Every winter, as temperatures plummet and Andover transforms into a maze of snow-dusted paths and overworked heaters, students turn again to classic holiday movies for comfort and nostalgia. They curl up in common rooms with blankets and steaming mugs of hot chocolate, using movies as a way to embrace the holiday spirit. While many of these cherished films embrace warmth, nostalgia, and festive spirit, others fall short, offering little more than recycled plots, and stale humor.
Best:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Live Action)
Few holiday movies are as instantly recognizable and widely beloved as Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Carrey’s grotesque expressions, brilliant acting, and commitment to playing the grumpy green recluse make the film genuinely entertaining. The makeup alone is impressive: the fur, the prosthetics, and the unsettingly detailed facial movements that make the Grinch look mildly threatening. I remember being terrified of the Grinch’s face when I was younger, and I’m honestly still a bit scared to this day. The exaggerated Whoville sets and use of CGI also help to create an absurd yet emotional film. At the core of the movie is a heartwarming and sincere storyline that perfectly embodies the Christmas spirit. By the end of the film, the Grinch’s “heart grew three sizes,” an authentic and heartfelt finish.
Elf
One of the most iconic modern Christmas movies, Elf is not just filled with comedy but also Christmas cheer and a heartwarming plot. Will Ferrell commits wholeheartedly to playing Buddy Hobbs—an elf who has never spent time away from the North Pole—whether that is eating chewed gum off trash cans, interacting with real New Yorkers, or eating syrup on pasta. The movie is full of familiar landmarks across New York City and Christmas carols to get in the mood for the holidays. Buddy the Elf’s naïveté is both refreshing and hilarious, and Elf is undoubtedly a holiday classic. I watch the movie every year with my family—which brings mixed reactions, as my sister always has too much secondhand embarrassment to enjoy it. Either way, Elf is a quintessential holiday movie for us and many other households.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas from 1965 is a nostalgic, shorter animated film based on the comic The Peanuts. It focuses on Charlie Brown’s slow acceptance of the holidays, when he sees them as commercialized and insincere. The story is sweet, with Charlie Brown directing a school play along with other kids (who don’t much like his curmudgeony attitude) and his pet dog, Snoopy. This movie is a comforting and nostalgic movie that highlights the significance of spending time with loved ones during the holidays instead of focusing on material items.
Worst:
The Nutcracker in 3D
Probably the most infamous holiday film of the last decade, The Nutcracker in 3D is an awkward, confusing mess. The movie completely deviated from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, changing the original songs into lyrical musical numbers and the Sugar Plum Fairy into a poorly rendered caricature. Even the Nutcracker itself, who’s usually heroic and magical, ends up looking more uncanny than enchanting. With really strange CGI, questionable narrative choices, and odd allusions to the Holocaust, the film managed to alienate both children and adults. The themes of fantasy, wonder, and innocent joy from the original are mostly absent. As a fan of the original Nutcracker, I struggled to follow the storyline of this adaptation.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
This movie is exactly what it sounds like. In Santa Claus Conquers the Martians Aliens kidnap Santa and bring him to Mars to teach them about Christmas. The plot makes little to no sense, and I finished the movie more confused than when I started. As a sci-fi story, the poor acting, low-budget sets, and nonsensical logic make it a really hard watch. And as a holiday film it’s even worse, there’s almost no Christmas spirit, no warmth, no charm, just bizarre attempts at originality by combining Santa with Martians.
Love Actually
Love, Actually, while it can be seen as heartwarming, reveals more problematic plot lines upon further analysis. For example, Hugh Grant’s character, the Prime Minister, is sleeping with his subordinate. We also see Alan Rickman emotionally cheating on his wife and a 17-year-old Kiera Knightley get nearly stalked by her husband’s best friend. Love, Actually clearly doesn’t understand consent. Really, the only slightly healthy relationship in this movie was Sam and Joanna, and they were only in elementary school.
