ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXSo, what makes a Christmas Movie?
9 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Some find we can all agree on - 'It's a wonderful life', for instance, but what essentially makes a Christmas Movie? Die Hard set at Christmas, but is it that enough? It's not so much a family movie, for instance. My last horror/thriller has Christmas themes, but isn't really a Christmas Movie.
So - what makes a Christmas Movie, what's your favourite (guilty pleasures allowed!)?
And have a lovely Christmas Day tomorrow, everyone. May those of you hoping to get new gear have fun with it experimenting in the new year, and may those with movie aspirations in 2016 all make your movies!
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9 years, 7 months ago - AndBut Films
The original Christmas Movie must be one of the adaptations of Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Essential themes include family, community, and redemption.
"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), which won Academy Awards for acting, story, and screenplay, is another joyful classic.
"Groundhog Day," though obviously not set at Christmas, is in every other way an exemplary Christmas movie.
Screenwriters: anyone writing a Christmas movie screenplay this year?
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - AndBut Films SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Andy Conway
A few Shooters have been writing Christmas movies this year, as evidenced in our Xmas Script Pitch.
Read the pitches here: https://shootingpeople.org/bulletin/view/list/4
I like the idea that there are some essential themes. I'd agree on family, community and redemption, but what's the whole supernatural thing about? Why are so many Christmas movies ghost stories or other supernatural phenomena? From Dickens through It's a Wonderful Life right up to the stuff they're churning out every day on that Movies 24 channel.
Perhaps it's the feeling of magic. I guess the Nativity - the first Christmas movie - was a supernatural story.
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Andy Conway SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Great point about the supernatural element - you cannot have the Nativity story without believing in ghosts (and reanimated corpses), so great crossover there.
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich
"Bad Santa" and "Elf". Watch them every year.
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin
Redemption theme?
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich
@Paddy Robinson-Griffin Nah. I just like a little violence in my christmas movies.
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Dan Selakovich SHOW
9 years, 7 months ago - Chris Bogle
Merry Christmas Paddy and everyone! I hope Santa brought all your favourite films!
I think a good helping of nostalgia is important. My Christmas favourites are Close Encounters, Raiders and ET, the movies that played every year on TV when I was a kid. They're movies that still really excite me, but they also have the power to instantly transport me back to my childhood, and they're as much a part of Christmas to me as the smell of pine trees and mulled wine.
Response from 9 years, 7 months ago - Chris Bogle SHOW