I know that many people find Hallmark movies to be cheesy, or low budget, but I have to admit that when it comes to Christmas movies, I really enjoy these types of films. Okay, so some of them are a bit naff, or utterly rubbish, and on a few occasions, I’ve had to turn the odd one-off, but overall, I really enjoy watching these each year on the run-up to Christmas.
With Sky plus in the UK, we used to set a load of them to record for later watching – as they tend to start appearing late November, early December – however, now that we live in Italy, we have to get a bit more creative (resorting to DVD’s or Netflix). I have to admit, I wish I’d kept a list of the ones that we enjoyed watching, as it would make it a lot easier to try and locate a copy of them.
This genre of films is simple and light-hearted – they lift your spirits and really get you in the mood for Christmas (well me and my mother anyway – my sister, on the other hand, does not take to these films – referring to them as ‘Whoopie flying reindeer crap’ – as we watched one film a few Christmases back that happened to star Whoopi Goldberg, and had a naff, badly animated talking reindeer which in truth looked more like a cow – not one of the finest adverts for this type of Christmas movie).
I think the thing I like most about these films is that they are easy watching, as they usually always have a happy ending. They are heart-warming, cheery little movies, with a nice Christmassy feel – exactly what I want to get me in the festive spirit.
Some of the most memorable ones for me are as follows: Naughty or Nice, A Princess for Christmas, Christmas with a View, The Knight Before Christmas, Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, and Christmas at the Plaza. Although there have been numerous others over the years, these are the only ones that I remember the titles of. There are a couple, that I remember, where they were set in little towns – one where a person ends up stuck in a town and learning to love Christmas – the other where a daughter returns home to her father, who owns a town devoted to Christmas, which over the years has fallen into disrepair. The was this other one as well that involved something to do with a bakery and saving a town, but it has been many years since I watched it and I cannot remember it much. (if you know the titles of these films or any others you would recommend, please leave a message in the comments).
That’s not to say that I only watch this type of Christmas film – of course, we have the old standards that we watch every year, like White Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, Nightmare Before Christmas, Rise of the Guardians, The Grinch, Muppets Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, and Santa Claus: The Movie – starring Dudley Moore. It is just that we save these to watch as a family on Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day – sort of our own family tradition to get us all feeling festive and relaxed.
Another thing we watch at Christmas (as in the UK these are almost always on air over Christmas at some point), are the Pantos. The three best of these, in my opinion, are;
Jack and the Beanstalk (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166666/)
Cinderella (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0239303/)
Aladdin (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271958/)
If you have not seen these then I would highly recommend them, as the characters and performances are fantastic and well worth watching.
I think what makes all of these special for me, is the fact that you only watch them at Christmas time, and so they bring back the nice memories of previous Christmases when you watched them. There is something to be said about traditions, and the connection that you have to these, and I think for me, Christmas movies are one of my favourite traditions at this time of year.
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