Christmas Films

[Maxx]

How is The Wizard of Oz a Christmas film?

And this list lacks A Christmas Story, that's a travesty.

Edited November 29, 2009 by Maxx

[GA!]

How is The Wizard of Oz a Christmas film?

And this list lacks A Christmas Story, that's a travesty.

I cheated and used a film regularly shown during the Christmas period.

And A Christmas Story is actually a glaring oversight on my part. I'll add it to the list, replacing... Actually, I will replace Wizard of Oz for it.

EDIT: I'll also replace Oliver with something else. Then I can do a list in 2010 that's just films shown at Christmas that aren't related to the holiday.

[Maxx]

Replace it with Gremlins.

[The Mask of Norro]

Echoing the love for Santa's Slay. It's such a wonderfully hilarious movie with the absurdity of Bill Goldberg playing an evil Santa that, as bad as it may be, it's so bad it's good and you'll wind up loving it when it's all said and done. Can't wait to see your reaction to that one

[GA!]

Replace it with Gremlins.

Already have done. I can't believe I missed that out either... I love that film.

Also, here's the first review:

December 1st: Santa Who?

Leslie Nielsen’s Christmas wish for an easy pay cheque comes true in this made-for-TV film. If a department store Santa being the real thing sounds familiar, at least the producers name check Miracle on 34th Street twice. Meanwhile, the characters are wholly unlikeable. Peter Albright – a man in his mid-30’s – acts like an emo because Santa didn’t get his letter when he was eight. And Peter’s girlfriend’s son Zack takes being a spoiled brat to the extreme, continually moaning about Santa’s real identity until the adults pay attention. That’s a fan-dabi-dozi moral message for all the whining shitbags out there: moan until you render Mummy and Daddy defenseless against your demands. Thanks for that, Santa Who?

Later on, as soon as my sister finds the DVD of it, I've got Nightmare Before Christmas.

[GA!]

I'm 25% of the way through this marathon. Here are my reviews so far, with Santa Who? slightly rewordered.

December 1st: Santa Who?

All the characters in this Miracle in 34th Street knock-off are unlikeable. Peter Albright – a man in his mid-30’s – acts like an emo because Santa didn’t get his letter when he was eight. And Peter’s girlfriend’s son Zack takes being a spoiled brat to the extreme, continually moaning about Santa’s real identity until the adults pay attention. That’s a fan-dabi-dozi moral message for all the whining shitbags out there: moan until you render Mummy and Daddy defenseless against your demands. Thanks for that, Santa Who?

December 2nd: The Nightmare Before Christmas

It may have become an iconic film for teenage girls sickened by the concept of sunlight, but The Nightmare Before Christmas is a genuinely fan-dabi-dozi film about culture clash. It features pioneering stop-motion imagery, somewhat tolerable songs, and a sense of humour I hadn’t detected before. My favourite sequence is where Jack gives the ghoulish presents to children with horrendous/hilarious consequences. I think we can establish at this point that I hate children.

December 3rd: Silent Night, Deadly Night

Santaphobic, nun-a-phobic, grope-a-phobic Zack Morris lookalike Billy Chapman goes on a killing spree after dressing as Santa Claus drives him batshit crazy. Many people say this is Garth Marenghi’s best film, but personally I’m a bigger fan of Bitch Killer.

December 4th: Die Hard

ITV’s favourite four-hour long film (including commercials) has rightly gone down as one of the greatest action films of all time. It’s about as Christmassy as Hanukkah, but it’s able to hold your attention throughout what should be an over-bloated running time. It also arguably ruined modern day cinema due to the slew of imitations that transitioned into what Michael Bay makes now.

December 5th: Scrooged

The first of a few adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol on the countdown is also one of my favourites. Bill Murray excels as a heartless television executive who sees the error of his ways. The ending probably holds the record for being the cheesiest in the history of cinema. If you couldn’t get through Yes Man without throwing up, chances are you’ll cough up your spleen watching this.

December 6th: Jack Frost

Is a film where Michael Keaton – lead singer of a band that tries to make hard rock songs out of Christmas carols – mumbles a lot, dies, reincarnates as a snowman, mumbles some more, then finally fades away for good after reconciling with his family as good as it sounds? Technically, yes.