Our Favorite Family Holiday Movies
I know you are all DYING to hear what I actually watch on tv after I destroyed your favorite shows on my “Why I Won’t Watch” post. Patience is a virtue, my friends. Coming soon. My daughter inspired my holiday movie blog post today in one quick sentence. She saw a Good Housekeeping article online that listed the most popular holiday movie the year you were born. She said to me, “That stinks, the most popular new holiday movie the year I was born was some random movie called ‘The Holiday’”. I gasped. If you don’t know me, I am obsessed with a good rom-com (romantic comedy). “The Holiday” is in my personal DVD arsenal and I love it with all my heart. Cameron and Kate are brilliant. Jude and Jack are adorable. When it is over, my soul is full and my heart is happy. I gave her a brief synopsis and I could tell she was suuuuuuper impressed (note sarcasm).
That disappointment aside, I’ve decided to write about our family’s favorite holiday movies that we watch every year (in no particular order and sadly, “The Holiday” is not included). And forgive me for not including any Hallmark movies. Because I do not watch them. I will not watch them. OK, if there’s one I HAVE to watch, let me know and I might think about possibly watching it if I have time. Here we go!
#1 Elf
Pure comedic genius. Will Farrell - who is always a spazzy, overactive, child-like actor - actually gets to play this role as the lead character in the movie. He plays Buddy the Elf, a human who as an infant in an orphanage crawled into Santa’s gift bag and was carried back to the North Pole to be raised as an elf. He also has no idea he isn’t an actual elf. When he finds out this information, he heads to New York City to find his real dad and hilarity ensues. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely funny!
We watch this every year as a family. Except for this year, my dear, wonderful husband and my parents chose to watch it with my kids WITHOUT me! Come on! I was getting my beauty sleep to prepare for a busy day of Black Friday shopping and they watched it without me? How dare they! Don’t panic people, they will watch it with me again. Because it’s “Elf” and it never gets old. No hard feelings (ish).
#2 The Polar Express
Tom Hanks is the voice of dang near every character in this book-made-into-a-movie so you know it has to be good. Because Tom Hanks. Come on. The legend. Anyway, it is an animated story about a little boy who is questioning Santa Claus. Does he believe? Not believe? Christmas Eve, he hears a loud noise, looks outside and sees a train. He runs outside and is invited on the train to the North Pole. Hello?! Stranger danger?! But the conductor’s smooth voice (Tom Hanks obviously) wins him over and the boy starts on an epic adventure to the North Pole. Also, a ton of great songs for the entire family (minus Dad because he’s a fun-hater) to sing along to. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely heartwarming!
When my kids were tots we used to take a “Polar Express” train ride in a nearby town where they read the book and served hot chocolate and cookies while on the way to a constructed North Pole. After a few years, they got in trouble for reading the book and replaced it with singing carols and listening to stories and jacked up the price. So we created our own tradition where we get comfy, start a fire, watch the movie and drink hot chocolate and eat cookies. It is so much better and everyone loves it.
#3 Home Alone
Kevin is the youngest boy in a large family. His extended family is staying at his house the day before they leave for a Christmas trip to Paris (wait, that’s a thing? I want to take a Christmas trip to Paris!). He’s being a total pain in the rear so is sent to the attic where he is sleeping since the house is full of people. Storm at night. Electricity cut. Morning alarms don’t go off. Chaos ensues when they realize they are late for their flight in the morning. And they forget poor Kevin is sleeping in the attic. They discover their mistake mid-flight with his mom yelling “KEVIN!”. Classic. Meanwhile, Kevin revels in the idea of being home alone. Until two ragtag burglars decide to target his house because they think the family is out of town. Lots of shenanigans and a couple of heartwarming encounters with the “scary” neighbor, a couple of scenes with Kevin’s mom and John Candy, burglars in jail and family reunites. All is well. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely adorable and heartwarming.
We took the kids to this movie two years ago at a theater that was showing throwback Christmas movies. The kids laughed hysterically and we have added it to our list of favorite holiday movies. Warning: the movie is outrageously unrealistic. If you let yourself, you will pick the movie apart down to every scene. So don’t do that. Just enjoy it for what it is.
