Movie Night: Christmas Classics

I don't know if you've noticed, but by golly there are a lot of Christmas movies out there! Take a quick look at the front page of any streaming service and I can guarantee that there's a collage of sweaters, smiling faces, and snowy backgrounds decked out in holiday cheer. It's a homogenized motif of formulaic holiday slop designed for mass consumption. In fact, they all probably look a lot like the covers below.

Is it a real movie, or is it ChatGPT?

Now I'm not the ultimate arbiter of good taste and there's no judgement here if a certain greeting card company's films are your jam. It's just like - my opinion, man. But I'm a creature of habit, and something about the holidays only exacerbates this particular quirk of my character. I need the familiar comfort of my favorite childhood Christmas films to settle into the season and banish the existential dread of another passing year. That's the magic of these classic Christmas films; they transport us back to a simpler time where our greatest concern was what we'd find under the tree.

Alright, I'll wrap up this old-timer 'back in my day' diatribe and present you with a few of my favorite films for the season. All of which of course, will have catalog links for your requesting pleasure.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989 PG-13)

My family and I went and saw this at the Egyptian Theater in Boise last year and it was a blast! There were people dressed up as characters from the film and the energy was great. Chevy Chase is hilarious as Clark Griswold, the "last true family man" who wants nothing more than a good ol' fashion Christmas with his family. But nothing seems to go smoothly for the Griswolds, and their extended family isn't helping matters. Christmas lights that won't turn on, grouchy neighbors, delayed bonuses, and Christmas trees combusting all threaten Clark's perfect Christmas and sanity. Anyone that has tried to host for a holiday can relate and will surely see the humor in the Girwold's Christmas vacation.

A Christmas Story (1983 PG)

This is the Christmas movie. You'd have to be from another planet to have not seen this one yet. TV channels would run marathons of just this movie all Christmas day! Is that still a thing? Anyway, it's the classic tale of an average, all American boy's Christmas set in the 1940s. Ralphie just wants an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot, range model air rifle for Christmas but parents, teachers, and even Santa himself tell Ralphie he'll shoot his eye out. Narrated by an older Ralphie looking back on his childhood, A Christmas Story is filled with quirky and memorable gags that have become a deeply ingrained part of the Christmas zeitgeist.

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 PG)

Jim Carrey was a huge comedy star in the late 90s and early 2000s and thus an obvious choice to play one of Dr. Seuss's most memorable characters, I guess. Stretching a children's picture book into a feature length film is well - a stretch, but with great sets, makeup, and actors this adaptation is both true to the original story and uniquely its own thing. Carrey brings his all to the role and really embodies the character giving us a crude, loud, and loathsome Grinch that you just love to hate. Is it the best Grinch movie ever made? No, that would be the original animated film. Is it the best live action Grinch film? Absolutely.