As winter break is approaching quickly, many students are thinking ahead about the Christmas movies they will be watching with their time off.
Fortunately, there seems to be an endless amount of Christmas movies to pick from when it comes to thinking about what to watch.
“My favorite movie is ‘The Year Without a Santa Claus’ because it reminds me of Christmas when I was a little girl,” said Jordan Terry, a graduate student in the MA in English program. “Plus, it arguably has the best soundtrack of all Christmas movies, other than ‘Rudolph’ of course.”
“The Year Without a Santa Claus” is a movie from 1974 that depicts the story of Santa Claus deciding not to do his annual rounds. As a result, the characters move quickly around the world to find people who believe in Santa Claus so that there will be Christmas.
Apart from the well-known cartoon Christmas movies, there are Hallmark movies. These movies usually tell a story of a romantic relationship that is met with an obstacle that, in the end, is overcome. Although the storyline is similar in each of the movies, there are life lessons concerning family, friends, and thankfulness woven into the plot.
“My favorite Christmas movie is ‘Last Holiday’ because it’s a wholesome romantic comedy that teaches you the life lesson of spending every day like it’s your last and getting out of your comfort zone,” said Morgan Hunter, a sophomore chemistry major.
In addition to holiday romance movies, the “The Santa Clause” movie series starring Tim Allen is a popular pick when looking for a Christmas comedy. In the three-part series, Allen presumes the role of Santa Claus and thus creates his life in the North Pole among the elves and reindeer.
“My favorite Christmas movie is ‘Elf,’” said Jesse Martin, a senior conservation biology major. “It is a movie that feels like Christmas to me.”
The movie ‘Elf’ starring Will Ferrell is a Christmas comedy that feels like a classic for young adults. In the film, Ferrel’s character Buddy the Elf leaves the North Pole to find his biological father in New York. From there, the two opposites work together in figuring out how to be a family.
Aside from the traditional Christmas movies, like the ones previously mentioned, are the ones that still feature the holiday but with a twist.
“My favorite Christmas movie is ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ because it does not overplay the typical Christmas songs, and it involves spookiness, and I love that,” said Stephanie Martin, a graduate student in the MA in English program.
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” tells the story of Jack Skellington discovering Christmas Town after becoming tired of Halloween Town’s annual event of scaring the world.
Of course, the Christmas movies mentioned are not the only ones available to watch. As the holiday approaches, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu will begin advertising their original holiday films, along with offering many of the previously mentioned movies.
