Xmas Films! SCFZ poll

[flip]

I thought we did an annual Christmas films poll, but I can't find a recent one - all I find is one from three years ago, here. So time for another xmas poll! This isn't supposed to be a big exercise, so the ballots will be short, the rules simple:

• you can list up to 20 films
• you can decide what counts as a 'Christmas movie'
• you can leave your ballot unranked (1.5 pts per movie), or split it into two tiers of equal size (2 pts and 1 pt)
• if you list more than 5 films, you can separate out one film as your #1 choice, and that film will get 2.5 pts instead of 2 pts
• if you list more than 15 films, you can separate out two films (not just one) as #1 choices, and both will get 2.5 pts

deadline: xmas eve 2020!

[flip]

1. Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen, 1940)
1. Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)

Christmas Holiday (Robert Siodmak, 1944)
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)
Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery, 1947)
Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
Bachelor Mother (Garson Kanin, 1939)

A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, 1983)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015)
My Night at Maud's (Eric Rohmer, 1969)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005)
O Tannenbaum (Kurt Kren, 1964)
The Little Match Seller (James Williamson, 1902)
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
Lady on a Train (Charles David, 1948)
Santa Claus (George Albert Smith, 1898)
Navidad (Sebastian Lelio, 2009)

may edit this later as i remember more xmas movies

[---]

Yayyyy!

1. The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
2. The Snowman (Dianne Jackson, 1982)

Christmas Inventory (Miguel Gomes, 2000)
Toy Tinkers (Jack Hannah, 1949)
Pluto's Christmas Tree (Jack Hannah, 1952)
Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen, 1940)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
A Christmas Story (Bob Clark, 1983)
The Christmas Dream (George Meiles, 1900)
Weihnacht (Roland Klick, 1963)

Happy Christmas (Joe Swanberg, 2014)
Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton, 1947)
Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey, 1945)
White Christmas (Michael Curtiz, 1954)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Bill Melendez, 1965)
9/64: O Christmas Tree (Kurt Kren, 1964)
The Spirit of Christmas (Trey Parker/Matt Stone, 1995)
The Night Before Christmas (Edwin S. Porter, 1905)
The Silent Partner (Daryl Duke, 1978)
The Family Man (Brett Ratner, 2000)

Excluded for not being Christmassy enough, despite appearing on some Christmas lists online: Carol, Eyes Wide Shut, Fanny and Alexander, Metropolitan, The Thin Man, My Night at Maud's, The Apartment, A Tale of Winter

[greennui]

1. Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (Jack Hannah, 1992)
Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen, 1940)
’R Xmas (Abel Ferrara, 2001)

Fanny and Alexander (television version) (Ingmar Bergman, 1983)
Donovan’s Reef (John Ford, 1963)
Christmas U.S.A (Gregory J. Markopoulos, 1949)
Gasman (Lynne Ramsay, 1998)
Toy Tinkers (Jack Hannah, 1940)

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

Not a fan of the holiday in either its secular or its religious forms, and thus not a fan of most Christmas movies, but these much I like.

The Little Match Seller (James Williamson, 1902)
The Shop Around the Corner (Ernst Lubitsch, 1940)
Christmas in Connecticut (Peter Godfrey, 1945)
Lady on a Train (Charles David, 1945)
It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946)
3 Godfathers (John Ford, 1948)
Natale al campo 119 / Christmas at Camp 119 (Pietro Francisci, 1948)
I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes! (William Nigh, 1948)
All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
Una pistola per Ringo / A Pistol for Ringo (Duccio Tessari, 1965)

Leaving out New Year's movies, which I much prefer to Christmas movies. Including 3 Godfathers, on the assumption that Epiphany counts as part of Christmastide.

[thoxans]

’R Xmas (Abel Ferrara, 2001)

good call. and i've said it before, and i'll say it again: the xmas section of fanny and alexander is by far the best thing bergman has ever done

[flip]

i thought you might vote for The Princess Switch

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

i thought you might vote for The Princess Switch

It was on my long list! Something about schmaltzy Vanessa Hudgens movies that I admittedly just can't resist.

