Top 10 Christmas Films (Part 2)

5.  The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Though it technically deals with Halloween in equal measure, no list of great Christmas films would be complete without Tim Burton and Henry Selick's iconic, imaginative stop motion masterpiece. On a visual level alone, Nightmare introduced memorable characters like Jack Skellington, Oogie Boogie and Sally the Rag Doll, the likes of who have been featured in endless merchandising since the film's 1993 release.

Though the animation and visuals are unforgettable, so is the story and characterization. Drawing inspiration from fairy tale television specials like How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Burton expands the format into feature length and includes more than a hint of satire, but an equal amount of affection for such holiday tales.

One of the most enduring elements of Nightmare is its music, composed by frequent Burton collaborator Danny Elfman, who also provides the singing voice of Jack Skellington. Many of the songs have seeped their way into the mainstream, including "This is Halloween" and "Making Christmas". So enduring is Nightmare that it has been revisited as a stage show and a feature of Disneyland. Truly a modern classic that can be enjoyed twice a year.

4. Die Hard

Though it's not a necessarily a film about Christmas, there's enough tongue in cheek references to eggnog, reindeer and miserable family get-togethers to qualify Die Hard as a genuine Christmas film. Best known as one of the films that launched the action craze of the late '80s. It's also one of the best. Directed by genre heavyweight John McTiernan (Predator, The Hunt For Red October), it's as silly as it is violent. Nearly every instance of the scruffy, reluctant hero John McClane killing a conniving terrorist is accompanied by a perfectly timed, crude wisecrack.

One of the reasons Die Hard stands tall above other action movies is its ability not to take itself seriously. Even with all of the executions and on-screen neck breaking, there's not a glum or grim moment to be found. Much of this results from the almost cartoonish characterizations; McClane is almost an archetypal beer-bellied American Joe who happens to be a resourceful cop and his rival Hans Gruber is a worldly, clever terrorist straight out of a superhero comic.

While it has a very different character from say, the next entry on this list, Die Hard nevertheless deserves a spot due to its break-neck (no pun intended), non-stop fun and for taking a very different spin on a Christmas film. Set in L.A., it's the only one of these films that doesn't feature a touch of snow!

2. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 

Miracle on 34th Street isn't so much a film about Christmas as it is a film about the loss of whimsy that comes with being an adult. Centered around a department store Santa Claus who believes he is the real 'Kris Kringle', the entire film is a parry between the innocence of fantasy and the cynicism of commercialism around Christmas. It isn't necessarily a tale of youth vs. adulthood, as one of the most initially jaded characters is a young child from a single parent family, and one of the most whimsical characters is a capable adult attorney. The film follows Kringle as he gradually makes "believers" out of the skeptics around him.

It's such a time-honored message that has grown beyond the film's humbler 1947 settings, as commercialism has only tightened its reign on the world and innocence in a lifetime is seemingly more fleeting than ever. Though the film has undergone a few more dramatic remakes, the original version is the most moving and the best-made film of them all, due in no small part to Edmund Gwenn's definitive, Academy Award winning performance. One may not expect it from a "family" film, but its story holds up in terms of depth compared to just about anything out there today.

2. A Christmas Story  (1983)

In many ways, A Christmas Story is the definitive Christmas film, as one may guess from its straightforward title. Unlike almost every other film, A Christmas Story really is a film about Christmas itself, with no particular focus but the general scope and feeling of the weeks leading up to December 25. There really isn't much a significant plot, as the film is loosely framed around the story of a kid doing everything in his power to receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Everything about the direction perfectly lends itself to the definitive "Christmas" feeling, from author Jean Shepherd's folksy narration to film's setting in 1940's Indiana. It's a picturesque coming of age tale that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being a young child excited for the holidays, fit for the warmest of greeting cards.


1. It's a Wonderful Life  (1946)

And here it is. This is an obvious pick for anyone who knows me, as it's my all time favorite film, regardless of holiday affiliation. There never was and hasn't been such a powerful statement on the human experience as the one detailed in Frank Capra's 1946 magnum opus. In the years before I'd actually seen the film, I was familiar with critiques of its fantastical outcome and status as that old black and white movie that plays in every house on Christmas Eve. When I'd finally taken the time to watch it from beginning to end, I was moved to tears which has NEVER happened to me while watching a film, even Titanic. It's almost as if everyone who disparages the film as light family fodder only watched the last fives minutes.

It's a Wonderful Life is far beyond just a Christmas film, or even the tale of a man who plans to commit suicide only to be deterred by a vision of life without him. With each repeated viewing, I took more notice of the part of the film that leads up to its famous conclusion. It's really a tragic story of how one's dreams evades them and they subsequently end up feeling trapped by a life much humbler than they'd imagined. Yet the film's parting message is that even the most insignificant of lives can have the most profound impact on the world around them. It manages to impart that message with overtones of both the Great Depression and post-war optimism.

There's really too much I could write about this movie. All I can say is that everyone needs to watch this film all the way through at least once. I've seen very few films that are this moving, and it only grows more relevant as life becomes ever more complicated. It's one of a very few films I could say has had a profound impact on my outlook. It was an easy choice for no. 1.