Top 10 Holiday Films

Sorry if I’m a little late with this one. Still, with the season winding down, I thought I’d offer my Top 10 favorite movies for the holiday season. Have this list ready when next year’s holiday season starts (which it does around, oh, next July I think).

1. A Christmas Story

We’ve all probably seen it a hundred times on TBS, but it still remains my favorite Christmas movie (and one of my favorite movies, period). Few other films offer such a collection of classic moments (the flag pole, the decoder ring, Scott Farkus with his yellow eyes, the Bumpus dogs, the lamp and so much more). The truly moving moment where Ralphie’s father gives his son the BB gun captures the joy of getting the present you really wanted (and the joy of a parent coming through for their child) just about perfectly.

2. Scrooge

This musical retelling of A Christmas Carol is, I believe, vastly underrated. Albert Finney (only in his 30s at the time) is outstanding as Scrooge. The film is quite atmospheric, sad, often scary and outright joyous at the end. Plus it has some very good songs, including my favorite “Thank You Very Much.” It is ripe for rediscovery.

3. It’s a Wonderful Life

I respect this movie as much as anyone, though I believe that the melodrama gets laid on a bit too thick at times (“Oh my God! Mary’s a . . .a librarian!”). Still, like just about everyone I know, my eyes always get a bit leaky at that wonderful ending.

4. White Christmas

Admittedly, this is rather lightweight fare, with a paper thin plot. Still this is a personal choice for me, as this was the last movie I watched with my father. There is also an undeniable charm to it that makes you smile all the way through, plus great chemistry between the four leads (Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen).

5. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This is another film that I feel is underrated. Steve Martin finds nightmarish bad luck trying to get from New York back to his home in Chicago for Christmas, with an unwelcome traveling companion (John Candy) in tow. The film is side-splittingly funny in the middle-which is all a setup for a heartbreakingly sad, but ultimately very sweet ending.

6. Christmas in Connecticut

Like “White Christmas,” this movie is lightweight fare, but has an undeniable charm to it, as Barbara Stanwyck, who writes a column in which she pretends to be the Martha Stewart of her day, but is in fact a total fraud, tries to fake her way through a holiday weekend for both a war hero and her publisher. Stanwyck carries the picture and is quite funny, as well as sexy. It’s easy to see why the war hero falls for her like a chunk of snow falling off a rooftop.

7. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

This comedy gem is Chevy Chase’s finest moment, yet he’s still overshadowed by Randy Quaid’s hysterical turn as Cousin Eddie. Eddie’s line about the metal plate in his head is one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard in a movie. Yet, like all good Christmas movies, there are some surprisingly heartwarming moments as well.

8. The Nightmare Before Christmas

This is still, I believe, Tim Burton’s best movie, for he truly lets his unique, remarkable imagination run free in this one. It gets to the core better than any of his films of the central theme in virtually all of Burton’s work: the outsider who just cannot fit into the “normal” world. Jack Skellington has always been a charming hero for me. I can understand why he would want to break free from his everyday existence and try to make the world happy instead of scared for change, just like Santa does. His spectacular failure is both funny and heartbreakingly sad, but like all true heroes, he learns from it and saves the day at the end.

9. Prancer

This is a sweet, charming family film that actually does not overdose on sugar. The small daughter of an apple famer finds an injured reindeer in her barn and is convinced it is Prancer, one of Santa’s reindeer. The little girl’s unwavering belief that the reindeer is Prancer, despite plenty of adults who think otherwise, is quite moving. It also works as a touching portrait of a father’s love for his daughter.

10. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Probably a surprise choice here (what? No “Miracle on 34th Street?”), but hey, this movie works both as an entertainment and as a surprisingly accurate and reverential retelling of the Dickens classic. Michael Caine plays it straight, even if he’s surrounded by Muppets, and makes a very effective Scrooge.

PS: No, you cannot force me to put “Elf” on my list. I know a lot of people love it, but I personally can’t stand it. I’d put the slasher horror classic “Black Christmas” on here before I’d put “Elf.” Seriously

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