“Jamie’s sprawled out in one corner of the couch, shoes off, feet up. I sit in the extra chair even though the view of the TV isn’t as good. I’ve seen this a hundred times anyway, but watching Kevin McAllister versus the Wet Bandits never gets tired. And I love the house – its green shuttered windows, lights strung in the trees, a wreath on the door and snow on the ground outside. I wish I were spending Christmas there instead of this pokey flat. Then I wouldn’t mind being home alone.”
From The Christmas Bucket List
When it comes to Christmas traditions, festive movies are my THING. I mean, literally, I’m even a high scorer on QuizUp in Christmas movies. I love them. And not just the really good ones, I also love the totally predictable, cheese-deluxe Hallmark movies, where some city type stumbles into a small town during the holidays and learns the real meaning of the season, or a woman goes back to her home town and rediscovers her first love, or someone’s planning a Christmas wedding but it’s to the wrong guy. The same plots in different ways, but they still never fail to make me feel festive (and also, kind of want to live in small town America). But when it comes to a Christmas movie marathon, it has to be classics all the way. This would be my perfect line-up:
- Home Alone 1 & 2: I didn’t just make Jamie and Isobel watch these because of Jamie’s love for all things John Hughes – the Home Alone franchise (or at least the ones with Macauley Culkin aka the only ones that actually count) never fail to raise the Christmas spirit. And that time I moved to New York a week before Christmas? Might have been more than a little inspired by multiple watchings of Lost in New York…
- When Harry Met Sally: Not a Christmas film technically, I know, but there’s Christmas and New Years in it and it’s one of my favourite films of all time, so any excuse to watch it will do.
- Love, Actually: I remember when I watched this for the first time loving the way London was portrayed – all sparkly and glittery. I’d only seen New York like that in (Christmas) films before – London was often much more gritty or dark and Dickensian. And I did live in Wandsworth (the dodgy end) myself at the time. When I set out to write The Christmas Bucket List, that was the face of festive London I had in mind – it really can be so magical!
- It’s a Wonderful Life: The perfect film to round off a marathon, and one I watch every single year myself. Jimmy Stewart is such a delight, and I’m always in pieces by the end.
Of course, there are lots of others I try to squeeze in this time of year, even if they’re better for a single sitting rather than a marathon. Polar Express makes me bawl (in a good way!) as does The Snowman (I had to bring a DVD back with me so I could carry on the British tradition of watching this on Christmas Day). Elf is HILARIOUS. So is Scrooged. And I have a HUGE soft spot for Serendipity (oh, John Cusack, when will you be in my Christmas stocking?).
What are your favourite Christmas films?
