Christmas is here, a holiday to spend time with family and friends. And who doesn’t love to watch movies on holiday with loved ones?
Every Christmas the film industries around the world, especially Hollywood, release movies to enjoy with the family. We have come up with a list of Christmas movies that you can watch with your loved ones or alone curled up under the blanket with a hot cup of chocolate milk.
Elf (2003):
Elf is a 2003 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, and Zooey Deschanel. It was released in the United States on November 7, 2003 and grossed $220,443,451 worldwide. The story is about one of Santa's elves who learns of his true identity as a human and goes to New York City to meet his biological father, spreading Christmas cheer in a world of cynics as he goes. In a word, this movie is worth watching in Christmas holiday with your children.
A Christmas Carol (1984):
A Christmas Carol is a 1984 film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 holiday novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. It shows a man’s pursuit of financial success has left him a bitter and lonely old man. But a Christmas Eve visit from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future ultimately teaches him to open his heart to the spirit of Christmas and to the joys of friends and family.
Home Alone (Franchise):
Home Alone is a series of family comedy films directed by Chris Columbus (1–2), Raja Gosnell (3), Rod Daniel (4), and Peter Hewitt (5).
The first two films, Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), follow the adventures of a boy named Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) who, during the course of the film, gets burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) arrested by using booby traps. The third film, Home Alone 3 (1997), has a similar plot but with a new protagonist, Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz), and more of a spy theme.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993):
The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 American stop motion musical fantasy-comedy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town" and decides to celebrate the holiday, with some dastardly and comical consequences. Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as other minor characters. The remaining principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens and Glenn Shadix. The Nightmare Before Christmas was metwith both critical and financial success. The film has since been reissued by Walt Disney Pictures and re-released annually in the Disney Digital 3-D format from 2006 until 2009, making it the first stop-motion animated feature to be entirely converted to 3-D.
Bad Santa (2003):
Bad Santa is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, and Lauren Graham, with Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, and John Ritter in supporting roles. The film provides a thrilling story of a criminal who executes a lot of crimes in Santa Claus’s costume. It was Ritter's last film appearance before his death in 2003. The Coen brothers are credited as executive producers.
Jingle All The Way (1996):
Jingle All the Way is a 1996 American Christmas family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad, with Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, James Belushi and Robert Conrad. The plot focuses on two rival fathers, workaholic Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) and stressed out postal worker MyronLarabee (Sinbad), both desperately trying to retrieve a Turbo-Man action figure for their respective sons on a last-minuteshopping spree on Christmas Eve. Inspired by real-life Christmas toy sell-outs for products such as the Cabbage Patch Kids and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the film was written by Randy Kornfield. Producer Chris Columbus rewrote the script, adding in elements of satire about the commercialisation of Christmas, and the project was picked up by 20th Century Fox.
Christmas With The Kranks (2004):
Christmas with the Kranks is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. It was directed by Joe Roth with a screenplay by Chris Columbus, and stars Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey, M. Emmet Walsh, Rene Lavan, Kevin Chamberlin, DyroneTonk, Steinfield Billium and Joey Bonzo. The plot revolves around a couple who decide to skip Christmas one year since their daughter is away much to the chagrin of their neighbours. However the plans are changed around when their daughter phones them to tell them that she is coming home for Christmas.
Arthur Christmas (2011):
Arthur Christmas is a 2011 British/American 3-D computer animated Christmas comedy film, produced by AardmanAnimations and Sony Pictures Animation as their first collaborative project. Directed by Sarah Smith, and co-directed by Barry Cook, it features voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen, Marc Wootton, Laura Linney, Eva Longoria, Ramona Marquez and Michael Palin.
Set on Christmas night, the film tells a story about the Santa Claus' clumsy son Arthur Claus who discovers that theSantas' high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present, goes on a mission to save her Christmas, accompanied only by his ageing grandfather, a rebellious yet enthusiastic young Christmas Elf obsessed with wrapping gifts for children, and a team of eight strong, magical yet untrained reindeer.
Arthur Christmas was very well received by critics, who praised its animation and humorous, smart and heart-warming story. The film earned $147 million at the box office on a $100 million budget.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010):
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a 2010 Finnish horror-fantasy-thriller film directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near the Korvatunturi mountain who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. The film is based on a 2003 short film, Rare Exports Inc., by Jalmari and Juuso Helander. If you are bored to watch too much comedy and romantic films, then it is the movie to give you a taste of variety.
The Polar Express (2004):
The Polar Express is a 2004 American motion capture computer-animated musical Christmas fantasy film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. Written, produced, and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film featured human characters animated using the live action performance capture technique, with the exception of the dancing waiters who dispense hot chocolate on the train, because their feats were impossible for live actors to achieve. The film stars Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen, with Tom Hanks in six distinct roles. The film also included a performance by Tinashe at age 9, who later gained exposure as a pop singer in 2010, as the CGI-model for the female protagonist. The film was made at a budget of $165 million, a record breaking sum for an animated feature at the time. The studio first released the film in both conventional and IMAX 3D theatres November 10, 2004.
If you are going to spend your Christmas holidays indoors, these movies will help you to spend some quality time with your family and children. Winter evening, hot chocolate, loved ones and a good movie; a great combination indeed.