Are there 12 great Christmas Movies?
You smell like beef and cheese - you don’t smell like Santa.
I love the Yuletide season with a juvenile passion. Each December, I attempt to recreate the wonder and excitement I felt when I was a kid by consuming as much Christmas content as I can. This year, I started earlier than usual with a Nov 23 viewing of Gremlins and have watched a Christmas flick everyday since.
To discuss the seasonal movie obsession that many of us experience I reached out to esteemed film critic/entertainment journalist and good buddy Dominic Corry, whose work you can find on RNZ, Stuff, Letterboxd and his website TheGoodInMovies.com.
Matt
Hey Dom, Merry Christmas. Do you crave a festive flick at this time of the year?
Dominic
Hell yes. I love a Christmas movie. And Merry Christmas to you. When I was kid, a “Christmas movie” meant movies that were on television seemingly every Christmas, like The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Nowadays, we all associate the term with Christmas-themed movies, and Gremlins is one of my absolute faves. It is jolly and festive but also has such a wonderful edge to it. The scene where Phoebe Cates talks about her dad getting stuck in the chimney and dying while roleplaying Santa is one of the great dark Christmas jokes ever. Is Gremlins a horror film? Can a horror film be a Christmas movie? I think my two standing classic Christmas faves might be Home Alone and Die Hard. The “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie” debate has long been settled (it is). Legendary action movie screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) loves setting his movies at Christmas. One of his films is my actual all-time fave Christmas movie. But before I reveal that title - do you enjoy a Christmas-set action movie? Do you think an action movie can qualify as a Christmas movie? Do machine guns preclude festive cheer? Does Die Hard make you jolly? (N.B. My answers are yes, yes, no, yes)
Matt
At this time of the year I just want the vibe in any way I can get it. So machine guns, horror and monsters are all fine - as long as the yuletide tropes are in play. In December, I can even get a Christmas buzz from Dan Aykroyd as a disgusting Santa eating stolen salmon on a grimy bus in Trading Places.
Do you have a lower bar for an actual full-throated Christmas movie than just one set at Christmas? For example, I will happily watch the Santa Clause films, Jingle All The Way, and I am a big fan of Fred Claus even though it’s probably quite a shit movie. How much goodwill does Christmas generate for you?
Dominic
I think I have less goodwill for the notion than I did when I was a kid, but I’m not made of stone. It’s hard to remain fully cynical in the face of an unabashed Christmas movie. The bar was set low for me as a child with the 1985’s mostly forgotten Santa Claus: The Movie, which was an attempt by the then-Superman producers to turn Classic Santa Clause into a movie franchise, with Dudley Moore as the main elf, the role he was born to play. It sucks, and audiences seem to get more easily excited for gentle subversions like the Santa Clause movies (the first two of which I’m cool with) and the savage takedown of capitalistic lust that is Jingle All the Way. I also like Fred Claus. Vince Vaughn makes anything good. Even Four Christmases. It hadn’t occurred to me before now, but I think you have identified one of the great unheralded Christmas movies with your delightful Ackroyd/salmon image. Trading Places feels so wonderfully old-fashioned in that sense. I feel like Frank Capra, director of It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), which many consider the quintessential Christmas movie, would approve of Trading Places, topless Jamie Lee Curtis and all. The image of ratty Ackroyd brings to mind Bad Santa, which is pleasantly unpleasant at times, but has a beating heart under its grotty exterior. And also Scrooged, the Bill Murray film, in which he takes his jerk persona to a new extreme.. Are you a fan of either of these two “edgy” Christmas comedies?
Matt
Yep. I have a lot of time for a dark Christmas flick. I love Bad Santa and Scrooged, and they do, of course, have a heart, which is essential for every Christmas movie. I enjoyed Violent Night with David Harbour as an arse-kicking Santa. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough. I also agree with you on Santa Claus: The Movie. It sucked, and that was hugely disappointing as was the recent The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2. Kurt Russell makes a great Santa, but the ugly CGI elves and the kids let him down. There is an arrogance and cynicism inherent in some big-budget Santa movies. It can feel like they are ‘using’ Christmas too much for financial gain. That takes away from the wonder. I am putting Dwayne Johnson’s Red One in this camp. However, I haven’t seen it. I may love it. In fact it’s in my rotation to watch. It’s out Dec 12 on Prime Video. Actually now I think about it, I am really looking forward to it.
This all leads to an obvious question. What are your top five portrayals of Santa?
