5. The Grinch
RANEY JOHNSON
Staff Reporter
Everyone has one Christmas movie they watch every Christmas or even multiple times in a season.
There are always new Christmas movies produced each year, but few stand the test of time. Here are this reporter’s top five.
No. 5 on the list of greatest Christmas movies is “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” a childhood classic.
Both the animated version and the real life version starring Jim Carrey are Christmas classics.
Everyone knows a grinch, the person who just wants Christmas to be over, but the original Grinch goes too far by stealing all the Whos Christmas decorations, gifts and even food. But the Grinch soon learns the Who people can have Christmas with or without these things when they come out on Christmas morning, they join hands and sing.
The Grinch, amazed by this, realizes, like most grinches do, that Christmas is about the spirit and family, not material things. When he saves the falling sleigh his heart grows three sizes, “granting him the strength of 10 Grinches, plus two,” and he saves the day.
The fourth greatest Christmas movie of all time is “Home Alone” starring Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a young boy left at home by his family on accident.
4. Home Alone
No one would think a movie about an 8-year-old being left at home alone and having to deal with two burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) would be a Christmas classic, but it is.
Culkin as Kevin is so clever in dealing with the two idiotic burglars who want to harm him. His booby trap set-up is a constant pain in the neck for the two burglars.
The memorable scene of Culkin screaming after putting aftershave on his face is still one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
Further proof of the movie’s success is the four sequels that followed it, though Culkin only starred in the “Home Alone” sequel.
Only Christmas can offset the possibility of a child being hurt by two criminals, and this movie does that well.
The third greatest Christmas movie of all time is “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
The oldest movie on the list and the only one dealing with religion, the movie follows Charlie Brown as he searches for “the true meaning of Christmas” throughout the film.
All Charlie Brown wants is to get away from the commercialization of Christmas, something even today people can sympathize with, by putting on a nativity play.
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas
When Charlie Brown is hurt after everyone laughs at his little Christmas tree used for the play, he begins to doubt his view of what Christmas really is about. However, Linus brings Charlie to his senses with the recital of the birth of Jesus.
Whether one is Christian or not, watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is an old Christmas tradition dating back to its first viewing in 1965 and shows that maybe Christmas is more than the gifts and decorations and more about the spirit.
The second greatest Christmas movie is “Elf,” a more modern Christmas favorite.
Most do not think of Will Ferrell when it comes to Christmas, but even a human raised by elves can be a part of the Christmas joy, which was displayed in Ferrell’s “Elf.”
Buddy the Elf, played by Ferrell, is as loveable a character as Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman. Rudolph may have guided Santa’s sleigh, but Buddy fixed it, and Frosty never visited New York, except as a cumulonimbus cloud.
The tale of a father and son reunion is no ordinary one because Buddy is no ordinary human. He eats old gum off rails and balls of cotton, has “tickle fights” and mixes syrup with spaghetti.
2. Elf
“Elf” has more great moments than one, including the scene in which Buddy sings a duet with his love interest Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) while she showers, though Jovie does not know Buddy is in the bathroom.
Now a Broadway play, “Elf” shows great Christmas movies and characters do not have to be more than 20 years old.
Each year the movie is played on USA and ABC Family, and it will more than likely continue to teach “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear” to future generations.
The No. 1 greatest Christmas movie on the list is the 1983 film “A Christmas Story,” a movie that has become as much a Christmas tradition as hanging up stockings or putting up Christmas lights.
The reasons so many people view this movie each year are probably many, but one of the main reasons may be because of its human interest. Other Christmas movies about Santa and other magical Christmas characters are wonderful to watch, but “A Christmas Story” presents the human element of a real Christmas most people have experienced.
Ralph “Ralphie” Parker’s (Peter Billingsley) persistence in asking his parents and Santa for a Red Ryder BB Gun is something most can relate to: the desire to have the really awesome gift everyone says is too dangerous or not for children.
In a case of foreshadowing, Ralphie does “shoot his eye out” after being warned by everyone, including Santa Claus, but this does not stop his contentment of receiving the one thing he wanted for Christmas.
“A Christmas Story” may be set in the 1940s, but it is a movie that can bring out the nostalgia of any age group. It is a movie about a time when Santa Claus was still real and the most important part of Christmas was getting gifts, especially that one really important gift.
However, when looking back as an adult, viewing “A Christmas Story” may be more about the time spent with family, both good and bad, and less about getting that one gift.
1. A Christmas Story
So, let the 24-hour TBS marathon of “A Christmas Story” begin.
These movies are this reporter’s section for the five greatest Christmas movies, but there are so many other great ones. No matter what the movie is, as long as it brings Christmas cheer it is a great Christmas movie.
Email comments to rcj...@latech.edu.
