Christmas Watch-a-thon 2019: Holiday, Horror, and (not!) Hallmark

This kind of branched off from our discussions in the Halloween Horror-thon thread this October, so I figured we could discuss and recommend some of out favorite Christmas movies as well. Thanksgiving's not here yet, but we have to be prepared with our lists so that by the time December hits, we'll be ready. :D

What are some of the movies, shows, and specials you guys are planning on watching this Christmas season? Classics? Holiday horrors? Hallmark (looking at you, Heather! :lol: )?

:sharepopcorn:

My wife has about 34,000 Hallmark movies on our DVR so I always inadvertently end up watching one or two of them. I've already partly watched A Christmas Story on TBS the other day (I thought they waited until the 24-hour marathon on Christmas Eve so I was kinda surprised.)

Other movies that I'll probably watch before the end of the year:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carey version)
Christmas With the Kranks
Christmas Vacation
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
The Christmas Toy
The Santa Clause Trilogy
Jingle All the Way

Also let me kick-off the annual discussion by saying there's a difference between a movie about Christmas and a move that happens to take place around Christmas.

Like Die-Hard. :nope:

Polar Express
Santa's Slay (but only the recap on YouTube)
Elf
Trailer park boys Christmas special
Home Alone

So I've already watched a million Hallmark Christmas movies. Once Halloween ended I've pretty much had those channels on non-stop and my dvr is almost maxed out with them :rofl:

Other ones that I plan to watch are:
A Christmas Story
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life (caught some of this one already on tv the other day)
Nightmare Before Christmas (I consider this one a Halloween movie, but I missed it then so plan to watch it now)

I also love all those old Christmas shows, Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jack Frost, Year Without Santa Claus...

For horror Christmas movies:
Krampus
Black Christmas 1974 (it's streaming on both Tubi and Prime video)
I'd also like to catch the new version but not sure if I will
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Gremlins
Inside (if I can find it to rent somewhere)

There's only one film I watch every year at Christmas and that is the greatest Christmas film of all time


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...5NDM3._V1_.jpg


If I can, I try and watch Bad Santa, my second favourite Christmas film of all time. I'm definitely making sure that I watch Krampus this year because I still haven't seen it.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to the next Christmas Edition of Best of the Worst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3plH6M1LadY&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LsPkYeaKBs

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Originally Posted by Mattrick

There's only one film I watch every year at Christmas and that is the greatest Christmas film of all time


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...5NDM3._V1_.jpg


If I can, I try and watch Bad Santa, my second favourite Christmas film of all time. I'm definitely making sure that I watch Krampus this year because I still haven't seen it.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to the next Christmas Edition of Best of the Worst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3plH6M1LadY&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LsPkYeaKBs

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Craziest combo Chrismas double feature ever created by man. Love Actually and Bad Santa! Love it!

looking for: The Road #208, Hill House numbered,
Dead Zone 1st/1st

Yes, a super sappy rom com followed by a drunken and belligerent Billy Bob Thorton. Billy Bob is also in Love Actually so it makes for a nice double feature.

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Originally Posted by Iwritecode

My wife has about 34,000 Hallmark movies on our DVR so I always inadvertently end up watching one or two of them. I've already partly watched A Christmas Story on TBS the other day (I thought they waited until the 24-hour marathon on Christmas Eve so I was kinda surprised.)

Other movies that I'll probably watch before the end of the year:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carey version)
Christmas With the Kranks
Christmas Vacation
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
The Christmas Toy
The Santa Clause Trilogy
Jingle All the Way

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Nice list! A lot of yours are also my favorites. Christmas with the Kranks has been one that's really become a staple for me over the last couple years. It's a great one to watch through or to just have on in the background.

And I saw TBS playing A Christmas Story that same night and thought it was weird, too. Until then, I don't know if I've ever seen it played outside the 24-hr. marathon. :lol:

Also, I try to forget that The Santa Clause 3 exists. :lol:

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Originally Posted by Heather19

I also love all those old Christmas shows, Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jack Frost, Year Without Santa Claus...

For horror Christmas movies:
Krampus
Black Christmas 1974 (it's streaming on both Tubi and Prime video)
I'd also like to catch the new version but not sure if I will
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Gremlins
Inside (if I can find it to rent somewhere)

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I love all those old specials. It's not Christmas without them. :)

There's a lot I'll end up watching bits and pieces of or having on in the background (Elf, The Santa Clause, Christmas Vacation, Christmas With the Kranks), but some that I'll actually make a point to sit down and watch through are Arthur Christmas, Krampus, and a few others. And I'll hopefully see the new Black Christmas also, but I have a feeling time might get away from me without making it to the theater.

I'd also like to maybe get to A Christmas Horror Story, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Gremlins, and Die Hard (even though the last two aren't technically Christmas movies). Oh, and maybe re-watch It's a Wonderful Life.

I watched Klaus on Netflix and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Watched The Christmas Chronicles last night and it was much better than I was expecting it to be. I really liked Kurt Russell as Santa and could've used more of him throughout the movie.

