25 Days of Christmas

Hahaha, I heard his new movie is literally everything wrong with Christmas; consumerism, materialism, product placement, crappy "traditions" and songs, etc. He's the worst, hardcore Christians are annoying enough as it is but he unfortunately gets a larger platform to spew his nonsense from.

DIE HARD (1988)





Die Hard is a beloved classic and a Christmas tradition for most males, so there's nothing I can add to the conversation that hasn't been discussed endlessly over the past 26 years. Except: the movie is not that great. Now before you attack me, I like Die Hard, but I have some issues with it. That whole section of the movie where the focus is changed from John McClane to the LAPD is awful and a total waste of time. Die Hard goes from a great action-thriller to 80's camp in a blink of an eye. Anytime I re-watch the movie and Johnson & Johnson show up, I roll my eyes.

B+

I apologize to everyone who follows me on Letterboxd.

Die Hard is the definitive Xmas movie.

I watched Christmas With The Kranks the other day. Well, I tried to. I lasted 15 minutes before turning it off. Pure, unadulterated dog shit.

Fixed.

CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989)



One of my earliest childhood memories is walking around the mall during Christmastime and seeing the poster for Christmas Vacation - the one where Chevy Chase is dressed like Santa Claus and being electrocuted - and thinking to myself, "I have to see that." I had never seen a Vacation movie, I didn't even know who Chevy Chase was, but I knew this movie was gonna be le-gen-dary. And I was right! I can't think of another movie that perfectly captures modern day Christmas. From getting the tree, to putting up the decorations, to shopping for gifts, to dealing with family and worrying about your job's holiday bonus, the movie is spot on. Granted... it is a comedy and exaggerates things for the sake of laughter, but it captures the emotional rollercoaster of Christmas like a chef making his or her best dish.

A+

European has Blake Lively's brother playing the perverted Rusty. You should give it a second chance.

HOME ALONE (1990)


REMEMBER, KIDS. IF THEY EAT YOUR SLICE OF CHEESE PIZZA,
DON'T GET UPSET. JUST GET REVENGE.

Home Alone. The story of an 8-year-old who lives with an upper-middle-class family and gets left behind during Christmas vacation. What is a white kid in a 3-story house gonna do for the next week? Oh... I don't know... clean the house, do laundry, go grocery shopping and then stop two idiots from robbing the house. You know... the usual. Personally, I would have just eaten lots of junk food and watched old gangster movies and maybe called some friends or relatives and let them know what was going on. Or at least visit one of the neighbors and ask for help. But that's just me. That being said, I have to give this kid some credit. You should see the way he stops those two morons from stealing his stuff. It's awesome!

B

#10 - ROB SCHNEIDER GETS PAID IN GUM!



No wonder Adam Sandler has to pay all his bills.


#9 - THE TALKBOY!!!



Home Alone 2 launched one of the most iconic toys of the 1990's. Now granted, I don't think anybody ever successfully pranked anyone, like in the movie, but it's still the coolest looking tape recorder ever made.


#8 - "GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND TELL ME YOU LOVE ME!"



You know what's worse than discovering there's no Santa Claus? Finding out that "Angels With Filthy Souls" is not a real movie. This scene where Kevin pranks the hotel staff using the film never gets old. It makes me laugh every time I watch it.


#7 - BIGGER SCOPE!



Did they really make an entire movie about a kid alone in his house? Boring! The sequel rectify's this. A kid wandering the streets of New York by himself is definitely more entertaining.


#6 - DUNCAN'S TOY CHEST!!!



This place makes Toys R' Us look like the ghetto.


#5 - THE WET BANDITS ARE NOW THE STICKY BANDITS!



In the spirit of highering the stakes, Marv and Harry go from robbing homes to stealing cash from Duncan's Toy Chest on Christmas Eve. Has anyone ever robbed a toy store on Christmas Eve?! That actually sounds like a great idea. LOL.


#4 - IDENTITY THEFT!



Instead of staying home for the holidays, Kevin McCallister goes to New York and uses his father's credit cards to stay at an expensive hotel. Our hero is a criminal. And he has to redeem himself by rescuing stolen charity money. This movie is deep, ya'll.


#3 & 2 - THE PIGEON LADY & TURTLE DOVES





Whether you prefer Home Alone or the sequel, we all have to agree on one thing. The Pigeon Lady is WAY better than the "creepy old guy". Not only is she more memorable but I love her storyline with Kevin. It gives the film a lot of heart.


#1 - KEVIN McCALLISTER'S DEATH TRAP!



The bread and butter of these Home Alone movies is the traps set by Kevin to capture Marv and Harry. In the first movie, he just wanted to hurt them with paint cans. In the sequel, he's trying to kill them! I mean, I can't tell if I'm watching an incredibly violent movie or a live-action Looney Tunes. But I can tell you this: it's hilarious.

I'm sorry you had to go through that.

LETHAL WEAPON (1987)




People have always said that the suicide rate goes up during the holiday's. I've never fact-checked the statistics, but it has become such "common knowledge" that it's a big part of the season. And that's why Lethal Weapon stands-out among Christmas-themed action movies. It centers around a cop, played by Mel Gibson, who wants to blow his brains out every night but doesn't do it because he loves the job so much. Then when he's paired with a new partner, played by Danny Glover, he finds new reasons to stay alive. Lethal Weapon is the brainchild of screenwriter Shane Black (Iron Man 3) and director Richard Donner (Superman), and it's their collaboration that makes the film a masterpiece of the genre. Black gives the project the darkness and emotion that makes it a compelling work of art, and Donner gives it the humanity and entertainment value that's needed for it to stick with audiences and popular culture. They're the yin and the yang.

A+


SCROOGED (1988)




There have been so many Film & TV adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol that I've lost count. I don't even know which one to recommend. It seems like every generation has its version. But among this crowded field, Scrooged has always stood out to me. It stars Bill Murray, is directed by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon) and features Danny Elfman's first Christmas-themed music. And what makes the movie so interesting is its self-awareness. Scrooged is about a TV executive who is over-seeing a live production of A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve, and as you expect, he's a jerk and is forced to experience his own Christmas Carol in order to correct the errors in his life. It's an interesting take on the classic story and freshens it up for contemporary audiences. The only problem is that Scrooged isn't particularly funny or dramatic. It's so in love with its high-concept that it doesn't bother to do anything else. That's a shame because this could have been the one Christmas Carol to rule them all.

B