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Get Into The Holiday Spirit With These Christmas Flicks
Time to cozy it up—it’s Christmas, after all
We may be in the second year of a pandemic, but thankfully, things are slowly starting to fall back into place. We’re no longer holed up in our houses, especially with the holiday season upon us, and can actually spend the merriest days of the year with our loved ones.
Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot of Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas In Our Hearts everywhere we go, and this only signals that Christmas is around the corner. With everything happening around the world, getting into the spirit of the holidays may seem a bit of a task. But don’t give up just yet! These awesome Christmas-themed titles will surely get you into the merry making mood.
Love Hard
Starring Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang, Darren Barnet
For an unlucky-in-love girl from LA, her wretched dating life, many thanks to a popular dating app, is nothing but entertaining (well, for us). This time, she may actually believe in love, as she falls for an East Coast guy, who she decides to surprise for the holidays. But, as fate may have it, she discovers she’s been catfished by his childhood friend. Will she love hard?
The Holiday
Starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black
Talk about guy problems! Two women who want to forget their very own dilemmas when it comes to love, swap homes in each other’s countries, just in time for the holidays. In their own pursuit of self-love, they eventually find local guys worth risking it all for.
A Boy Called Christmas
Starring Henry Lawful, Maggie Smith, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins
Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer and a loyal pet mouse, he soon meets his destiny.
Joyeux Noël
Starring Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Diane Kruger, Gary Lewis
In December 1914, World War I was at its most brutal, but opposing sides found a way to commemorate Christmas with a bloodless truce.
Joyeux Noël is a fictionalized account of this event that happened in the Western Front as seen through the eyes of some French, Scottish and German soldiers. This movie speaks volumes about the division the world is still seeing today. Hopefully, we as a global community will also find a way to celebrate the holidays despite our differences.
Love Actually
Starring Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Martin Freeman, Rowan Atkinson
No Christmas must-watch list is complete without this perennial favorite. Featuring a slew of familiar faces (yes, that was Mr. Bean selling a necklace to Professor Snape), Love Actually is about the many kinds of love we have in our lives and how the characters showed and expressed their love (or lack thereof) on Christmas Day.
It’s a film that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside whether or not you have a significant other on Christmas Day.
Elf
Starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner, Bob Newhart
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Many people go to great lengths to spend Christmas with their families. In this flick, Buddy, one of Santa’s elves—or so he initially assumes—goes to New York City all the way from the North Pole to meet his biological father. While this happens, he tries to spread the Christmas spirit to the seemingly indifferent New Yorkers.
Elf is as hilarious as it is heartwarming. On the surface, it looks like a stereotypical Christmas movie, but its fun and unexpected twist makes it unique from other Christmas flicks.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
With the voice talents of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, Ed Ivory
With Halloween and Christmas being close to each other, a crossover from was bound to happen. Fortunately, we have Tim Burton to make our ghoulish yet merry dreams come true.
Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween Town, discovers a portal to Christmas Town and is awed by the holiday. As he privately grows weary of the same Halloween tradition every year, he plans to take over Christmas Town and celebrate the holiday for the year—to abysmal results.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is not quite a horror film nor a holiday film, so it’s safe to say that it’s in a genre on its own—and that’s what makes it a classic.
Tokyo Godfathers
With the voice talents of Tōru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto
Another animated feature, Tokyo Godfathers, is loosely based on the book Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne. In this adaptation by Satoshi Kon, three homeless people find a baby while scrummaging through garbage on Christmas Eve.
The film revolves around their quest to find the parents of the child, whom they named Kiyoko, meaning “pure child.” Its themes of miracles, family, love and forgiveness make Tokyo Godfathers a holiday hit.
Die Hard
Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bed
Most people are already aware of Die Hard—thanks in part to Jake Peralta’s never-ending references on Brooklyn 99. For the uninitiated, Die Hard follows the heroic acts of NYPD detective John McClane inside the Nakatomi Corporation building against German terrorist Hans Gruber and his plans of a massive robbery.
It’s an unusual entry as even film critics are torn whether to consider Die Hard a Christmas movie or not. Whichever way, it’s definitely a film that you can enjoy, holidays or not. If you want something less sappy and more kick-ass to make you scream “Yippee-ki-yay!” this movie is for you.
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Binge on these Christmas movies, of which some are on Netflix, to get you into the holiday spirit and shop for gifts today!