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With the season of giving upon us, there’s nothing like the feeling of taking a break after a busy day to watch jolly holiday films that fit the cold weather. So, here are the top five Christmas movies that could occupy your Christmas break.
1. Home Alone
This classic ’90s Christmas movie which almost everyone has watched was nominated for two Oscars and one Grammy for “Best Song Written for Visual Media.” If you haven’t watched it, it’s a movie about an eight-year-old boy wishing he could get away from his chaotic family on a winter night. The next day, his entire family goes on a holiday and forgets about him, hence the title: Home Alone. For the rest of the movie, he tries to defend his house from two sticky bandits that have nothing to do in life. As younger me admired the main character for making creative obstacles and traps out of anything he could find in his house, now I just watch it for old times’ sake and think about the impact this film had on my childhood.
2. Barbie in ‘A Christmas Carol’
Now, this one is for a younger age group, but if you enjoy the nostalgic feeling of old Christmas, this movie is the one for you. Here, Barbie tells a story of a self-centered woman who was raised to be selfish by her aunt. The spirit of her aunt visits her one night to stop her snobbish character from ending up like her. She then sends 3 spirits named the past, the present, and the future to give her some character development by the end of the movie. What’s grand about this film is that it’s one of the classic Barbie movies that has a good plot which makes up for its horrible animation, unlike the modern Barbie movies today which don’t display the same charm her old movies had.
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Another classic Christmas movie. What’s different about this story is that the protagonist hates Christmas and takes pleasure in ruining it for others which is unlike those happy Christmas movies we usually see. If you haven’t watched this, it’s about a green grumpy character named the Grinch who hates Christmas due to past experiences. One Christmas evening, he decides to initiate his big plan to ruin Christmas for the citizens of Whoville by stealing their presents and Christmas decorations all in one night. As most people love this movie for its story, my favorite detail in this film was the super detailed makeup the actors had in order to look like the original illustrations from the book.
4. Rise of the Guardians
This movie isn’t particularly a Christmas film, but it does fit the cold season of December. Rise of the Guardians includes several other holidays and characters from common children’s stories such as the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and even Santa Claus. This film discusses the importance of keeping our childhood spirit alive by believing in fictional figures. What I like about this movie is that it shows a different perspective of what would happen to these personifications of important holidays if we don’t celebrate them anymore, this gave me a reason to find joy in these celebrations despite knowing that these characters are fictitious.
5. The Polar Express
A Christmas movie famous for its oddly realistic animation, this movie begins with a boy riding a magical train headed to the North Pole in the middle of Christmas Eve. He meets several other children and throughout the whole movie, they go through a wild, life-changing journey. What caught most people’s attention—including mine, is the animation that is described to be “ahead of its time.” Since this movie was released in a time where animators were stuck to making simple features since 3D animation wasn’t the best yet and they were the first movie to be entirely made of motion capture technology, I believe that the animators of “The Polar Express” took a big leap as an attempt to make animation better, people just didn’t appreciate it.
These holiday films only fit one season every year, so make the most of it by sitting down with your family while eating cookies dipped in milk. After all, Christmas break is meant to be spent by spending time with our families after the exhausting months of school.
