By The Christmas movie line-up on Sky Cinema and Now TV offers a great collection of family favourites this year with the premiere of The Grinch joining classics like Miracle on 34th Street, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and It’s A Wonderful Life.
These days Christmas is as much about getting presents, arguing over which board game to play, and a turkey dinner as it is about watching back-to-back movies on Boxing Day and hitting the likes of Betway Sports to place a few quid on the Premier League fixtures.
But after you’ve sorted your accumulator, made a fool out of yourself at Articulate, and realised you indulged far too much on pigs in blankets, the Christmas movie is always there, ready and waiting for weary eyes to sit down and relax to. For Sky Cinema and Now TV subscribers, there’s something for everyone. Let’s check out the best.
Bad Santa
Crude, cruel and violent, Bad Santa is everything most traditional Christmas films are not but captures a wonderful bittersweet edge amongst its hilarious dialogue and a brilliantly caustic performance from Billy Bob Thornton.
Frozen Fever
A short film that’ll thrill the kids, Frozen Fever clocks in at only seven minutes and tells the story of Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf teaming up to give Anna a birthday party. The film was originally released in cinemas to play before Disney’s then-latest feature, Cinderella. Claudia Puig, a critic for USA Today, said the film will “warm kids’ hearts“.
The Holiday
Jack Black forgot he was in Nancy Meyers’ romantic Christmas comedy The Holiday but it has become a festive favourite in much the same way as Love, Actually. The transatlantic story sees the film taking place in both the USA and England as two women arrange a home exchange to escape heartbreak during the holiday season.
Die Hard
Of course Die Hard is a Christmas movie! Our hero John McClane wouldn’t have scrawled “Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho” on a fallen bad guy’s jumper were it not the festive season. This yuletide action-thriller delights in that way heroic against-all-odds adventures do: we root for John McClane and even though we know he wins in the end we can’t help feel the tension each and every time we go on this adventure with him.
Scrooged
Scrooged tops a number of out lists – it’s the best Bill Murray film, best feature film based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, best use of 12 sharp knives as a Christmas gift, and, perhaps most importantly, the best Christmas film of the 1980s. Murray is Frank Cross (the “Scrooge” of the story), an 80s TV network exec who hates the festive period and wants everyone to know about it. He’s egotistical, self-centred, and conceited. In keeping with his anti-family ethos, he has everyone working long hours through Christmas in order to produce a special festive show.
It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s A Wonderful Life is Hollywood’s answer for increasing those serotonin levels. It remains a firm favourite amongst audiences for its life-affirming story and James Stewart’s wonderful performance. It’s a time of year where people are a little more charitable and this endearing classic captures the rose-tinted idea of the “spirit” of Christmas.
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Director Robert Zemeckis and actor Jim Carrey join forces for 2009’s cinematic retelling of Charles Dickens’ Christmastime story. The film dazzles with its wonderful visuals as Zemeckis once again uses motion-capture to create his make-believe world. The film includes all of the creepy moments of the original story such as the jaw of Marley’s ghost falling away, but it is fundamentally a festive tale that tells of redemption and Christmas spirit.
A Muppet’s Christmas Carol
Another alternative take on A Christmas Carol, this time the Muppets get in on the act with Michael Caine in the role of the anti-Christmas curmudgeon. Jim Henson’s puppet creations play the roles of the various ghosts and other characters in the film.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Santa Claus is a vital part of Christmas, but how could Santa deliver any presents if he was institutionalised? This 1994 version of the story (starring Richard Attenborough) updates it to 1990s New York as a young lawyer attempts to defend a nice old man who claims to be Father Christmas by arguing in court that he is in fact the real deal.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Starring the great Chevy Chase on typically energetic form (and in arguably his best film role as Griswold patriarch Clark W.), it isn’t surprising why this fun Christmas movie has become an audience favourite. It captures that sense of family – close and distant – coming together for the holiday season to create that great festive tradition – domestic chaos!
Okay, so there’s something for everyone if you’re a Sky Cinema or Now TV subscriber this Christmas. If you want a black and white classic, look no further than It’s A Wonderful Life. If you want the traditional, rose-tinted spirit of Christmas, give Miracle On 34th Street a go. If the kids have gone to bed, it’s Die Hard time. If you’re still awake after that, have a laugh with Bad Santa or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Still need some more Christmas movie-watching tips or you’re perhaps eyeing up other options on freeview TV, Amazon Prime, Netflix or other streaming services, check out our infographic below…
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