It's probably the best full-length Christmas movie you can watch with little kids. Michael Caine should've gotten an Oscar just for keeping a straight face and playing a great Scrooge with a bunch of puppets.
The perfect balance between Muppet Insanity and Serious Story. Michael Cain was a top tier Scrooge. Personally, I would put 3 versions of "A Christmas Carol" in the "S" Tier, Alister Sim, George C. Scott, and Muppets. Jim Carrey could have been there if they had left out the silly slapstick. Patrick Stewart has a good version as well.
@@raymondgregory In my opinion he doesn't like the right old Christmas movies. 😁 He neglected to mention, A Charlie Brown Christmas, George C Scott A Christmas Carol. And I completely disagree with him on Miracle on 34th Street. It is a wonderful movie and should be rated S in his system of rating.
"It's a Wonderful Life" was a real playing-out of Jimmy Stewart's own demons. He mustered out of the US Army Air Forces with a case of PTSD. He'd commanded a bomber formation, and seen scores of young men die under his charge, and could only wonder if he'd done this, that, or the other thing differently how he might have saved their lives. When he returned from the war his entire professional life seemed a pathetic waste. He was ready to quit his film career, return to Pennsylvania, and seek a quiet life in his father's hardware business. Jimmy Stewart was a real-life "George Bailey." His closest friends in the film industry intervened, lobbied Frank Capra, convinced Stewart to play the role, and their love and the experience of "It's a Wonderful Life" pulled Jimmy Stewart back from the brink of chucking it all away.
The two films work together in a strangely satisfying way. I love both. It's a Wonderful Life is unique. There have been many versions of A Christmas Carol but none of the others even come close to capturing the spirit of Dickens' novel. When the men ask Scrooge to donate to the poor and he asks "Why?" That 'why' chills me to the bone.
@@TedLittle-yp7uj In the Alister Sims Scrooge, I shed tears EVERY TIME Bob Cratchett tries to put on a brave face after telling the family he visited the place where Time Tim will be buried. And then becoming overwhelmed with his loss, “Oh Tim, my tiny Tim!” Gets me EVERY TIME!
C for Nightmare Before Christmas seems harsh. There was at least a message in there about not trying to meddle with things you don't understand, and it's certainly unique among Christmas films.
It’s also entertaining, very modest in length (so easily watchable), and technically brilliant. The only point of contention I’ve ever had with the film is that feels just a tad rushed in the second half, but it still concludes very well and sticks the landing at the end. Loved it as a kid, and still love it today. Probably has to be an S for me. Like you said, it’s completely unique in the best ways.
Yea OG Grinch needs to be on the list. They just adapted Seuss directly rather than adding a bunch of other bullcrap. Anyone who tries to rhyme like Seuss fails miserably.
It really is an embarrassment and if anybody saw me watching it I’d pretend I was reading a book and didn’t know it was on. But Rosemary Clooney is beyond gorgeous and Snow is a great song
This is a fascistic version! George C.Scott is the only guy you come close to Alistair Simm! I wish David Warner would have been Scrooge later in his life. He would have great, too.
Christmas Story - B Elf - B National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - B It’s a Wonderful Life - S How the Grinch Stole Christmas - C White Christmas - A Remember the Night - A The Holiday - B Love Actually - B Jingle All The Way - B The Nightmare Before Christmas- C A Christmas Carol - S Die Hard - S Home Alone - A Miracle on 34th Street - A Gremlins - B Scrooged- B The Bishops Wife - S Serendipity - Never Seen It Christmas in Connecticut - A Rudolph - that’s fine The Santa Clause - B Trading Places - B Holiday Affair - B Harold and Kumar Christmas - E
I want to recommend the 1970 musical ‘scrooge’. Some great characters, cast (Albert Finney, Alec Guiness etc) and fine score. The scene where the townspeople are dancing on Scrooge’s coffin, singing ‘Thank you very much’, is classic!
_The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe_ deserves a spot on this list. Yes, it's a Christmas book and movie. The Witch made is "always winter, but never Christmas". When Aslan comes and her spell begins to break, Father Christmas shows up in Narnia.
B tier but b-. Tbh I the lion witch and the wardrobe and narnia more generally is incredibly overrated, I remember liking the film as a kid, and I went back and watched it, and it’s really not that good
The most controversial thing here is not including Lethal Weapon (1987) on this list. I mean, COME ON! The Christmas easter eggs are secretly scattered!
That's a little heavy-handed on both sides. Christmas vacation is maybe a B+ or A-, Elf is a low B to a high C. I want to hate Elf because it's modern, and love Christmas Vacation because of nostalgia. But if I'm being objective that's the reality
I completely agree about the 1951 Scrooge. It is the BEST!!! My favorite lines..."dear uncle, you've made Fred so heppy!" "I don't deserve to be so happy!" "I don't know anything, I never did know anything, but now I know that I don't know all on a Christmas....I must stand on my head"
It's a Wonderful Life was Brg. General, then Colonel, was the first movie he made after returning home from WW-II. He made a lot of great movies, but this one, I have to say, is his best work. Oh, I have seen it just about every year since I was 7. I turn 70 in February. It just never gets old. Good List!
Klaus is such a sleeper hit. That movie immediately made it into our yearly rotation. Heartfelt, visually-stunning, funny but not goofy, and very warm and honest.
You gonna share some of that doobie you're token on? "Elf" on the same level as "A Christmas Story"? Elf starts at a C and goes downhill with each viewing. A Christmas Story is an "A", hands down! But, thumbs up on the video, because it is the Klavan, after all.
So TRUE! I always wonder why it is often left out of the rankings as it is here! I watch it every year, and it never fails to bring a tear to my eye, and a song to my heart! I'll never know why this gem doesn't get more respect. IMHO, it's a definite S!
