As stores start to fill with candy canes and the streets glitter with gold, red and green, all you wish for is to stretch on the sofa, tuck yourself under a cozy blanket, sip warm cocoa, and let the Christmas spirit seduce you with a Christmas-themed movie.
That’s why we remind you of the top 5 old but gold Christmas movies that will make you hold your sides and remember the old times. Let’s start with the oldest one of them.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
With this Tim Burton’s classic, you’ll immerse yourself into the moving love story of an adopted artificial humanoid Edward (Johnny Depp). Edward falls in love with a girl named Kim, but the mutual affection fails to overcome the obvious obstacle. Edward’s scissor hands condition brings about hilarious moments one will laugh at while enjoying its fairytale and gothic atmosphere.
The Christmas mood might hit you watching the key ice dance scene, in which Edward expresses his love for Kim, creating a tall icy angelic statue. It is considered a Christmas movie not only because its culminating scene takes place around Christmas, but also because it captures the feelings of isolation and loneliness some people might feel around that season.
A movie whose screenplay brought Johnny Depp to tears and started his long lasting friendship and cooperation with Burton, Edward Scissorhands is a classic you should definitely rewatch this winter.
Jingle All the Way (1996)
From the director of The Flintstones and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jingle All the Way tells the story of a neglectful father who wants to prove the love for his son getting him a Turbo Man for Christmas. It is on Christmas Eve he realizes he forgot about it and goes store by store with no success of finding one, competing with similarly determined parents.
Unlike Edward Scissorhands, the satiric comedy is anything but touching. Full of action and chaos, Jingle All the Way is a good option if you prefer to ease your mind with something to laugh at, while reliving the 90s vibe.
Elf (2003)
Exploring the themes of the importance of kindness, truth and hope, the movie offers a dose of laughter along with some important life lessons. The main character Buddy, raised by elves, finds out he’s human and travels to New York to find his father who is unaware of his existence. The surprised father must bear the son’s naivety and misunderstandings of the earthly world that often lead to uncomfortable situations. However, what seems rather weird at first, slowly melts his heart.
Directed by Jon Favreau, Elf ranks the #25 in the list of the 100 best Christmas movies of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, and holds various awards, suggesting you should give this happy family comedy a try this year.
Bad Santa (2003)
A dark holiday comedy Bad Santa features an alcoholic unpopular Santa who makes friends with a hopeless kid. As the story progresses, the two teach each other a lesson.
The movie offers an untraditional picture of the holly-jolly season, with a rather depressed mood, highlighting the struggles of those who don’t experience Christmas as peacefully and ideally as the majority of people would imagine.
Although a box-office making $76.5 million worldwide and Coens’ follow up to a successful movie, Bad Santa is not for everyone. With its alcoholic, violent and explicit sexual allusions, it might appear too much for some.
However, if this is over the line for you, you surely want to avoid the second movie, Bad Santa 2. This goes even further with its dark and spicy humor, so take note it’s not appropriate for kids.
Love Actually (2003)
Out of all the movies we’ve mentioned so far, Love Actually might be the most popular one. The story develops around eight different couples who deal with their love lives a couple of weeks before Christmas. These stories are intertwined and each of the couples tries to overcome the obstacles to rediscover love.
Famous for its dance scene Hugh Grant didn’t like the idea of, Love Actually offers many other hilarious moments that will boost your mood. However, the movie’s director Curtis admits the humor is over the edge at times. The jokes alluding to weight that appear throughout the story are not funny anymore according to him as he regrets having been “unobservant”.
Bonus tip: Final Wager (2024)
These are our recommendations of Christmas comedies that you’ve probably come across (at least some of them). But if you’re tired of the same old thing and want to see what is new in the world of comedies, we have a tip for you. In Final Wager (2024), Chance tries to save his mother, but for that, he needs to get $60 000. He gambles at online casino websites, realizing he hasn’t lost a bet on Christmas Day for 9 years. Although Final Wager has a slightly different way in which Christmas is portrayed in the movie, it’s bound to get you in the Christmas mood.