Andrew: Hello readers! We’re
back from our vacation, and while being away from the blog for a week or so has
left us with less fresh content than we would have liked, we promise we’ll be
hitting hard during this week. Plenty of reviews will be coming as we see the
big name, Oscar worthy releases that late December brings, but we’re starting
it all of today with a new Six Pack Of… just in time for Christmas!
Christmas is Sarah’s
favorite holiday, and one of her absolute favorite things to do is watch Christmas
movies. And naturally, with this being a movie blog, it just makes sense for us
to bring you a Six Pack Of… Our Favorite Christmas Movies! We’ll each chat
about our three favorite holiday films, taking turns in descending order,
starting with…
6.) Gremlins
(Andrew’s #3 Fav Christmas Movie)
A: I know some people will
say, “That’s not a Christmas movie!” And I know it’s a bit unorthodox, but hear
me out. First and foremost, the entire film is set during Christmas time. Billy
(Zach Galligan) is even given the cute-as-hell Mogwai named Gizmo as a
Christmas gift from his father. But I’ll never forget the following things
after watching this movie the first time as a kid: Being alternately horrified
and saddened by Phoebe Cates’ Kate telling Billy the story of how her father
died while pretending to be Santa Claus; how cute and awesome Gizmo is
(seriously, I’ve always wanted a Mogwai); the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
scene; and the finale in the retail store where Stripe melts away like the
Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The movie’s a classic to begin with,
the fact it takes place during Christmas qualifies it as a classic Christmas
movie in my book.
5.) Miracle on 34th Street [1994 version] (Sarah’s #3 Fav Christmas
Movie)
S: Yes, I know it’s traveshamockery
to say that I love this one more over the original but oh well! The classic
story gets a little bit of a face-lift in the ’94 version and stars actors that
were more popular at the time, like Mara Wilson, Richard Attenborough and Dylan McDermott. True, the story no longer involves Macy’s as the
backdrop for our story, but they make Cole’s just as believable in a NYC
setting. With many of the same lines and the same general plot, Miracle
of 34th Street manages to bring the spirit of the season to
any household. And I like this one because the beginning of it takes place at
Thanksgiving, ergo making it a Christmas movie I can watch Thanksgiving Day and
no one can complain that it’s too early for me to be watching Christmas
stuff!
4.) Die Hard
(Andrew’s #2 Fav Christmas Movie)
A: Another movie that I know
some people will say isn’t a “Christmas movie” (Sarah included), but it takes
place on Christmas Eve, with Bruce Willis’ John McClane flying out to Los
Angeles to meet his wife at her company’s Christmas party. Heck, one of the
best scenes is when McClane sends one of Hans Gruber’s henchmen down in an
elevator wearing a Santa hat and the message, “Now I have a machine gun
ho-ho-ho.” Die Hard is arguably the best action movie ever made, with many
action flicks that followed it trying to duplicate its success, so the fact
that it takes place during Christmas makes it a must-watch film during the
holidays for all men. (Fun fact: Die Hard is a film adaptation of a 1975
novel called “Nothing Lasts Forever” about an ex-NYPD officer named Joe Leland
who goes to LA to visit his daughter, Steffie Gennaro, whose Christmas party is
taken hostage by a German terrorist named Anton Gruber.)
S: It’s a total toss-up between
this one and my number one pick as I grew up on this movie. The Homecoming is the
movie that started the popular 1970s television show The Waltons. Set in the
Blue Ridge Mountains (where I was born), this is a sweet Christmas story about
family and what the season really meant to people living through The
Depression. We used to watch this movie every Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
when I was a kid so it’s very much a nostalgia thing for me. If you haven’t
seen this movie, I will warn you, it’s a little dated. But like a lot of
Christmas movies, the message is the same no matter
what the year.
2.) Love
Actually (Andrew’s #1 Fav Christmas Movie)
A: Our friend Nick over at The Cinematic Katzenjammer did a nice little review of this film today in a
similar fashion to our Five Reasons Why… columns, and in it he plainly explains
pretty much every reason this movie is my favorite Christmas movie. It has a
phenomenal cast including Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth,
Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightley, a pre-Walking
Dead Andrew Lincoln and the always awesome Liam Neeson. It has tons of
great Christmas music, it’s hilarious, it’s sad, it’s romantic (how iconic is
Lincoln’s confession to Knightley?)…need I go on? Is it cheesy? Of course it
is. But it manages to bring together a huge cast spread over many different
storylines during Christmas-time and tie it all together in a harmonious way
that can’t help but make you smile. (That’s why immediately after writing this
I rectified a wrong by
going out and buying this so we can watch it tonight.)
1.)
The Muppet
Christmas Carol (Sarah’s #1 Fav Christmas Movie)
S: Like I said, my #1 and #2
spots are pretty interchangeable, but this version of the classic "A Christmas
Carol" by Charles Dickens is hands-down the best. HELLO! You can’t just go
mixing real live actors in with Muppets and it NOT be awesome! And let’s not
forget that our Scrooge is a young(er) Michael Caine and he rocks the role. With
your classic quips from all the Muppets paired with some awesome song numbers,
The Muppet Christmas Carol makes you smile from start to finish.
We hope that you all have a
fabulous Holiday season and a very merry Christmas! We look forward to bringing
you many new reviews in the New Year with a couple of stragglers left this
year. We appreciate all of our readers and have thoroughly enjoyed watching
this blog grow and
making new friends through the blog world. Can’t wait to see
where it
all takes us in 2013!
Photo Courtesies: PixelatedGeek!, MoviePosterDB.com, snarkerati, IMDb, Internet Movie Poster Awards, JoBlo
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