Freep a poll!!( Best Christmas movie ever?)

www.countypressonline.com ^ | 12-20-06 | County Press Online

[dynachrome]

The best Christmas movie is?

A- It’s a Wonderful Life

B- A Christmas Story

C- A Christmas Carol (Alastair Sim)

D- Scrooged

E- Miracle On 34th Street

F- White Christmas

G- Santa Claus Conquers The Martians

H- Elf

[dynachrome]

This is a tough one. I have seen them all. If you want to traumatize your kids for life, make 'em watch "Santa Claus Conquers the Martins"

[dynachrome]

"You'll put your eye out!"

FREEP THIS POLL ***PING!*** FRmail me if you want to be added or removed from the Fearless Poll-Freeping Freepers Ping list. And be sure to ping me to any polls that need Freepin', if I miss them. (looks like a medium volume list) (gordongekko909, founder of the pinglist, stays on the list until his death by zot is confirmed or his ghost signs up for the list)

[elc]

"Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window."

[DaveLoneRanger]

No opinion on this. Haven't seen them all, but I guess I'd have to go with White Christmas.

[Dixie Yooper]

Why wasn't Downhill Racer on the list?

[Cyclopean Squid]

The Night They Saved Christmas--about oil companies dynamiting the North Pole, which threatens to destroy the Workshop. Santa abducts the head guy's family to show them he exists, but the guy believes his competitors have drugged his family and brainwashed them.

No, it's not bad on purpose. But it is so bad it's awesome.

[Lucky9teen]

Scrooged in my choice. I LOVE that movie. Although I never saw any of the others, except Elf, which was good too, but not as classic as Scrooged, IMO.

[backinthefold]

What???

No Ernest Saves Christmas???

[the OlLine Rebel]

My husband saw "SC Conquers" IN THE THEATER as a kid!

Anyway, I'd not choose any of the modern farces (that includes Christmas Story, while I like it it is still a bit too cynical/disrespectful for Xmas). Everything has to be "funny", usually in many obnoxious ways.

I won't choose Wonderful Life because IT'S NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE!

Not Alistair Sim's CC either, because when seeing the TV movie with George Scott, that beats all.

So, because the others have automatic knocks against them, and I LOVE the movie anyway, I have to go with
MIRACLE ON 34TH ST. (original, I assume - although I much like the newest movie too).

Edmund Gwenn...the REAL Santa Claus....

[Lucky9teen]

Ok, duh...I did see a Christmas Story and it is a great movie, AND a classic. But I still go with Scrooged.

[caver]

They looked at me like I had lobsters coming out of my ears.

[dynachrome]

Scrooged is right up there. Bill Murray at his best!

[SoCal Pubbie]

Please explain your reasoning about It's a Wonderful Life.

[najida]

It's a tie between A Christmas Story and Scrooged.

[JRios1968]

Elf!

[the OlLine Rebel]

It is mostly a biography!

It just happens the movie ends up at Christmas Eve, and only has a tiny bit showing any Christmas to it. In fact, I don't think angel Clarence even mentions anything special about Christmas!

It's just incidental.


For all this, it's amazing MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS isn't mentioned more. I mean, it devotes the same amount of time to Christmas. At least TCM recognizes that and is showing it on Xmas Eve and Xmas day! But the general populace - if you think of Wonderful Life, you may as well put ST. LOUIS in there, too!



Speaking of movies never mentioned - and indeed, this 1 is shown throughout the whole year! on the movie channel - in Xmas discussions:

BISHOP'S WIFE (Cary Grant)


THAT is a Christmas movie and it is wonderful.

[ExSoldier]

I love A Christmas Story for it's classic Americana and it's something most folks my age can identify with. I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!

But when I watch It's A Wonderful Life in the original B&W I always wind up in gagging tears at the end. Yes...exsoldiers cry, too. It's always a great way to vent a years worth of stress AND reflect on a loving God who sacrificed his Son for my sin.

[Charles Henrickson]

BISHOP'S WIFE (Cary Grant) THAT is a Christmas movie and it is wonderful.

Yes, "The Bishop's Wife," with Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young (and a good supporting cast including James Gleason, Monty Wooley, and Elsa Lanchester) is probably my favorite Christmas movie.

Jean Shepherd's "A Christmas Story" is probably tied for first.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Then you must agree that A Christmas Carol is not a Christmas movie either.

