Every Christmas, the same batch of movies and music show up again. Some people love it for the tradition, and some people hate it; I don’t care which person you are, but if you don’t like it then you are the grinch, and your family is waiting for you heart to grow.
At my mom’s house, we still got cable tv, so I don’t have the stress of choosing which movies to watch. Fate decides. I definitely only spend Christmas at my mom’s house and do NOT live there as a permanent resident. Anyways, I’m preparing for the part of the year where I end up seeing some of the same movies like 15 times in just a few weeks of time, and I was thinking about which ones I actually like rewatching. I’ll go ahead and sorta rank them now.
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas
If me having a list of 9 bothers you, then you obviously don’t know math. 9 is a super sick number because 3x3 is 9. What’s cooler than that? Anyways, In the Chronicles of Narnia, the White Witch is specifically the “White” Witch, because C.S. Lewis is intentionally contrasting her appearance with her soul. When something bad is painted as good, it invokes a strong reaction from the audience. The facade of innocence is an evil trait. All that to say, whoever had the audacity (Tim Burton) to combine halloween and Christmas needs a good kick in the nuts.
8. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970) (the weird Rudolph-sequel-thing)
The story is really in-depth and confusing, the bad guy is scary, and overall I hope I never see this again. Ya, I know this is supposed to be a rewatchable list, but I had to have the whole spectrum: from zero rewatch value to max rewatch value [yes, I know this is the correct term despite the blog title word “rewatchability”]). The stop motion is scary in this, rather than endearing like in the normal movie. Don’t watch this, it’s weird and it’ll make you wanna throw your TV in the shower to cleanse it of demons.
7. A Christmas Story
This is a great movie. Please don’t be mad that I put it this far down the list. But, I just feel like the rewatchability isn’t that high. Like watching it each Christmas is okay, but more than that is just a lot. The story is really good, but you gotta get invested and stay there for the whole thing. It’s a harder film to just jump in-and-out of, as it moves a little slow. The general indifference of the dad is just so funny to watch though, and it’s heartwarming when he actually does something for his son. Good movie, I just don’t want to watch it a thousand times.
6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
It’s a classic. Watch it if you want to, watch it if you don’t. It’s actually pretty funny sometimes. Some of the characters are just so cold and outta pocket. The way Rudolph’s dad and even Santa treat him is so mean that it’s funny. The stop-motion animation style is also a neat art form to appreciate and not something you see in many other popular works (And before the Fantastic Mr. Fox stans come at me; yes I know about it and yes it’s a great film. Chill).
5. Hallmark
Hallmark isn’t a movie, but since they are all the same I just put that there. I also am realizing I don’t actually know a title to any single Hallmark film, but I’m pretty sure any random combination of the words “Christmas,” “Love,” and “Magic” will get you pretty close. If you absolutely hate Hallmark movies, I respect that. I don’t mind them, honestly. And although none of them are especially great, they have a couple components that make them rewatchable. First, Hallmark is it’s own thing. Every Hallmark movie feels like a Hallmark movie, and nothing else does. The key ingredient though, is that every Hallmark movie is the same. Therefore any individual Hallmark movie has hella rewatch value because it doesn’t matter if you rewatch it or try a different one (Also these movies are nice because the stars are only semi-attractive, so it feels more like real life. I can’t relate to Brad Pitt or George Clooney; just look at me. But I can relate to a mid guy in his 30s with a good beard).
4. Home Alone
Bruh, what a good movie. This one seems to be a favorite for the TV stations to play lol. One of the rare, but golden instances where a kid actor isn’t annoying. There’s so many iconic scenes here, and the Wet Bandits might be the best Christmas movie villains around. I feel like I don’t get as excited about watching this movie, but every time it’s on I get sucked in, even if I already watched it the day before. If that’s not rewatch value, idk what is. Home Alone 2 is just as good, and the other sequels are abominations not to be mentioned until New Years. Speaking of Christmas villains…
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
There’s kinda a theme here. I’m ranking all the comedies pretty well because a good comedy has a lot of rewatch value. Even if you don’t pay attention that long, you can steal a couple laughs in a scene. Also, a comedy kinda works for any mood. If you’re happy, a comedy matches your vibe; if you’re sad, a comedy can make you feel better; if you’re having an existential crisis, a comedy can make you stop thinking existentially. Jim Carrey is insane, and most of us can identify with that a little bit. I don’t like how the Who’s look, it makes me uncomfortable. Otherwise maybe this would rank higher.
2. Elf
Elf should probably be at the top of this list honestly, but for personal reasons (spoiler alert) I had to put The Santa Clause first. Elf is something that you can jump in-and-out of at any moment. It is Will Ferrel at his finest, and it’s all outlandishly funny. That said, director Jon Favreu (Jungle Book, Iron Man, The Mandalorian) really knows how to tell a story, and it slaps if you actually wanna sit down and watch all the way through.
1. The Santa Clause
This is at the top of the list because it is perfect cinema and you can’t match it. Tim Allen is a legend, and I don’t really watch any other movies he's in except for Toy Story. What other movies does he have? Shaggy Dog? And he’s done a lot of TV; he had the Home Improvement show that my mom likes, and then Last Man Standing more recently. Anyways, he’s so funny, and almost every joke in this film is spot on. That's one thing that makes it have rewatch value, there's a good joke pretty much whenever you look. You can get into it at any moment, and there isn’t too much pressure to watch the whole thing or see it from the beginning or whatever. At the same time, the story of a divorced dad trying to do better is so real and there’s lots of very real emotions and family dynamics in this. The sequels do not live up to the hype (there’s even a Disney+ show now, but my gut is that it’s an abomination).
There you have it. The ultimate Christmas rewatch list. I’m pretty sure I included every Christmas movie in existence, and I gave you a fair warning about some films that should not be watched or rewatched. You could have been doom scrolling, but instead you read this and added value to your life. Can you tell that I didn’t have a good conclusion for this lol? Merry Christmas.
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