Advent doesn't start for another few days but my sister and I have managed to already watch my two favorite Christmas movies, so I'm going to start my streak of posting about Christmas movies with my current top ten. (Yes, we watch a lot of Christmas movies).
There's always some tension involved in how to celebrate Advent well. I love Christmas as much and possibly more than any small child. There's something about the music and the coziness and the fact that the whole world is celebrating with us that so perfectly enfleshes the beauty and mystery of the great feast. I feel like I am able to celebrate the Incarnation and the birth of Christ with my whole self in a way that I have not yet learned to do with any other feast (Easter comes close). And that comes with loving Advent too. But over time, I have found my preparing my heart for Christmas is well served by allowing the celebrations of the world around me to come in. Not necessarily all at once. But I am always very aware of how much I am still waiting for the full celebration and the trappings can help me feel the excitement and the hope for what the world so longed for. That has been the case for a while but especially since the year that my sister and I spent Advent in Italy. We were feeling homesick and so overly excited for Christmas and also had the unique chance to experience the cultural celebrations in places that we might never see them again (Rome, Florence, Ireland). We did music and movies a lot earlier than we normally would, but I still felt all the visceral depth of longing, waiting and hope.
Different people are different and there are all sorts of good ways to celebrate Advent. For me, I've found that I want to enter into the once a year opportunity to share a liturgical celebration with the whole world and even allow the suffering and struggle and questions of the world around me to inform the way I wait for the birth of the King. But none of this is meant to advise a way to celebrate Advent. Just to explain why I'm already talking about Christmas movies.
So all of that said, I've made a list of my current favorites. This year I noticed that my top favorites had completely changed from previous years. I don't like my previous favorites any less than I did, but two new ones have supplanted them at the top. For now at least. I'm not claiming any kind of definitive list, it may change many more times in my life, and it's not in any order except that I have two favorite favorites and then the rest of a top ten list. I will post in more detail about some and maybe even all of them. But for now, here's a start.
TOP TWO:
Spirited, PG-13, 2022, Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell,
A musical sequel to A Christmas Carol, delightful to watch, so smart about how to make a contemporary version, and mostly just such a beautiful story arc.
Love Actually, R, 2003, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy and so many others.
Ok truly, proceed with caution. This is absolutely all kinds of scandalous and if you're even a little bit squeamish about sexual content you will probably hate it. But it is honestly such a beautiful movie and one of my all time favorites. More on that in a later post. For now, the simplest shot at explaining why it's so good is just the opening scene.
THE REST OF MY FAVORITES:
A Christmas Carol, PG, 2009, Jim Carrey. Animated, beautiful soundtrack and easily the most faithful adaptation of the Dickens story that I've ever seen.
It's a Wonderful Life, PG, 1946, Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. I mean, you know the story right? A small town man, thwarted at every opportunity for doing big things learns how important and valuable his life has been,
Joyeux Noel, PG-13, 2005, Diane Kruger, Benno Furmann, Gary Lewis. The story of the WWI Christmas Truce, when a spontaneous cease fire broke out in many places across enemy lines. Stunningly beautiful.
Holiday, NR, 1938, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn. Actually sort of more of a New Years Eve movie. But a lovely story about life and hope breaking into a stiff, suppressed upper class family.
The Holiday, PG-13, 2006, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz. Almost the same name, totally different movie. A sweet romantic comedy about a house swap between two lonely women at Christmas.
Rise of the Guardians, PG, 2012, Chris Pine, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin. Animated children's movie about the classic legend figures of childhood pitted against the personification of fear. It's surprisingly beautiful and also unexpectedly kind of about holiness.
Christmas with the Kranks, PG, 2004, Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis. We already talked about this but it's another unexpected one. Much of it is just as goofy as the title suggests and then it somehow also makes me cry everytime.
(honorable mention) Dash & Lily, it is both a series of books and a Netflix mini -series. It's no kind of game changer, but it's sweet and cozy and bookish and I enjoyed both iterations very much.
I ALSO ENJOY:
Elf
White Christmas
The Nutcracker
Miracle on 34th Street
...and lots of others that are currently escaping me
Comments