Editorial 12/22/2014- A Top 7 list

Well, guys, it's almost that time of year again. In only three days, Christmas will be here again, and it will be time to be in the company of families and friends alike. This day has been such a monumental one that almost every culture has been influenced by it in some way or another. I figured that, while I was working on these editorials and such, I might as well do something to commemorate it. So, for the sake of being pretentious, here are my personal Top Seven Christmas Movies for you and your family to enjoy this time of year.
(Just to note, these are all family movies, meaning that the ratings only range from G to PG-13. So, while National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a good one, it's not going to be on this list in particular.)

7- Arthur Christmas

Sure, it may be too early to say for sure, but I have a feeling that this is on it's way to becoming a new classic. Released in 2011 by Aardman Entertainment (of Wallace and Gromit fame), the film tells the story of an entire family with the job of Santa Claus. After an other-wise successful Christmas Eve accidentally leaves one child without her present, the youngest Claus Arthur, his out-of-date grandfather, and a stowaway elf make a mad dash around the world to save this little girl's Christmas. It may not sound like much, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the film. It's razor-sharp humor will have you laughing out loud, and its heart is going to leave you thinking about it long after the credits roll.

6- Elf

Like I said, National Lampoon wasn't on this list, but we do have the next-best thing for our more 'mature' audience members. In 2003, New Line Cinema launched this comedy about a man (Will Ferrell) who was raised by Santa's elves. As he grows, however, he finds the drive to leave his sugar-cane-and-gumdrop home to find his real parents in the dark and cynical world of New York City. Like Arthur Christmas, it's a laugh-a-minute ride that slowly transitions to a surprisingly heartfelt story of what Christmas Spirit really is. Some may find Ferrell's humor a bit annoying or rude, but watching him wrestle a Santa Impersonator- among other things- make this one of the most memorable Christmas scenes of the new millennium.

5- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

In the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, american animation company Rankin/Bass released a slew of Christmas specials for television. any one of them could be considered generational classics (Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, the Little Drummer Boy, and so on), but we'll go with their first major production from 1964, telling the story of Rudolph, outcast-turned-hero on a stormy Christmas Eve. The animation has certainly dated poorly, but the characters and songs haven't. Burl Ives' score has since become something of Christmas legend, and you can thank this hit.

4- It's a Wonderful Life

In spite of bombing and being considered a failure in 1945, odds are you've probably seen this at least once in your life. That's for good reason, too; it's nigh-impossible to forget the story of George Bailey, a down-on-his luck business owner who never got to fulfill his dreams. One fateful Christmas Eve, though, as we wishes that he was never born, he is visited by the angel Clarence, who shows him such a world where he never existed. It's a thought-provoking piece that begs us to realize how much we really do for those around us, even if we aren't happy with ourselves. Sure, enough parodies of this are around, but it's one of the few shows that survived all of those and still had a little magic leftover.

3- a Charlie Brown Christmas

Based on the most influential comic strip in history, it's almost an injustice not to put this on the list. This 1965 special follows Charlie Brown as he struggles with the industrialization of Christmas. His friends suggest that he joins their Nativity play, but that only ends up making things worse for our hero. In the end, they all must remember that, to find the right Christmas Spirit, they need to remember why it's celebrated in the first place. Some may be taken aback by the comparatively blatant religious message, but it's an amazingly charming piece otherwise. Somehow, it perfectly makes the transition to the screen while keeping the humor and the child-like spirit it needed to be a Peanuts short.

2- Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Jim Carrey's hour-and-a-half comedy routine may be the first one most TV networks put on first, but the original 1966 animation is clearly far superior. Made by Loony Tunes legend Chuck Jones, the story of a grumpy hermit who schemes to ruin Christmas for those Whos down in Who-ville is made even more lively by Dr. Suess' own clever writing and input. Plus, the film will always be remembered for its irresistible villain song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." Who would have thought that "an appalling dump-heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled-up knots" would end up being one of the most instantly-recognizable characters ever made?

1- a Christmas Story

Let's face it- the eighties were a time when kids movies started getting bold. Sure, there were a number of pieces we still watch from earlier than that, but this decade was the first where adults could find as much to enjoy as the kids could. Case in point, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer's a Christmas Story. While, on the surface, the best way to describe it is 'it's about a kid who wants a BeeBee gun for Christmas', it's much more than that. All the kid characters feel genuinely-written and are fairly interesting, but the comedy is something that everyone has gone through and can at least giggle at. It can even be compared to Toy Story in how it brings back a nostalgic look at the holiday almost nothing else can summon. If there's one thing that's hard to pull off but, if done correctly, can make a movie more memorable than any of its competitors, it's relate-ability. Fortunately, this has it and runs with it all the way up to the air space over Lake Michigan. 

Honorable Mention- a Christmas Carol

Now, somewhere along the list, I would have put a rendition of this classic in there. After all, Ebeneezer Scrooge's transformation story is practically the reason Christmas is still celebrated. (For those not in the know, the holiday wasn't as big of a deal until Charles Dickens first put this out in 1843.) Unfortunately, there are just too many to chose from. From Disney's animated rendition, to Patrick Stewart's Shakespearean perspective, to Bill Murray's modern-day satire Scrooged, to yet another Jim Carrey comedy, this story seems to have become less of a moral and more of a competition. Some are more enjoyable than others but, on the whole, few are as inventive or enjoyable as the book was. By all means, see as many as you like, but I personally don't find them as big of a priority as the previous entries. 

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