I agree. The second is good, the third is meh. (I think there was three.) I think it's originally in dutch, so the voice over can be a little weird initially
I watch It's a Wonderful Life every year for Christmas. It's my favorite. I love it. I also think a Christmas Story is "S" tier not "B". I never heard of Remember the Night. I have to check it out. Otherwise, I pretty much agree with you.
I haven't watched the video yet, but if A Muppet Christmas Carol isn't the number one movie, it's just a declaration of your intention to burn in hell.
My favorite by far is the 1951 British film Scrooge (released as A Christmas Carol in the U.S.), starring the magnificent Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. I believe Dickens would be proud. Glad you selected it as one of your all-time favorites.
My favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol has got to be the 1984 adaptation with George C. Scott as Scrooge. George C. Scott takes this character and almost makes it seem like he genuinely delights in how cruel he is, not just some jaded curmudgeon like Scrooge is typically portrayed. And when he breaks down after seeing what’s yet to come, you can see just how remorseful he is and how much he regrets what he has done.
Fred Clause is my personal favourite Chrismas movie. Hilarious and heartwarming (and some tear jerker moments). Great acting. Story is a great take on Cain & Able. I watch it every year
@@calvincoolidge1207 Good visuals? It's infamous for being one of the ugliest animated films of all time. It's laughable and horrifying at the same time.
@@SeraphsWitness The humans are a bit weird looking. I was impressed with how the North Pole looked as well as the train. I just felt the characters were bland and the story was a bit weak.
Honestly that was masterful, I thought the same thing. Pesci killed it. To be able to sound like you're being explicit while not actually doing it is impressive. The bad guys came across as genuinely dangerous in that movie, even while also pulling off some slapstick comedy. That's a VERY hard line to walk, and something future installments cannot pull off. Usually in "kids beating adults" movies, the adults just come across as completely idiotic cartoon characters. There's never a sense of genuine danger. Home Alone walked the line brilliantly. And they didn't shy away from the dark visual aesthetic either.
We have the same taste. If you had given Alistair Simm any less than an S, I would have visited you on Christmas Eve with two other spirits for a reckoning. Also, I can watch Jimmy Stewart every year... totally can do... it cleanses my soul from all the bad crap that they call entertainment during the rest of the year.
My top 3: 1. It’s a Wonderful Life 2. White Christmas 3. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer or the cartoon Grinch or Muppet’s Christmas Carol Do love Die Hard also, but not in a Christmas-y sort of way.
Thank you! I'm so glad to finally hear someone else admit that the Jim Carrey Grinch movie wasn't very good. I don't really care for it, but it seems like everyone else loves it. I think that the makeup work that Rick Baker did for the film was excellent and I also think Jim Carrey was amazing with his facial expressions, but I just don't think the script was that good. I'm not one of these people that thinks that a sequel or a reboot can never be as good as the original, but in the case of The Grinch, I think that the 1960s cartoon movie was perfect and I really don't think that any reboot of it will ever work.
@SeraphsWitness yeah, I agree. I also think that the added story details in the live-action movie kind of make the parts that depict the original storyline feel kind of awkward. I also think the live-action movie just has this weird feel to it where the tone isn't balanced properly. It's fine to put some humor in an overall serious film or some serious moments in a comedy, but you get this feeling that the Grinch had a genuine hatred for the Whos and had a major change of heart in the cartoon whereas it's difficult to tell what his true motives are in the different scenes in the live-action version. In the sequence where he steals from the Whos houses, it kind of feels unclear whether he's genuinely angry at them or if he's just doing it because he thinks it's funny.
@@GregoryJordanStewart I agree. In both re-tellings, they made the Grinch way TOO sympathetic from the start. There was no sense of his evil or hatred. They had to give him strained backstories about how badly he had been treated. Making the Whos look like the bad guys. Moral Relativism nonsense. Also the new animated one was just way too bright and cheery in the Grinch's cave. It looked just as bright as Whoville, which is absurd. It should be dark and twisted to mirror the Grinch's character.
What about The Shop Around the Corner, the animated How the Grinch Stoke Christmas, Holiday Inn, The Apartment, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Express, Arthur Christmas, While You Were Sleeping, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Little Drummer Boy, Muppets Christmas Carol, Batman Returns?
Andrew, here are three more for you. 1. One Magic Christmas (1985) - I especially like Harry Dean Stanton as Gideon. 👍👍 2. An American Christmas Carol (1979). 👍👍 3. Dutch (1991). 👍👍 A Christmas Carol, 1984 (George C. Scott) and 1999 (Patrick Stewart), are also very good.
What's This? Glad to see It's a Wonderful Life S-tier! And glad to hear the praise for Jimmy Stewart as an actor. Imo, Claude Rains, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cary Grant are amazing, but I consider Jimmy Stewart the greatest actor. And....not only do I consider It's a Wonderful Life the greatest Christmas movie, but greatest movie of all time! If interested, from my mixed meme-machine multiple-choice memory from a fuzzy childhood onward, these are imo 10/10 movies I can remember, trying to be relatively impartial with my flawed intellect standard, where I might have only seen once...multitasking, again from childhood onward! Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) You Can't Take it With You (1938) Gone With the Wind (1939) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Wizard of Oz (1939) Rebecca (1940) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Old Arsenic and Lace (1944) It's a Wonderful Life (1946)- This is my choice for greatest movie, especially because of the theme of showing the priceless precious gift of a single life. Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Rear Window (1954) Dial M for Murder (1954) Ben Hur (1959) Psycho (1960) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Sound of Music (1965) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) Gladiator (2000) The Incredibles (2004) Godzilla Minus One (2023) And then for, imo, best performances I can think of: Maria Falconetti's Joan (1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc) Ronald Colman's Sydney Carton (1935 A Tale of Two Cities) Charles Laughton's The Hunchback Quasimodo (1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame) Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lector and Ted Levine's Buffalo Bill (1991 Silence of the Lambs) along with best performances, these are also the most three dimensional characters from film I can remember- Longfellow Deeds Semple (1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town) Ernest Borgnine's Marty Piletti (1955 Marty) Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates (1960 Psycho) Paul Newman's Lucas Jackson (1967 Cool Hand Luke) Liv Ullman's Eva (1978 Autumn Sonata) Daniel Day Lewis' Reynolds Woodcock (2017 Phantom Thread) Merry Christmas to you and your family, Andrew. Luke 2:6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Scrooged is my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray’s speech at the end is delivered with such passion and sincerity it really brings the movie home.