The two basic plots are nearly identical. A cynical man, who's lost his ability to see the good in others or his own life, is visited by a spirit on Christmas Eve, shown what his life has been (in the case of George Bailey, by showing how it would have affected others had he never lived), realizes that there is joy in life after all, and is reunited to spend Christmas with his family in the spirit of the Season at the end.

I'm afraid I can't agree with you at all.

[ExSoldier]

It is mostly a biography! It just happens the movie ends up at Christmas Eve, and only has a tiny bit showing any Christmas to it.

Well, you're mostly correct, it is a biography, but it would have absolutely zero point if the climax were any OTHER period of time. The movie is full of Christmas imagery. To be overtly more so would make the film clunky.

It is a wonderful demonstration on the nature of grace. When did GRACE for Christians begin? Could it be upon the birth of the Saviour? Certainly grace was realized for all eternity with the Crucifixion and resurrection. But it began...with the birth of Jesus.

When George Baily realizes that grace on the bridge when he prays to be given his life back....jail potential and all....and he sprints thru the snowy streets screaming Merry Christmas to everyone and everything (including the Building & Loan he "hates") you think that's accidental? Imagine him doing the same thing but screaming HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Would it work?

Remember the second to the last line of the movie: The little kid observes a bell ring on the Christmas Tree and says: Look daddy! Teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings! Would it have worked if they'd been at a Halloween Party? Would the scene have made any sense at all?

The entire movie was a demonstration of the grace given by God thru Christ Jesus but played out in the life of one man. One man who sacrificed his whole life unnoticed (he thinks) so that others might benefit. He gave up his honeymoon money to keep the Building & Loan Company open during the opening days of the Great Depression. He let Harry (his brother) go off to college first...and then there wasn't enough money for HIM to go away....and he never complained.....do we see any Christian parallels?

[ExSoldier]

Not Alistair Sim's CC either, because when seeing the TV movie with George Scott, that beats all.

Actually, I think the portrayal of Scooge by Patrick Stewart is the best one of all. It's probably the most recent, but I think his performance does the most justice to the character. George C. Scott isn't (wasn't? He's gone, right?) even British! Nor did he attempt to sound British. An American Scrooge? Outrageous!

[MplsSteve]

Yeah, Die Hard isn't on the list either.

That's a Christmas movie too...well, sort of.

[the OlLine Rebel]

No, he was the most realistic in manner. His gruffness and growling was perfect, partly from his natural voice, as well as how it was delivered (no fake punctuated "clear" "Bah Humbug"!, they were more naturally rolled into the speech).

Stewart was good but he still wasn't delivering the way Scott did.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Not to me. Scrooge is set up AT Christmas clearly, has CHRISTMASES past, etc, shown to him (NOT his whole life), and redeems himself on Christmas at the behest of CHRISTMAS spirits.

It is totally Christmas-related.

IAWL is too general, if you ask me.

And it wasn't even KNOWN until the mid-'80s. I experienced it just before it became "known" never mind hugely popular.

[trisham]

The best Christmas movie is? A- It’s a Wonderful Life
26.1%

B- A Christmas Story
43.5%

C- A Christmas Carol (Alastair Sim)
13.0%

D- Scrooged
4.3%

E- Miracle On 34th Street
13.0%

F- White Christmas
0.0%

G- Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
0.0%

H- Elf
0.0%

votes: 23

[the OlLine Rebel]

Of course you can use Christmas as a great backdrop for it.

But it WOULD work as a totally holiday-free movie. Where did Clarence even TALK ABOUT CHRISTMAS?

The man was trying to kill himself. That can happen any time. And a person can be saved (even by an angel) any time.

[the OlLine Rebel]

LOL yes, many people mention "DIE HARD" as an Xmas movie!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1756288/posts?page=16#16

[linda_22003]

I don't think my husband and I would fit in very well; my favorite Christmas movie is "Christmas in Connecticut" with Barbara Stanwyck, and his is "Die Hard".

[sean327]

A Christmas Story.

"You'll soot your eye out kid"

[CollegeRepublican]

Where is Christmas Vacation? Or Bad Santa :)

Seriously Christmas Vacation and Scrooged are my favorites. Die Hard is third.


Clark: Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?
Eddie: Naw, I'm doing just fine, Clark.

