Christmas In The Movies Part 2 Turtle Doves

 

Now we conclude the Man Hole's favorite 20 movies with Christmas appearing in them.  Not necessarily a Christmas movie but a movie that just happens to occur around Christmas is acceptable as well.  Thems be my rules on the subject.  Here then is the second half of the list or the top 10 biggies.  I'm guessing that everyone has seen at least one of the top 10 and probably more.

 

 

10. The Family Man (2000)

 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni, and Don Cheadle.  Directed by Brett Ratner.  Box Office gross of nearly $125 million. 

Part A Christmas Carol and part It's a Wonderful Life.  A wealthy Wall Street executive gets to see what his life would be like if he had made a different decision 13 years prior.  A mushy family drama to be sure.  

"I know we could both go on with our lives and we'd both be fine, but I've seen what we could be like together. And I choose us."    

9. Die Hard (1988)

 

Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, and Bonnie Bedellia.  Box office gross of nearly $141 million. 



New York City Detective John McClane has just arrived in Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife.  Unfortunately, it is not going to be a Merry Christmas for everyone.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker."

 

8. A Christmas Story (1983)

 

Starring Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, and Darren McGavin.  Written and narrated by Jean Shepherd.  Box office gross of over $19 million not counting the countless times it's on TBS every year.

Ralphie, a young boy growing up, dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun. He sets out to convince the world this is the perfect gift. But along the way, he runs into opposition from his parents, his teacher, and even good 'ol Santa Claus himself.



 "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

7.  Home Alone (1990)

 

Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern.  Written by John Hughes and Directed by Christopher Columbus.  Box office gross of over $476 million.



An 8-year-old boy who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas must defend his home against idiotic burglars.   

"Keep the change, ya filthy animal!"

 

 

 6.  Elf  (2003)

 

Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Bob Newhart.  Directed by John Favreau.  Box office gross of over $225 million.

After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity.

"You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa."

 

 

 5. The Santa Claus (1994)

 

Starring: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, and  Wendy Crewson.  Box office gross of just under $190 million.

When a man inadvertently kills Santa on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.   

"The Santa Clause: In putting on this suit and entering the sleigh, the wearer waives any and all rights to any previous identity, real or implied, and fully accepts the duties and responsibilities of Santa Claus, in perpetuity until such time that the wearer becomes unable to do so, by either accident or design."

 

 

4. Christmas Vacation (1989)

 

Starring:Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, and Juliette Lewis.  Written by John Hughes.  Box office total of over $71 million.

It's Christmas time and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration, but things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen and their two kids.

"Hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?"

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

 

Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, and Catherine O'Hara.  Produced and written by Tim Burton.  Box office gross of over $75 million.

Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is bored with doing the same thing every year for Halloween. One day he stumbles into Christmas Town, and is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he tries to get the resident bats, ghouls, and goblins of Halloween town to help him put on Christmas instead of Halloween but alas, they can't get it quite right.

"'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place perhaps you've seen in your dreams. For the story you're about to be told began with the holiday worlds of auld. Now you've probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven't I'd say it's time you begun."

 

 

2. Scrooge (1951)

 

Starring: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison.  Brian Desmond Hurst directed and produced this adaption of  Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.  

The Man Hole's favorite version of this Christmas classic.  

"Well, my friend, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm simply not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. Which leaves me no choice, but to raise your salary."  

 1. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

 

Starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore.  Written, produced, and directed by Frank Capra.  Box office totals of over $3 million dollars when first released; it has since been watched by countless millions each holiday season.  A Christmas classic that consistently ranks in the top ten of the AFI 100 best movies of all time.  

An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

"My mouth's bleeding, Bert! My mouth's bleeding!"