Christmas Movies 2011

The arrival of Christmas marks the coming of one of the most delightful and exuberant festive times of the year. With snow on the outside, a small fire burning in the inside (artificial heating for the new age folks!) and your lovely family all around you in the festive spirits, Christmas certainly brings with it lots of happiness and fervor. Everybody likes to spend their Christmas holidays in different ways. For some it's snow balling and skiing, while for others, it is going on a long holiday. There are yet others for whom Christmas poses as a time of the year when they can sit down and relive the past and savor the sweet smell of old memories while enjoying the good life of today. A part of it is bringing back the old memories and what better way to do this than with a great Christmas movie classic. Nothing can lift up our spirits and entice us with a genuine feel of joy than a real Christmas movie. We have chronologically listed up the best Christmas movies that you can watch in this Christmas special. Merry Christmas!

 

 

A housekeeping expert Barbara Stanwyck, who hasn’t ever been to a kitchen in her life, is asked to prepare a meal for a war hero, all in the act of declaring war hero, Dennis Morgan the winner of a dinner by the corpulent print mogul. Seems to be unfair, right, for a lady who has been living the life of a housekeeping model with a husband and child, at least in the magazine! Nor does she have a house in Connecticut, as claimed in her articles. Now, how does Barbara Stanwyck handle the war hero and present a holiday dinner forms the rest of the story. With its own irresistible charm and amusing screwball comedy, this film makes sure that your Christmas turns out to be as cheerful as this frolicsome saga.

 

This is one of those handful films that deserve a worth viewing every year during holidays. An ideal bittersweet comedy drama, “It’s A Wonderful Life” portrays the tale of a savings-and-loan manager who struggles against his greedy banker and his own self-doubting nature. On Christmas Eve, when he is about to suicide after suffering numerous hardships, mishaps, failures, and losses, he is stopped and encouraged by a whimsical, trainee-angel who brings him back from self-destruction. The renewed faith and confidence in his life gets the manager declare “It’s A Wonderful Life”. One of those not-to-be-missed holiday classics!

 

One of the most beloved movies for Christmas, “The Bishop’s Wife” is a delightful and enchanting combination of charming performances and witty dialogues. Cary Grant is a handsome, personable guardian angel named Dudley who is considered no more an important angel and comes down to earth to answer Henry’s, the Bishop, prayers, who requires money to build a cathedral but is short of money. In the process, he neglects his wife Julia, and daughter, Debbie. This affable angel brings the Bishop back on track with his glorious and transforming act. Must watch film for all holidays, especially Christmas!

 

Renamed and released as ‘A Christmas Wish’ in 2003, this Christmas classic narrates the story of a down-on-their-luck family being saved by a squirrel at Christmas time. Two impoverished and economically distressed families of vaudevillians are helped by a dancing squirrel, portrayed by Jimmy Durante, who steals the cash stashed by their landlord in a wall. The stop-motion animated squirrel delights with his extraordinary amiable and charismatic tactics. Go, grab a copy of it instantly!

 

Ranked on the list of “Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies”, “Christmas Vacation” is the third installment of National Lampoon’s Vacation film series and has the right amount of comedy to give you cheers and laughs for a solid holiday treat. While continuing the enthusiasm and excitement created with the first two series, the Griswold family is back with Clark (Chevy Chase) planning for the traditional and old-fashioned family Christmas this season. While trying to bring some holiday cheer, he undergoes mugs, trips and falls. In the course, he even mashes his fingers, and stubs his toes. With some unexpected relatives to his household, the environment gets all the more haphazard, sentimental, and side-splitting.

 

An annual holiday gathering is meant to be fun-filled, enjoyable, and everyone uttering their experiences and happenings. But what if a son surprises his family with his girlfriend as their future daughter-in-law? The bohemian Stones half-heartedly accept the girl to spend Christmas with them, only to realize that she is a mixture of awkwardness, confusion, and hostility. Just before the season is over, the family unravels several relationships, secrets are revealed, new bonds are formed, journeying the Stones through an extraordinary journey of love. A must-watch family Christmas movie for relationships!