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Originally Posted by Still Servant

I watched Klaus on Netflix and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

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I watched Klaus and really enjoyed it more than I expected going in. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Ricky

Watched The Christmas Chronicles last night and it was much better than I was expecting it to be. I really liked Kurt Russell as Santa and could've used more of him throughout the movie.

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I've heard good things about that movie. I need to get around to watching it.

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Originally Posted by Ricky

And I saw TBS playing A Christmas Story that same night and thought it was weird, too. Until then, I don't know if I've ever seen it played outside the 24-hr. marathon. :lol:

Also, I try to forget that The Santa Clause 3 exists. :lol:

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Christmas Story outside of Christmas day is just wrong. Wrong I say! I own the movie on dvd, but purely for an emergency in case TBS ever stops playing it Christmas Day. :lol:

I haven't watched the Santa Claus movies enough to be super familiar with them, but I know that Martin Short as Jack Frost is one of the creepiest things ever.

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Originally Posted by Heather19

So I've already watched a million Hallmark Christmas movies. Once Halloween ended I've pretty much had those channels on non-stop and my dvr is almost maxed out with them :rofl:

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Heather. That's hilarious that you maxed it out with Hallmark movies. :rofl:

So far this year, I've watched:

1. Elf - In theaters, which was freaking awesome and a great way to kick off Christmas.
2. Arthur Christmas
3. The Grinch (Newer animated version)
4. Klaus

I've seen bits and pieces of some other movies here and there- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Fred Claus.

Before the season is up, I want to watch Krampus, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and It's a Wonderful Life, at minimum.

So I spent the entire week last week sick in bed and all I ended up watching were all my Hallmark Christmas movies. And I may or may not have one playing on the tv now :rofl: On the plus side I've freed up some space on my dvr.

I did also watch Rudolph, but now I've got my work cut out for me to watch everything that I want to see this year. And Ricky I can't believe I forgot to add to my list one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, and one of yours.... March of the Wooden Soldiers!

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Originally Posted by Girlystevedave

Christmas Story outside of Christmas day is just wrong. Wrong I say! I own the movie on dvd, but purely for an emergency in case TBS ever stops playing it Christmas Day. :lol:

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"An emergency." :lol: I'm picturing your DVD behind a BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY case. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Girlystevedave

Before the season is up, I want to watch Krampus, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and It's a Wonderful Life, at minimum.

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I like how you said it so seriously, like a big life goal. Haha. But at the same time, I totally feel the same way. :lol:

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Originally Posted by Heather19

So I spent the entire week last week sick in bed and all I ended up watching were all my Hallmark Christmas movies. And I may or may not have one playing on the tv now :rofl:

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Oh man. Haha. I happened to be in the room when my mom was watching Christmas in Rome (I think that's what it was called) with Lacey Chabert and ended up watching the first hour of it. It sucked me in, Heather! The stories are so cookie cutter, but they're always extremely Christmasy. Like everyone in these Hallmark towns is in some kind of Christmas cult. :lol:

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Originally Posted by Heather19

And Ricky I can't believe I forgot to add to my list one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, and one of yours.... March of the Wooden Soldiers!

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Oh, no thank you. :rofl:

So far I've watched The Christmas Chronicles and Klaus. On the TV side, I saw Rudolph, Olaf's Frozen Adventure, bits of Frosty, Merry Happy Whatever (on Netflix, which is OK), and The Moodys (which is not. :lol: ). Oh, and also Gingerbread Wars and Holiday Wars on Food Network.

In keeping with Amanda's "at minimums", mine are: Charlie Brown Christmas, Santa Claus is Comin to Town, Year Without a Santa Claus, original Grinch, Arthur Christmas, and Krampus.

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Originally Posted by Ricky

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Originally Posted by Heather19

So I spent the entire week last week sick in bed and all I ended up watching were all my Hallmark Christmas movies. And I may or may not have one playing on the tv now :rofl:

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Oh man. Haha. I happened to be in the room when my mom was watching Christmas in Rome (I think that's what it was called) with Lacey Chabert and ended up watching the first hour of it. It sucked me in, Heather! The stories are so cookie cutter, but they're always extremely Christmasy. Like everyone in these Hallmark towns is in some kind of Christmas cult. :lol:

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:o Welcome to the club Ricky! They really are mindless films. And they're all the same. But they are super festive, and great if you want a feel good Christmas movie. I also really want to live in one of these Christmas cult towns. It would be amazing :lol:

And I meant to mention the holiday baking shows. I've been watching Holiday Baking Championship, and I have Holiday Wars on my dvr, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

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Originally Posted by Heather19

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Originally Posted by Ricky

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Originally Posted by Heather19

So I spent the entire week last week sick in bed and all I ended up watching were all my Hallmark Christmas movies. And I may or may not have one playing on the tv now :rofl:

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Oh man. Haha. I happened to be in the room when my mom was watching Christmas in Rome (I think that's what it was called) with Lacey Chabert and ended up watching the first hour of it. It sucked me in, Heather! The stories are so cookie cutter, but they're always extremely Christmasy. Like everyone in these Hallmark towns is in some kind of Christmas cult. :lol:

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:o Welcome to the club Ricky! They really are mindless films. And they're all the same. But they are super festive, and great if you want a feel good Christmas movie. I also really want to live in one of these Christmas cult towns. It would be amazing :lol:

And I meant to mention the holiday baking shows. I've been watching Holiday Baking Championship, and I have Holiday Wars on my dvr, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

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Heather, have you watched The Knight Before Christmas on Netflix? It's essentially a Hallmark Christmas movie. The only difference is it actually stars an actress who is somewhat still relevant, Vanessa Hudgens.

