By Sera Gurzumar, Year 11 The holidays are getting nearer and nearer by the second, and one thing I am looking forward to, and I’m sure you are too, is being able to watch holiday movies. There are so many great films out there, so here is a list of movies you can watch, based on the genre, to get you into the holiday spirit.
Comedy
Home Alone
A classic Christmas movie that was released in 1990, about a child accidentally being left at home when the rest of the family goes on holiday to Paris. The eight-year old troublemaker Kevin, at first is overjoyed to be without his family, however, he soon feels frightened by his next door neighbour who is rumoured to have murdered his own family with a shovel in 1958. Kevin also ends up having to save his house from a pair of burglars.
IMDB rating: 7.5/10
Home Alone 2
The sequel to the “Home Alone”, which was released in 1992, is almost as good as the first one. A year has passed since Kevin had been left alone, and this time, instead of being left alone, he ends up in New York, while the rest of the family goes to Miami, with his father’s bag containing his wallet and a large amount of cash. The burglars he caught the previous year end up escaping prison and he catches them once again.
IMDB rating: 6.6/10
Elf
This hilarious film, released in 2003, is about a man who was raised as an elf, who finds out that he is actually human. Buddy travels to New York to find his biological father, who is a children’s book publisher. He has trouble understanding and fitting in with human customs.
IMDB rating: 6.9/10
A Christmas Story
Released in 1983, “A Christmas Story” is about a nine-year-old boy, Ralphie Parker, who only wants one thing for Christmas: a “Red Rider Air Rifle”. He spends most of his time dodging the school bully, and dreaming about this gift. However, both his parents, and the mall Santa say no. It is one of the classics.
IMDB rating: 8/10
Romantic Comedy
The Holiday
This movie released in 2006 is about two women, one from America and one from Britain, who swap homes during Christmas time to deal with their bad breakups. Through the holiday, they both fall in love with locals but realize that the return home, might end the relationship.
IMDB rating: 6.9/10
Love Actually
“Love Actually” is a movie which was released in 2003, and shows the different aspects of love, seen through ten different stories, which include a wide variety of individuals whose stories are then linked as the movie progresses.
IMDB rating: 7.7/10
Family
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
This classic movie, released in 2006, based on Dr.Seuss’s book, is about a Grinch who lives on the outskirts of whoville and seeks revenge on its citizens. He plans on ruining Christmas and every other holiday, for the Whos.
IMDB rating: 6.1/10
The Polar Express
When a boy starts to doubt Santa’s existence on Christmas eve, he witnesses a train known as the Polar Express getting ready to depart to the North Pole. He boards the train and embarks on a journey in which he learns about friendship, bravery and the spirit of Christmas. The whole movie was computer made and was released in 2004.
IMDB rating: 6.6/10
The Muppet Christmas Carol
“The Muppet Christmas Carol”, released in 1992, is the movie in which the muppets tell their version of the Charles Dickens book “A Christmas Carol”, which is about an old miserable man, who strongly dislikes Christmas and on Christmas Eve is visited by the ghosts of the past, present and future.
IMDB rating: 7.7/10
Nightmare Before Christmas
This movie released in 1993 is about the misadventures of Jack Skellington, the beloved king of Halloweentown, who has gotten bored of the same routine of frightening people in the real world every year. When he accidentally stumbles upon Christmastown, he plans on taking over Christmas by kidnapping Santa Claus and stealing his role.
IMDB rating: 8/10
Arthur Christmas
It is known by everyone, that Santa delivers presents to every single child on the planet. What they don’t know is that this requires a high tech operation in the North Pole. One year however, Santa accidentally forgets one child and it is up to his youngest son Arthur to deliver the present before sunrise.
IMDB rating: 7.1/10
