The Ultimate Christmas Movie Double Bills — Cultural Digest #16
Sublime film pairings to see you through the whole of December.
It’s Chriiiiiiiistmas!
Well not quite but please indulge me on this cusp of December eve to get ourselves in the mood for the Winter treats to come. One of my favourite things about this time of year is the unrelenting permission to watch as many films as you like. I spend a huge amount of my time watching movies but at Christmas it becomes a joyously collective event.
So. I’ve made my list. I’ve defs checked it (more than) twice. In fact, I first started collating these combinations as early as April this year, such has been my 12 months of brooding on nostalgia. Most of the films that have made this list are thus extremely comforting to watch at any time of the year despite their emphasis on the snowy and festive — think predominantly nineties, childhood innocence, LOTS of singing with a sprinkling of wickedness and some completely far fetched but essential, sentiment and magic.
Now then, let’s settle in and get cozy by the fire. Here are the Christmas movies I watch every single year and my favourite way to watch them, back to back! There aren’t too many surprises in here (on purpose, familiar is comfort right?) though some of the couplings might be. Amongst these go-to classics I’ve carefully curated movie duos to set you up for perfect double bill indulgence, and to perhaps even jog your memory of a long forgotten treasure.
I’m dreaming… of a non-stop movie marathon. Let’s do this!
Home Alone & Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Never has a scream been more synonymous with Christmas. Macauley Culkin getting crafty with booby traps? Sign-me-UP. And don’t forget his brother Kieran, aka Roman Roy, in arguably another of his iconic roles - Fuller, ‘go easy on the Pepsi’ McCallister, Kevin’s mischievous bed-wetting cousin who I’ve basically based most of my personality on - giving eyebrows I could only ever hope to embody.
Home Alone taught every child from the nineties how to most effectively wage war against the terrifying threat of burglars and yet (likely something to do with long time collaborators Catherine O’Hara and John Candy, two of the greatest actors of all time??) somehow it manages to capture the magic of coming together at Christmas like no other of its kind, with a mega soundtrack to boot. There’s also at least half a day’s worth of hilarious worm holes to go down on how Harry and Marv would realistically have fared had they actually sustained any of those injuries. Drink every time you hear the cry: KEVIN?!!!
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: macaroni cheese, piping hot.
Carol & Little Women
These aren’t just two of my favourite Christmas movies but two of my favourite movies of all time. These are ones I treat myself to throughout the year. Two modern masterpieces of historical fiction. Exquisitely told tales, beautifully performed and brought to life with decadent accuracy in every way imaginable. These aren’t just festive treats, they’re elevated adaptations of already blind-sidingly(?) excellent literature classics. If they weren’t movies, they’d be paintings hanging at the Tate. Be it Christmas, Summer, or a casual Wednesday evening, bring this pair to the top of your must-watch lists.
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: creamed spinach over poached eggs (and a dry martini with an olive).
The Grinch & Elf
Where are you Chriiiistmaaaaas?? Alongside the virtue of the high-brow, unapologetically Christmassy Christmas films are an absolute must for me. As essential as the longing for snow whilst singing along to Mariah Carey. And if we’re going silly, it needs to be chaotic with ridiculousness, so I very much enjoy going there full pelt with these two classics from my youth. Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell heading up each respectively, demonstrate how to give an enormous performance and still remain truthful. And the stories themselves remain grounded in heartfelt intention. From Whoville to the North Pole, I’d follow these characters anywhere.
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: spaghetti and sweets anyone?
Paddington & Paddington 2
During December 2020 as I settled down for a snuggly mid-afternoon watch, I discovered Paddington was airing for the third time in as many weeks - I guess content was a little low on the ground that year - but I stuck around and watched it anyway because, well, PADDINGTON. This film became an instant classic, deservedly so, with a sequel just as good — arguably even better? It’s one of the rare times I think that heavy CGI has worked in anything and three watches in three weeks didn’t touch the sides. These movies are delightfully charming, imaginative, wholesome, playful. They meaningfully speak to your inner child whilst deftly-as-you-like, thought provoke your outer grown-up.
