Merry Christmas Eve: Cozy up with these heartwarming family movies
If you’re doing it right, your holiday season will have at least one Christmas movie marathon with the family. It’s why Hallmark romances exist, animated allegorical flicks warm your heart, and you can collectively escape to magical lands where happy endings exist.
If you’re cynical about it, we’re reminded of Bojack Horseman having this conversation with Todd. When Todd proclaims, “You have to watch cheesy old holiday specials on Christmas; it’s tradition,” Bojack quips that they’re never any good. Todd then retorts, “Things don’t become traditions because they’re good, Bojack, they become good because they’re traditions.”
Of course, it will take more to thaw Bojack’s cold interiors, who maintains, “Todd, special holiday episodes are always stupid. Cynical cash grabs, by greedy corporations, looking to squeeze some extra nelson points, from sentimental clap-trap for mush brain idiots, who’d rather spend their Christmas watching a fake family TV, then actually trying to have a conversation with their own dumb families.”
Well, we do like watching happy families on screen. Here are our favorite heartwarming holiday movies.
The Christmas Chronicles
If you want a blend of action, adventure, comedy, and drama all in one, The Christmas Chronicles – the 2018 movie now has a sequel too – is the one to watch. The story follows a teenager’s adventures as she tries to capture Santa doing his job on camera, you know, because we have so many naysayers to argue with.
Instead, there’s an accident whereby Santa’s sleigh crashes & guess what? We’re all believers now that we’ve seen Santa. Who needs proof when you’ve got belief?
Home Alone
The entire Home Alone franchise – even though the sequels get progressively dull – is classic Christmas family movie stuff. Macaulay Culkin as Kevin wins our hearts when this eight-year old is accidentally left at home by his family during the holidays & their house is attacked by burglars.
Nothing like a good comic spin on things when you find yourself home alone, or with family this holiday season. The scenes are hilarious & well-executed, and the characters are very believable. Besides, it’s a classic, It would be a transgression not to watch it.
The Grinch
To appease the cynic in us, we’ll add a dash of the grumpy grinch to our holiday movie marathon with The Grinch. The premise, as you may have guessed, is that The Grinch cannot keep up with the increasing festive cheer in Whoville. So he sets out to do what he does best: be a spoilsport.
Frozen
You may have gotten tired of listening to “Let It Go”, but there’s something about Frozen – both the original movie as well as the sequel – that makes you drawn to it. Never before has a story of two siblings told this empathetically. If there are little ones in the family, the excitement for the movie grows because there’s so much to unpack.The kids can be given incredible lessons in kindness through the movies.
Here’s an example. In the first movie, when the secret of Elsa’s power gets out, she runs to the North Mountain and builds herself a glass castle. She preempts her fate. She knows that she’d be shunned and ostracised. Later, the villain Prince Hans leaves her chained and bound, confirming this theory.
Frozen is also about accepting yourself, about chosen families, about finding strength together as well as in your uniqueness. Nothing encapsulates the holiday spirit better.
The Holiday Calendar
Kat Graham has taken to the holiday movies after playing a witch in The Vampire Diaries. In the 2018 romcom The Holiday Calendar, she brings some of that magic along. Abby inherits a magical advent calendar that is accurately predicting her future.
Would you want to know the future through an advent calendar? Makes you think. There’s a budding romance on the side, starring Quincy Brown as Josh & Ethan Peck as Ty. If you like a cliche romantic holiday saga, get this on your list.
