Nick Lovett
Online Editor
There have been no video games to review lately and I am someone who takes the Christmas season very seriously as this is probably my favorite time of the year – my suite has lights everywhere and a tree.
With that in mind, I decided to rate my favorite Christmas movies of all time, five through one. I’m sure this is going to spark some sort of debate/get people to hate me so if you disagree with where my movies stand, tweet at me or come up to me and tell me! Without further ado, let’s start my Top 5 favorite Christmas movies.
5. Rudolph: The Red Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph was a great movie that taught us that being different was being okay and that everyone has unique things that make them special. This movie was one of the first ones I can remember watching and loving. I used to watch this all the time as a kid during the Christmas season. I watched it again recently and it still holds up.
4. The Santa Clause
This movie was great for a list of reasons, the top of which is it was made when Tim Allen was still funny and relevant.
When Allen was in his prime, Home Improvement was still on, he was hilarious and that carries over to this movie. Heartwarming story aside, this was a funny Christmas movie that has jokes both adults and kids will find funny, which is the true test for how good a kids’ movie really is. I still remember getting amped up with the Spec. Ops Elves went in to save Santa from prison.
3. The Grinch (The Jim Carrey Version)
I felt like I needed to specify which one I was talking about because some people loathe the Jim Carrey version and some people love it.
This version was great because it brought The Grinch into live action, which had never been done before. This movie also had a pretty good list of actors on the cast list which, of course, was led by Jim Carrey.
His Grinch was cynical yet hilarious and Carrey’s mannerisms made the character that much better. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when he is going through his schedule deciding what thing to cancel or miss to go down to Whoville. It still gets me after all these years.
2. Elf
This is where I might get crucified. Elf has become everyone’s favorite Christmas movie since it came out back in 2003. And rightfully so, there is an awesome mix of great actors, great story and great jokes for all to enjoy. Will Ferrell kills it as Buddy and James Caan is great as his dad, Walter Hobbs.
Jon Favreau does an awesome job, like in The Santa Clause, blending adult and kid humor to create a movie kids would like and relate to and adults wouldn’t hate themselves for two hours.
This is one of those movies you can watch every Christmas season and it will never get old. Mary Steenburgen, who also plays Ferrell’s mom in Step Brothers, and Zooey Deschanel are great in support and add some more humor into the fold.
1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
For those of you who watched SCTV last week, I’m sorry I spoiled it for you. This is my all-time favorite Christmas movie as it still makes me laugh hysterically even after seeing it about 20 or so times.
Chevy Chase is still at the top of his game when this came out and Beverly D’Angelo is just as good as he is. As with all the other National Lampoon Vacation movies, it follows the Griswald family who are just trying to enjoy some quality family time when all hell breaks loose.
This includes some more extended family, a horrible boss, and some not-so-great neighbors, one of which is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. This movie has everything you want in a Christmas movie, including the patented National Lampoon humor, which gives this movie the top prize in my list.