I've included here Christian, Non-Christian, Secular, and Obscure December holidays and matched movies with them to watch. Apologies if I accidentally left out your holiday. Some were too difficult to find movies for. Some of these movies I've seen while some I haven't but want to see. As I watch them, I will review them as well on here. I used a different movie(s) for each holiday so you wouldn't have repeats. Enjoy!
Dec 4th
Santas' List Day
We hope you are on the "Nice" list. Found on HolidayInsights.com
Elf (2003)
Who's on the naughty list?
Dec 5th
The 21st Amendment ends Prohibition on December 5, 1933. Egg nog with Bourbon anyone?
Below are holiday movies with the best drinking scenes
Bad Santa (2003)
Basically drinks the whole movie
The Family Stone (2005)
The girlfriend drinks too much Dos Equis & loosens up finally
Scrooged
Never fire someone on Christmas cuz they might get drunk and go postal.
The Night Before (2015)
A movie about party/bar hopping on Christmas Eve
Dec 6th
St. Nicholas Day
The feast day of Saint Nicholas, the real man behind the Santa Claus legend.
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story (2015)
Short documentary about the real guy
Miracle on 34th Street (TV) 1994
I love Richard Attenborough as Santa Clause.
A holiday where you donate mittens to people in need & suspected to be an elementary school teacher who came up with this holiday
Serendipity (2001)
Mitten Meet-Cute near Christmas
Sex and the City (2008)
Love the New Year's Eve scene where Carrie throws her outerwear including gloves over her pjs so she can rush to Miranda
Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
A cautionary tale about shopping & Winter in NYC give us sooo many amazing pairs of gloves
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Catholic holiday that celebrates the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without sin. To celebrate, go to church if you're Catholic as this is a holy day of obligation. But also watch this movie about the birth of Jesus, the only one told from Mary's perspective.
The Nativity Story (2006)
Follow the journey of the virgin Mary and her husband Joseph as they travel to the town of Bethlehem.
Dec 9th
Catholic holiday that celebrates the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without sin. To celebrate, go to church if you're Catholic as this is a holy day of obligation. But also watch this movie about the birth of Jesus, the only one told from Mary's perspective.
The Nativity Story (2006)
Follow the journey of the virgin Mary and her husband Joseph as they travel to the town of Bethlehem.
Dec 9th
Suspected that on this date, Henry Cole marketed the commercial Christmas card.
The Christmas Card (TV) 2006
A Christmas card saves a life.
Love Actually (2003)
The Keira Knightly Christmas card scene is the sweetest.
Spoilers!
Dec 12
Poinsettia Day was officially declared by an Act of Congress. It is in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who died on December 12, 1851. Poinsett was the first Ambassador to Mexico . Poinsett brought this colorful plant back to his plantation in the U.S. He grew the plants in his Greenville, S.C plantation and gave them out as gifts to friends
Poinsetta movies are hard. Try out these plants ones instead.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
has a hilarious shrub jumping scene
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Man can this guy prune! Plus the last half of the movie takes place during Christmas time.
The Mistletoe Promise (TV) (2016)
Yes there's a mistletoe kissing scene lol
Dec 14th
Holiday Insights created this new and very special day in 2015. The date to celebrate Roast Chestnuts Day was selected to coincide with the beginning of the "Twelve Days of Christmas"
Mixed Nuts (1994)
It's metaphorical yes, but it's Steve Martin
Dec 15th
On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution. 10 of these amendments were added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791.
The first amendment which includes freedom of religion seems particularly suited for the holiday season. I've included movies about people fighting for something for the holidays.
Christmas With A Capital C (TV) 2011
Most people don't realize that separation b/t church & state was never meant to keep religion out of the government. It was to keep the government out of religion. There's also no federal law forbidding people who work in government from celebrating their faith. However, everywhere from the VA to local governments and beyond have begun sending memos out telling people they are not allowed to decorate their offices with anything religious around the holidays. That's a violation of the first amendment. Everyone no matter what faith should be able to celebrate it in public. If you are non-Christian and see a nativity scene set up on public property, instead of trying to get it banned, why don't you instead petition to have your own faith displayed as well? The first amendment does not have a heckler's veto. You don't have to participate, but you don't have the right to silence others. Never seen this movie, but the plot seems to hit those very themes.
Saving Christmas (2014)
This movie has much contention from people who have never seen the movie & are assuming it's about Kirk Cameron "saving" Christmas by taking it away from unbelievers & whining about non-Christians "stealing" Christmas. He mentions 2 types of people: 1 group that wants Christians to just leave our Christianity at home in private & not "bother" anyone else with it. The main plot involves a 2nd group: Christians who have stopped celebrating Christmas because of the proximity to & appropriation of Pagan Winter Solstice traditions. This movie is about Kirk getting one of those types of self-serious Christians, his brother in law, to celebrate anyway, despite those things. It's got a history lesson explaining the origin of all the Christmas traditions we have, even the ones that seem counter to Christianity. He also wrote a great article about why it's ok for Christians to celebrate Halloween. In order to enjoy this look at it as a documentary. That's what I got from it. The set up is a bit cheesy, but the documentary aspect is the good stuff.
Look for a real Christmas tree today or decorate one if you haven't yet
Home Alone 2 (1992)
Rockefeller Center
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
That poor tree sacrifices so much in this movie.
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
The struggle is real for single people trying to get their tree up the stairs into their apartment
Found on holidayinsights.com
Musical Christmas movies for today
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Fantastic music by Danny Elfman
The Nutcracker (1993):
Filmed staged ballet production
The Preacher's Wife (1996)
Whitney Houston's voice is amazing & Denzel is always great.
