Day 20: What are your holiday movie traditions?

[Nick]

 

From the many Christmas traditions out there, I find there is nothing better than being with my favourite people, wearing PJs, sitting down to a good movie and letting my tummy work away on that food baby. 

Christmas has come to represent different things to different people, and the movies that take inspiration from (or are taking place during) Christmas reflect that. The holiday movie canon has expanded exponentially. 

My favourite list includes the romantic Love Actually, the horror-esque Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as the action-packed Die Hard, which yes, is a Christmas movie, and that's all there is to it. 

Whether you’re after the warm blanket effect of a romantic comedy, a Christmas classic, a die-hard action movie or a hidden gem that’s as fresh as cookies coming out of the oven, what are your movie traditions when it comes to Christmas?

Thanks 

Nick

[Nick]

@Dimitar27 @Jessica-and-Henry0  haha I was just saying yesterday I should subscribe on Disney+ just for the Home Alone movies. Love to have them play in the background while doing all the food preparations. Also need to remind myself what Kevin's dad job was. Seemed perfectly fine that he had the money to pay for all those people when I was a kid, but thinking it must have been something fishy now that I'm older 😅

[Katie]

Agreed @Nick, I watched it last weekend and the parents actually fly First Class too - he must have been verrrrryyy well paid!  💵 💵 💵

[Nick]

If it's something dodgy, that's childhood ruined 😂@Katie 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Nick 

For me and my sisters...... the start of our Christmas movie marathon always begins with watching Home Alone 1 & 2 while we start to consume endless bowls of popcorn and potato chips and ice cream. What we watch next depends..... but we like Harry Potter, Miracle on 34th Street, Beauty and the Beast and maybe a few action movies like Die Hard (for my dad) in between. 

Also in Korea, many local broadcast stations (MBC, KBS, SBS etc) each have their own year-end Awards which is televised so they begin taking place around Christmas and then New Year's. It's a chance to do a recap of everyone's favorite K-drama from the past year and enjoy various performances. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBC_Entertainment_Awards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBS_Gayo_Daejeon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KBS_Drama_Awards

[Ann72]

@Nick  This is great and I love your list, which has some overlap with ours.

My girls and I watch:

It's A Wonderful Life

Elf

Home Alone ( @Dimitar27  it is not idiotic at all - it has some of the most brilliant comic acting in it ever!)

Love, Actually (just one of the most terrible good movies, or wonderful bad movies, of all time - please do read this hilarious Jezebel piece on why it's so bad - https://jezebel.com/i-rewatched-love-actually-and-am-here-to-ruin-it-for-al-1485136388 - yet we watch it every year and always cry at the end)

Bridget Jones' Diary

The Devil Wears Prada

and, my new favorite, an instant classic (actually I am the only person I know who likes or has even seen this movie)

Office Christmas Party

[Nick]

Bridget Jone's Diary (and the sequels) NEED to be on that list @Ann72 even if only for the binge drinking and eating when she is in despair, which is pretty much me when I realise the panettone is running low 😜

[Ann72]

@Nick Right?!? And don’t forget they meet at her parents’ Christmas party! 🤣

[Helen427]

@Nick  It's summer here in New Zealand, so TV and movies are not on the agenda as the outdoors are the go to place. However here's a little reflective story that has one thinking.

Christmas 100 years Hence - Will Utopia Be Here?

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GIST19370320.2.61.2?

[Nick]

I do need to visit NZ during Christmas to experience that time of year during summer for a change. What is a typical day for you outdoors during that time? @Helen427 

[Stephanie]

3 words. 

Muppets Christmas Carol.

[Bronwyn38]

All the best, @Stephanie and may your little one be born into a far happier world!!!!! KIndest regards, Bronwn and 'Finchley' (Downunder) B and B XXX

[Bronwyn38]

Ahhhh, @Nick , in my personal opinion, nothing beats Love Actually... it has SOOOO much to smile about (and what a year to draw on that!!!), and I never tire of Bill Nighy's gorgeous performance (he never fails), along with so much more. The first time I saw this movie, a friend who had seen it said, yes, sure, it's fine to take your nieces *aged about 14 and 12) to at the time.... and when it came to that segment of filming the porn movie, DID I cringe!!!!!! Oh yes!!!!! Second time I saw it was in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and it was shown on an inflatable screen in the lake... Well it was a slightly windy evening, and some of the time, half the picture disappeared below the water line on a funny angle, but hey.... I had two friends with me who had not seen it before and they were roaring with laughter, which gave me even more pleasure! It's one of very few movies ever that I delight in watching many times over!!! Thanks for sharing!!! And I hope to get to the UK next year, I am an Anglophile, so I am pining for another fix!

[Katie]

I can totally relate to this @Bronwyn38, because I went to see Love Actually with my Dad when it came out... 🙈 So cringeworthy, but I actually still love the film now!

[Bronwyn38]

He he, @Katie xxx

[Bronwyn38]

And how old were YOU when you saw it with your dad, @Katie ? I guess no matter what age, it's still going to be tricky, LOL. If you could just blank out those scenes when apt.... it would be a wonderful film to see with ANYBODY!