@@stevenwiederholt7000 Oh, you’re right. I forgot that scene in the Bible where Jesus overturns the tables of the moneylenders, pulls out his Glock 9mm, and shoots wildly in every direction.
I am pleased to see that Mr. Klayvhan included The Bishop's Wife and gave it the proper "S" rating. When film that never seems to be on the list is the Albert Finney musical retelling of *A Christmas Carol "Scrooge!"* I believe it is an excellent film and we watch it every Christmas Eve before going to bed.
Well, I totally agree with Klavan on this.👍🏻 It’s a Wonderful Life and the the old Christmas Carol are two of the few films that brought tears to my eyes.
1984’s “A Christmas Carol” with George C. Scott is the greatest version of the story. The 1951 version is close, but Scott’s performance is too amazing.
Another great film is "It Happened on 5th Avenue" (1947). I prefer the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol" with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Cratchit. His real life daughter June Lockhart played one of Cratchit's daughters.
I watch Die Hard every Christmas Eve while wrapping presents and waiting for Santa. One year he arrived right as the roof exploded and scared the bejeebus out of us...
I saw "The bishops wife" for the first time last night and its a stone cold classic. Definitely deserved better than a quick grading. Also "Klaus" is an absolute belter
Frankly, Jim Carry's Grinch has the EXACT quality as Alastair Simm's Scrooge: Unlike the "standard" depiction of the character, he's NOT just a grouchy miser who needs a lesson in Christmas. He has a legitimate point of view, where you understand where he's coming from, and almost agree--especially with his speech at the event in the middle of the film.
My guy that’s why that movie sucks. They basically legitimized his hatred of the Who’s and Christmas by making the Who’s into villains. It’s like a revisionist history of the original story
@LynetteTheMadScientist In that case, My Girl...one might say the same about Alastair Simm's Scrooge. Be honest: The Grinch's critique is VERY valid for the real-world cometcialization of Christmas. And trivia note: Dr Seuss himself had the same feelings, living on a hill looking down at the city....
@josephwalsh7546 Art, perhaps. But that leads to a dichotomy: A great Grinch in a mediocre-looking film. Frankly, I have issues with how Alastair Simm's Christmas Carol drags on with stuff that isn't in the book (all the stuff about Scrooge's sister, for example), even though his portrayal of Scrooge is excellent.
In that scene clipped from Jingle All the Way, when the store clerk taps his buddy on the shoulder, the first clerk is voice actor extraordinaire Chris Parnell (Archer, Rick and Morty) and the guy who turns around was Mia's screenwriter neighbor in The Princess Diaries.
His take on White Christmas is exactly right. The 1952 musical Singing in the Rain is a comedic take on the early days of talkies, during a time when guys like Irving Berlin and Cole Porter would pitch their songs to Hollywood. In the movie, they can't figure out how to make their film work until they take the idea of using it as a framing device and just hanging a bunch of disparate songs around the bones of a story, and bam, movie musical. Which is how a lot of those movies were. The real punch line is that it's kind of a meta joke: Singing is itself a musical that just hangs a bunch of songs around a paper thin plot with likeable stars. White Christmas is one of the most famous and long lasting examples of Irving Berlin writing songs for movies about nothing.
I think its highly underrated. Really wish they would come out with Gremlins 3 and go back to this style of movie. I didn't really care for Gremlins 2, but I don't hate it.
@@simplemanchannel3318 Gremlins 2 is in the running for greatest sequel ever made for me. Specially when you know that the studio behind it basically demanded a sequel, so Chris Wales was just like “Any ridiculous thing you want to put in this movie, let’s go for it”. Funny enough, I’ve even heard that this is Quentin Tarantino’s pick for best sequel ever made too.
It's a Wonderful Life is one of the greatest movies ever made. S-tier even among non-Christmas movies. You absolutely can, and should, watch it every year. I like to watch it on Christmas Eve after my family goes to sleep. I sit next to the fire and drink spiced egg nog and mulled cider and enjoy the quiet before the excitement of Christmas morning. Aside from the following morning, it's my favorite couple of hours of the year
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I think a Muppet's Christmas Carol deserves a spot on this list. It shouldn't replace the 1951 version, but it just as much deserves a spot in S tier.
💯 The first Christmas movie I watch in November and the last one I watch in January. A masterpiece!
It's probably the best full-length Christmas movie you can watch with little kids. Michael Caine should've gotten an Oscar just for keeping a straight face and playing a great Scrooge with a bunch of puppets.
My 3 year old son and 19 month old daughter cannot get enough of it! They especially like Rizzo the Rat!
The perfect balance between Muppet Insanity and Serious Story. Michael Cain was a top tier Scrooge. Personally, I would put 3 versions of "A Christmas Carol" in the "S" Tier, Alister Sim, George C. Scott, and Muppets. Jim Carrey could have been there if they had left out the silly slapstick. Patrick Stewart has a good version as well.