Also, is Reindeer Games a Christmas movie?

No, I haven't but I'll add it to my list. Thanks Mike :)

Yeah, Heather really needed another Hallmarky movie to watch. :lol:

On a related note, they had someone on the radio last week who was a writer for Hallmark Christmas movies and it was interesting to hear someone who actually works on them say they're pretty easy to crank out. Each movie has to have the same beats...a "missed connection," an "almost kiss," then the actual kiss, etc., each at a certain time in the movie. It really is like a factory. :lol:

:rofl:

And it's so true, they really are all the same formula.

Ricky are you watching Holiday Baking still? I've caught up on on demand with the ones they have on there, has the finale not aired yet?

And to update my list, we finally watched A Christmas Story this past weekend along with Santa Claus Comes to Town and The Year Without a Santa. I was also scrolling thru YouTube last night and came across A Muppet Christmas special from the 80s. Has anyone seen this? It's possible I saw it when it first came out, but I had no recollection of it.

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Originally Posted by Ricky

Yeah, Heather really needed another Hallmarky movie to watch. :lol:

On a related note, they had someone on the radio last week who was a writer for Hallmark Christmas movies and it was interesting to hear someone who actually works on them say they're pretty easy to crank out. Each movie has to have the same beats...a "missed connection," an "almost kiss," then the actual kiss, etc., each at a certain time in the movie. It really is like a factory. :lol:

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Then there are the ones where they literally copy the plot from a major movie and just tweak it a little bit. One I saw was basically The Family Man but with a woman in the Nic Cage role. Mostly everything else was the same though.

Another one my wife watched the other day was where a woman had just broken up with her boyfriend before the holidays but still wanted someone to bring with to meet her family. So she hired an actor to stand in as her boyfriend. I know that plot has been used in a regular movie a few times.

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Originally Posted by Heather19

Ricky are you watching Holiday Baking still? I've caught up on on demand with the ones they have on there, has the finale not aired yet?

And to update my list, we finally watched A Christmas Story this past weekend along with Santa Claus Comes to Town and The Year Without a Santa. I was also scrolling thru YouTube last night and came across A Muppet Christmas special from the 80s. Has anyone seen this? It's possible I saw it when it first came out, but I had no recollection of it.

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Holiday Wars? Yeah, I just watched the most recent episode last night (Santa's side hustle). The finale airs...tomorrow, I wanna say?

And you watched A Christmas Story BEFORE the 24-hr. marathon?! :o

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Originally Posted by Iwritecode

Another one my wife watched the other day was where a woman had just broken up with her boyfriend before the holidays but still wanted someone to bring with to meet her family. So she hired an actor to stand in as her boyfriend. I know that plot has been used in a regular movie a few times.

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That does sound really familiar. Hallmark has probably copied their own plots by now. :lol:

No, Holiday Baking Championship, I think it's called? I'm down to the finale but it wasnt on ondemand so I'm thinking it hasn't aired yet. I have Holiday Wars on my dvr, I'll probably start that tonight.

And it's actually late for me to watch A Christmas Story. There's no way I can wait until Christmas Eve. I've been watching it my whole life, way before the marathon started :lol: So I'm used to watching it early December and then later closer to Christmas. Also one thing that really bugs me about the marathon is that it ends at 8pm on Christmas day which is when I'm home and want to watch it on Christmas night. I wish they would extend it until midnight at least.

And Hallmark has definitely recycled their own movies. You know how many they have about an average girl that falls in love with a guy who she then finds out is royalty :lol: And this plotline of taking someone home for a stand in boyfriend is used a lot as well.

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Originally Posted by Heather19

No, Holiday Baking Championship, I think it's called? I'm down to the finale but it wasnt on ondemand so I'm thinking it hasn't aired yet. I have Holiday Wars on my dvr, I'll probably start that tonight.

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Oh, okay. No, I've seen bits of pieces of it and have it on in the background sometimes but I haven't been really following that one.

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Originally Posted by Heather19

Also one thing that really bugs me about the marathon is that it ends at 8pm on Christmas day which is when I'm home and want to watch it on Christmas night. I wish they would extend it until midnight at least.

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Yes! I completely agree. I get to watch some in the morning but when we go to see family in the afternoon, they don't usually have it on. I think I might DVR it on Christmas so I can play it when I get home that night. :)

And :rofl: at your comment about the average girl that falls in love with a guy she finds out is royalty :lol:

Heather, have you gotten to Holiday Wars yet? The guy Jason on the Bah Hum Bakers is from Baltimore and his bakery is 20 minutes from me.