#4 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Is this movie appropriate for little kids? The DVD version? No, not by my standards anyway. However, if you DVR the movie from tv, they cut out the swearing and *some* of the inappropriate scenes. Oddly enough - as my husband pointed out - they leave in “ass” in a couple of spots, but bleep Wild Turkey and Jack Daniels. Weird. The tv version is still a stretch but my kids love it so I am gifting them with the opportunity to watch it. You are welcome, kids.
This movie is your classic story of spending the holidays with your extended family with unrealistic expectations. Clark and Ellen are hosting their parents and (unexpectedly) cousin Eddie and his family. Chevy Chase plays Clark Griswold and gets into all sorts of trouble as Chevy/Clark always does. Christmas lights stapled on the roof too close together (makes my husband shudder every time), interactions with cousin Eddie are always hilarious, buying Ellen a gift at the lingerie counter, sledding, and his Christmas bonus that he is planning to use to buy a pool and the many shenanigans surrounding that storyline. It’s almost impossible to write a brief synopsis of this movie. At the end, their house is completely destroyed - and I mean completely. And there is no way they would be able to afford a new pool - with the Christmas bonus or without - after spending the money to repair everything. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely hilarious and will provide year-round movie line quotes. With our favorite being, “You serious Clark?”
So there you have it! These are our family’s favorite holiday movies. Honorable mentions include: A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version) and It’s a Wonderful Life (not true but it makes me feel like a better Mom to put this on the list). We also love to watch all of the classic television shows: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon version), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman (Frosty Returns is dead to me after wasting an entire 30 minutes I could have been watching paint dry.)
If you are anxious because I listed our favorite family holiday movies in “no particular order” and you really need them to be in a "particular order", here are our #1 favorites:
Me: Elf (but really "The Holiday")
Husband: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Oldest daughter's favorite: The Polar Express
Middle daughter’s favorite: Elf
Youngest son’s favorite: The Polar Express
Until next time,
Neko
P. S. The movie for the year I was born was “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” - that’s one you can be disappointed in my dear daughter! Here is the link if you want to see what yours is: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/news/g4880/christmas-movie-year-you-were-born/
P.P.S. What are your favorite family holiday movies that I should introduce to my kids?
That disappointment aside, I’ve decided to write about our family’s favorite holiday movies that we watch every year (in no particular order and sadly, “The Holiday” is not included). And forgive me for not including any Hallmark movies. Because I do not watch them. I will not watch them. OK, if there’s one I HAVE to watch, let me know and I might think about possibly watching it if I have time. Here we go!
#1 Elf
Pure comedic genius. Will Farrell - who is always a spazzy, overactive, child-like actor - actually gets to play this role as the lead character in the movie. He plays Buddy the Elf, a human who as an infant in an orphanage crawled into Santa’s gift bag and was carried back to the North Pole to be raised as an elf. He also has no idea he isn’t an actual elf. When he finds out this information, he heads to New York City to find his real dad and hilarity ensues. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely funny!
We watch this every year as a family. Except for this year, my dear, wonderful husband and my parents chose to watch it with my kids WITHOUT me! Come on! I was getting my beauty sleep to prepare for a busy day of Black Friday shopping and they watched it without me? How dare they! Don’t panic people, they will watch it with me again. Because it’s “Elf” and it never gets old. No hard feelings (ish).
#2 The Polar Express
Tom Hanks is the voice of dang near every character in this book-made-into-a-movie so you know it has to be good. Because Tom Hanks. Come on. The legend. Anyway, it is an animated story about a little boy who is questioning Santa Claus. Does he believe? Not believe? Christmas Eve, he hears a loud noise, looks outside and sees a train. He runs outside and is invited on the train to the North Pole. Hello?! Stranger danger?! But the conductor’s smooth voice (Tom Hanks obviously) wins him over and the boy starts on an epic adventure to the North Pole. Also, a ton of great songs for the entire family (minus Dad because he’s a fun-hater) to sing along to. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely heartwarming!
