Five! Golden Rings! Four Calling Movies!
This year i am shifting my Annual Christmas Movie list to the inclusive genre of a Holiday Movie Genre. This list has evolved over the past 8 years and it’s time to keep to momentum going. This year I am adding another 4 movies to the list. I decided to leave off all the tidbit movies traditions as they are our traditions and not yours. While this years crop of movie was small in size, there were certainly top of the box office choices with Office Christmas Party, Bad Santa 2 and Almost Christmas. I want to see Office Christmas Party so bad, even though I cringe every time I see Olivia Munn’s cheekbones. Thankfully her amazing acting and comedy skills make up for the poor plastique choice.
With the 2016 season behind us, I decided to take a peek at whats in the pipeline for the upcoming holiday seasons. I did internet troll a Disney character recently which led me to read up on an actress by the name of June Foray. She provided the voice for the two lines that Cindy Lou Who in the first TV adaption of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” (I have another blog post on her career in the pipeline) and that showed me a new listing for feature film in 3D Animation for The Grinch Who Stole Christmas which is slated for the 2018 holiday season. The folks who gave us Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets have enlisted Benedict Cumberbatch for the role of the Grinch.
The 2017 season is going to a hard sell for holiday movies with a new Thor sequel, the long awaited Justice League Movie and the sequel to Star Wars: Force Awakens. Here are just a few other holiday films coming in 2017:
A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) - The ladies are returning for a sequel and it’s going to be guilty but kick ass party of a sequel.
Let It Snow (2017) - This movie is mashup of 3 short stories by 3 authors, the future is not bright for this movie with it being pushed back to 2017 form this year at the last minute.
CoCo (2017) - Pixar jumps into the Dia De La Muertos world with their first real holiday based movie.
Now onto those four additions to the list, first it was about time we got a little bit of action on the list. I think I’ve watched this movie every holiday season for the past 10 years. I am even watching it as I type this post. Die Hard, it’s a classic and you know you love it and it’s worldly 80’s-ness, “Welcome To The Party Pal” It’s set on xmas-eve and it’s pure awesomeness. Lets face it, Bruce Willis has never made a horrible movie, cheesy maybe but not bad. And if you start to say Hudson Hawk, change the webpage, we can’t be friends!
The next two films have been a holiday staple ever since they were released. Both are Woody Allen films and have become apart of our ritual of decorating the xmas tree. With the kids older and asking to be apart of the process, some movies can be a bore for them. Pick your battles! Right! Everyone Say I Love You is truly my all-time favorite Woody Allen film. Set in both Xmas and New Years, it was also the catalyst to my 40th Birthday idea. If you can get past the idea of Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts singing in a movie, it’s a classic Woody tale set in Paris, Venice and New York City. 2016 is also the 20th Anniversary of the movies release.
A close second in the Woody Allen category would have to go to my third addition, Radio Days. Another classic and it is an homage to the directors childhood during the holiday season. A testament to Allen’s story telling skills and his true talent of art direction. It’s fitting that Radio Days is going on the list now with it’s 30th Anniversary coming up in 2017. Do you feel old yet?
While the list already has a few great movies that showcases New Years, this final addition is my official first New Years Movie to the holiday genre. You have probably heard of it before, its a movie adventure called 200 Cigarettes. A flawless reminder of the 1980’s and the big 1979-1980 New Years Eve, for which I was only 5 years old and well, not old enough to hit the disco yet. This film has everyone you can think of, similar to Mixed Nuts, from the amazing Martha Plimpton to the hilarious Dave Chapelle, there are so many little hidden treats throughout. The movie also showcases the early beginnings of some great actorsof today like Kate Hudson & Casey Affleck. While it’s not the most perfect movie, it’s proof that the New Years subject matter is a lacking area of cinema.
Interesting tidbit: With these new additions, Gaby Hoffmann now has 3 movies on the list. More than anyone else on it.
Auntie Mame
Arthur Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Christmas Candle
Christmas with the Kranks
Desk Set
Everyone Says I Love You
The Family Man
Family Stone
Fred Clause
Four Christmases
Giant
The Grinch
The Holiday
Home Alone 1&2
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Joyeux Noel
A Christmas Story
Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
It’s Christmas Again, Charlie Brown
It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
It’s A Wonderful Life
Love Actually
Love The Coopers
A Madea Christmas
Meet Me in St. Louis
Miracle on 34th Street (new version. I fall asleep during the original)
Mixed Nuts
A Muppet Christmas Carol
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Philidelphia Story
The Polar Express
The Santa Clause 1, 2, 3
Serendipity
This Christmas
Unaccompanied Minors
While You Were Sleeping
White Christmas
You’ve Got Mail