25 Days of Christmas Movies

By now most of you know that I love movies. I’ve written blogs about Spooky Movie Season 1 & Round 2 and about specific actors: Jim Carrey / Emma Stone / Adam Sandler, but I have yet to do a blog about Christmas movies. So here we go…

I somehow watched 25 movies during December for the 25 days of Christmas. This was much more difficult than my binge watching in the past, now that we have an active ten month old!

Here are the movies I watched in order of viewing with my suggestion to watch or skip.

December 1st - Spirited (Apple TV) - 2022

An original, musical take on the classic, A Christmas Carol. Will Ferrel (Ghost of Christmas Present) attempts to make a new redeemed man out of Ryan Reynolds (The Unredeemable). Worth a watch!

December 2nd - Surviving Christmas (Amazon) - 2004

Ben Afflek (rich man without family) wants to celebrate Christmas with a family after his girlfriend decides not to go with him to Fiji. He ends up at his childhood home, now occupied by James Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara. Worth a watch!

December 3rd - A Charlie Brown Christmas (Apple TV) - 1965

A classic Charlie Brown film, but does it get better than the soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi? I’m not sure it does! Definitely watch!

December 4th - Christmas Do-Over (Amazon) - 2006

Groundhogs Day, Christmas style. Kevin (Jay Mohr) gets stuck with his ex-in laws who do not like him and gets to experience it over and over again thanks to his son Ben’s wish. Probably can skip this one.

December 5th - A Christmas Story (HBO) - 1983

You’ll shoot your eye out! Based around the child, Ralphie, who wants a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun for Christmas. Classic Christmas movie that plays for 24 hours every Christmas eve and Christmas day on TBS? No one has cable anymore though, so you’ll have to load it up on streaming or DVD. Worth a watch!

December 6th - A Christmas Story Christmas (HBO) - 2022

The sequal to A Christmas Story is….. not good! I guess it was maybe nostalgic for the original cast who fills out most of the cast in this one. You just feel bad for Ralphie and his buddies…they have not gone places in life. Skip this one!

December 7th - Klaus (Netflix) - 2019

The animated story about how Santa Claus came to be thanks to the need to deliver mail from one particular postman, Jesper, in the lonely town of Smeerensburg. I watched this on a plane and it was a good heartfelt film. Worth a watch!

December 8th - Gremlins (DVD) - 1984

Is this a Christmas movie? This Stephen King thriller is based around Christmas time and involves some Christmas tunes and decorations, so let’s count it! Follow the three rules and everything will be fine. Skip this one for the Christmas season, but add to spooky movie season.

December 9th - Jack Frost (HBO) - 1998

A boy’s father (Michael Keaton) who plays in the Jack Frost band, passes away and comes back as a snowman to be a better dad than he was when he was alive. I remembered this film being a decent movie growing up, but it is pretty corny watching in 2022. Skip this one.

December 10th - Falling For Christmas (Netflix) - 2022

New Lindsay Lohan movie, I would call it the 50 First Dates of the Christmas season. A very wealthy woman (Lohan) gets in a skiing accident and develops amnesia, ending up at an older lodge. Worth a watch!

December 11th - Jingle All The Way (DVD) - 1996

When two dad’s (Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad) wait until the last minute to get the most sought over Christmas present of the year, Turbo Man, they have to go to great lengths to make it happen. I forgot how great this movie is. Definitely watch!

December 12th - A Bad Mom’s Christmas (DVD) - 2017

Mom’s are tired of doing everything for Christmas, so they are taking it back! Varying mom’s show their varying styles of how they do Christmas. Which Mom do you most identify with? Worth a watch!

December 13th - Holidate (netflix) - 2020

Being single during the holidays can be tough. Instead of being single, these two agree to be each other’s platonic dates all year long, only to fall for each other. Worth a watch!

December 14th - Love Hard (netflix) - 2021

Die Hard and Love Actually meet. Another fun new Christmas movie that involves a LA journalist being catfished by a less attractive nerdy guy. Will they end up together anyway!? Worth a watch!

December 15th - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (DVD) - 1970

Animated classic of how Santa came to be from the mailman’s perspective. Pretty old, so skip this one!

December 16th - How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (amazon) - 1966

The OG Grinch Stole Christmas. Not as good as I recall, but still a classic of the grumpy grinch who steals Christmas from the Whos. Worth the watch since it is so short.