When my kids were tots we used to take a “Polar Express” train ride in a nearby town where they read the book and served hot chocolate and cookies while on the way to a constructed North Pole. After a few years, they got in trouble for reading the book and replaced it with singing carols and listening to stories and jacked up the price. So we created our own tradition where we get comfy, start a fire, watch the movie and drink hot chocolate and eat cookies. It is so much better and everyone loves it.
#3 Home Alone
Kevin is the youngest boy in a large family. His extended family is staying at his house the day before they leave for a Christmas trip to Paris (wait, that’s a thing? I want to take a Christmas trip to Paris!). He’s being a total pain in the rear so is sent to the attic where he is sleeping since the house is full of people. Storm at night. Electricity cut. Morning alarms don’t go off. Chaos ensues when they realize they are late for their flight in the morning. And they forget poor Kevin is sleeping in the attic. They discover their mistake mid-flight with his mom yelling “KEVIN!”. Classic. Meanwhile, Kevin revels in the idea of being home alone. Until two ragtag burglars decide to target his house because they think the family is out of town. Lots of shenanigans and a couple of heartwarming encounters with the “scary” neighbor, a couple of scenes with Kevin’s mom and John Candy, burglars in jail and family reunites. All is well. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely adorable and heartwarming.
We took the kids to this movie two years ago at a theater that was showing throwback Christmas movies. The kids laughed hysterically and we have added it to our list of favorite holiday movies. Warning: the movie is outrageously unrealistic. If you let yourself, you will pick the movie apart down to every scene. So don’t do that. Just enjoy it for what it is.
#4 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Is this movie appropriate for little kids? The DVD version? No, not by my standards anyway. However, if you DVR the movie from tv, they cut out the swearing and *some* of the inappropriate scenes. Oddly enough - as my husband pointed out - they leave in “ass” in a couple of spots, but bleep Wild Turkey and Jack Daniels. Weird. The tv version is still a stretch but my kids love it so I am gifting them with the opportunity to watch it. You are welcome, kids.
This movie is your classic story of spending the holidays with your extended family with unrealistic expectations. Clark and Ellen are hosting their parents and (unexpectedly) cousin Eddie and his family. Chevy Chase plays Clark Griswold and gets into all sorts of trouble as Chevy/Clark always does. Christmas lights stapled on the roof too close together (makes my husband shudder every time), interactions with cousin Eddie are always hilarious, buying Ellen a gift at the lingerie counter, sledding, and his Christmas bonus that he is planning to use to buy a pool and the many shenanigans surrounding that storyline. It’s almost impossible to write a brief synopsis of this movie. At the end, their house is completely destroyed - and I mean completely. And there is no way they would be able to afford a new pool - with the Christmas bonus or without - after spending the money to repair everything. When I type this out, it sounds like a pretty ridiculous premise, but I promise it is insanely hilarious and will provide year-round movie line quotes. With our favorite being, “You serious Clark?”
So there you have it! These are our family’s favorite holiday movies. Honorable mentions include: A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version) and It’s a Wonderful Life (not true but it makes me feel like a better Mom to put this on the list). We also love to watch all of the classic television shows: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon version), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman (Frosty Returns is dead to me after wasting an entire 30 minutes I could have been watching paint dry.)
If you are anxious because I listed our favorite family holiday movies in “no particular order” and you really need them to be in a "particular order", here are our #1 favorites:
Me: Elf (but really "The Holiday")
Husband: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Oldest daughter's favorite: The Polar Express
Middle daughter’s favorite: Elf
Youngest son’s favorite: The Polar Express
Until next time,
Neko
P. S. The movie for the year I was born was “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” - that’s one you can be disappointed in my dear daughter! Here is the link if you want to see what yours is: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/news/g4880/christmas-movie-year-you-were-born/
P.P.S. What are your favorite family holiday movies that I should introduce to my kids?
posted by Neko @ December 12, 2017
1 Comments
1 Comments:
A Christmas Story! The Nativity Story. Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish. A Christmas Carol.
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