25 Days of Christmas

2nd best?

I don't know, man. Elf might be the first Zooey Deschanel movie that I saw and I instantly thought she was gorgeous.

I don't like this side of you.

Elf sucks.

You must have been a really annoying 9-year-old.

Confession time: I don't like Elf, either.

Confession: I have never seen Elf in its entirety.

I remember giving it a try, a good 5 years or so ago, and generally feeling "meh".

I'm surprised by how many of my real life friends have it as their favourite ever Christmas movie.

In conclusion: FUCK MY REAL LIFE FRIENDS.

I actually enjoyed the movie as a kid, but what happened every year at Christmas? Everyone would go batshit crazy about the film, quoting it to the point of annoyance and the movie was just on all the time. Year after year of that shit got tiresome, something compounded by the fact that as I got older I became increasingly sick of Will Ferrell as an actor. By now I'm so sick of Elf I hope I never see it again.

I've....never been a fan of Elf.

"You sit in a throne of lies."

Artie Lange has said he makes more residual movie from Elf than any other thing he's done. I bet he has bought A LOT of drugs thanks to Elf.

Ramplate
Jibbs
Doomsday
Deexan
Knerys


A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965)



Some people love Christmas. Some people hate it. Some people are indifferent. Some people don't even celebrate Christmas. But if there's one thing that could unite us all, it's the Charlie Brown Christmas special. There's just something about it that captures the mood of the holiday like no other. The story begins with Charlie Brown feeling uninspired to get in the Christmas spirit. So he visits his "psychiatrist", Lucy, and she tells him that he needs to get involved in a holiday activity and offers him the job to direct a Christmas play. But when Charlie Brown attends the first rehearsal, he's disgusted by how commercial it is. He wants the play to capture the true meaning of the holiday and tries to get all the kids in the right frame of mind by buying the smallest Christmas tree he could find and placing it at the center of the stage. Everyone immediately reacts negatively to the tree and so Charlie Brown goes home to decorate it and prove that they're wrong. Instead, he ends up making things worse. Then seeing how depressed he gets about this, the other kids get together and turn the little tree into a majestic one. Upon seeing this, Charlie Brown goes from the saddest kid on Christmas to the happiest one. And then the story ends with all the kids singing a song. It's a bit sappy, but the message is clear. Christmas isn't about gifts and other money-spending distractions. It's about spending time with the ones you love and celebrating the little things in life. This isn't the first or only Christmas tale to get this point across, but the story is told in such a small-scale and simplistic way that it resonates emotionally. If this were a flashy and expensive TV special, it would contradict itself. The fact that it's so - plain - creates a certain magic that is difficult for others to duplicate. Charlie Brown may be a born loser but he's second to none in Christmas TV specials.

A+


DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! (1966)



If there's a Christmas TV special that can rival Charlie Brown, it's the Grinch. It's better animated and the songs are second to none. The story, adapted from the Dr. Seuss' book, is about a green creature living above a village known as Whoville. He hates Christmas because his heart is two sizes too small. And he hates how much the citizens of Whoville love Christmas. So one night, he decides to ruin the holiday for everyone by stealing their gifts, food and decorations. Then when Christmas morning arrives, he's shocked to discover that the people of Whoville don't care about superficial things and continue with their plans to celebrate the holiday. That's when his heart grows three times and he joins the festivities. The Grinch is directed by Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame and he does a wonderful job of creating a Christmas TV special that's fun to watch and doesn't shy away from its criticism about negativity. That's right. Unlike the live-action Jim Carrey and Ron Howard movie that was tailored made for self-centered millennial's, Jones' version of The Grinch has a very direct message: don't be the jerk at the Christmas table.

A+


A FLINTSTONE CHRISTMAS (1977)



It's a little disappointing that younger people haven't embraced the old Hanna-Barbera Christmas specials. These were required viewing when I was a kid. This was before Cartoon Network and Boomerang. This was the TNT Toons era. Every December, I looked forward to Christmas vacation so I could wake up early and watch all these old cartoons. Unlike Charlie Brown and the Grinch, these were hour long specials and TV movies. Hanna-Barbera weren't fooling around when they made these former classics. And the Flintsones Christmas special was one of my favorites. It has a similar plot to Tim Allen's The Santa Clause, but instead of Santa Claus falling off a roof and dying, he just gets injured and asks Fred & Barney to deliver the gifts for him. Watching the special as an adult, it's difficult to ignore how vanilla it is. There's not much to offer besides the basic premise. But there's so much good music and gags and voice acting that it doesn't matter. It still works and hopefully there's a way to create awareness for it among today's children.

B+