December 17th - Home Alone (DVD) - 1990

Eight year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets left home alone by his family and has to protect his home from two of the dumbest burglars around (Harry and Marv). So many classic lines and scenes. Definitely watch!

December 18th - Die Hard (DVD) - 1988

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) ends up in the middle of a heist at his ex-wife’s Christmas Party in LA. The heist is led by none other than Hans Gruber, aka Snape (Alan Rickman). Definitely watch, but not with the family.

December 19th - Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (DVD) - 1992

Just one year later, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets left home alone, but this time in New York City. Just by chance, the same two burglars (Harry and Marv) cross paths with him. This is where the Home Alone series should have ended. Definitely watch!

December 20th - Miracle on 34th Street (DVD) - 1947

A friendly old man gets hired to play Santa Claus at Macy’s and ends up getting put on trial for his sanity when he continues to plead that he is the real Santa Claus. Will his lawyer get him off? Worth a watch!

December 21st - National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (DVD) - 1989

The Griswold family is back at it again, this time for a family Christmas celebration. Things most likely do not go smoothly which will bring the audience plenty of laughs. Worth a watch!

December 22nd - The Muppet Christmas Carol (DVD) - 1992

The Muppets bring their own rendition of the Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Worth a watch with the family!

December 23rd - The Polar Express (DVD) - 2004

One of my favorite Christmas films. A young boy, who has no name, jumps on a train in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, and goes on an adventure to find out if Santa is real and to regain his spirit in Christmas. Definitely watch!

December 24th - Elf (DVD) - 2003

Bye Buddy, hope you find your dad! The funniest Christmas movie around. Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrel) travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his real father, Walter Hobbs. His father is on the naughty list and in order to save Christmas, Buddy must get his biological family to have more Christmas spirit. A must watch!

December 25th - How The Grinch Stole Christmas (DVD) - 2000

The best version of The Grinch with my favorite actor from childhood, Jim Carrey. The Grinch plans to ruin Christmas for all the Whos in Whoville. A perfect Grinch performance by Carrey. Absolutely must watch!

And that concludes my 25 Days of Christmas movies. Which movies did I miss? Any new movies that you will now watch?

Happy watching and Merry Christmas!

Josh

A Christmas Miracle

On Tuesday December 23rd, I worked and then played some lax after, the first time playing lacrosse in a long while since I moved to the city and don't have time to stay and play anymore. Fun stuff. I drove back to Chicago that night and hung out with Rachel for a bit before bed.

Grandma with her Grandkids & Great Grandkids

Wednesday December 24th was the first Christmas Eve Rachel and I were to have together. I spent the morning slaving over some scrumptious chocolate covered pretzels, and Rachel made a delicious breakfast casserole. We did these things while having some mimosas of course! We packed our car full of presents, oh how I wish I was a kid again, getting awesome toys and gadgets, and headed out across town. We had Christmas Eve at my Grandma's as usual which was a lovely time for the family to be together. We then headed back to Naperville. On the way there I finished The Shining by Stephen King on tape. A great novel and actually way way better than the movie. We then opened Christmas presents with Beth and my parents. Once the presents were open and we watched a few family videos, we headed to New Lenox for my first Midnight Mass. What an experience. Got to love Church at midnight. It helped that there was an awesome choir providing the music for the evening. Afterwards we hung out with Rachel's family and then I got to experience a Hyma sibling tradition where they put on Lethal Weapon and wrap Christmas presents. Since we got a late start, we ended up being up until 4 am. Santa is on his way, get on your Santa Hat! Hard to believe this was 7 years ago. Freshman year of College on break.

December 25th, Christmas Day 2014 was here. We headed to Rachel's grandparents and had a great Christmas Day Dinner. I headed home by myself after the party was over since I had to work the next day. I watched the movie Rush with my parents and Beth. A great inspirational sports movie about formula 1 racing. I highly suggest all those to watch! I then watched a few Walking Dead episodes that night. Emma and Anna can't believe it's Christmas! 4 Years ago!