By far the BEST ‘A Christmas Carol’ was the Mr. Magoo (cartoon) version . . .. .. (definitely an opinion)
Surprising twist- Klavan only likes the old movies
Because the newer features use Christmas to make lousy movies, lacking in any meaningful content. And that's not a "surprising twist."
I was suprised he liked jingle all the way, as much as he did. I thought that movie is a D at best.
@@raymondgregory In my opinion he doesn't like the right old Christmas movies. 😁 He neglected to mention, A Charlie Brown Christmas, George C Scott A Christmas Carol. And I completely disagree with him on Miracle on 34th Street. It is a wonderful movie and should be rated S in his system of rating.
@@raymondgregory those old movies were the best though
Or he could just like black and white movies lol
"It's a Wonderful Life" was a real playing-out of Jimmy Stewart's own demons. He mustered out of the US Army Air Forces with a case of PTSD. He'd commanded a bomber formation, and seen scores of young men die under his charge, and could only wonder if he'd done this, that, or the other thing differently how he might have saved their lives. When he returned from the war his entire professional life seemed a pathetic waste. He was ready to quit his film career, return to Pennsylvania, and seek a quiet life in his father's hardware business. Jimmy Stewart was a real-life "George Bailey." His closest friends in the film industry intervened, lobbied Frank Capra, convinced Stewart to play the role, and their love and the experience of "It's a Wonderful Life" pulled Jimmy Stewart back from the brink of chucking it all away.
What about the REAL "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"? Or "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?
Those are must-watch for us every year, even though our kids are all adults now!
Yes the real how the Grinch stole Christmas deserves a spot. Along with George C. Scott's rendition of Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is a classic. 👍👍
@KoshN Agreed 💯. There were some mentioned that I could have gone without, but I didn't make the video. 😅
They are both great,but they where TV specials, not movies.
Tremendous respect for A Christmas Carol, but it is simply not Christmas until It's a Wonderful Life has been shown in my home...every year.
I agree. I like Alstair Sims Scrooge, but It’s a Wonderful Life is a superior film.
The two films work together in a strangely satisfying way. I love both. It's a Wonderful Life is unique. There have been many versions of A Christmas Carol but none of the others even come close to capturing the spirit of Dickens' novel. When the men ask Scrooge to donate to the poor and he asks "Why?" That 'why' chills me to the bone.
@@TedLittle-yp7uj Yes, that part is exceptionally good.
@@TedLittle-yp7uj In the Alister Sims Scrooge, I shed tears EVERY TIME Bob Cratchett tries to put on a brave face after telling the family he visited the place where Time Tim will be buried. And then becoming overwhelmed with his loss, “Oh Tim, my tiny Tim!” Gets me EVERY TIME!
It's a Wonderful Life is the best movie of all time. I do watch it every year, and it gets better each time I see it.
I watch it every Christmas Eve 🙂
Amen! I actually like to watch it New Years.
One of my top five movies, not even just Christmas movies.
My favorite movie of all time. Makes me cry every time. It just hits something in the soul. True art. I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
Agreed.
Nightmare Before Christmas is really impressive on a technical level when you compare it to how janky every stop-motion movie preceding it was.
yea, the technical prowess outshines the actual story. Much like the Spiderverse films.
The Shop Around the Corner needs a mention too. S tier Christmas movie.
Agree, one of the best
Absolutely!
@@debrarodriguezestrada2748 An annual favorite around here.
C for Nightmare Before Christmas seems harsh. There was at least a message in there about not trying to meddle with things you don't understand, and it's certainly unique among Christmas films.
I thought he was being generous. E or F. I do not get why people like that film.
It’s also entertaining, very modest in length (so easily watchable), and technically brilliant. The only point of contention I’ve ever had with the film is that feels just a tad rushed in the second half, but it still concludes very well and sticks the landing at the end. Loved it as a kid, and still love it today. Probably has to be an S for me. Like you said, it’s completely unique in the best ways.
And the music is fantastic
None of the lyrics rhyme!! They "sort of" or "almost" rhyme, and that drives me nuts. F-.
“Interesting reaction … BUT WHAT DOES IT MEEEAN?”
Animated grinch is A tier borderline S
I would put the Chuck Jones Grinch as S tier.
No way!
If nothing else, it gave us that song. You know the one 💚
Yea OG Grinch needs to be on the list. They just adapted Seuss directly rather than adding a bunch of other bullcrap. Anyone who tries to rhyme like Seuss fails miserably.
“These are not going to be inflated ratings…[White Christmas] is a terrible terrible movie but I love it…I’ll give it an A” Alrighty then
It really is an embarrassment and if anybody saw me watching it I’d pretend I was reading a book and didn’t know it was on. But Rosemary Clooney is beyond gorgeous and Snow is a great song
I actually prefer holiday inn over white christmas
I love white Christmas lmao. I don't care if it's corny I'm gonna watch it every year.
Agreed. It is corny but so enjoyable!
I think Holiday Inn is much better and has more variety. White Christmas was boring.
Putting Elf and A Christmas Story in the same bracket is probably the worst thing I've seen all week.
there is no way elf deserves to be in the same ranks as a christmas story...
I agree. I’d give Elf a C.
Agreed. Christmas Story deserves a much lower score.
@childlikewarrior BOOOOOOO!
Elf is solid and fun. B tier is right.
@calvincoolidge1207 then a Christmas story should at least be an A
My favorite version of The Christmas Carol is the one with George C Scott as Scrooge and Edward Woodard as the ghost of Christmas Present.
