Advent Day 8: Films: a poll

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I'm curious what people watch around the holidays. I know I'm forgetting some (these are very American-centric) so let me know your faves in the comments!

Poll #30302 Favorite Holiday Films poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

View Respondents

What are your favorite holiday films/shows? Check all that apply

View Answers

Charlie brown's Christmas special
2 (15.4%)

Love Actually
1 (7.7%)

A Muppet Christmas Carol
9 (69.2%)

Die Hard
4 (30.8%)

Home Alone
2 (15.4%)

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
0 (0.0%)

It's a Wonderful Life
2 (15.4%)

Elf
1 (7.7%)

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (TV or film)
2 (15.4%)

Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer (TV)
3 (23.1%)

Something else I will expound upon in the comments
6 (46.2%)

Hallmark movie (please let me know your favorites in the comments)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[conuly]

So you're coming down on "Nightmare Before Christmas" is a Halloween movie, or did you forget it?

Though for the record, the best Christmas movie is the original Miracle on 34th Street.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ah, thank you for this. You've given me an idea for a ficlet. And, yes, I did foreget it.

I don't know that I've seen that one! but my library has it! Thank you!

[conuly]

You've never seen Miracle? Oh, you're in for a treat, then! Colorized is fine, but the remake isn't.

Do you know that when the original first came out it didn't come out in the Christmas season? It came out in the summer. The studio was (rightfully!) concerned about releasing a holiday film outside of the holiday season, so all of the trailers featured people talking about how great the movie was and carefully not talking about the plot at all.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

That seems very strange [re: summer release] especially given these day so much is given to Christmas movie timing.

[smallhobbit]

Alastair Sim 'A Christmas Carol'!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ah yes! My library has this one!

[garonne]

Another popular fave is The Snowman.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ah, yes. My son may like this one.

There's also an adaptation of a Scandi noir thriller of the same name!!

[dylan_mx]

Here the tv always shows Trading Places (1983) so for me that is the quintessential Christmas movie! I watched every year as a kid, but now my family doesn't really have something we rewatch for Christmas.
We always watch Four Rooms (1995) for New Year's tho ahaha!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Interesting! I don't know that I've actually seen Trading Places.

I hadn't heard of Four Rooms, either. So thank you!!

[dylan_mx]

They're set during Christmas and New Year's respectively and they got a bit of a dark humour at times, if that's your genre they're quite funny :)

[house_wren]

In addition to Elf we watch:

Mixed Nuts, 1994
This is a Christmas movie but it is an acquired taste. It was a total flop and it had a great cast.

Holiday, 1938
With Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

The Wizard of Oz, 1939
This became a Christmas movie because tv stations played it at Christmas. You know, back when there were only 3 stations and you needed an antenna on the roof.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

This is an interesting mix! I hadn't heard of Mixed Nuts or Holiday. I will check them out. Yeah, I just watched A Christmas Story and there is the Wizard of Oz references in that I didn't remember. My sister was always afraid of the flying monkeys.

[house_wren]

Flying monkeys always scared me, too.

Holiday is an absolute classic oldie, full of 'witty repartee.'

I think Mixed Nuts confuses people and that's why it was not well received. Is it a rom-com? A Christmas movie? A scary movie? It might be hard to find, but perhaps it's on youtube. The cast, though...so good: Steve Martin, Liev Schreiber, Madeline Kahn, Anthony LaPaglia, Juliet Lewis & many more. I think I like it because it's really about being alone and lonely during the holidays, and that sense of not belonging anywhere or with anyone is something that I feel.

[malinaldarose]

I also watch the Doctor Who Christmas specials and the Christmas episodes of The Librarians. Additional movies include The Holiday (Kate Winslett, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Jude Law), Lethal Weapon, Die Hard 2, and the Santa Clause films. Last night I watched Single All The Way. Sometimes, Bell, Book, and Candle, too, but the ending of that one annoys me. I'm sure there are more that I'm blanking on.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Wow! That's a lot! Yes, if you add Christmas specials there are a lot more possibilities.

[debriswoman]

Muppet Christmas carol is fun, older version of a Christmas carol with Alistair Sim, the Nightmare before Christmas…and what is a hallmark movie? We have hallmark cards but not movies. Will add in some Xmas shows from days of yore…Morecambe and Wise Xmas specials come to mind, and the carol service from Kings

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Hobbit mentioned the Alistar Sims one too.

The Hallmark card company has a TV channel and they make romantic films which are like romance modern novels (of the non !!! variety). They are predictable but a lot of Americans like them. There are 100's and 100's of them and some of them are Christmas themed.

I am glad you mentioned the carol service from Kings--that strikes me as Very English!