Mediaite Presents Our Favorite Christmas Holiday-Themed Movies

Jingle All the Way – Mediaite Editor Matt Schneider

First let me say I love the holiday season, but I do not love holiday movies. Not to be a Scrooge about it, but audiences feel joyful this time of year regardless, and in my humble opinion the holiday “classics” are really just bad movies drenched with an extra coating of Christmas schmaltz to mask their shallowness. With this holiday spirit, I prefer to fully embrace just one of the many bad Christmas movies. However, this movie is so bad that it actually boomerangs back around to being awesome. I’m talking about the Arnold Schwarzenegger masterpiece Jingle All the Way!

The Governator’s quest to get his son the hot new toy of the season (Turbo Man) is an unforgettable spectacle that future generations will surely cherish. Not only do you get: Sinbad in his most high-profile role ever, the always hilarious and missed Phil Hartman, an endless supply of Schwarzenegger’s randomly over-the-top lines to laugh at, and an accurate portrayal of how hellish shopping during this time of year could be, but you also get a heavy-handed attempt to make social commentary about materialism and the wrongful commercialization of Christmas. Fun for the whole family!

And if you trying watching this movie alone and someone walks in, guaranteed you won’t be alone for long, as your visitor will likely be entranced by the trainwreck on screen and will be unable to resist sitting down and completing this cinematic achievement with you. Damn, writing “alone” just made me realize I actually really love Home Alone AND Home Alone 2. Oh well, if I was able to remember Jingle All the Way first, then for whatever the reason, clearly that’s my Christmas classic, and I’m proud of it!

Next: Love, Actually – Mediaite TV Editor Mark Joyella

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.