[flip]

i'm tempted to vote for it, though i can't honestly call it one of my top ten xmas films. and i also very much dislike xmas, but i do like movies!

and to everyone generally, if the rules seem too restrictive (if people want to post longer ballots or are having a difficult time whittling down to ten) i can change them, wasn't sure what ballot length would be best, and settled on ten because i didn't think i'd be able to come up with many more than that, though i realized when making my ballot i could easily get to twenty

[brian d]

um... yeah... barely seen any christmas movies

the little match girl (renoir, 1928)
black christmas (clark, 1974)
life of brian (jones, 1979)
fanny and alexander (bergman, 1982)
christmas vacation (chechik, 1989)
muppet christmas carol (hannah, 1992)
the nightmare before christmas (selick, 1993)
the day of the beast (de la iglesia, 1995)

[movie tickets forger]

1. Santa, The Fascist Years (Bill Plympton, 2008)
-------------------
Merry Cha Cha Heels Time!
https://youtu.be/fP1sHc8yCH4
https://youtu.be/Z5q4gu2V1ro

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

i also very much dislike xmas, but i do like movies!

Yes, this is my feelings exactly regarding Xmas movies

[kanafani]

Die Hard you snobs!!!

[Umbugbene]

1. Holiday Inn
Eyes Wide Shut
The Assassination of Père Noël
Letters from My Windmill
The Gospel According to Matthew

Italian for Beginners
City of Lost Children
Edward Scissorhands
Somewhere in Dreamland
Symphonie pastorale


Aguirre, the Wrath of God begins on Christmas Day after the conquistadors hold a mass in the high Andes, but it hardly qualifies as a Christmas movie to me. I thought of including Dead of Night which has a Christmas party scene, but again it's not enough. Eyes Wide Shut defintely qualifies in my view; I think the holiday is more than just incidental background.

As for Holiday Inn, I'm not insensitive to the problem of the blackface scene, but it would be wrong to overlook the movie's brilliance. It's one of Hollywood's finest scripts; the acting, music, and dancing are top-notch; and the idea is so well thought out. In their haste to condemn the movie most people miss the genius of Mamie's character, as well as the positive message of national unity across all dividing lines, including racial.

Maybe some of our Indian film experts have enough material for a Holi or Diwali films poll?

[Roscoe]

1. A CHRISTMAS CAROl/SCROOGE -- directed by Hurst, the one with Alistair Sim, the one and only definitive absolute embodiment of Scrooge, one of the great performances in all of cinema, case fucking CLOSED, bitches.
2. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (Jones) Yeah, it's TV, and so what.

Wyler's BEN-HUR starts on Christmas Day. So does Niblo's film of BEN-HUR. Not Christmas movies. It's fun to go with DIE HARD, ha yeah funny for a few minutes to temper the gooeyness of too much of what can come down that time of year, but it's not a fucking Christmas movie. Neither is THE GODFATHER.

[kanafani]

It's fun to go with DIE HARD, ha yeah funny for a few minutes to temper the gooeyness of too much of what can come down that time of year, but it's not a fucking Christmas movie.

Season's Greetings!!!
https://i.imgur.com/83XG4GK.png

[Roscoe]

Merry Christmas Ki Yay, Motherfucker!!

[Monsieur Arkadin]

It's fun to go with DIE HARD, ha yeah funny for a few minutes to temper the gooeyness of too much of what can come down that time of year, but it's not a fucking Christmas movie.

I'm vaguely aware that this has become a bit of a meme debate on twitter. But to be honest, I have always thought of this as a Christmas movie. Most of the score is just Ode to Joy, it begins and ends with Christmas music, we've got Christmas decorations all over, it "snows" in the last scene. An estranged family are reunited through a "Christmas miracle". It hits so many of the tropes of the de-facto genre, it seems hard to deny.

I feel like we have to work with a really myopic definition of Christmas movie in order to exclude it. Plus, it seems I only ever really watch it around Christmas time. But it my house we watch Sweeny Todd as a Christmas film despite the fact that there is, quite literally, no Christmas at all in the film. So I'm aware I may be out of the mainstream with my opinions on this subject.

