Movies for Christmas

Sure, the snow is clearly fake (the trees are a vibrant green). Yes, the plot is a bit loose and would enrage most feminists. But the characters and the dialogue are tolerable for the duration of the film. Holly Grant (Kelli Williams) is a social worker who made a wish as a young girl for the perfect boyfriend. Since Santa has failed to deliver, she’s lost all desire to participate in the Christmas season. Santa intervenes and she mistakes a lawyer (Patrick Muldoon) for the mysterious gift her friend promised would make her Christmas. Holly thinks she has the perfect boyfriend for the holiday to impress her family, and while the rest is predictable as most made-for-TV seasonal fare is, it’s sweet and just cynical enough not to be too cavity inducing.

6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

This is a holiday staple. I’m not putting A Christmas Story on this list because, while that is a holiday tradition for my family as it is most people I know, I’ve seen it so many times that the movie has become hard to enjoy. The Griswold’s are another story. Even though I watch this every Christmas, it never gets old. I still laugh at the debacle of the lights not turning on like it’s the first time I’m seeing it.

7. The Ref (1994)

Christmas provides the perfect backdrop for a lot of films. You still get the message that Christmas is not about presents, but it’s wrapped up in a lot of cursing and dysfunction. This is an intelligent, entertaining comedy.

8. Comfort and Joy (2003)

 The A Christmas Carol theme of a scrooge being shown his/her past, present and future is popular in holiday movies. This made-for-TV film uses that premise in a slightly different way. The Facts of Life’s Nancy McKeon is Jane, a workaholic. She is involved in a car accident and comes out of it and into a suburban house with a husband and two kids. I enjoy the performances in this movie, and despite the somewhat overdone theme, it is an enjoyable and well-made film.

9. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

Steve Martin and John Candy are traveling to get home for Thanksgiving. One mishap after another leads to hilarity. It’s not just the wintry, holiday setting that makes this movie a Christmas viewing tradition. There is nothing quite like these two actors sleeping in the same bed or driving down the highway on the wrong side of the road that makes my family laugh. Popping this one in the DVD player is a sure way to get everyone together and to ensure we’re all agreeable.

 10. Saturday Night Lives’ Christmas Special

Okay, so this is not a film. But NBC usually airs this SNL holiday special every year, featuring their most memorable Christmas skits. There’s Eddie Murphy’s Gumby and Alec Baldwin’s Schweddy balls. I look forward to seeing this every year. I don’t know why, but the brief musical performance by Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, Horatio Sanz and a silent Tracy Morgan never fails to crack me up.