 

Only Santa can outshine Jesus on the Christmas day and with kids, even Jesus will give up happily! Santa Claus is an integral part of the Christmas feel and the George Seaton 1947 classic just re-emphasizes this. It’s such a great delight to see such a passionate film, which relates to the story of Santa. The emotional story is based on a fictional scene, when a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane and a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing.

 

The ghosts of the Christmas Eve have been around since Charles Dickens’ mentioned of one Mr. Scrooge and his Christmas adventure. But it was left to Brian Desmond Hurst to create movie magic out of this tale, with Alastair Sim playing the Ebenezer Scrooge with clinical precision. A must-see for reviving the spirit of Chritsmas!

 

The 1954 classic is an ultimate technicolor musical, celebrating a lot of elements that make Christmas such a fantastic festival. The song “White Christmas“ is always going to be famous and so will the great spirit of this film! The movie is about two war veterans who join along to try and save an inn, which is run by their old war general, from financial troubles.

 

Written by Charles M. Schulz and directed by Bill Melendez, this may be one of the most touching Christmas specials you will ever see. Heartbroken by the blatant commercialism, Charlie Brown searched for the true meaning of Christmas. It was the first Christmas special based on the Classic comic strip, Peanuts. The story is touching as Charlie chooses a small dying tree as his Christmas tree and believes that commercialization is not the true Christmas. Touching, engrossing, sentimental and classic Peanuts!

 

“You will shoot your eye out” that’s what nine year old Ralphie Parker is told every time he tells an adult about his Christmas wish for a BB gun (an air gun). The story revolves around his life leading up to Christmas and his strong desire for the BB gun. Though it may seem childish, the movie is a classic. So, just bring in those popcorns and tasty snacks and enjoy the film with your whole family1

 

Though the film is wrongly considered a part of the Ghostbusters franchise by many; the film still deals with ghosts. These ghosts belong to the Charles Dickens novella, A Christmas Carol. The movie which was directed by Richard Donner sees Bill Murray play a selfish TV executive, who gets haunted by the ghosts.

 

Do we really need to tell you why to watch this? Macaulay Culkin plays the role of a simple kid left alone at home, braving burglars and trapping their buns to mousetraps. It always brings out the best giggles of our life. The success and genius of the film is cemented by the sequels that were made. Just watch it for the giggles!

 

A comic remake of the Charles Dickens classic, this stars the Muppets as the ghosts, along with Michael Caine playing Ebenezer Scrooge. It is great fun to watch and while it takes a comic approach to the classic, it does remain true to its original roots. A must-watch for you and your family this Christmas!

 

This is for those of you who really get tired of the cute little Christmas stories. When Tim Burton writes something there is always a quirky darkness about the plot. And this fact reminisces with this Christmas classic, which is sure to take you on a real journey. One of the top ten picks for any Christmas season.

 

“Call us the whos if you shall but under his spell you are bound to fall” That’s Jim Carrey for you guys! The sheer ease with which he portrays the Grinch is just awesome to watch. As we watch how this evil-looking monster is just a sad lost soul, we slowly but steadily fall in love with him. A great movie with an awesome script and some very notable performances.

Will Farrell is really fun and we mean it! If you don’t believe us, just check out this movie. The scene in which he slathers his pasta with maple syrup will definitely get you in splits, roaring with uncontrollable laughter. This is a great adventure which follows a human being raised as an elf and then send back to live a normal life. Fun, candid and chrismalicious!!

 

This completely computer-animated film from 2004 is special not only for the fact that it stars Tom Hanks in four distinct roles, but for the fact that it rekindles the Christmas spirit in everyone who watches it. The story revolves around a doubting small boy who boards a train, which is meant to reach the North Pole to Santa’s home.