The Second Best Holiday Movie of All Time

Wow, Christmas is just eight days away! Again, sometimes the best way to get in the Christmas spirit is to watch your favorite holiday movie. Grab some hot cocoa and a big bowl of popcorn and snuggle with your favorites. Whether it’s a comedy, romance, drama, or other, it’s all a part of the season. This is a Top 3 Holiday Movie countdown for us. If you missed #3, find it here. Now onto the show! Here are some of our hand-chosen holiday movies for your viewing pleasure. 

Andrew – “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

My #2 theme is “for adults.” Clark and Eddie together again.

Sophie – “The Santa Clause” (1994)

The Santa Clause is a lovable movie, with fun characters, a good plot and a cute kid, but the real reason it is on my list is because of its unmatched depiction of the North Pole. They imagined the North Pole of every child’s dreams and then when beyond. The time spent at the North Pole is packed with detail and they stitched together classic Christmas with the modern seamlessly to created a universe that you wanted to believe in.

Cole – “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

The Jim Carrey one. Fire Marshal Bill aside, this is Jim Carrey at his finest. This movie took the beloved animated Christmas classic (which I loved, loved, loved growing up) and expanded the universe in such an amazing way. Not to mention the underdog’s redemption story and the ultimate lesson that maybe Christmas isn’t something that comes from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more…

Po – “The Muppet Christmas Carol”

Muppets? Michael Caine singing? A cute little bunny muppet getting hit with a wreath? My word, this movie’s got it all. It’s a classic tale for a reason, the music’s surprisingly solid, and frankly, I’d be the first to argue that everything’s made better with The Muppets.

And in case you weren’t aware, Gonzo & Rizzo are arguably the finest narrators to ever grace the silver screen.

Randy – “Die Hard” (1988)

Bruce Willis comes up with John McLaine, a divorced smart New York cop visiting his ex in L.A., who faces down a squadron of heavily armed terrorists – they bring artillery to the party, which takes place in Nakatomi Plaza. Better known as the Fox Plaza Building an office building in Century City. It takes place during an office Christmas party, not a Christmas movie other than that. I am such a sucker for this picture, no matter where in the movie, no matter what time of night. This movie made Willis’s career and spun off a bunch of entertaining sequels. The supporting cast is terrific – Alan Rickman gives us Hans Gruber, that greasy leader of the terrorists; and Bonnie Bedelia wasn’t given much but paints her deep relationship with McLaine in her scenes. But the reason to watch is an entertaining fast-thinking Bruce Willis tap dance – barefoot – through the building eliminating terrorists by the handful. It was also fun to watch them blow up parts of the building where my wife worked.

Eva – “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Karma–that your existence mattered and affected others. That you may not think the best of yourself, but you made an impression and if you had not existed the world would have been much different.

Hungry – “The Year Without a Santa Claus”

While other kids looked forward to A Christmas Story and Elf, I preferred some of the  shorter classics. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jack Frost, and The Year Without a Santa Clause were among my favorites. (Rudolph’s Shiny New Year wasn’t too bad either!) These were all less than an hour-long and could easily be watched from start to finish, with commercials, without losing the attention of a small child like myself. They were adventurous with lovable characters and really did a great job forming my love of Christmas in my childhood. Who didn’t love the iconic scenes with Heat and Cold Meiser? I even asked my mom to get me figures of all of the characters from the Island of Misfit Toys.

Fit – “The Santa Clause”  

This one is a nostalgic one for me–but isn’t that mostly what the holidays are about? We watched this one every year growing up: all about a cynical man reluctantly turning into Santa Clause based on a clause in the Santa contract. I legitimately didn’t know the right way to spell the real Santa Claus for a long time because of this movie. I love the laugh-out-loud humor in this movie along with the magic that should exist in every Christmas movie. Laughter and holiday magic = win!

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So that sums up everyone’s #2. It looks like we had one duplicate this round, but it’s a classic! Do you like any of these? Are some on your list? Let us know! And happy week before Christmas! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

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One comment on “The Second Best Holiday Movie of All Time

  1. squanderedgifts

    Love Die Hard although I never considered it a Christmas Movie ..it is a fabulous movie overall …How the Grinch Stole Christmas I actually watched while babysitting recently and found it creepy as well as highly inappropriate for children …Christmas Vacation ..loved but after seeing 20+ times ..it does rather wear on you