THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE MERRY GENTLEMAN (2008)

 

Just before Christmas Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) leaves her abusive husband Michael (Bobby Cannavale) and moves to Chicago to start a new life.

Then she meets a quiet man, Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) who helps her when she is struggling with a Christmas Tree and on Christmas Eve, she returns the favour when she takes him to the ER after he collapses outside her building, after which they become friends while she is being courted by police detective Dave Murcheson (Tom Bastounes).

Everything changes when Kate’s husband tracks her down and it turns out that Frank is a professional killer, and detective Murcheson is investigating him, and then Michael ends up dead.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979)

 

An enjoyable reworking of Charles Dickens well spun yarn of redemption.

This retelling of the story is set in Depression-era New England and is about a driven and heartless bitter old miser of a businessman, Benedict Slade (Henry Winkler) who on Christmas Eve is visited by the ghost of his old partner Jack Latham (Kenneth Pogue), who scares him with tales of hell and tells him he will have further visitation to give him a long-overdue attitude adjustment and show him the errors of his ways.

They appear in the guise of three of the people whose possessions he had seized that day against unpaid loans.

The first visitor was the ghost of Christmas past in the form of Book Shop owner Mr Merrivale (David Wayne), the second visitor was the ghost of Christmas Present in the form of the Orphanage head Jessup (Gerard Parkes) and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is farmer Matt Reeves (Dorian Harewood).

Between them they force him to face the consequences of his skinflint ways, and as a result he becomes a caring, generous, amiable man and discovers the true spirit of Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS EVE (1986)

 

Wealthy widow Amanda Kingsley (Loretta Young) befriends the homeless and volunteers her time with needy children aided by her trusty retainer Maitland (Trevor Howard).

After she learns she has an incurable illness she hires a private detective Morris Huffner (Ron Leibman) to find her three grown grandchildren Harley (Wayne Best), Melissa (Season Hubley) and Josh (Patrick Cassidy), who have been estranged from her son Andrew (Arthur Hill) for many years and have them return to her penthouse apartment on Christmas Eve.

She also decides to make a new will in which she denies Andrew controlling interest in the business, so he decides to have her declared incompetent.

So will the Private Investigator locate them in time for the Christmas Eve reunion and will they all return even if he does?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ONE STARRY CHRISTMAS (2014)

Although Astronomy Professor and Christmas nut Holly (Sarah Sanguin Carter) was upset when her longtime boyfriend Adam (Paul Popowich) schedules a business trip during the holidays she decides to travel to New York from Chicago to surprise him and to spend Christmas with her parents (Kathleen Laskey and Neil Crone).

She journeys by bus and meets a charming cowboy Luke (Damon Runyan) and they forge an instant connection over their love of constellations and Christmas. After the bus break he hires a car to complete the journey and she accompanies him so in the spirit of the season, she invites him and his brother Bull (George Canyon) to join her family for Christmas, but it causes competitive friction with Adam.

So who’s future will be written in the stars?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000)

 

An unusual modern-day reworking of Charles Dickens well spun yarn of redemption.

This retelling of the story is of an unscrupulous loan shark, Eddie Scrooge (Ross Kemp) who on Christmas Eve is visited by the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley (Ray Fearon).

He tells Eddie that he has lost sight of the things that are truly important in life and that he will have further visitation to show him the errors of his ways.

Eddie's Dad (Warren Mitchell) is the ghost of Christmas past, Jacob Marley reappears again as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Future is an undisclosed boy (Ben Inigo-Jones)

But apart from the visitations there is a “Groundhog Day” element where he and the long-suffering Bob Cratchett (Michael Maloney)  keep reliving Christmas Eve until he learns real compassion, which he must do if he is to win back the heart of Bella (Angeline Ball) and

discover the true spirit of Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS WITCH 2: THE ORIGINS (2021)

 

Paola (Zoe Massenti) is a young and reckless street urchin in 18th century Italy, who mistakeably thwarts the plans of a small and mean hunchback Baron De Michelis (Fabio De Luigi), with an intense hatred of witches and an unquenchable thirst for power, aided and abetted by his put upon minion Marmotta (Herbert Ballerina).

Paola is to be burned at the stake but is fortunately rescued the sweet and powerful Dolores (Monica Bellucci) a good witch who has devoted her life to children.

Dolores takes Paola under her wing as an apprentice and teaches her how to do magic, how to fly and perform transformations and how to get in and out of trouble on a series of adventures.

Ultimately Paola discovers that she has a destiny and the legend of Befana is born.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS EVE (1947)

 

To prevent her fortune from falling under the control of her grasping  nephew Phillip Hastings (Reginald Denny) wealthy widow Matilda Reed (Ann Harding) must produce for Judge Alston (Clarence Kolb) at her home on Christmas Eve, her three long-lost adopted sons.

Mario (George Raft) a shady character exiled in South America, bankrupt playboy Michael (George Brent) and hard-drinking rodeo rider Jonathan (Randolph Scott).

So will she be able to locate them in time for the Christmas Eve reunion?

Joan Blondell, Virginia Field, Dolores Moran and Konstantin Shayne also star.