This!!
This is a fascistic version!
George C.Scott is the only guy you come close to Alistair Simm!
I wish David Warner would have been Scrooge later in his life. He would have great, too.
His happiness at getting a second chance is genuinely infectious.
I totally agree. I absolutely love this movie. I thought George C. Scott personified the Scrooge I had always read about. Woodward was grand.
I usually watch the 1951, 1984 and 1999 versions of A Christmas Carol, and sometimes even the 1938 version of a Christmas Carol every year.
I’m a Gen Z who watched miracle on 34th for the first time last year and loved it
Christmas Story - B
Elf - B
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - B
It’s a Wonderful Life - S
How the Grinch Stole Christmas - C
White Christmas - A
Remember the Night - A
The Holiday - B
Love Actually - B
Jingle All The Way - B
The Nightmare Before Christmas- C
A Christmas Carol - S
Die Hard - S
Home Alone - A
Miracle on 34th Street - A
Gremlins - B
Scrooged- B
The Bishops Wife - S
Serendipity - Never Seen It
Christmas in Connecticut - A
Rudolph - that’s fine
The Santa Clause - B
Trading Places - B
Holiday Affair - B
Harold and Kumar Christmas - E
The muppet christmas carol is the GOAT. No exceptions
It's the American er-British way.
💯 The first Christmas movie I watch in November and the last one I watch in January. A masterpiece!
@connoromalley4004 yes, headmaster.
I don’t get why people like this one. It’s probably my least favorite version. I’d rather watch Mickey’s than Muppets.
Yeah. Some how Sir Michael Caine kept a straight face while acting with muppets.
The Bishop's Wife is my favorite, followed by It's A Wonderful Life and Christmas Carol. For fun, Christmas Story
Nightmare before Christmas doesn't deserve the low ranking, its amazing
I gave it a 6/10 and didn't get the hype.
Could not agree more about the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol. What an incredible film with a near mythical legacy
My favorite Christmas movie by far!
I want to recommend the 1970 musical ‘scrooge’. Some great characters, cast (Albert Finney, Alec Guiness etc) and fine score. The scene where the townspeople are dancing on Scrooge’s coffin, singing ‘Thank you very much’, is classic!
The Simm version of Scrooge is simply wonderful!
_The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe_ deserves a spot on this list. Yes, it's a Christmas book and movie. The Witch made is "always winter, but never Christmas". When Aslan comes and her spell begins to break, Father Christmas shows up in Narnia.
B tier but b-. Tbh I the lion witch and the wardrobe and narnia more generally is incredibly overrated, I remember liking the film as a kid, and I went back and watched it, and it’s really not that good
The most controversial thing here is not including Lethal Weapon (1987) on this list. I mean, COME ON! The Christmas easter eggs are secretly scattered!
The Bishops Wife, the Cary Grant one!
💯
Die Hard is the rated R version of Home Alone. So if Home Alone is a Christmas movie, so is Die Hard.
You're damn right it is.
Check out Violent Night. It's basically a Die Hard-Santa Clause crossover with an infusion of Home Alone 😄
Reindeer Games?
Violent night would have become a Christmas cable classic on channels like TNT, if people actually watched cable that way now.
@ Heck, on Plex there’s a channel with nothing but #Christmasmovies… if you like that sort of thing. I kinda liked #Santagirl.
Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) 1951 Alastair Sim. Absolute gem.
Die Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie. It’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls out of Nakatomi Plaza.
Putting Elf and Christmas Vacation in the same tier is sacrilegious. Elf is a D tier film. Christmas Vacation is A tier, borderline S tier.
I wouldn’t put Christmas Vacation as an S, but it’s infinitely superior to Elf.
I would agree. And I personally re-watch Christmas Vacation every year at Christmas time and I still always laugh at it. A tier.
That's a little heavy-handed on both sides. Christmas vacation is maybe a B+ or A-, Elf is a low B to a high C.
I want to hate Elf because it's modern, and love Christmas Vacation because of nostalgia. But if I'm being objective that's the reality
I completely agree about the 1951 Scrooge. It is the BEST!!! My favorite lines..."dear uncle, you've made Fred so heppy!" "I don't deserve to be so happy!" "I don't know anything, I never did know anything, but now I know that I don't know all on a Christmas....I must stand on my head"
Not having Miracle on 34th Street in S Tier is a war crime
1951 Christmas Carol is amazing but Wonderful Life takes the top spot.
I'm shocked at how much I agree with every one of your takes.
I agree with you. However, both movies are 10/10 so I could see why he would say that. I am a big Capra fan and love sentimental films.
A Christmas Story is S-tier for me. I can watch it over and over and laugh my head off every time.
100%.
Also I feel like he robbed Grinch 2000
@@damienmansfield3308if nothing else, the costumes and set designs were something to behold. It was the world of Suess brought to real life.
Personally, I prefer "Holiday Inn" to "White Christmas." Also, I've never seen "Remember the Night," but it's on my list now.
"Remember the Night" is really good. I watched it last year. Barbara Stanwyck is always enjoyable.
Not a movie but the Christmas episode of the Twilight Zone "Night of the Meek" is criminally underrated
That monologue by Art Carney tears your heart out.
It's a Wonderful Life was Brg. General, then Colonel, was the first movie he made after returning home from WW-II. He made a lot of great movies, but this one, I have to say, is his best work. Oh, I have seen it just about every year since I was 7. I turn 70 in February. It just never gets old. Good List!
I wonder what Kalvan would think about Klaus? It has some amazing themes and I look forward to it every year.
S tier.
Klaus is such a sleeper hit. That movie immediately made it into our yearly rotation. Heartfelt, visually-stunning, funny but not goofy, and very warm and honest.
