"Capture the spirit of Christmas with this timeless classic!"
Directed by George Seaton
Starring: Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood
"When a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing." (IMDB.com)
"Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realizing that they're falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal." (IMDB.com)
Starring: Jaime King, Malcolm McDowell and Donal Logue
"The police force of a remote Midwestern town search for a killer Santa Claus who is picking off citizens on Christmas Eve." (IMDB.com)
Not the best Christmas horror movie out there, but this remake to 1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night would be one to check out if you want to see some good kills...other than that, stick with the original.
"A tribute to the original, traditional, one-hundred-percent, red-blooded, two-fisted, all-american Christmas..."
Directed by Bob Clark
Starring: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillion
"Ralphie has to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect gift for the 1940s." (IMDB.com)
A movie that never gets old seeing as I watch it every year around Christmas! Stay away from the poorly done so-called "official sequel" that was released just a few weeks ago.
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Corey Feldman
"A boy inadvertantly breaks 3 important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town." (IMDB.com)
A movie that takes me back to my childhood...I remember thinking Gizmo was cute, but when the Gremlins came on the screen, I hid behind a chair while I watched.
The sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, is really good as well and deserves a watch.
Starring: Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg and Mary Elizabeth Winstead
"An escaped maniac returns to his childhood home on Christmas Eve, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority sisters one by one." (IMDB.com)
Being a fan of horror films, I decided to give this one a try by going to the theater to watch it when it was released on Christmas Day in 2006. What a mistake that was! It's a poorly done remake of the 1974 horror classic Black Christmas. Unlike the original, the remake had unlikeable characters and seemed to rely on gore in order to, hopefully, draw attention away from the ridiculous plot/story. For some, I'm sure it worked, but it didn't with me. My advice? Stick with the original.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman and Rita Wilson
"A harried father decides to dream the impossible dream, to get that year's hot toy for his son just before Christmas Day." (IMDB.com)
Don't get me wrong, Jingle All the Way will never win any awards, but it's just a fun movie because it's so ridiculous. How ridiculous you ask? Schwarzenegger punches a reindeer! I mean, c'mon, it doesn't get much better than that!
Starring: John Cho, Kal Penn and Neil Patrick Harris
"Six years have elapsed since Guantanemo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold's doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in hand, he inadvertently burns down Harold's father-in-law's beloved Christmas tree. To fix the problem, Harold and Kumar embark on a mission through New York City to find the perfect Christmas tree, once again stumbling into trouble at every single turn." (Mandate Pictures via IMDB.com)
"Shocking...disturbing...the movie they tried to ban."
Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Starring: Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson and Linnea Quigley
"A young boy watches his parents killed by a thief in a Santa suit. He spends his youth in an orphanage, staying quietly to his self, but his mind is further bent by an ironhanded Mother Superior. He finally gets a job at a local store, where he finally snaps when he is required to wear a Santa suit, and goes on a killing spree that leads him slowly back to the orphanage." (Ed Sutton via IMDB.com)
"He's up past his bedtime in a city that never sleeps."
Directed by Chris Columbus
Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci
"One year after Kevin was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself in New York City, and the same criminals are not far behind." (IMDB.com)
Starring: Daniel Stern, Braeden Lemasters and Stacey Travis
"The original, traditional, one-hundred-percent, red-blooded, two-fisted, All-American Christmas continues five years later with Ralphie, Randy, mom and the Old Man. When 15 year-old Ralphie accidentally wrecks his dream car before even getting it off the lot, he and his friends Flick and Schwartz band together to raise the money to fix it by Christmas Eve - before the car dealer tells the Old Man. They all get their (first!) jobs, but run into trouble at every turn. When things look most bleak, Ralphie finds the true meaning of Christmas with the help of his family and his friends." (RottenTomatoes.com)
My curiosity got the best of me because I sat down and watch A Christmas Story 2 a few days ago and I wish I hadn't given in because while it isn't the worst Christmas movie out there (Christmas Vacation 2 gets that honor), it's a pretty bad and boring direct-to-DVD movie. For one, I think I may have laughed and/or smiled maybe two or three times. Several scenes are taken right from the original and recycled in this so-called "official sequel". A Christmas Story had heart and I didn't get that feeling from the sequel. My advice, stick with original which, in my opinion, is a Christmas classic!
Starring: Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth and many others
"Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England." (IMDB.com)
