In continuing the lightheartedness of my last post, I'm going to share my top ten favorite films and to watch around this time of year. Once Thanksgiving passes, it's open game on all things Christmas.
Before I begin, I should note that I'm evaluating these films based on nostalgic factors and their adherence to the "holiday spirit" rather than artistic merit. You will see some complete cheese-fests on here, but to my estimation, they're very enjoyable cheese fests. Also, the entire film has to revolve around Christmas, so The Godfather and L.A. Confidential won't appear on account of their brief but memorable Christmas scenes. Lastly, this is a list of films not TV specials, so you won't see Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Beavis & Butthead Do Christmas here, as much as I love both.
So turn on the Charlie Brown Christmas album and take warm trip with me down nostalgia lane...
10. Reindeer Games (2000)
Do you love Christmas movies and cheesy 1990's action films in equal measure? Reindeer Games may already be one of your favorites, if you've seen it. It wouldn't be surprising if you haven't seen famed director John Frankenheimer's last film, because it was a bomb then and still incites Grinch-like jeers when it's brought up today, due to its ludicrous plot scenarios which feature more unbelievable twists than a peppermint.
Rudy (Ben Affleck), a car thief is released from prison and poses as his cellmate, who was murdered the day before. He begins an affair with his cellmate's pen pal girlfriend (Charlize Theron), whose criminal brother enlists him to help him rob a casino.
Though it's a completely silly film, it earns its spot on this list due to its insistent humor and odd replay value. I'd taken this film out "for the hell of it" at least ten times before I realized it had become something of a de facto custom around the Christmas season. There's plenty of dark humor involving people being beaten or tortured, yet there's enough references to the holiday to give it almost a lighthearted touch. No matter how much blood is being shed, its insistent humor makes it more similar in spirit to Home Alone than The Boondock Saints. If you can stomach a little violence, don't miss this one.
9. The Santa Clause (1994)
Definitely one of the titles which found its way on the list due to nostalgic factors, The Santa Clause was funnyman Tim Allen's turn as Father Christmas after playing the quintessential American father on Home Improvement. The film concerns a father who witnesses Santa fall from his roof on Christmas Eve, and finds himself literally donning the big man's beard as he becomes the new Santa.
As is the case with many Christmas films, The Santa Clause was very much intended to be a family-friendly film. At times, the fantasy elements and saccharine "Christmas spirit" monologues can upset the stomach of even the most obnoxiously gung-ho holiday nut, but the film's colorful direction and funny, natural performance from Tim Allen make it all worthwhile. The scenes at Santa's workshop are gaudy,
Allen really is the film's greatest asset, and the best jokes revolve around his wisecracking or complete disbelief in the face of magic taking place before his eyes. One of the funniest scenes revolves around his first night as Santa, in which he chides a young girl for leaving him milk when he's lactose intolerant. It may have the same effect on someone who didn't first watch it as a child, but it's still one of the better Christmas comedies.
8. Love Actually (2003)
Set around the intertwining lives of multiple people in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Love Actually is the most recent addition on the list. Thanks to more than a few memorable moments which resonated with audiences almost as deeply as Home Alone, the film has become a staple on TV rotations during the holiday season.
Billed as a "romantic comedy" and featuring an ensemble of the U.K.'s premier actors in that genre (including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightley and others) - one might mistake Love Actually as a garden variety chick flick, with the same basic plot redressed in a new context. While there's certainly some of that to be found, Love Actually takes a different approach, compiling many different subplots which each tell a story about love from a different perspective. There's the dissolution of a marriage, reinforced familial bonds, newfound romance between people foreign to each other and unrequited love. It borders on an overabundance of plot at times, but all of the stories coalesce together to remind us that nothing is stronger than love. Is there a more appropriate message to share at Christmas?
The film is aging very well, and one of the most fun aspects of watching it every year is seeing just how much of the supporting cast has gone on to international stardom. It was already bubbling with A-listers upon release, but now we can go back and recognize The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln as the guy who held up confessional cue cards to his romantic interest to the sound of "Silent Night".
7. Elf (2003)
I find Will Ferrell to be a bit much at times, and he was at his most obnoxious in Elf. The idea of casting him as a man-child raised by elves who goes to New York in search of his biological father sounds like the kind of idea spawned from an all night eggnog bender. Ferrell's basic "if it's gay or childish, it's funny" mantra is played out to the extreme in this film, and James Caan phones in a completely wooden performance as Ferrell's earthbound father. To add insult to injury, my least favorite actress Zooey Deschanel is cast as the love interest. On paper, it sounds like a horrible film.
However, all these elements ties together to make up something greater than the sum of its parts. Elf isn't just a fluke, it's an extremely memorable fluke. To have a character answer the phone with "Hi I'm Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" isn't exactly sharp comedic writing, yet it's somehow entered the public consciousness as an enduring catch phase. Most of the fish out of water jokes in Elf are completely on the nose and somewhat predictable, yet the film is chock full of memorable lines and scenes tied together with Ferrell's controversial but undeniable charisma.
It's one of the sillier entries, but along with Love Actually, it's a relatively newer film which has become arguably the classic Christmas comedy for younger millennials.
6. Jingle All the Way (1997)
In some ways, this is the most personal pick for an entry on this list. It's the bottom of the barrel of silliness, a film which either incites cold criticism or the warmest memories of being a kid in the '90s. Jingle All the Way is the most critically derided film here along with Reindeer Games, and understandably so. It's a comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger about a inattentive father who attempts to hunt down the hottest toy of the year on Christmas Eve, brought to you by the director of Problem Child 2 and The Spy Next Door, the Jackie Chan family film from 2010. Remember? No, me neither.
In spite of all its artlessness, Jingle manages to be an extremely fun and likable film for its manic humor, but also for the unintended hilarity of Schwarzenegger's interpretation of the script. Many of the film's innocuous lines have become comedic gold ripe for endless imitations due to the action star's thick Austrian accent. As a lightweight slapstick comedy, it also elicits many genuine laughs thanks to the performances of Schwarzenegger, Sinbad as an antagonistic mailman and Phil Hartman as a sleazy neighbor. The latter two are completely in their element and Schwarzenegger gives a perfectly credible comedic performance, although he sneaks in a few chances to kick some ass in Jingle All the Way.
If anything, Jingle All the Way stands as one of the last Christmas films for toy-obsessed youths before the smartphone generation stepped in. Any child who grew up in the '80s and '90s can recall mass marketed, must-have toys which inspired the kind of insanity portrayed in the film every Christmas season. For my older brother's generation, it was Cabbage Patch Kids. I was a child of the Power Rangers generation. Though action figures and dolls have lost the power to incite such obsession among children, Jingle All the Way has become all the more relevant now that Black Friday has nearly become a holiday in its own right.
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