21st
aka
Yalda
the Zoroastrian celebration of the winter solstice.
aka
Yule
Pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia, featured fires lit to symbolize the heat, light and life-giving properties of the returning sun. Wiccans and other pagan groups celebrate Yule as well.
aka
Saturnalia (Pagan)
Celebrated by Nova Romans. These are Neopagans who worship the ancient Gods of Rome and who celebrate the ancient Roman holy days. Winter Solstice celebration
Frozen (2013)
Princess with magical powers freezes an entire town with her hands.
Humbug Day is a copyrighted holiday. It was created and is provided, courtesy of the folks at Wellcat.com. Humbug Day "Allows everyone preparing for Christmas to vent their frustrations."
A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)
Fantastic cast for this live rendition that still managed to look like a movie and not a stage production like all the new ones coming out as of late
A Diva's Christmas Carol (TV) (2000)
This VH1 tv movie I found funny and well-acted, with a perfect gender reversal casting of Vanessa Williams
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Michael Caine plus singing Muppets= done
Celebration "for the rest of us". It is a simple, rather humorous family alternative to Christmas with a minimum of commercialization created by Seinfeld show scriptwriter Daniel O'Keefe. His dad, also named Daniel, had found reference to an obscure holiday called Festivus, which was first celebrated in 1966.
Seinfeld
Season 9, Episode 10 called The Strike- available on Hulu
Dec 24
Christmas Eve
The day before Christmas Day. Also the day when people in some countries, like Germany, Sweden and Portugal exchange their presents.
Christmas Eve (2015)
An ensemble cast movie that follows strangers that get stuck on elevators during a power outage in NYC. Haven't seen it but looove Patrick Stewart
Dec 24-Jan 1, 2017
Hanukkah
8 day holiday for the remembrance of an effort to restore the Temple in Jerusalem after a period of desecration. Faithful Jews found only enough oil to light the temple lamp for one day, but the flame burned for eight.
Eight Crazy Nights
Animated film based on the famous Hanukkah song by Adam Sandler. Haven't seen this but seems interesting.
It celebrates a special, traditional holiday drink. It is consumed with or without Rum. Found on holiday insights.com
Movies to watch while drinking spiked eggnog, i.e. only good to watch when you're drunk.
Jingle All The Way (1996)
Aahnold is just always strange in comedy, and though I love the pre-Black Friday-esque frenzy that was ahead of its time, it's still not a good movie...but it will be :p
THE NUTCRACKER: THe Untold Story (2009)
Though this movie is visually striking with great production value, costumes, & makeup, this movie ended up being an unnecessary & boring update. Imagine how funny all the Nazi uniform-clad mice will be with a few knocked back
Dec 25th
Christian holiday used to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. However, many people celebrate regardless of religion & have appropriated secular aspects from & added into the holiday.
Here I give you a Classic, an Indie, & a Modern Christmas movie.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Charlie is in a Christmas rut.
Charlie is in a Christmas rut.
Carol (2015)
A department store Santa Helper in 1950's NYC falls in love with a divorced woman.
Deck the Halls (2006)
If you've seen The Great Christmas Light Fight you know some people go all out and can be quite competitive. Haven't seen this, but it's on my watch list.
Celebrated in England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other former British commonwealth countries. It is a legal holiday in these countries. This is also St. Stephens Day, where Boxing Day gets some of it's roots. On St. Stephens Day, churches opened their collection boxes to the poor. The roots of the holiday go back to the Middle Ages. On this day, members of the merchant class would take boxes, fill them with food and fruits, and give them to servants, tradespeople and the less fortunate.Today, the giving of boxes includes filling boxes with food and clothing for the needy and performing volunteer work. Monetary gifts to charity are also common.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) or (1966)
A movie about giving to others
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) or (1966)
A movie about giving to others
Dec6-Jan1st
Kwanzaa
African American week-long, inter-faith celebration of African-American heritage.
A Rugrats Kwanzaa Special (TV Movie 2001)
I loved The Rugrats as a kid so this should be good.
Found on holidayinsights.com
Plenty of snow on the ground in these movies.
Eight Below (2006)
See the late Paul Walker in this adorable movie about sled dogs in Antarctica
Ice Age (2002)
A group of animals at the beginning of the ice age try to return a human baby to its family.
Fruitcake was popular in the 40's and 50's. Once the holidays are over, it's time to get rid of your fruitcake. Giving a fruitcake is a Christmas tradition for many. Research failed to find any information that suggests this is an official "National" day.
Fruitcake is disgusting so watch these movies about other awesome baked goods instead.
Waitress (2007)
A woman who works at a diner puts all her life frustrations into her amazing pies.
STRANGER THAN FICTION (2006)
A CPA with a mysterious British woman who's narrating his life, audits a baker (Maggie Gyllenhaal). A unique film & a departure for Ferrell who shows not only range but a nice singing voice/guitar skills.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
The oompa loompas make some of the most fantastic treats.
Dec 31st
We see out the old year and ring in the new. To many Americans, the ball dropping at Times Square in New York City signals the start of the new year in this country. The ball was first dropped in 1908.
aka
Omisoka
3 day New Year's celebration in Japan. The festival originated more than 200 years ago so repressed workers could let off steam.
New Year's Eve (2011)
Ensemble vignette movie about a bunch of different characters in NYC on New Year's Eve. I can't help it that I love these movies.
A Long Way Down (2014)
A hodge podge group of suicidals meet on an ill-fated New Year's Eve only to become eachother's support group. I love Nick Hornby, who's book inspired this film that I haven't seen yet.
I loved this little indie flick about a lonely, misanthropic writer who puts a personal ad in Craigslist to find a date for New Year's Eve. Great cinematography, acting, and believably written characters make this a touching film.
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