Nolen Kelly, Editor

Merry mid-December everyone! I’ve been looking forward to putting this article together for a while now because of how much fun the Halloween special was, and so I have officially dubbed this fun little semi-regular piece as “Movie Season.” With the jolly red North Pole guy coming down your chimney soon, it is currently the second best time of the year, right after my birthday, and along with the endless amounts of good feelings and gorgeous cosmetic changes the country goes through to accommodate the holiday season, it is time to break out the hot cocoa, grab the softest blanket in your vicinity and let the fire crackle to a dark room as we take a look at some of our Christmas movie favorites. 

Nolen’s favorite: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

I grew up watching a lot of Chevy Chase, from “Saturday Night Live” to “Spies Like Us” and my favorite, “The Three Amigos.” When twelve-year old me discovered the “Vacation” movies, I didn’t like them very much. But, I did like “Christmas Vacation” and every year since then, I have watched it. Each time, something new sticks out to me and makes the experience so much better. Young Nolen loved the Christmas feeling and silliness of Chevy’s facial expressions, teen Nolen loved the cursing, the mania and the silliness of Chevy’s facial expressions and adult Nolen recently rewatched and loves everything Chevy does, especially his silly facial expressions. Am I making myself clear why I love this movie? “Christmas Vacation” is top to bottom a near-spotless movie. As a Christmas movie and a movie in general, this whole thing is amazing. While others use Christmas as just an event to get to, “Christmas Vacation” makes use of the entire season as each day brings a new wave of domestic destruction and anarchy. I can honestly quote this movie from start to finish and it never gets boring. That’s pretty much it. I just really love this movie and I yield my time, your honor. 

Now that I have spoken my piece, it’s time to shift over to see what the people have chosen to submit as their favorites. If you’d like to see your submissions in future columns, follow me on Instagram @nolenkelly where I put out polls to my story.

Jeriann Tripodi: “Elf”

“During the holidays, I enjoy watching ‘Elf.’ I watch this film every season. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, the jokes never get old and it always makes me feel festive.” 

Kevin Wilus: “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

 “I love how much chaos is caused throughout the movie. Between hanging up lights to make their house the brightest in the town and causing a power outage, to going ludicrous speed down a snow hill, it’s a classic Christmas movie. If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out and must watch it as soon as possible.”

Aidan Degnan: “It’s a Wonderful Life” 

“‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is my favorite. It’s a Christmas movie that gets the spirit of the season right without putting Santa in it or making it about presents under a tree. The message of the story goes beyond Christmas and is about why life itself is worth living.”

Maddy Kelly: “Elf”

“It’s different from a lot of classic Christmas movies. It’s one that everyone can enjoy. It has all the magical Christmas elements with some adult humor.”

Aidan Tysinski: “A Christmas Story”

“It reminds me of how I was as a kid during Christmas. Even though the movie takes place during the 1940s, there is something universal about wanting that one toy every year for Christmas. It is also a great movie because of the many, many quotable lines.”

Dylan Villenueva: “Elf” 

“My favorite Christmas movie is ‘Elf’ because it’s a timeless, holiday comedy. I also watched it as a tradition every year growing up! It brings back great memories.”

Other People’s Favorites:

People seem to like “Elf,”and I know this because I wrote the word “Elf” so many times and I’m tired of it. Moving on, there are the many great submissions I received on my Instagram. Commentary Editor Alina Snopkowski is a big fan of the Russian comedy “Ёлки 2”, a complicated tale of just watch it and have a good time, and she also enjoys “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” similarly to Ryan Donaghy, who also points and laughs at the silly little bald boy. The chiseled specimen known as Colin McPoyle is a man’s man who prefers his cinema geared a bit more towards the abstract film category, with “Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.” James LeVan comes in with “Fatman” with Mel Gibson. Incredible film. Oh, and hey, look at this guy, Sean Dembeck over here, he finds himself thinking this little movie you may know called “Elf” is “pretty good” and I agree. Gregory Cornelius Shannon sips the finest of wines while watching “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and Ray Thompson practices the meditative art of theft inspired by his favorite movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Grace Tenneson may have enjoyed “Home Alone” but Tori Sciarra prefers the sequel “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” To be fair, the best one is actually “Home Alone 4” and I couldn’t tell you what happened in it aside from French Stewart getting hit in the genitals. I finally saved the best for last with a highly debatable pick for a ‘Christmas’ movie as Tyler Rojas, wise guy that he is, chose “Die Hard.” Personally, it depends on the year if I see it as a Christmas movie or not, and it turns out it is a ‘Bones Year’ and I currently deem “Die Hard” a Christmas movie.

Thank you again to everyone who submitted an answer for this week. This article is always fun to put together and I love seeing everyone else’s favorites. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas, if you celebrate it, and a happy New Year, if you believe in time, and I look forward to coming back during the next Movie Season.