[BenLurkin]

The best Christmas movie is? A- It’s a Wonderful Life
25.0%

B- A Christmas Story
39.3%

C- A Christmas Carol (Alastair Sim)
10.7%

D- Scrooged
10.7%

E- Miracle On 34th Street
14.3%

F- White Christmas
0.0%

G- Santa Claus Conquers The Martians
0.0%

H- Elf
0.0%

votes: 28

[Gone_Postal]

I have seen them all and for me its a tie with the first 3

[BenLurkin]

[BenLurkin]

Scrooge fires Bobcat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv5W6sKepYg

[ConsistentLibertarian]

The best Christmas movie of all time?

Bad Santa (Miramax, 2003).

[CharlesWayneCT]

It matches the genre. Man loses his way, is confronted by a lot of evil "spirits", finds his true nature, and is reunited with his family for Christmas.

Plus we get to see lots of things blowed up.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Bad Santa (Miramax, 2003).

Yes!

[MplsSteve]

LOL! All very true!

[CharlesWayneCT]

Do ANY of these movies actually deal with the religious character of Christmas?

The "scrooge" storyline doesn't deal with it, nor does "It's a wonderful life". Sure, there's "redemption", but only a humanistic "making oneself better" type, not a conversion experience.


"A Christmas Story" is a hiliarious classic, but has no religious overtones at all.

I haven't seen a couple of those movies, was Miracle on 34th street religious?

Where are the truly spiritual christmas movies, and why aren't they beloved? We have "A Charlie Brown Christmas", is that it? Of course, there's "The Nativity" this year, but it isn't doing much at the box office.

Sorry, I'm just having trouble figuring out if Hollywood has in fact done it's best to completely obscure what Christmas is all about, and this list is the proof.

[linda_22003]

When I started laughing out loud BEFORE the opening credits, I knew I was in for a wild ride. :-D

[CFC__VRWC]

Eddie: You surprised to see us, Clark?
Clark: Oh, Eddie... If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now.

[linda_22003]

Miracle on 34th Street is about the Santa Claus at Macy's who believes he is the real Santa, and has to prove in court that he should not be committed. It is a lovely story, but not religious.

I do not, however, think this is an evil plot on Hollywood's part to "obscure what Christmas is all about". I think Hollywood is about selling what people will buy. Your statement that "The Nativity" is doing badly at the box office would seem to confirm this.

[CollegeRepublican]

This is one of my favorite scenes:

Mary (Nicolette Scorsese): "Can I show you something?"
Clark: "Ah. I was just smelling - smiling. I was just blouse - browsing. "
Mary: "For your wife or your girlfriend?"
Clark: "What? What happened? Whoof! I guess it wouldn't be any... Whoa! It wouldn't be the christmas shopping season if the stores were any less hooter than - hotter than they are. Whoo! It is warm in here."
Mary: "Well, you have your coat on."
Clark: "Oh, do I? How did that happen?"
Mary: "Because, it's cold out."
Clark: "Yes, it's a bit nippely out. I mean nippy out. (laughs) What did I say, nipple? Ah, there is a nip in the air though."
Mary: "Can I take something out for you?"
Clark: "(laughs) I was just looking at something for my wife, god rest her soul."
Mary: "Oh god, I'm so sorry."
Clark: "Oh no no no, she's not dead. We're just divorced. She's history. And, obviously she doesn't wear underwear. And, there are plenty of shopping days left until aduteries - adulthood - which is to say christmas, as in yule, yule log. Not a log, I don't have a log. I mean you know. If I had a log, not in the sence that you think I said I did. (laughs) Good golly. Tis the season to be merry."
Mary: "That,s my name."
Clark: "No bleep!"

[napscoordinator]

I am sorry but I love the one with George C. Scott! The worst IMHO is the one with Frasier Crane (Can't remember his real name). I can't believe they made that crap. But I have the George C. Scott one and watch it every year and sometimes even in July....lol.

[ConsistentLibertarian]

You rock. Tell me your single :-)

[linda_22003]

Sorry, my husband was howling at it, right next to me. A friend of mine works for Lauren Graham's father, and he didn't want to go see the movie for fear of what he'd see his daughter doing (and with Billy Bob Thornton, no less!). Her mother had to go first, and report back that she thought he could handle it! :)

[ConsistentLibertarian]

Your husband is a lucky, lucky man ;-)

[CardShark]

Call me old fashioned, but I have to go with It's a Wonderful life!

[MacArthur]

" A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Sim.

[ExSoldier]

TNT is running the Patrick Stewart version RIGHT NOW! LOL I'm lovin' it.