Elf rates as high as Christmas Story? I'm outa here.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who dislikes Elf.
You gonna share some of that doobie you're token on? "Elf" on the same level as "A Christmas Story"? Elf starts at a C and goes downhill with each viewing. A Christmas Story is an "A", hands down! But, thumbs up on the video, because it is the Klavan, after all.
Its a wonderful life is well placed in S tier, exactly where it belongs.
the only part he got wrong is that you can't watch it every single year lol
Scrooge (1970 w/ Albert Finney) - would love to hear Klavan's thoughts on that. I've always found it to be the best version of A Christmas Carol.
So TRUE! I always wonder why it is often left out of the rankings as it is here! I watch it every year, and it never fails to bring a tear to my eye, and a song to my heart! I'll never know why this gem doesn't get more respect. IMHO, it's a definite S!
One of my favorites is the classic Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
Thank you - same here!
Way better than “White Christmas”, which I can finally watch by FF thru the scenes/songs/dance sequences I don’t like and add nothing to the movie.
Hope you'll add Klaus to the list next year. One of the few Netflix Original properties that is truly excellent.
I agree. The second is good, the third is meh. (I think there was three.)
I think it's originally in dutch, so the voice over can be a little weird initially
Agreed, I really loved that movie!
@@jameydunne3920 There is only one, I think you're mistaken about what he is referring to.
@@jameydunne3920 There's only one Klaus.
@@xKaidoh my bad. There must be another Netflix Christmas series I'm thinking of.
I watch It's a Wonderful Life every year for Christmas. It's my favorite. I love it. I also think a Christmas Story is "S" tier not "B". I never heard of Remember the Night. I have to check it out. Otherwise, I pretty much agree with you.
Joyeux Noel is one of my favorites. Its about the Christmas truce in WWI.
I haven't watched the video yet, but if A Muppet Christmas Carol isn't the number one movie, it's just a declaration of your intention to burn in hell.
I guess I like hot places because I’ve never liked this movie. I do not get people’s love for it.
My favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol is the Albert Finney musical.
“Thank you very much” and “Father Christmas” are GOATED.
Only ironically!
100%.. and I'll add "December the 25th" to the beloved song list.
100% the best and my 3rd favorite Christmas movie. The ending especially is magnificent.
Bad Santa, although raunchy, is absolutely hilarious
DEFINITELY should be on this list
THE REF
Period 🎄
I watch it every year.
Absolutely!! Thank you!! I know only 3 people who have seen The Ref, I don’t understand why it’s so underrated. It’s so good!!
My favorite by far is the 1951 British film Scrooge (released as A Christmas Carol in the U.S.), starring the magnificent Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge. I believe Dickens would be proud. Glad you selected it as one of your all-time favorites.
Where is Ernest Saves Christmas?
👍
I just watched it and found it cheesy but fun. 7/10. A pleasant surprise considering how Ernest goes to Camp stunk.
@@calvincoolidge1207 Yeah, but it was surprisingly horrifying to watch Lyle Alzado smash Ernest to pieces in that movie
I love Alistair Simms and the George C. Scott Christmas Carol both. Oh, and the Muppet Christmas Carol too. ☺️
There's a really bad but entertaining version with Mathew McConaughey
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
My favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol has got to be the 1984 adaptation with George C. Scott as Scrooge. George C. Scott takes this character and almost makes it seem like he genuinely delights in how cruel he is, not just some jaded curmudgeon like Scrooge is typically portrayed. And when he breaks down after seeing what’s yet to come, you can see just how remorseful he is and how much he regrets what he has done.
I was thinking of that one, too.
Scott's joy at being a miser is exactly the reason I do not like that version.
Fred Clause is my personal favourite Chrismas movie. Hilarious and heartwarming (and some tear jerker moments). Great acting. Story is a great take on Cain & Able. I watch it every year
Muppet Christmas Carol is S-tier, for sure.
11:22 'No polar express'
I shoulda just went to the comments.
Good visuals but I found the movie boring.
@@calvincoolidge1207 Good visuals? It's infamous for being one of the ugliest animated films of all time. It's laughable and horrifying at the same time.
@@SeraphsWitness The humans are a bit weird looking. I was impressed with how the North Pole looked as well as the train. I just felt the characters were bland and the story was a bit weak.
The best part of Home Alone is watching Joe Pesci try not to talk like Joe Pesci to keep it PG. He borrowed all the best rassa-frassas from Muttley.
Honestly that was masterful, I thought the same thing. Pesci killed it. To be able to sound like you're being explicit while not actually doing it is impressive. The bad guys came across as genuinely dangerous in that movie, even while also pulling off some slapstick comedy. That's a VERY hard line to walk, and something future installments cannot pull off. Usually in "kids beating adults" movies, the adults just come across as completely idiotic cartoon characters. There's never a sense of genuine danger.
Home Alone walked the line brilliantly. And they didn't shy away from the dark visual aesthetic either.
It's a Wonderful Life and Scrooge (1951) are both perfect movies, not just Christmas movies, always great to revisit them...
We have the same taste. If you had given Alistair Simm any less than an S, I would have visited you on Christmas Eve with two other spirits for a reckoning. Also, I can watch Jimmy Stewart every year... totally can do... it cleanses my soul from all the bad crap that they call entertainment during the rest of the year.
My top 3:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. White Christmas
3. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer or the cartoon Grinch or Muppet’s Christmas Carol
Do love Die Hard also, but not in a Christmas-y sort of way.
Whoever put The Polar Express over the screen is a monster! lol, that movie was nightmare fuel made of uncanny valley
Agreed! Creepy as all get out! Mannequins! Eerily non human vibe!
