How Soon Is Too Soon For Christmas Movies?

How Soon Is Too Soon For Christmas Movies?

Posted on Monday December 1, 2008, 18:05 by Emily Phillips in Empire States

As the nights draw in, we need some comfort to get us through the greyness. And as it is now only one month until Christmas, it is officially time to get into the spirit with some festive flicks. But when is the right time to start watching those warm and fuzzy, jingle bell ringin’ classics?

By this point, it is very likely that you will have ticked The Nightmare Before Christmas off the list, sometime after Halloween. That whole Halloween Town/ Christmas Town crossover means it’s officially OK to watch that any time from October 31 onwards.

The next stop is likely to be any film set around the festive period that is not officially about the big day. So, for an early December Sunday sofa session, think Gremlins, Home Alone or Trading Places. Serving up Christmas capers with an extra helping of farce, violence and nasty glee, they brighten up those winter doldrums without a trace of schmaltz or overly-seasonal cheer.

But perhaps one might prefer a night of action… so surely it’s gotta be Die Hard? Despite being well worth a watch at any time of year, it can be strangely depressing when watched outside of the Christmas run-up. In Britain’s bleak midsummer, there is nothing more galling than a movie that is set in December where everyone is wearing less clothes than you are in bitter and drizzly June.

But today the first door on our advent calendars marks the fact that we have 24 days ahead through which to plunder the Quality Street whilst sampling more than a hundred years of Christmas movies (the first being The Night Before Christmas in 1906). Of these, there are probably 25 worth our serious consideration, which helpfully gives us one a day for the whole of Advent.

Decorate the tree, wrap those presents and bask in the twinkling lights, as you select one of approximately four types of film:

Family Fun- Arnie magic (or not) in Jingle All The Way, or the-lightly-annoying-at-any-other-time-of-year-but-genius-at-Christmas Elf, or the schmaltz of The Santa Clause enlivened a little by some Tim Allen everyman-itude. Most of this category are barely watchable except for nostalgia value (with the honourable exception of A Muppet Christmas Carol), and probably not then until about the 20th.

Classic - White Christmas, Miracle On 34th Street (either version), The Snowman and It’s A Wonderful Life. Really, these are best reserved for Christmas Eve. Anything vaguely sing-along is also best then - glass of eggnog in hand, curly ribbons flying frantically round the gifts you are suddenly regretting buying because you don’t know how to wrap them. The perfect accompaniment to childish excitement for the day ahead, they never lose their magic no matter that you watch this same handful of movies year upon year.

Antidote - Bad Santa or Scrooged should be watched when families and shopping get too much for you; or if you’re really anti- the season, try Black Christmas, Santa Slay or indeed Die Hard. These are a good idea to sprinkle in through the month, just so you don’t tire yourself out with all this goodwill and prosperity, emerging a reverse-Scrooge on Boxing Day.

On the big day itself, filled with mince pies and surrounded by needless pairs of socks and bags of satsumas, the movie magic is downgraded to whatever DVDs were under the tree and the inoffensive family fodder of yesteryear, lined up by lazy TV executives allow everyone from Granny to toddler to digest the mountains of turkey and sprouts in peace. Then Christmas films are suddenly redundant for another 309 days, until it’s time to come back around to The Nightmare Before Christmas once again…

But what do you think? Is it Christmas every day for you? Or do you have strong feelings on watching any Christmas movies before the 24th?