With Christmas right around the corner, now is the time to indulge in some holiday entertainment. While there are endless Christmas movies and more coming out every year, only a select few make our “must watch” list every year. Here is a list of our favorite Christmas movies (in no particular order).
Scrooged. This 1988 film is based off of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” However, this is not your typical adaptation. This movie stars Bill Murray as main character Frank Cross who like Ebenezer Scrooge, is a very wealthy and successful businessman. He is also one of the meanest humans on the face of the planet. Well ahead of its time, the film follows the classic story of the being visited by 3 ghosts but the details are what makes this movie a classic. Murray is on top of his game and there are tons of other celebrity cameos. Although it is now over 30 years old, this movie still holds water. We watch it every year and usually more than once.
Four Christmases. A 2008 film starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon with cameos from every from Dwight Yoakam to Jon Favreau. A comedy, the story follows Vaughn and Witherspoon as they get caught in their annual lie about traveling during Christmas. Thus, being unable to avoid spending the holidays with their families. The catch is both of their sets of parents are divorced thus creating 2 Christmases for each of them. It is comedic gold and Vaughn is in his element the entire movie. The supporting roles and the plot are both fantastic and there is not 5 minutes that goes by without a laugh. Not an old one, but a great one.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Not sure this 1989 flick really needs much of an explanation. Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold and Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie are about as associated with Christmas as Santa and Rudolph. Hilarious, heartwarming, timeless and classic, this movie runs nonstop during the holidays and we love every minute of it.
Bad Santa. This 2003 dark comedy stars Billy Bob Thornton and carried an R rating. Probably THE most explicit movie on the list, the humor is dirty, the language is foul and the laughs are big. Thornton is a drunk crook that dresses up like Santa every year to gain access to department stores and then robs them. With this comes a full flick of humor and ridiculousness as well as some of the last performances of the late John Ritter and Bernie Mac. A great movie to watch when there are no kids around and you want some adult humor.
Office Christmas Party. This 2016 movie consists of a hilarious cast of Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, TJ Miller and Olivia Munn among others. It follows Aniston as she attempts to cut 40% of her company’s workforce and cancel the office Christmas party while her brother, Miller fights against it. Bateman is the company’s CTO and is shattered by the potential of losing his position or choosing to go with Aniston. The main premise of this movie though is the insane party that takes place and the shenanigans that go with it. Another adult movie, the humor is dirty and the language does not hold anything back. This is not what we would consider a classic, but this movie is absolutely something to add to the list.