I spent Friday December 26th at my parents after work and had some of my Mom's chili. Yum. Then I watched a bunch of Walking Dead episodes and fell asleep late into the night. Oh, I also got gas for under $2.00. A Christmas Miracle for us adults. I think this is the lowest gas has ever been since I have been driving, circa 2005? Or at least since I've been filling up with gas since 2011... ha

Saturday December 27th was another long day at work, and I also successfully changed my windshield wiper blades, with some help from a co-worker. He had to get the blades off for me, as they proved to be more difficult than I thought they would. With new wipers installed, that are a bit too large for my windshield, I will welcome rain/snow with open arms (still hasn't happened). Rachel and I watched The Shining that evening which had a way different and worse ending compared to the book. I sound like such a book nerd.

New pots, new pans

Rachel and I finally cashed in all of our Jewel stickers on Sunday December 28th, and ended up getting a nice 12" non-stick skillet, a 12" every day pot, and a 13.5" lasagna pan. A $160 all for free! Well, actually we had to spend $4,100 to get these 3 pots, but luckily we didn't spend all of it, our parents and some other relatives did as well. Thanks everyone for chipping in! Now we get to cook with these new pans! We got some Wendy's for dinner, and as I received my food, a nice gentleman with dreadlocks said, "You have a great night, OH, and Nice hat too." I smiled and replied, "Thanks, Go Titans!" When I got home I attempted to change our kitchen faucet out. After about 3 hours of working, I finally was successful at getting the old sink faucet out and the new one in. Then I came to the conclusion that somehow the cold faucet ended up getting clogged because only the hot water works, but it works great! Yahoo!!

Gotcha son! Mission half complete!

On Monday December 29th, I ended up having to work late which I wasn't happy about, so I picked up 3 Buffalo McChickens on the way home. I finished Mystic River, on tape by Dennis Lehane. It was so strikingly similar to the movie, there were really no differences at all. So it was solid and great, just like the film. That night I ended up watched a lot more Walking Dead episodes before falling asleep late.

Oh for Christmas this year I was very satisfied with many wool socks, warm gloves, lovely sweaters, power drill, car shovel, whiskey, gift cards, a wine rack, an awesome calender, & a Titans Hat for Johnson from Management. Go Titans.

Get ready for my year in review for next week! As well as my top lists of 2014!

Josh

TV on TV

Tuesday December 16th, Rachel makes us a delicious pork dinner and we watch some Mad Men.

On Wednesday December 17th, I watched a bunch of American Horror Story Season 3 and did Laundry. Exciting times.

Thursday December 18th I finished up American Horror Story Season 3. Lots of TV in my life this week.

On Friday December 19th, Rachel visited me at work and then a nice lax dad, Ray, took us out for some dinner at Rancheros where I had a Modelo and some wings, chips, and quesadillas. A nice and pleasant Christmas gift. Grandpa Bob, Beth, & Mom & Dad then visited me at work while we were out. I told them to wait and they did which was nice, so I could show them where I work. After work we went home and watched some Maluta Home Videos. Great times with Grandpa Bob and the fam.

Saturday December 20th was a busy day of shopping for Christmas gifts, realizing the mall is super creepy, and hating department stores since they have kids running the registers who have no abilities to do anything and require "manager" approvals for all these things. Yea we waited in line at Macy's for over 30 minutes with 3 people in front of us. Luckily what we got was FREE! We had some pizza for dinner at my parents which hit the spot then headed over to our friend Michelle's place for her birthday party for a little bit. I started the party off by beating a semi-drunk guy in Super Smash Bros, battle of the pickachu's and then I also "assisted" by watching them "break" into a girls car who was at the party and locked her keys in the car. Luckily these guys were auto-repair guys so they knew what they were doing, but I also realized how easy it is to break into a car. Woah! We then headed home and I started to watch The Walking Dead.

On Sunday December 21st I played a fair amount of Call of Duty MW2, still behind on the times, and then watched Elf with Rachel while we wrapped some presents. After picking up the final ingredients we had a delicious baked mostaccioli dish for dinner. So good and cheesy. That night we watched some more of Mad Men and I watched more of The Walking Dead. Starting to like the show!

Monday December 22nd was a busy day at work with some private lessons, and then picked up gas on the way home for $2.04. The lowest gas has been in over 5 years people are saying. Pretty awesome and an early Christmas present for us adults. I finished up season one of The Walking Dead at night.

A pretty boring week, but Christmas is ahead! Get excited, Santa is on his way! Now enjoy a few funny videos I found this week.

NSFW!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Be sure to watch some Christmas classics:
Elf, A Christmas Story, The Grinch, Die Hard, Home Alone, & The Polar Express

Josh