That very sad Christmas tree that Dan “Danno” Williams (played by Scott Caan) put up in his apartment in Monday’s episode of CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” reminded me of one of my favorite holiday flicks, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
I love this time of the year, when you can snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and watch Netflix of your favorite Christmas movies.
Because, let’s be honest, watching them any other time of the year is, well, weird.
So here’s my list of best Christmas movies of all time (excluding “Die Hard):
• “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
• “Elf”
• “The Muppet Christmas Carol”
• “A Christmas Story”
• “A Nightmare Before Christmas”
• “It’s A Wonderful Life”
• “Love Actually”
• “Scrooged”
• “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
• “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”
• “A Miracle on 34th Street”
• “Bad Santa”
Got any to add?
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From tonight’s episode:
Highlights:
• The return of Sang Min — or, as he’s affectionately known on Twitter, Saimin. We look forward to his strange accent and John Travolta hair.
• Breaking into police headquarters to steal drug money? As Steve McGarrett and Dan “Danno” Williams put it, “The insanity level is high.”
• The use of Hawaiian Christmas tunes. I dug it.
Lowlights:
• How in the world did that bad guy survive two gun shots to the chest? Sounds like a plot in “Days of Our Lives.”
• Chin Ho Kelly was moving around too much for a motion detector bomb around his neck.
• Again, severe lack of strong female characters. I mean, I’m glad Kono Kalakaua served as sniper in the last fight scene. But really? Is that it? Do I need to write a memo to producers?
Jury’s out:
• I didn’t care for the use of “aloha” in the show between Kelly and his cousin, Kalakaua. It didn’t seem natural. But is it just me?
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23 Comments
White Christmas was one of my grandmother’s favorites and we watched it with her every year.
Other good Xmas movies are :
The Family Stone ( 2005 )
Gremlins ( 1984 )
National Lampoon’s Xmas Vacation ( 1989 )
Home Alone ( 1990 )
Home Alone 2 : Lost in New York ( 1992 )
Santa Claus is Coming to Town ( 1970 )
The Santa Clause ( 1994 )
1941 ( 1979 )
The Polar Express ( 2004 )
Tonite’s Five O episode : Bar 35 is a hostess bar ??? St Louis Heights is next to the ocean??? I like the HPD break in, and the return of Wo Fat. Turns out he’s been hiding out, hosting Iron Chef all these years.
Hahaha! Bad Santa… maaaaaaan, what a trip that movie was, LOL!
Some others not on your list:
Trading Places (1983)
The Family Man (2000)
Home For The Holidays (1995) * OK, that’s a Thanksgiving movie, but one of my faves!
The Family Stone (2005)
The Waltons–The Homecoming (1970s)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) * OK, that’s another Thanksgiving movie
…more when I think of them later…
Here’s more!
A Christmas Carol (1983)
The Holiday (2006)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940) * remade as “You’ve Got Mail (1998)
The Ref (1994)
@MaxMaxMax Aw yeah Trading Places, just one of the best comedies ever. “Hello security? Merry Christmas! *click*”
@808marv …and the other classic line: “Egg nog!?!?”
@MaxMaxMax yes “Bad Santa” is on my list too.
“One Magic Christmas” (1985) Disney film starring Mary Steenburgen, whose character hates Chrismas, and Harry Dean Stanton, who plays an angel – my all time favorite christmas film.
CAT: You got some of my favorites. Wasn’t Holiday Inn (not the hotel chain) the movie the one that Bing Crosby introduced White Christmas?
The Silent Night at the end sounded like the Cazimeros. Victor Hess survived because it was a 9 mm, and not a 357 or a 45. At least they were filming outside the real police station. Was great seeing Dennis Chun filling in the part of Duke Lukela. Dennis is the real-life son of Chin Ho Kelly, and he’s acted in previous settings. I like the Hula Bowl t-shirt on Kamekona. Ikalani resort on the west side of Oahu. Driving town bound on the H3 to arrive at Kahuku for a cockfight. As always, they open the episode with fabulous camera work of Honolulu — making the place look good.
They filmed around the corner from the Advertiser building, standing in as HPD head quarters. Oh well. Nice touch having Na Leo singing Christmas music.
Aue! No one’s mentioned “A Christmas Story” yet? You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!
@hawaii Oh, you’ll see that in Cat’s list in her original post. I think we’re all “filling in the gaps” with movies not on the list.
“Deck The Harr with bower of hahrry, fah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah rah!”
Star Wars Christmas Special baby. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Or search Google if you want to see it and know why George Lucas wants every known copy destroyed. 😉 Happy Life Day!
oops I meant “Star Wars Holiday Special”…don’t wanna blow my fan cred there!
Also liked the goofy Christmas movies that Mystery Science Theater 3000 would rip apart, like “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians”.
I only watch two, the original Grinch and Charlie Brown’s Christmas. Every year my son and I go see a Christmas movie and this year’s pick will be the Narnia Chronicles. Dawn Treader respectively my favorite and his second favorite of the series. I think I will read the series again just to get in the frame of mind.
@dbjack It ain’t Christmas without A Charlie Brown Christmas and Vince Guaraldi Trio tunes!
@MaxMaxMax Amen to that, or Linus’s bit at the end telling charlie Brown what Christmas is all about.
Maybe I’m just into the oldies that I grew up watching or A&E keeps playing all these classics but I really need to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Something about that movie maes me appreciate the holidays more.
(OK, just watched the DVR of the show)
Cat, something else that should have made your lowlights list:
The cavalier attitude and acceptance of McGarret’s character of cock fighting! It is a disgusting and inhuman practice. The show’s producers should have either handled it more sensitively, or not included that scene in the first place. The way it came off was as a negative but accepted attribute of Hawaiian culture, and jokingly compared to tanning booths. Instead of the sickening and barbaric sport it is… ALL animals deserve the right to be treated with respect and humanely.
I’m sure the next episode will include a dismissive reference to wild boar hunters on Oahu who use a pack of dogs to attack and rip the flesh from a still live and screaming pig, only to leave it to die in agony over the next several hours or days.
Way to go Hawaii Five-0. *sarcasm intended*
Unless I missed it, I’m surprised nobody mentioned two of the greatest Christmas movies:
Jingle All The Way and Santa With Muscles. Modern classics of the highest order.
It’s not very politically correct by modern standards, but I love Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn.” The sequel “White Christmas” is a classic that I will watch even in the middle of July. I agree that 24 hours of “A Christmas Story” is a bit annoying, but I have to watch Ralphie at least once every year.
This may sound Un-American, but I absolutely loathe “The Santa Clause” because of the sheer brattiness of the son. He hated his father, but all of a sudden loves him once his dad becomes Santa Claus. Were he not the son of Santa Claus, that kid would so be on the naughty list.