Christmas is here, and once again, you may wonder, what the heck do I watch today?
With millions of choices at our fingertips, we are here to give you a few choices to help you find the perfect Christmas/holiday flick to get you into the festive mood. This is not a definitive list of the best Christmas movies ever; instead, this is a friendly list of recommendations that will inspire you to find new or old classics to add to your Christmas viewing roster for many holiday seasons to come.
Animated Gems
Animation has always been a premium medium to tell heartwarming and delightful Christmas adventures. We recommend The Snowy Day, Rise of the Guardians, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Klaus.
The Snowy Day is an endearing 2D animated adaptation of Ezra Jack Keats’s award-winning novel that the likes of Laurence Fishburne and Regina King have signed onto. It is perfect for all to enjoy, especially with little ones present. Rise of the Guardians is one of Dreamworks’ best animated films, and in recent years, it has been getting the respect it deserves. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a classic, perfect for those who want Halloween to earn the respect it deserves while embracing the joys of Christmas. Klaus is one of Netflix’s earlier forays into animation, and it is excellent; an instant classic animated feature that offers a style and aesthetic that differentiates it from the studio norms.
Holiday Flicks for the Culture
Holiday movies are a staple in Black cinema, with many films to enjoy. This year, we recommend revisiting 2020’s Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, The Last Holiday, The Best Man Holiday, and The Preacher’s Wife.
Jingle Jangle is an imaginative and vibrant musical starring a terrific cast of legends and fresh faces. Queen Latifah is simply a must for the holidays, and The Last Holiday perfectly suits the occasion. The Best Man series ended last Christmas with The Best Man: The Final Chapters, but The Best Man Holiday is always a must-watch this time of year. Finally, in The Preacher’s Wife, now and then, we need to be reminded of how excellent Whitney Houston was and how fine Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance are.
Christmas Thrills & Fears
Not every Christmas movie has to be all joy and cheer. Sometimes a genre-bending Christmas is the way to go; we recommend last year’s banger Violent Night, Die Hard, Krampus, and Silent Night (which is currently in theatres).
Violent Night was a pleasant surprise last year and has sold its place in many people’s Christmas viewing lists. News of Bruce Willis’s health diagnosis has brought a new appreciation for his work, most notably the Christmas staple Die Hard. Krampus is an underrated horror film that blends a Christmas tradition with mythology. As if following the footsteps of Violent Night, Silent Night, a Christmas-themed revenge thriller from legendary filmmaker John Woo, graces our theatres this season.
Technically “Not” A Christmas Movie
No list of Christmas recommendations is complete without naming movies that aren’t necessarily Christmas movies but feature them somehow. This year, you should reacquaint yourself with Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos, Gremlins, Batman Returns and The Addams Family.
Just last year, we saw the release of del Toro’s Pinocchio, a perfect Christmas gift from the legend himself. So, revisit his first feature, Cronos, his indie horror film about vampires. Gremlins is always a joy to revisit this time of year, written by Home Alone’s Chris Columbus. Batman Returns is the gift that keeps giving, so it is only right to revisit it every Christmas. The Addams Family is the perfect viewing for most holidays, with the sequel being a Thanksgiving flick. The first film is suitable for Christmas due to our mutual feelings about carollers.
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