Christmas Movies

Christmas movies are just an extraordinary extension of the great storytelling tradition of Christmas. In lands far and wide one of the key entertainment elements of the season has always been storytelling and nothing tells the stories of Christmas better than a mash-up of film, music and script that make up great Christmas movies. Did you know that one of the first movies ever made way back in 1898 was in fact a Christmas movie? We have on record well over a century of Christmas on film. We explore them all — from It’s a Wonderful Life to Elf — both old and new and Christmas movies yet to come. We feel that if Dickens were to have lived to the age of film in the 20th century he would have left us more great Christmas stories to enjoy on film today.

Why Die Hard is a Christmas Movie

Die Hard is an aptly named movie. It just won’t go away – and it shouldn’t. For years we have consistently polled it as a Christmas movie. That means we ask YOU, our readers and it ranks with other movies as a Christmas classic –…
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Five Greatest Dads of Christmas Movie History

Over Mother’s Day we explored the great moms of Christmas and we’re back to do the same for Father’s Day. But when it comes to dads we could easily make a list of duds when it comes to Christmas flicks. Think about it: In A Christmas…

Grinch Remake Delayed

It has only been a couple of months since the announcement of an animated remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas -- but that's time enough to now announce a full year delay to the project. The film will now come out for Christmas 2018. Producers…
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The Five Greatest Moms of Christmas Movie History

Our countdown to Christmas reaches another milestone with the passage of Mother’s Day. The celebration of Mother’s Day cannot bypass the great Moms of Christmas, can it? They seem to be central to every story – whether in good or bad…
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Almost Christmas to Release November 11th

Universal Pictures announced this week the new movie previously known as A Meyers Christmas has been renamed to Almost Christmas and will be released in theaters on November 11th of this upcoming season. Danny Glover stars as the recently…
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Cumberbatch to Voice the Grinch in Remake

Famed British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been tapped to voice the Grinch in an animated remake of Dr. Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, set to be released later next year. The last remake of the Grinch was met with mixed…
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Why The Homecoming is One of the Most Important Christmas Movies Ever

Earl Hamner Jr. passed away this week at the age of 92 and the world hardly noticed. Hamner was a prolific writer whose contributions were more noted on television than anywhere else. While he is no Dickens his Christmas story titled The…
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Fight Before Christmas Movie Features Santa Divorce

Another brilliant Hollywood Christmas movie idea: have Santa and Mrs. Claus break up. That's the premise of a new Christmas movie in the works to be titled "Fight Before Christmas", as announced today by Variety The story centers on Mrs.…
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Office Christmas Party Releases December 9th

What kind of Christmas movie will it be if it is announced in February, filmed in April and released in December? That's the plan for Office Christmas Party, a new movie to star Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman slated for a December 9th release…
Christmas Video
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Five Rules for Remaking A Christmas Carol

Last year we openly mourned the lack of decent Christmas movies being made. It has been well over a decade since Elf, for Pete's sake. Hollywood has suffered a drought of original Christmas ideas and every season seems to bring yet another…
Cary Grant
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Cary Grant Day

There are 342 days remaining in our countdown to Christmas and today we celebrate the birthday of Cary Grant. On this day in 1904 Archibald Alexander Leach was born in Horfield, Bristol, England. His life travels and work would take him to America…
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David Bowie Day

Today is David Bowie Day in our Countdown to Christmas, there are just 349 days remaining. Bowie passed away today at the age of 69. It is hard not to compare David Bowie to his Christmas duet partner, Bing Crosby today, odd as that is to…

Five Movies with Hidden Christmas

So here it is early January. Your tree is still up and there are remnants of a great celebration all around you. It feels good. It is hard to let go. You’re not ready even though you look out the window and see neighbors who have kicked their…
Christmas Memories
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If I Were George Bailey

Shortly before Christmas last year I dropped by my parents’ house and caught my Dad watching the last half hour of It’s a Wonderful Life. As we watched the peak of George’s crisis we got into a conversation about what we would do if either…
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What Should Have Happened to Potter?

The most underrated performance in the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" is the role played by Lionel Barrymore -- the nasty Henry F. Potter. There are many stories about this now legendary movie but one of the more obscure is that…