marries the absurd with the real and touches on the child in all of us. It's hard not to be filled with Christmas Cheer after watching this fantastic tale.
4. Christmas Story: Favorite Quote(s): "You'll shoot your eye out," "Fra-geel-aye, must be Italian." While TBS would like to believe that this is the greatest Christmas story ever, I only partially agree, it has its place but if you lose points for being overplayed this one looses the most. I will admit though that it does have some of the most memorable lines in any holiday movie.
3. It's a Wonderful Life : Favorite Quote(s): "Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends." With all due respect to my wife's argument that this movie is more overplayed than needs to be, it's still one of my favorites. This is one of the "old classics" that never gets old. Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra create one of their masterpieces in this great story.
2. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer/A Charlie Brown Christmas - {Yeah so there's a tie and I didn't take one out of the "Top 10" Deal With IT!} Favorite Quote(s): "Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a nitwit. You can't fire me, I quit. Seems I don't fit in." "ROOOAAR (Bumble)" "Maybe Lucy's right. Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest.","It's too early. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January."
I guess when it all boils down I'm a sap for the misfits, and not overlooking those that don't fit in. Plus I guess I'm a little envious for the stop action art of Rudolph, it really is a dying art. Other than that, I can't really tell you why Rudolph ranks so high on my list but it does so deal with it! As for Charlie Brown, I shouldn't really have to explain one of the greatest specials ever. Charles Schultz had a great way of marrying entertainment and moral lessons. On another note the soundtrack from Vince Guaraldi is sublime and one of the most memorable for the holiday season.
(For those of you who read this earlier, I'm an idiot I can't believe I forgot to add Charlie Brown! So much for editing!)
1. Christmas Vacation - Favorite Quote(s): "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?" "If any of you are looking for any last minute gift ideas...Hallelujah Holy $#!^, where's the Tylenol?" (I could keep going) This is the one "Christmas Movie" that "keeps on giving the whole year." This one doesn't get put away at the end of the season because every once in a while you need a "Christmas Vacation" in July.
3 comments:
I love Christmas movies...almost as much as Christmas music.
Where's "Home Alone?"... OMG!
I can't tell you how happy I was to see Die Hard in your top 10 Christmas movies, good choice!
My favorite of all time is definitely A Charlie Brown Christmas, but I refused to cast my vote for it along with Rudolph, so that's why you have one vote for "other."
Death to Rudolph!
-g
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