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: 🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊🍞🍊
The Snowman & The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Oh man. Tug at my heart strings, why don’t you. This selection is for those that are not averse to a healthy dose of teary crushing sentiment. Charlie Mackesy’s beautiful book is brought to life for the first time, scored by the inimitable Isobel Waller-Bridge and comes some 40 years after Raymond Briggs’ iconic tale was first animated. But if The Snowman is a metaphor for loss then The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse serves as a perfect companion piece; with friendship, compassion and courage, guiding its moral compass. I highly recommend seeking both out immediately and watching them one after the other.
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: a satsuma from the bottom of your stocking.
Wallace and Gromit
More cheese, Gromit? I’ll take any two of the feature length Wallace & Gromit classics of which there are currently five, any day of the week (with a sixth reportedly in the works at Aardman Animation!) Stop-motion plasticine JOY. I could watch this pair and their inventive shenanigans, endlessly. They’ve become a Christmas staple in my house — anyone else remember eagerly awaiting their latest offering each year back in the ‘90s?
I’d also love to point all animation fans towards the fantastic documentary A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman for anyone interested in the history of the animation house (and the makings of Wallace & Gromit) whose impact is so far reaching it needs to be seen to be believed — a Christmas Miracle, it’s available to watch for free on YouTube.
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: Wensleydale, Gromit. 🧀
The Muppet Christmas Carol & Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
I think of all the movies featured here, in terms of where I rank them on a scale from zero to Christmas packed wonderment, The Muppet Christmas Carol sits at the very top of the tree for me. I aptly first watched it in May 2021, lol, when I was in need of a little pick me up and it transported me to a place of such comforting ease that it’s one I now return to often, whatever the season.
In stark contrast, I savour Tim Burton’s stop-motion child friendly horror come rom-com exclusively for the end of the year. This film for all its dark undertones is full of wicked fun as Jack Skellington runs amok, gorgeously animated and I think works brilliantly as a subversive counterpart to the much sweeter offering from Jim Henson’s workshop, to whom The Muppet Christmas Carol is dedicated in loving memory, alongside puppeteer Richard Hunt.
All together now: wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas!
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: whatever Rizzo the Rat can get his paws on.
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The Wizard of Oz & It’s A Wonderful Life
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
Ruby slippers at the ready! It took me over half my lifetime to watch both these films so I got to enjoy them first as an adult and I could not BELIEVE how magical they both were. That’s when you truly appreciate a classic as a classic, when you don’t need nostalgia to do any of the heavy lifting for you. If for whatever reason you haven’t yet delighted in either, either, have at them! Settle in for two of the greatest films ever made that will be watched by millions every Christmas, so long as we have the means to do it!
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
The Miracle on 34th Street (1947) & The Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Fifty years apart with the latter already almost thirty years on from that, both these movies stand the test of time extraordinarily well. I’m more familiar with the Mara Wilson version - Macauley Culkins’s 1990s female counterpart for the most winning wide-eyed jaw agape child acting award - a remake that if not necessarily worthy of being made, definitely didn’t do the marvellous original a disservice. With a star turn from Richard Attenborough it carved its way into the Christmas Film Classics repertoire of its own accord. If you’re familiar with one but not the other I think they’re both equally valuable of your time, so why not give them both a whirl?
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: a bucket of Macy’s candy canes please.
Scrooged & Spirited
An oldie and a newbie. One terrifyingly dark, the other as light and fluffy as a souffle. Inspired by the same story, both films manage to deliver a completely original take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Spirited snuck up on me as stealthily as a Ghost of Christmas Past — I was pretty skeptical at the start but I ended up loving it so much it prompted me to call my agent and tell them how much I long to be in a cheesy (but still sort of classy, lol) Christmas movie — after all, Will Ferrell’s done it twice. But he’s Will Ferrell of course, and Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds and Bill Murray is Bill Murray. All of them are doing what they do best in these movies and making it look easy, with amazing ensembles alongside them. More Dickens, more Carolling, more bad spirits vanquished and festive ones raised!
Ideal movie snack accompaniment: anything you can stomach after the mouse comes out of the guy’s head.
And here are some other double bills that I think go well together and it would be remiss not to mention as I know they’re film fan favourites. I didn’t include them in the full list because they’re not on my personal Christmas must-see list, though I know they will be for others.
Santa Claus: The Movie & The Santa Clause
Die Hard & Die Harder
Love Actually & The Holiday
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