LIFE'S A PEARL

Happy December everyone! I always love to embrace the holiday spirit for the whole month of December. Luckily my husband feels the same way. This year, for both personal and pandemic reasons, I’ve been looking forward to the holidays since before October!

We planned our holiday activity list early and started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. One of the simplest ways to get into the Christmas mood at our house is settling in to watch a holiday movie under a cozy blanket and with a cup of hot chocolate or cider. Between the two of us we have quite the collection of favorites.

Here are 10 of our favorite Christmas Movies:

 

1. The Family Stone

When Everett Stone brings his straight laced career oriented girlfriend, Meredith, home to meet his eccentric family over Christmas, chaos ensues. The harder she tries to fit in with his parents and four siblings, the worse things become until she eventually calls in her sister, Julie, for reinforcements.

This is my all time favorite because it’s funny, sweet, and emotional with an amazing cast. Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Claire Danes star along with Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, and Luke Wilson. I love all things with big crazy families and the Stones are definitely that. No matter how many times I see it, this movie still cracks me up!

 

2. Elf

Buddy, a human, grew up among Santa’s elves after he was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a baby. When he realizes as a adult that he doesn’t fit in, he travels to New York to search for his real father. His real father turns out to be a cynical businessman, Walter Hobbs. After a DNA test proves he is Buddy’s father the two attempt to form a relationship which wreaks havoc on Walter’s life.

This movie is a favorite among my husband’s family. His sister even has a dog named Buddy after the main character. It’s a hilarious story and probably one of my favorite Will Ferrell movies.

 

3. Love Actually

Love Actually follows several intertwined love stories over the Christmas holidays in London. Some are about falling in love, some about unrequited love, some about friendship, and some about love ending. It stars a huge cast including Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, and Hugh Grant.

This is my favorite Christmas romance. It was the first of the big holiday movies I saw featuring a huge cast and multiple story lines.  I love how all the characters are linked and each story comes together for the holiday.

 

4. The Christmas Card

Cody Cullen, a soldier, receives an anonymous Christmas card while serving overseas. Touched by the letter, he decides to search for the woman who sent it once he’s stateside again. He winds up in a small town in Northern California where he meets Faith and stays for the holidays to help out at her family’s lumber mill. Cody and Faith grow closer until her long distance boyfriend shows up.

This is my husband’s favorite Christmas romance. The Christmas Card is set and filmed in a town near where we grew up.

 

5. Holiday in the Wild

When her husband asks for a divorce, Kate Conrad travels alone on their second honeymoon to Zambia. There she meets Derek, a pilot. While out on a scenic tour one day, they rescue a baby elephant together. Kate winds up falling in love with the baby, the elephant sanctuary, and possibly more when she decides to stay past her vacation to volunteer her veterinary skills.

I consider this a holiday movie since some of it takes place over Christmas. The Netflix Christmas romances have pretty much been misses for me, but I enjoyed this one likely because of Rob Lowe and the elephants.

 

6. Just Friends

Chris Brander is a handsome and successful record producer involved with a pop star, Samantha James. When his holiday plans fall through, he is forced to return home for Christmas for the first time in a decade. There he has to deal with the embarrassment of long ago confessing his feelings for his best friend, Jamie Palamino, when she wanted to remain just friends. On top of his shame, he realizes he may still have feelings for her, tries to contain his crazy girlfriend, and prevent Jamie from making a mistake by dating someone else.

My husband likes this not terribly Christmasy comedy and I’ll watch anything with Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, or Chris Klein. It’s full of humor with a touch of romance and some 90s boy band music.

 

7. White Christmas

After serving in World War II, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis are making it big as singers in nightclubs and later on Broadway. When an old buddy asks them to check out his sisters, Betty and Judy’s act, they do just that and fall smitten with the two ladies. There are lots of arguments and shenanigans until the two duos agree to perform a Christmas show together in rural Vermont to help save their old commander’s inn.

Fittingly, I love the music in this old Christmas musical. The tunes, story, and setting are comforting to me.

 

8. Home Alone

When Kevin McCallister is accidentally left at home by his family heading to Paris for the holidays, he assumes his wish to have no family has come true. At first he is ecstatic to have the house to himself, but as two burglars target the empty houses on his street, he has to figure out how to protect his family home alone.

This is a classic Christmas comedy from when my husband and I were little. I had a ball watching it with my niece recently, realizing the humor holds up over the 30 years since it’s release.

 

9. The Santa Clause

Scott is a divorced dad who really wants his son, Charlie to keep believing in Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve night he hears a noise on the roof and interrupts Santa, startling him into slipping off the roof. When Scott puts on the disappeared man’s red suit, he and Charlie are swept up into an adventure to the North Pole due to a legal technicality known as “The Santa Clause”. Scott wakes up the next morning in his own bed believing everything to have been a dream but over the course of the next year, strange things start to happen, like gaining a big round belly and growing a white beard.

The Santa Clause is another classic comedy from when we were little. I love Tim Allen and adored this movie along with its sequels as a kid. It still fills me with nostalgia.

 

10. Jack Frost

Here’s another Christmas movie with a son named Charlie. Jack Frost is a musician dreaming of stardom but his touring keeps him from spending much time with his wife, Gabby, and son, Charlie. When he has to leave for a show before Christmas he gives Charlie his favorite harmonica. Jack dies in a car accident trying to return home on Christmas Day. The following year, missing his father, Charlie plays a tune on the harmonica and is surprised to find it has magically brought his father back to life as a snowman, giving Jack and Charlie a second chance to make up for lost time.

This is another Christmas movie from my childhood. It stars Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, and Joseph Cross. It’s a bittersweet story. I always loved the funny adventures of Charlie and his snowman father.

 

Other Posts for Getting in the Holiday Spirit:

• A Christmas Book List
• Holiday Diffuser Blends
• Ideas for Handmade Christmas Gifts
• Handmade Ornaments from Old Books
• A Past December Project
• Personalized Advent Calendar Ideas

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What are your favorite Christmas movies? Which ones do you find yourself watching every year?