Five Great Christmas Movies

Written by Kirk Baird

The Christmas season is all about traditions, especially when it comes to holiday films. In addition to those annual viewings of classics including It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story, here are five other holiday treats worth the time.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945): In this warm holiday tale, Barbara Stanwyck is a food writer sorely lacking culinary and housekeeping skills whose deception may be exposed when her boss and a returning World War II soldier invite themselves to her home for a Christmas Day feast.

Nutcracker with Rudolf Nureyev (1968): This filmed performance features perhaps the greatest male ballet dancer in peak form in a celebrated interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet masterpiece and holiday mainstay.

The Ref (1994): Denis Leary plays a cat burglar who breaks into a home on Christmas Eve and then must play mediator to a warring couple (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis) and their family in this painfully funny R-rated dark comedy.

Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) (2008): Catherine Deneuve stars in this acerbic French comedy-drama about a highly dysfunctional and feuding family that gathers at the parents’ house for Christmas and learns the strong-willed matriarch has leukemia.

Arthur Christmas (2011): Santa’s clumsy son Arthur alternately ruins and then saves Christmas in this wondrous holiday classic. While audiences missed the film in theaters, Arthur Christmas deserves to be a staple of the season for years to come.

Arthur Christmas a Worthy Holiday Entry

Written by Kirk Baird

Arthur Christmas is a charming holiday film that deserves a place among the classics of the season. This animated tale is as joyous as the season it celebrates, with a warm message for Christmas about the spirit of giving.

The story concerns the silly and sometimes clumsy son of Santa, Arthur (voice of James McAvoy), a good-natured soul who spends time working in the letter department at his dad's North Pole facility. Arthur loves Christmas, but his taskmaster brother Steve (voice of Hugh Laurie), who runs Santa's workshop and the gift deliveries, treats the holiday as a business. He's transformed Santa's workshop into a high-tech business to ensure children worldwide receive their Christmas gifts on time.

But when a little girl is inadvertently passed over, Steve focuses on how well the operation went otherwise, with only a tiny percentage point of error, and convinces an old and rather worn down Santa (voice of Jim Broadbent) that he shouldn't worry about the happiness of a single child out of a billion. Arthur feels differently, and with the help of his Grandsanta (voice of Bill Nighy), who retired from the family business long ago, as well as a gift-wrapping elf, he sets out to make things right, leading to a rash of problems and important life lessons along the way.

Arthur Christmas eschews most of the conventions of today's animated films. There are no cute, talking animals, and only a few scattered pop culture references. In that respect, Arthur Christmas, like its message about losing some of the magic of Christmas with high-tech gadgetry, is a throwback. The computer animation is well done and the 3-D subtle but effective. The cast, led by McAvoy and Laurie, are spot on. McAvoy brings a quirky and fun sensibility to Arthur, and Laurie makes Steve stern but never overbearing. Steve is as close to an antagonist as the film provides, but he's really not that bad — just a bit misguided about the importance of Santa.

Arthur Christmas was directed by Sarah Smith in her feature-film debut. Smith also co-wrote the script with Peter Baynham (Borat and Bruno). Arthur Christmas was overlooked by audiences during its holiday run last year. Now out on DVD and Blu-ray, here's hoping holiday history won’t be repeated.

Midwest Tape’s Holiday Picks

Looking to get your patrons into the holiday spirit? Below our selection experts break down their must-recommends for the festive season.

Danielle Desmond, Music Selector

Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe

Michael Buble, Christmas

She & Him, A Very She & Him Christmas

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album: Volume 2

Carole King, A Holiday Carole

Jackie Evancho, A Heavenly Christmas

Erica Messinger, Audiobook Selector

The Christmas Wedding, James Patterson & Richard Dilallo

A Christmas Story, Jean Shepherd

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (narrated by Simon Prebble or narrated by Jim Dale)

The Christmas Sweater, Glenn Beck

The Nine Lives of Christmas, Sheila Roberts 

Amanda Adkins, DVD Selector

A Christmas Story

Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Muppet Christmas Carol

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Eight Crazy Nights

A Charlie Brown Christmas

It’s a Wonderful Life

What are your picks for the holidays? What festive titles do your patrons request the most?