It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The air is cold, decorations are everywhere and everyone’s a little kinder to each other. It’s Thanksgiving!
While I dearly love Christmas movies, I’m also the #1 proponent of only watching them after Thanksgiving. If you celebrate too much before then, you start to lose everything that made them so special to begin with. You also miss out on celebrating Thanksgiving, which often does not get the thanks or respect it deserves — or even Halloween if you’re that crazy.
But there are some Christmas movies that have only just enough Christmas that maybe they can be watched out of season. These films take place around Christmas, maybe even having elements of the season, but they are unconventional enough to be in their own league — and really, can be watched anytime. But only maybe.
The Watch: “The Holiday”
By: Ted Kluck
Here’s the thing about “The Holiday” (2006, but seems “90s”) starring early-career peak-charisma Jack Black, post-Titanic-but-pre-Art-Film Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz (shrug) and Jude Law’s glasses: it’s like they made a movie just for me. This movie has newspaper journalism, the book publishing industry, the movie business, a sweet little old man who used to be a famous screenwriter (aspirational, for me) and quaint, bucolic English cottages. If it had football in it, I would probably watch it on a loop and then die, due to never eating, sleeping or bathing. I resisted this movie for a long time because I didn’t want my wife to watch two-and-a-half hours of Jude Law in glasses … but I’m glad I finally embraced it. Also, it is a fun early-Internet time capsule, a fun browsing-the-video-store-with-a-girl-you-like time capsule and a fun early-version-of-AirBnb time capsule.
Stream on Prime Video.
The Watch: “The Nightmare Before Christmas”
By: Hope Bitter
From “This is Halloween” to a quick turnaround of “Making Christmas,” this famous Tim Burton’s 1993 film has created a continuous debate of which holiday this movie really falls under. Like in most of his films, Tim Burton is able to keep a whimsical yet twisted style in the movie, as we follow Jack Skellington’s journey to finding out what fulfills him. Personally, I think this movie is one that everyone should watch at least once per year, but the question is always when we should start watching it. Should we start watching it around Christmas or Halloween? It makes sense for some to start watching it during the Christmas season: there’s snow, a joyful presence and most importantly Santa Claus — all the things that can turn this movie into a Christmas movie. But, I think, if you start “The Nightmare Before Christmas” during the Christmas season, it is a little late. The movie should be started around the Halloween season — if not on the day of Halloween. There are Christmas aspects to this movie, but I think the Halloween aspects outweigh them. There are songs in minor keys, creepy toys and characters composed of parts that do not seem normal — Oogie Boogie is made out of multiple bugs and a sack. The movie is even located in “Halloween Town.” In the end, it is up to the viewers what they consider it — but my personal opinion is that it is a Halloween movie, and it should most definitely be watched around Halloween.
Stream on Disney+.
The Watch: “Klaus”
By: Audrey Cooke
“A true selfless act always sparks another.”
Aggh! I am such a sucker for a good hope-filled movie. Give me a character that is missing the meaning of life, send them to a remote island, teach them love and the meaning of community — I eat it up every time. To top it all off, it is traditionally animated. Saturated colors and warm dialogue seep through nearly every frame — and with a stacked cast to boot — I would call “Klaus” the best Christmas movie of the 2020s. There is something truly magical about it that will not let me go. “Klaus” was released Nov. 8, 2019, and I could quote the whole movie by Christmas Eve. The name comes from the big man of the holidays himself, fitting as the movie depicts the origin story of the jolly old soul. It would be dishonest if I didn’t acknowledge the sentimental value attached to this movie for me. “Klaus” was the first Christmas movie that my family all laughed at, unanimously agreeing that it had a satisfying ending — though I think I’m the only one who cried. Whoever said movies had to be assigned a season to be worth watching was wrong. Without shying away from difficult topics, “Klaus” is a year-round movie of grief, hope and redemption that just so happens to be set during Christmas. If you have an hour and a half of time to kill — and a Netflix subscription — go watch it. If you have younger siblings or cousins — or are just tired of watching a grown man run around in tights this holiday season — go watch it.
Stream on Netflix.
The Watch: “While You Were Sleeping”
By: Sam Boger
Per most romantic comedies — and really most romantic movies in general — I went in to this film fully ready to make fun of this the entire time, which I found myself completely unable to do once I started crying. But I knew from the opening shot of the tracks of the Chicago “L” that I’d be unable to do that anyway.
I’ve heard a lot of things about this movie: that it was weird, that it was beautiful, that it was sweet, that it was creepy, that I was crazy for never having seen it or never really even having heard of it. But no one told me it was a Christmas movie, and no one told me that it was hilarious.
“While You Were Sleeping” is the perfect nostalgic 90s rom-com. Taking place in Chicago at Christmastime, it is interspersed with beautiful shots of the city — covered in lights, tinsel and cheer. But it takes a dark (and somehow still lighthearted) turn when subway worker Lucy, played by a young (and beautiful) Sandra Bullock, watches the love of her life — a handsome man she’s never talked to — get pushed off the platform into the tracks, and then whom she almost nonchalantly jumps down to save. He goes into a coma, and before long the rest of his family becomes convinced that she’s his fiancee. Of course, chaos ensues. I won’t reveal anymore, but what follows is heartwarming, zany and so funny — leading up to a cringe-worthy and tender ending.
At times “While You Were Sleeping” might feel like a high-budget Hallmark movie, but that’s what makes it so charming. It captures the sweetness and innocence of the 90s, but at its core, it really is a beautiful film about finding family in the most unexpected of places and what it really means to truly know and love a person. Despite taking place during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s easy to forget when it’s even happening until Christmas lights are flashed on screen, or a snippet of a carol begins to play. So despite the fact that it definitely is a Christmas movie, it does get my approval to be played anytime throughout the year. But I still think Jerry is the real hero of the movie.
Stream on Disney+.
The Watch: “Die Hard”
By: Ted Kluck
I didn’t have a lot in common with my Uncle Ed, save for the fact that he showed me “Die Hard” way too early in my childhood, given the amount of violence and swearing it had. Of course, I fell in love with it immediately and feel that it may be not just the perfect Christmas movie, but also the perfect action movie in general. This film “started” the idea of the non-jacked, non-steroidal 1980s action star (Bruce Willis) and it gave us the sinister Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, who ought to be on TV with that accent (if you know you know). Here’s what’s brilliant about “Die Hard”: in addition to being an action movie (terrorists take over the Nakatomi Plaza in L.A. and a New York cop has to save the building), it’s also a marriage-reconciliation movie (he and his wife are on the outs in Act 1), a buddy movie (Reginald VelJohnson as the cop on the other end of the walkie-talkie) and of course a Christmas movie (it’s Christmas Eve). All kidding aside, the quality of the script, the dialogue and the character work makes this a Mt. Rushmore-level action movie.
Stream on Hulu.
So no matter when you start watching Christmas movies — or even when you start celebrating — there are “Christmas movies” out there that anyone can enjoy at any time. Even if the thought of that sounds like heresy. I guess I’ll let these ones slide. Keep in mind the reason for the seasons with these movies and watch with those you love. Enjoy with your friends this coming week and with your family the next.
Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.