I love Top Ten lists. They are so annoying to make, and, if you happen to work on them in a team, they are all the more nightmarish in that you have to fight sometimes quite passionately with your colleagues. Thankfully this list is mine alone. Perhaps next year, I will have some collaborators… Then again, perhaps not.
10 – Back to the Future (1985)
I know, I know, it has nothing to do with Christmas, but considering the fact that it is a classic, there are three of them and they command the attention of the kids for a good six hours, it deserves the tenth spot on this list.
9 – Die Hard (1988)
If there is one that has nothing to do with Christmas for the kids, why can’t there be one that has (loosely) something to do with Christmas for the adults?
8 – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Totally adorable and never boring, even after having seen it at least twice every Christmas season. I wonder why. Perhaps there are subliminal messages included in the animation? Remind me to record it this year to check…
7 – A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Of all the version of A Christmas Carol, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit this is my favourite one. Perhaps it’s because I love the Muppets. Perhaps it’s because of the way they were used to make this classic ‘Muppety’ without taking away from the lessons in the story. And perhaps it’s just because I will always be a child at heart. In any case, this movie will probably be on all my future Top Ten Christmas Movies list.
6 – The Polar Express (2004)
A magical movie that makes me want to be a kid all over again, scientific to the core but still able to imagine ways magic could perhaps happen. Plus a fabulous train ride during the night in my PJs with a ton of other kids? It’s like a giant Christmas slumber party!
5 – How the Grinch stole Christmas (1966 animation and 2000 movie)
I didn’t know if I should put the two together, or separate them; the story might be the same, but the rendition is so different that watching these two back to back doesn’t seem repetitious. In the end, I had too many choices and decided to take the way out, putting the two at number five.
4 – Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
I have been mocked before, but I stand by my original assertion, made a long time ago, that this movie is adorable and very poignant, a reflection of what many of us go through, feeling like outsiders and doing whatever is possible to grab and hold on to that warm feeling typical of Christmas. This movie moved up a couple of notches this year only because it seems all the more suited to the current deteriorating situation of the world.
3 – Scrooged (1988)
I do love A Christmas Carol, but that’s not why Scrooged is on this list – it’s only because of Bill Murray. I miss him. Perhaps Santa could bring me a new production of an old school-type Bill Murray movie?
2 – Miracle on 34th street (1947 & 1994)
Another tough choice in that both versions of this movie were adorable for their own reasons. But what makes both of them deserve the number two spot is that nice warm feeling I get every time I watch it.
1 – Home Alone (1990)
I know, how unoriginal – but this has got to be one of the best Christmas movies ever. It brings together everything related to Christmas holidays – the insanity, the family, the decorations, the gifts – and yet makes us laugh uproariously and isn’t patronizing at all. Favourite scene? The after shave.