What’s the best holiday movie? It’s the age-old question that fills the hallways and living rooms of America. It’s even been known to start fights at my house about which one is better!
One of my favorites is Home Alone 2; Lost in New York. This movie is about Kevin McCallister losing track of his father at the airport, and he mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City, while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida. Now alone in NYC, Kevin figures out how to get into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his antics. But when Kevin discovers that the Sticky Bandits are on the loose, he tries to stop them from robbing a toy store just before Christmas. This movie has always been one of my favorites despite my family’s complaints about how it’s not as good as the original. No matter! I watch it every year without fail.
Another one of my favorites is definitely The Santa Clause, which is about a divorced dad, Scott, who has joint custody of his son on Christmas Eve. After he accidentally kills a man in a Santa suit, they are transported to the North Pole, where an elf explains that Scott must take Santa’s place before the next Christmas arrives. Scott thinks he’s going crazy, but over the next couple months he gains weight and grows an inexplicable white beard. The Santa Clause may start off rather odd, but as it goes on with its humor and tenderness, you get drawn in.
A Christmas Story, based on a book by Jean Shepard, is an all-time classic set in the 1940s in Indiana. It follows the story of Ralphie Parker who spends every morning running from a bully and dreaming about the best Christmas present a boy could get. My favorite part is when Ralphie’s little brother, Randy, gets dressed in so many layers of coats and scarves that he falls over in a snowbank and can’t get back up!
ELF is the hilarious heartwarming classic that, even though I have watched it many times, still makes me laugh out loud. It follows the story of Buddy the Elf who as a baby somehow made his way to the North Pole and has been living there ever since. As he gets older he realizes he does not fit in with all of the other elves his age and journeys to New York City and tries to find his real father. It is one of the funniest and truly pure Christmas movies there is and will get you, if not already in the Christmas spirit all the way in!
White Christmas is a post-World War II movie set in a Vermont lodge. Two sets of musical duos; a pair of men (a crooner and a comedian) and a sister act, form an unlikely alliance. The men, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, are just on the return from World War II, where they served under the command of General Waverly. The ladies, the younger sisters of a man who served with Crosby and Kaye in the Army, take advantage of the old Army buddies to get some help for their act. In the process, they end up helping out old General Waverly in his retirement. The film ends with a Christmas extravaganza set in the snows of Vermont, it is an ending both iconic and content.
No matter what your favorite holiday movie is, the only thing that matters is that you enjoy the spirit of the season. Happy Holidays!
