This one came down to a single vote, but the winner is a classic:
THE RESULTS:
– It’s a Wonderful Life: 8 votes
– National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: 7 votes
– A Christmas Story: 6 votes
– Elf: 4 votes
– Love Actually: 4 votes
– The Nightmare Before Christmas: 3 votes
– Bad Santa: 1 vote
– A Christmas Carol: 1 vote
– Scrooged: 1 vote
– White Christmas: 1 vote
The write-ins:
– Die Hard: 2 votes (I left this out on purpose)
– Christmas Evil: 1 vote (never heard of this one)
– The Grinch: 1 vote (how did I leave this off?)
– Home Alone: 1 vote (always a good choice)
– Jingle All the Way: 1 vote (haven’t seen this since I was a kid)
– The Perks of Being a Wallflower: 1 vote (inspired choice!)
Great to see a wide variety of holiday films receiving votes! Especially interesting to see Christmas Vacation finish a close second (a personal favorite of mine).
This Week’s Poll: Judd Apatow’s newest film, This is 40, is rolling out soon, so I thought it would be fun to take a look back at his filmography. Apatow has been involved with a number of comedies over the last decade, many of which have clicked for both critics and the general audience. This week’s poll is a pick two: what is the best film produced by Judd Apatow?
Special Announcement: I still have eight free Redbox movie rental codes to giveaway! If you want one, just leave a comment with your answer to the following question: What is your favorite film from 2012 so far? No catch here. Answer the question and I will email you the free code. Enjoy!
I too, am of the mindset that “Die Hard” is NOT a CHRISTMAS movie. LOL
YES. Thank you. A badass action movie, yes, but a Christmas movie, no.
Quite. There’s a difference between a movie set at Christmas time and a movie that’s about Christmas. A Christmas movie has to be the latter. (Mind you, I bend the rules some for my blog’s categorization.)
By that logic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” isn’t really a Christmas movie either. Only the last sequence happens to take place on Christmas Eve, but the movie itself is about the value of George Bailey’s life. Like Diehard, it is a great movie that happens to take place on Christmas. I guess the sentimentality is what makes it more acceptable as a “Christmas” movie, and the fact that the reflectiveness is kind of like “A Christmas Carol” in some ways, but essentially it’s not about Christmas itself.
That’s a fair point, but I think you’re right in that it’s the sentimentality that makes It’s a Wonderful Life a Christmas film. The ending kind of brings everything full circle, and it shows what Christmas should be about (being there with family, sharing, etc.).
Right. By that logic, the extreme French horror movie, Inside, could be a Christmas movie. It takes place on Christmas Eve, and nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like a woman trying to slice open a pregnant woman’s stomach in order to take out her unborn child. Yeah.
You need to see Tokyo Godfathers if you haven’t.
Haven’t heard of that. Is that a Christmas movie?
In a way, it is an Japanese anime film about three bums who find a baby that has been abandoned. It is inspired by the John Wayne film “The Three Godfathers”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Godfathers
That sounds really interesting. Further proof that I should give more anime a shot. Thanks for the tip!
My preferred comedy where Apatow was producer would be Forgetting Sarah Marshall, with Walk Hard a close second.
I actually haven’t seen Walk Hard. Should probably fix that someday.
When you do, make sure to not view the extended cut, it causes the movie to drag on and screws with pacing.
Will keep that in mind. Thanks for the heads up, man!
I need to rewatch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, I remember enjoying it years ago.
Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I saw it, too. I’m going to try to revisit it this month.
I’ve not seen that many Judd Apatow films. Dunno, they’ve never really appealed. I did love Forgetting Sarah Marshall though – Jason Segel makes that film for me. Such an underrated talent.
Yeah, Segel is great in that one. Apatow can be hit-and-miss. I was surprised to see his name attached to some ill-advised projects like Drillbit Taylor and Year One.
Oh, I didn’t get to this poll in time, but my vote would have been for White Christmas! Surprised it only got one vote!
That’s one Christmas classic I still need to see! A local theater plays that every year so I may have to catch it this time.
I am glad to see It’s A Wonderful Life win. and…(sorry Fogs’), Die Hard IS a Christmas movie. He brought good tidings of great joy to all the hostages and police! A Santa in his own right. It just so happened to be during Christmas as well. 😉
Hahaha, I get the feeling this debate will never end 😀
My favorite Apatow movie is definitely Superbad, ah to be in high school 🙂 Plus McLovin is one of the funniest characters I’ve seen.
My fav movie of 2012 is still The Dark Knight Rises 🙂
Oh man, yeah I love Superbad. One of the best comedies of the last decade, easily.
Hi, Eric and company:
I like ‘White Christmas’ for Danny Kaye’s take on ‘Choreography’.
And his and Crosby’s duet of ‘Sisters’.
Kind of a three way split between ‘A Christmas Story’, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and a neat little caper gem from 1967. ‘Fitzwilly’.
With Dick Van Dyke, Barbara Feldon and a top of the line list of veteran actors. Along with some strategically placed on location shooting in Manhattan.
Hi Jack! I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t seen all of A Christmas Story, and I hadn’t even heard of Fitzwilly. I’m starting to get into the holiday spirit, though, so I’m going to try to catch up on those I have overlooked. Thanks for chiming in!
Glad to see I’m not the only one who voted for Cable Guy. That movie doesn’t get enough love.
I haven’t seen it in years, but yeah, I thought it was pretty underrated, too. I should give it another viewing soon.