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Baumer's 50 Best Christmas movies of all time

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#50)

The Family Man (2000)

Directed by:  Brett Ratner

Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni and Don Cheadle

Box office:  75.7 million

 

This film is a combination of "It's a Wonderful Life" in reverse, and "Heaven Can Wait". The story line has been done before, but I found this film inspiring and entertaining. It is a deep film, but can be viewed shallowly as mere entertainment. Both Nicolas Cage and Tea Leone are superb. The film has a real message but is not preachy or corny. I found myself wondering throughout the film how I would react if I were in Cage's shoes. The ending is not the predictable "and they lived happily ever after", but inspiring nevertheless. I thought Tea Leone was wonderful and Cage gives his usual solid performance. A great flick

 

 

Image result for the family man nicolas cage

 

 

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Jumping in late but we always watch Home Alone 1/2, You've Got Mail / Shop Around the Corner & A Christmas Carol (Finney Version) along with the Kiddie classics from TV.

 

I loathe It's a Wonderful Life at this point, mainly cause of growing up (it was one of a handful of approved movies in our home) and Polar Express can Burn in Hell. Love Actually is good though.

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#49:

Surviving Christmas (2004)

Directed By:  Mike Mitchell

Starring:  Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara

Box Office:  11.6 million

 

This movie really struck me in how much it connects with actual family togetherness - in that there rarely is any. Families try and hash things out the best they can, but growing apart and getting on each other's nerves is simply reality. Since the holidays are without a doubt sensory overload, it can either make families come together or drift apart like no other time of the year.

Ben Affleck pulls off a fairly decent job as Drew. There wasn't much there behind the cocky smile, but he pulled off the role nicely.

The real pleasure here was James Gandolfini and Catherine O'Hara. Gandolfini was great as a gruff tow-truck driver with a cuddly warm side burning deep down. And I loved O'Hara as the depressed, under-appreciated mom.

I give the movie high praise because it has its heart in the right place. It hits a lot of the Christmas beats you look for in a Christmas movie.
 

Image result for surviving christmas

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15 minutes ago, Christmas Baumer said:

50) The Family Man (2000)

Directed by:  Brett Ratner

Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni and Don Cheadle

Box office:  75.7 million

 

This film is a combination of "It's a Wonderful Life" in reverse, and "Heaven Can Wait". The story line has been done before, but I found this film inspiring and entertaining. It is a deep film, but can be viewed shallowly as mere entertainment. Both Nicolas Cage and Tea Leone are superb. The film has a real message but is not preachy or corny. I found myself wondering throughout the film how I would react if I were in Cage's shoes. The ending is not the predictable "and they lived happily ever after", but inspiring nevertheless. I thought Tea Leone was wonderful and Cage gives his usual solid performance. A great flick

 

 

Image result for the family man nicolas cage

 

 

 

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#48

A Christmas Wish (The Great Rupert)  (1950)

Directed by:  Irving Pichel

Starring:  Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, Tom Drake

Box office:  Unknown

 

A Christmas Wish is a heartwarming holiday classic about a New York family (led by Durante) who is down on their luck at Christmas time. Shortly before Christmas, they move into a ground floor apartment where Rupert the squirrel lives in the attic rafters. Just when it seems that the holiday will come and go without so much as a Christmas tree, Rupert acts as the family's guardian angel, not only saving Christmas, but changing their lives forever. The film is enlivened with the warmth and sweetness of an unforgettable love story between Terry Moore (of Mighty Joe Young) and Tom Drake (of Meet Me in St. Louis). Rupert the Squirrel (created using George Pal's Academy Award winning animation technique) will charm young and old alike. Jimmy Durante shines when he sings Jingle Bells and other well-loved Christmas carols in the evocative voice that made him one of America's recording legends. I used to watch this film with my family when I was about 10 years old. It was one of my mom's favourite films.

 

 

Image result for the great rupert

 

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#47

The Night Before (2015)

Directed by:  Jonathan Levine

Starring:  Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie

Box office:  43 million

 

This one makes my list simply because it is ridiculously funny in some parts and because Rogen and his sucking a dick talk, when he is high on mushrooms, had me rolling in the isles.  Add in Michael Shannon doing something I've never seen him do before, the homage to the BIG piano scene and Jame's Franco's cameo and this is one crazy but enjoyable Christmas tryst.  

 

Image result for the night before

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Grand Moff Tele said:

What?! A pre-1970 movie?

 

I've seen A LOT of old classic Christmas films.  You're going to be surprised how dominant they are on this list.  Christmas classics are awesome.

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#46

Love, Actually

Directed by Michael Curtis

Starring:  Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Andrew Lincoln, Bill Nighy, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley

Box office:  59.6 million

 

Love Actually is a romantic comedy that features an ensemble cast that includes Hugh Grant,Liam Neeson,Colin Firth,Laura Linney,Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman,Keira Knightley,Martine McCutcheon,Bill Nighy and Rowan Atkinson.The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress. It was written and directed by Richard Curtis. 

The story involves more than a dozen main characters, each weaving his or her way into another's heart over the course of one particularly eventful Christmas. The seemingly perfect wedding of Juliet and Peter brings many of the principals together, including heartsick best man Mark, who harbors a very unrequited crush on Juliet. There's also recent widower Daniel, trying to help his lonely stepson Sam express his true feelings to a classmate. Across town, devoted working mother Karen tries to rekindle the passion of her husband, Harry, who secretly pines for a young colleague of his. In the same office, the lonely Sarah not-so- secretly pines for a man just a few desks away, who returns her affections but may not be able to dissuade her neuroses. Providing the unofficial soundtrack for all of the couples is an aging rocker who just wants to cash in and get laid -- but even he might find a meaningful relationship in the most unlikely of places.

Perhaps my favourite scene is when Rick Grimes courts Kiera Knightly by telling her that she is perfect to him. It's a beautifully done scene.

 

 

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