I thought we'd have some fun today. In the spirit of the season, let's look at some of my favorite Christmas films. I'm sure all of you have seen all of these films, but just in case, I'll include an embed of the trailer for each one.

1. A Christmas Carol
   The George C Scott version, made for TV in 1984, staring a host of great actors, including David Warner as Bob Cratchit. Of all the versions of Ebenezer Scrooge we've gotten over the years, I think Scott was the best. The sets are also very well done, and it's even fairly accurate to the book. The other films on this list I try to watch when I can, but this is the one movie that I am sure to watch every year.
   
2. It's a Wonderful Life
   I admit the reason I love this is probably because when I was a kid it was out of copyright, so every channel would show it constantly as we approached Christmas. You'd even find it competing against itself on 2-3 channels at the exact same time. So like everyone, I watched it several times every season and grew to love it. But it is a great movie: watching the hapless bank clerk who dreams of escaping from his small town but never seems to be able to as he goes through life, finally driven to the brink of suicide but saved by Clarance, who shows him that he really did have a wonderful life.
   
3. A Christmas Story
   Following Ralphie in his quest for a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time is always a great time. As funny as his escapades are, the real star of the movie may be his old man, with his adventures fighting the furnace, ogling a leg lamp (A major prize!), and fighting with the Bumpus' dogs.
   
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
   Admittedly I don't watch this a lot, but I do enjoy it. I'm talking of the 20 minute cartoon, not the live-action movie which ran way too long. This is just delightful. Love the songs as well. You have garlic in your soul and You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile and Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk. I think the Jimmy Durante Frosty the Snowman cartoon from 1969 also has a lot of charm, but I'm going to limit myself to just one cartoon here.
   
5. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
   By now all of us know that Chevy Chase is something of a huge asshole. He pisses off just about everyone he works with by being directly racist to their faces, sexist, or just a giant dick. Pretty much everyone in Hollywood seems to hate him. But putting that aside, he did make some great movies back in the day, and this one is one of the best.
   
6. Die Hard
   Ok, I know, is it really a Christmas movie or just an action movie that happens to be set during Christmas? Does it really matter? This is probably one of the most well-paced action movies of all time, so any excuse to watch it is a good one!
   

Going through my list, the one film here some of you may not have seen is the first on my list, the George C Scott version of A Christmas Carol, simply because it's fairly old and with so many versions of the story on film, you're likely to have just seen one of the newer ones. I really urge you to watch this one if you haven't see it. Looks like you can find the entire film on YouTube. This one was uploaded 7 years ago, so probably won't disappear anytime soon... unless the copyright holders just overlooked it and increased traffic from this post puts it on their radar. With that possibility.... go watch it soon, before it disappears!

I know I passed over a few that are considered classics. Sorry if I missed your favorite. If so, go make your own post. Anyway, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Think I'm crazy? Let me know in the comments.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.

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