Thank you! I'm so glad to finally hear someone else admit that the Jim Carrey Grinch movie wasn't very good. I don't really care for it, but it seems like everyone else loves it. I think that the makeup work that Rick Baker did for the film was excellent and I also think Jim Carrey was amazing with his facial expressions, but I just don't think the script was that good. I'm not one of these people that thinks that a sequel or a reboot can never be as good as the original, but in the case of The Grinch, I think that the 1960s cartoon movie was perfect and I really don't think that any reboot of it will ever work.
It's just the added story bits that feel disjointed. Same with the new animated one. You can't add to Dr. Seuss. It's just not possible.
@SeraphsWitness yeah, I agree. I also think that the added story details in the live-action movie kind of make the parts that depict the original storyline feel kind of awkward. I also think the live-action movie just has this weird feel to it where the tone isn't balanced properly. It's fine to put some humor in an overall serious film or some serious moments in a comedy, but you get this feeling that the Grinch had a genuine hatred for the Whos and had a major change of heart in the cartoon whereas it's difficult to tell what his true motives are in the different scenes in the live-action version. In the sequence where he steals from the Whos houses, it kind of feels unclear whether he's genuinely angry at them or if he's just doing it because he thinks it's funny.
@@GregoryJordanStewart I agree. In both re-tellings, they made the Grinch way TOO sympathetic from the start. There was no sense of his evil or hatred. They had to give him strained backstories about how badly he had been treated. Making the Whos look like the bad guys. Moral Relativism nonsense.
Also the new animated one was just way too bright and cheery in the Grinch's cave. It looked just as bright as Whoville, which is absurd. It should be dark and twisted to mirror the Grinch's character.
What about The Shop Around the Corner, the animated How the Grinch Stoke Christmas, Holiday Inn, The Apartment, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Express, Arthur Christmas, While You Were Sleeping, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Little Drummer Boy, Muppets Christmas Carol, Batman Returns?
Andrew, here are three more for you.
1. One Magic Christmas (1985) - I especially like Harry Dean Stanton as Gideon. 👍👍
2. An American Christmas Carol (1979). 👍👍
3. Dutch (1991). 👍👍
A Christmas Carol, 1984 (George C. Scott) and 1999 (Patrick Stewart), are also very good.
One Magic Christmas. Good movie!
Dutch is good but its a Thanksgiving movie. Underrated.
Elf and Christmas story in the same level! Nay!!! I adore Christmas story maybe because my grandpa is the dad to a T. My favorite bar none
The Lemon Drop Kid starring Bob Hope. One of my favorites
Silver Bells!
If you had not given such a great review of Alistair Sim’s Scrooge then I would have never listened to you again…😂
Great list! Merry Christmas!
My little brother watched home alone every day for 2 years when he was a kid.
Everyone always asks if die hard is a Christmas movie, but no one ever brings up lethal weapon which has pretty much all of the same criteria
That's true, Leathal Weapon did take place at Christmas time. It should be considered a Christmas movie too, if Die Hard is.
Batman Returns as well.
Lethal Weapon is my next Christmas movie purchase!
Die Hard being S-tier was the only thing I came for. Thank you, Drew!
Muppet Christmas Carol is supreme. That is a fact.
💯 The first Christmas movie I watch in November and the last one I watch in January. A masterpiece
I don’t get people’s love for that film. I tried to watch it and couldn’t stay awake.
What's This? Glad to see It's a Wonderful Life S-tier! And glad to hear the praise for Jimmy Stewart as an actor. Imo, Claude Rains, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cary Grant are amazing, but I consider Jimmy Stewart the greatest actor. And....not only do I consider It's a Wonderful Life the greatest Christmas movie, but greatest movie of all time!
If interested, from my mixed meme-machine multiple-choice memory from a fuzzy childhood onward, these are imo 10/10 movies I can remember, trying to be relatively impartial with my flawed intellect standard, where I might have only seen once...multitasking, again from childhood onward!
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
You Can't Take it With You (1938)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Wizard of Oz (1939)
Rebecca (1940)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Old Arsenic and Lace (1944)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)- This is my choice for greatest movie, especially because of the theme of showing the priceless precious gift of a single life.
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Rear Window (1954)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Ben Hur (1959)
Psycho (1960)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Sound of Music (1965)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)
Gladiator (2000)
The Incredibles (2004)
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
And then for, imo, best performances I can think of:
Maria Falconetti's Joan (1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc)
Ronald Colman's Sydney Carton (1935 A Tale of Two Cities)
Charles Laughton's The Hunchback Quasimodo (1939 The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lector and Ted Levine's Buffalo Bill (1991 Silence of the Lambs)
along with best performances, these are also the most three dimensional characters from film I can remember-
Longfellow Deeds Semple (1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town)
Ernest Borgnine's Marty Piletti (1955 Marty)
Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates (1960 Psycho)
Paul Newman's Lucas Jackson (1967 Cool Hand Luke)
Liv Ullman's Eva (1978 Autumn Sonata)
Daniel Day Lewis' Reynolds Woodcock (2017 Phantom Thread)
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Andrew.
Luke 2:6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Scrooged is my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray’s speech at the end is delivered with such passion and sincerity it really brings the movie home.
There are 2 types of people. Those that say Die Hard is a Christmas movie and those who are Wrong.
And its a Gun Guy's movie too!
Really? Machine guns and terrorist? I suppose anything about 9/11 is a Labor Day classic because it was in September?
Okay, Die Hard is a Christmas movie but it's absolute trash.
@@theophrastus3.056
WRONG!
@@stevenwiederholt7000 Oh, you’re right. I forgot that scene in the Bible where Jesus overturns the tables of the moneylenders, pulls out his Glock 9mm, and shoots wildly in every direction.