Dominic
One that stands out for me is James Cosmo (whom many may remember as Jeor Mormont, leader of the Night’s Watch, in Game of Thrones) as “Father Christmas” in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He seems to me like one of the most amenable screen versions of the classic Coca-Cola notion of Santa. I’m also a fan of [the also shot in New Zealand] Krampus (2015) , which leans into a more monster-like European notion of Santa, which I gather shows up in Red One as well. I have seen The Christmas Chronicles, but I couldn’t tell you a thing about it. Except that Kurt Russell is about as close to an idealised Santa as there could be, so he’s in my top five. I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Elf yet, that’s one of my all-time Christmas faves, and Ed Asner is a pretty awesome Santa in that. And my fifth spot goes to Hulk Hogan in the 1996 film Santa with Muscles. In which he plays Santa. With muscles. Any of these guys in your top five?
Matt
Yep, Ed Asner is only in Elf for 3 minutes in total, but he is such a great Santa, and that is such a great Christmas movie that he makes my top 5, maybe even number 1. Interestingly Ed played Santa 8 times across his career. A key part of our family yuletide tradition is to sit down each Christmas Eve and watch Elf. The moment Santa’s Slay takes off out of Central Park thanks to Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgenand, and then finally James Caan leaning into "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear" is peak Christmas joy.
Paul Giamatti is good in Fred Claus, too, and David Harbour is great as a tough Viking Santa in the aforementioned Violent Night.
Finally, imagine a 12-hole Advent Calendar. In each is a Christmas movie to watch. The final night of viewing is Christmas Eve. What are those 12 movies of Christmas? Obviously, I believe Elf should have the Eve slot but I am open to a change of heart.
You say you hate Washington's Birthday or Thanksgiving and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas and people treat you like you're a leper. - Gremlins
Dominic
I think Elf is as solid a Christmas Eve choice as there could be. However, my preferred December 24th watch brings us back to action movies. I can’t imagine anything more season-enhancing than sitting down with a room-temp cup of Milo on a hot summer Christmas Eve to enjoy The Long Kiss Goodnight, in which Geena Davis plays an amnesiac super spy alongside Samuel L. Jackson as an awesomely scuzzy private investigator. Not only is it the apex of screenwriter Shane Black’s obsession with setting his action movies at Christmas (see also: Lethal Weapon, The Nice Guys, Iron Man 3), it’s also one of the coolest action thrillers ever. It opens with a small-town Christmas parade, and it ends with a bridge exploding. What more could you want at Christmas? To fill out my Advent twelve, I would also include the aforementioned Home Alone, Die Hard, Gremlins, Scrooged, It’s a Wonderful Life, defo Elf and also chuck in there the original 1974 Black Christmas, which pretty much invented the modern slasher horror. I have a soft spot for the widely-derided Reindeer Games (2000), in which Ben Affleck cuts a nice line in scuzzy Santa-ness. Also The Nightmare Before Christmas, because it rules and Batman Returns for the same reason. And heck, Santa Claus: The Movie, because talking about it with you has made me curious to watch it again and confirm it is as terrible as I remember. Care to join?
Matt
I do care to join you. Your appreciation of Christmas action films has filled my heart with joy. Oh, before we go, where do you sit on the other two big ones in my life, Love Actually and Office Christmas Party? The latter of which I think is one of the best and most underrated comedies of the last 20 years. God I love Jason Bateman.
Dominic
I used to think Love Actually was a force for bad in this world, but now that we are several years removed from all the awful American rom-com anthology films that attempted to emulate its saccharine splendour, my stance has mellowed somewhat. It’s alright, I guess. You have shared your bountiful affection for Office Christmas Party with me before, but I still haven’t gotten around to taking it in. I think I know what I’m doing on Boxing Day now.
Matt
Well, bless you and bless us everyone. As Kevin McCallister said “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!”.
Matt's 12 Nights of Christmas Movies.
Friday 13th- Gremlins (1984) - Neon
Saturday 14th- Fred Claus (2007) - Apple or Microsoft Rental.
Sunday 15th- Die Hard (1988) - Disney+
Monday 16th- Home Alone - Disney+
Tuesday 17th- Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) - Disney+
Wednesday 18th- Arthur Christmas (2011)- Neon.
Thursday 19th - Violent Night (2022) - Apple (rental)
Friday 20th- Love Actually (2003) - Prime Video
Saturday 21st- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - Netflix and Prime.
Sunday 22nd- Office Christmas Party (2016) - Apple (rental)
Monday 23rd- The Santa Clause (1994) - Disney+
Christmas Eve- Elf (2003) - Apple and Neon (rental)
Anyway, you seem busy, I’ll let you go. Bless, Bless, Bless.
Merry Christmas.
Matt Heath
Paid subscribers, please enjoy the audio version of this story read by the authors in different locations and lovingly patched together.
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Great list! I love Christmas horror too and really recommend Rare Exports if ye haven't seen it. A Christmas Horror Story is decent too. I watched Fatman (action not horror) last year which I thought was great craic but apparently it gets quite panned.