The Godfather on the other hand feels almost nothing like a Christmas movie.

[kanafani]

There’s nothing to debate here guys. Die hard is the best Christmas movie ever made. Flip you can close the poll it is over.

[greennui]

Merry Cha Cha Heels Time!
https://youtu.be/fP1sHc8yCH4

The GOAT christmas scene

[Roscoe]

Mileage is gonna vary, clearly -- but that's myopic old me talking. It just seems to me that there's nothing inherently specifically Christmas about DIE HARD. It could have been set on the Fourth Of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's, whatever, with only the required change in seasonal decoration being needed. Even IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE strikes me as being more Easterish than Christmas. Whatever.

I hadn't realized Beethoven's Ninth been co-opted as Christmas music too.

[thoxans]

no love for desplechin's a christmas tale? i thought it was pretty good. not to mention desplechin's last decent film before he drifted off into irrelevance

[kanafani]

no love for desplechin's a christmas tale? i thought it was pretty good. not to mention desplechin's last decent film before he drifted off into irrelevance

I really like that one! My Golden Days (2015) is the most recent desplechin i can stand by. The next one (Ismael’s Ghosts) was pretty lame.

[kanafani]

Die Hard
Carol
A Christmas Tale
Fanny & Alexander
Black Christmas
Eyes Wide Shut
’R Xmas
The Shop Around the Corner
Donovan’s Reef
3 Godfathers

[Umbugbene]

I hadn't realized Beethoven's Ninth been co-opted as Christmas music too.

I associate it with 3 October, Tag der Deutschen Einheit. And keep me away from that wretched church adaptation, "Joyful joyful we adore Thee".

[Monsieur Arkadin]

I hadn't realized Beethoven's Ninth been co-opted as Christmas music too.

I just talked about this at dinner with my wife. It seems like that's also a controversial opinion, since I've frequently seen it used in a Christmas context but she vehemently disagreed. A cursory google search shows that at least the Japanese seem to agree with me. But I guess mileage will vary with that one.

[wba]

Well, I thought a Christmas movie is a film set on Christmas (Eve) /around Christmas/leading up to Christmas/
Or is that not the criteria?

[wba]

Top 20


01. The Man from Majorca (Bo Widerberg, 1984)
02. Jingle All the Way (Brian Levant, 1996)


03. Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery, 1947)
04. The Night Before Christmas (Joseph Barbera/William Hanna/Rudolf Ising , 1941)
05. 3 Godfathers (John Ford, 1948)
06. Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
07. The Little Match Seller (James Williamson, 1902)
08. Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)
09. Die Hard 2 (Renny Harlin, 1990)
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)


11. We're No Angels (Michael Curtiz, 1955)
12. The Star Wars Holiday Special (Steve Binder/David Acomba, 1978)
13. Home Alone (Chris Columbus, 1990)
14. Reindeer Games (John Frankenheimer, 2000)
15. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)
16. 8 Women (Francois Ozon, 2002)
17. Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)
18. Big Business (Leo McCarey/James W. Horne, 1929)
19. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Chris Columbus, 1992)
20. The Christmas Chronicles (Clay Kaytis, 2018)



bubbling under:

Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes (Jean Eustache, 1966)
12:08 East of Bucharest (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006)
Toy Tinkers (Jack Hannah, 1949)
Scrooged (Richard Donner, 1988)
Batman Returns (Tim Burton, 1992)
The Family Man (Brett Ratner, 2000)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Bill Melendez, 1965)



not included:

Edward Scissorhands - which I love, but the film isn't set on Christmas. I don't count movies that merely have a Christmas celebration as one (small) part of their story as "Christmas films".
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - same as with Edward Scissorhands

[wba]

Die Hard you snobs!!!

Nah, Die Hard 2 is better! Renny Harlin all the way!!!

[wba]

after realizing there are so mmany great Christmas films, I started a list trying to list all Christmas films I've seen: https://letterboxd.com/wba/list/christmas/

It's still underconstruction, but most of the films on it are actually great!

How about extending the list to a Top 25 or even a Top 50 flip?