3:18 Can't watch it every year? Can't watch it every year and still enjoy it? Pssht. Watch me.
Sometimes 2 times
I have to say I don’t agree on miracle on 34th st. I think it’s one of the sweetest, fanciful takes on Christmas
As a lover of comedy, Jim Carrey’s Grinch is one of my favorite Christmas movies because the punchlines rarely miss
Sleeper…Ernest saves Christmas. I know that sounds absurd but it’s better than one might think.
Thank you for covering Remember the Night! It has a great twist at the end which brings it home without being schmaltzy
It does not get the attention it deserves.
TCM runs it.
I am pleased to see that Mr. Klayvhan included The Bishop's Wife and gave it the proper "S" rating.
When film that never seems to be on the list is the Albert Finney musical retelling of *A Christmas Carol "Scrooge!"* I believe it is an excellent film and we watch it every Christmas Eve before going to bed.
1. Comedy - Christmas Vacation. 1. Drama - A Christmas Carol
Well, I totally agree with Klavan on this.👍🏻 It’s a Wonderful Life and the the old Christmas Carol are two of the few films that brought tears to my eyes.
Salute for recognizing that The Bishop’s Wife is S Tier. What a total classic!
1984’s “A Christmas Carol” with George C. Scott is the greatest version of the story. The 1951 version is close, but Scott’s performance is too amazing.
Fred Claus is wildly underrated. It’s better than Elf. It’s funny and has some genuinely emotional moments.
Another great film is "It Happened on 5th Avenue" (1947). I prefer the 1938 version of "A Christmas Carol" with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Cratchit. His real life daughter June Lockhart played one of Cratchit's daughters.
I watch Die Hard every Christmas Eve while wrapping presents and waiting for Santa. One year he arrived right as the roof exploded and scared the bejeebus out of us...
I saw "The bishops wife" for the first time last night and its a stone cold classic. Definitely deserved better than a quick grading. Also "Klaus" is an absolute belter
Frankly, Jim Carry's Grinch has the EXACT quality as Alastair Simm's Scrooge: Unlike the "standard" depiction of the character, he's NOT just a grouchy miser who needs a lesson in Christmas. He has a legitimate point of view, where you understand where he's coming from, and almost agree--especially with his speech at the event in the middle of the film.
My guy that’s why that movie sucks. They basically legitimized his hatred of the Who’s and Christmas by making the Who’s into villains. It’s like a revisionist history of the original story
The art of the cartoon was much better than the crappy scenery and costumes
of the movie which looked severely " low rent "
@LynetteTheMadScientist In that case, My Girl...one might say the same about Alastair Simm's Scrooge. Be honest: The Grinch's critique is VERY valid for the real-world cometcialization of Christmas. And trivia note: Dr Seuss himself had the same feelings, living on a hill looking down at the city....
@josephwalsh7546 Art, perhaps. But that leads to a dichotomy: A great Grinch in a mediocre-looking film. Frankly, I have issues with how Alastair Simm's Christmas Carol drags on with stuff that isn't in the book (all the stuff about Scrooge's sister, for example), even though his portrayal of Scrooge is excellent.
@@Hard_Boiled_Entertainment The run time is 1hr 26m. It can hardly be said to drag on.
Mr Krueger Christmas is a great one.
In that scene clipped from Jingle All the Way, when the store clerk taps his buddy on the shoulder, the first clerk is voice actor extraordinaire Chris Parnell (Archer, Rick and Morty) and the guy who turns around was Mia's screenwriter neighbor in The Princess Diaries.
Muppet's Christmas Carol is the must watch for me every year.
Now we just need a "Muppets It's a Wonderful Life".
His take on White Christmas is exactly right.
The 1952 musical Singing in the Rain is a comedic take on the early days of talkies, during a time when guys like Irving Berlin and Cole Porter would pitch their songs to Hollywood. In the movie, they can't figure out how to make their film work until they take the idea of using it as a framing device and just hanging a bunch of disparate songs around the bones of a story, and bam, movie musical. Which is how a lot of those movies were. The real punch line is that it's kind of a meta joke: Singing is itself a musical that just hangs a bunch of songs around a paper thin plot with likeable stars.
White Christmas is one of the most famous and long lasting examples of Irving Berlin writing songs for movies about nothing.
How did Cage's Family Man not hit the list? Great variation on the Wonderful Life/Christmas Carol vibe.
Only one I disagree with is Gremlins. That’s S Tier. Not just for Christmas movies, but for all movies ever made.
I think its highly underrated. Really wish they would come out with Gremlins 3 and go back to this style of movie. I didn't really care for Gremlins 2, but I don't hate it.
@@simplemanchannel3318 Gremlins 2 is in the running for greatest sequel ever made for me. Specially when you know that the studio behind it basically demanded a sequel, so Chris Wales was just like “Any ridiculous thing you want to put in this movie, let’s go for it”. Funny enough, I’ve even heard that this is Quentin Tarantino’s pick for best sequel ever made too.
A Christmas Carol with George C Scott is one of my faves.
How DARE you put "Elf" on the same tier as "A Christmas Story"?
How DARE you!
It's a Wonderful Life is one of the greatest movies ever made. S-tier even among non-Christmas movies. You absolutely can, and should, watch it every year. I like to watch it on Christmas Eve after my family goes to sleep. I sit next to the fire and drink spiced egg nog and mulled cider and enjoy the quiet before the excitement of Christmas morning. Aside from the following morning, it's my favorite couple of hours of the year
See 2019's Klaus, it really is good and heartwarming. And 1984's A Christmas Carol with George C Scott is wonderful too.