Greetings friends!
We are just a couple of days away from December, and that means we are well and truly into the Christmas season. If you're anything like me, you'll already have the Christmas tunes on and getting into the spirit, but if you haven't started yet, now is the perfect time! And what better way to start feeling Christmassy than to curl up with a Christmas movie and a hot chocolate?
Let me share with you my top picks for Christmas movies and TV specials this year, and some extras that I am adding to my own Christmas watchlist!
Who doesn't need some Christmas spirit in their lives this year?!
Top Picks: Christmas Movies
1. Love Actually
Let's start with the best Christmas movie ever made. I'm sure all of you will have seen this movie, but it deserves an honourable mention for being an absolute classic. With an all star cast (honestly, I challenge you to find a better cast), including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Joanna Page, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightly and so many more, you cannot go wrong with this movie! It's my number one must-watch.
2. The Holiday
If you are a fan of romantic comedies at Christmas (and who isn't?) then this is definitely one for you! Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz are the leading ladies in this movie, and portray two loveable characters with very different lives. After both deciding they need to get away for a while, they decide to swap houses sending Amanda (Cameron Diaz) to the English countryside and Iris (Kate Winslet) to the glamorous LA! With a couple of love interests thrown in (in the form of Jude Law and Jack Black), this makes the perfect cosy evening Christmas movie!
3. Last Christmas
A movie that, ironically, was released last Christmas, staring the incredibly talented Emilia Clarke as "young Kate", a woman who has had some pretty bad luck. It appears her luck is changing when she meets Tom (Henry Golding), but all is not as it seems. This one is a real tear-jerker (seriously, you will cry) so get the tissues ready! This one makes my list for top picks and is definitely one I will be adding to my "watch every year" list.
4. Elf
I am pretty sure everyone has seen this movie, but it should be on everybody's watchlist! Just in case you have been living under a rock, Buddy (Will Ferrell) is an Elf raised in the North Pole after he, as a baby, snuck into Santa's sack one Christmas eve. Buddy decides to go to America to try to find his biological father, and the results are hilarious! This is one of the best feel-good films ever made.
5. Arthur Christmas
This is a super sweet family Christmas movie centred around Arthur, Santa's youngest son. One Christmas Eve, a child is forgotten and left without a present and it's up to Arthur to correct the mistake before Christmas morning. This is a Christmas classic (in my opinion). The perfect family movie!
6. The Princess Switch
I'll admit, this Netflix Original is the definition of a cheesy Christmas movie so if that's not really your thing, you probably won't enjoy this. I, personally, loved this movie, staring Vanessa Hudgens... twice! Hudgens plays two women, one a family-orientated baker and the other a soon-to-be princess, who discover they look like twins (shocking, I know). In true Christmas movie fashion, the two decide to switch places. A funny, heart-warming movie that made Netflix Originals go up in my expectations.
7. Klaus
I watched this movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I can't believe I didn't see it sooner! This movie tells the story of how Christmas (and specifically Santa Claus) came to be. If you don't trust my judgement, this movie was academy award nominated so you can trust me when I tell you it is absolutely worth a watch!
8. Miracle on 34th Street
If you haven't seen this movie, either you don't like movies or you are too young to know about this movie. A Christmas classic, about a little girl who is sceptical about Santa Claus until she meets Kris Kringle, who claims to be the real Santa. I will confess, I have only ever seen the 1994 remake, but it is one of the first Christmas movies (maybe THE first) I ever remember watching as a child and it is still a firm favourite.
9. A Bad Mom's Christmas
This movie is a sequel to Mila Kunis' "bad Moms", a comedy that made me LOL. I wasn't sure how I felt about them doubling up the sequel to make it a Christmas movie but it turned out to be a great idea! If you want a more mature, comedic Christmas movie about trying (and failing) to have the perfect Christmas with children (and parents) then this is definitely one for you! This is the kind of Christmas movie perfect for a Friday night after work with a glass of wine...
10. A Christmas Prince
Another Netflix Original that pleasantly surprised me with how tolerable it was! This is definitely another cheese-fest movie. The story centres around Amber, a journalist sent to get the details on a handsome prince who is one day to become king. I imagine just from that sentence alone you can guess the ending of the movie, but it was still a very enjoyable watch and a great festive find!
Top Picks: TV Christmas Specials
I have three honourable mentions for the TV shows I believe have the best Christmas specials...
1. Gavin and Stacey
If you don't know, Gavin and Stacey is a British sitcom about a guy from Essex (Gavin) and a gal from Barry in Wales (Stacey) who fall in love and the whirlwind of integrating their two families. Every single episode of this show makes me laugh, and the hour-long Christmas specials are no exception! I love them so much that I watched both in mid-November. If you're not from the UK and haven't experienced the joy of watching Gavin and Stacey, put this on your watchlist now! I promise you will not regret it...
2. Outnumbered
Another sitcom I have been watching since I was a little girl is Outnumbered. This follows the Brockmans, a husband and wife (Pete and Sue), and their three children: Jake, Ben and Karen. The Christmas specials are hilariously relatable and are guaranteed to make you chuckle.
3. Doctor Who
I'm not going to mention all of the Christmas specials in turn because there are so many, but if you haven't seen them before, make sure to add these to your list! Among my favourites are "Voyage of the Damned" which sees Kylie Minogue guest star alongside David Tennant as the Doctor. And perhaps one of the most famous Christmas Specials was the two-part finale and farewell to David Tennant "The End of Time", which sees the return of Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) as Donna Noble's grandfather. I don't want to give anything away just in case it has taken you this long to watch it for the first time... but take my word for it, you want to watch this one. Of course, I couldn't write about Doctor Who and not mention the doctor I remember watching the most as a child, Matt Smith, who also produced some incredible Christmas specials. As you can tell, I am a big fan.
Movies to add to my list this year!
1. The Princess Switch: Switched Again
As I said above, I got so invested in this cheesy Christmas movie, so when they announced the sequel this year I was so excited! This has now been released on Netflix but I am trying my best to wait until closer to Christmas to watch it... I'm not sure how long I'll last though!
2. Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Another Netflix Original (Netflix is really serving us this year!!) and family movies that I predict will be lifting all of our spirits this Christmas! This one also has an excellent cast, which is always an indication of a good movie!
3. Christmas Inheritance
This one actually came out in 2017 but it hasn't crossed my screen until now. With the classic "learning the value of hard work" storyline, this one is bound to be another cheese-fest with a love interest or two. You'd think I'd be bored of them by now, but I can't get enough!
4. A New York Christmas Wedding
I mean, the title of this says it all I think. This is another 2020 Christmas movie, with a "ghost of Christmas past" type feel to it (at least from what I've read in the synopsis). Who doesn't love a little bit of that to step into the season? It's an added bonus that it's based in New York, so not watching it whilst I'm in New York would be criminal!
5. The Grinch
Don't worry, I have seen 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' but I am yet to watch the illuminations 'the Grinch' even though it was released two years ago... so that is definitely a priority for me this year!
There you have it, my top picks for Christmas viewing!
Was your favourite on this list? Let me know!
Christmas wishes,
Charlotte. X
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