Obviously, during this time of year, everyone is looking forward to the holidays to kick back and relax with a movie with some friends and family. Most of the time, they usually watch the nostalgic, top-tier Christmas movies like Home Alone, The Grinch, The Polar Express (a personal fave), and Die Hard.
But what those lists are missing are the modern day classics, the movies you watch just to hate, and the whacky ones that should get the praise (and the rage) that they deserve.
So, to kick off the end of the semester and to the start of the holidays, here are some (really cringey and some one or two good) movies to watch.
1. Vanessa Hudgens
I’m sure you’ve all heard and seen of The Night Before Christmas, a brilliant movie from the mind of Tim Burton and basically an all around classic that everyone needs to see if they haven’t already.
But have you heard of The Knight Before Christmas, being Knight with a K? The movie starring Vanessa Hudgens in which a knight from the 1300s gets sent to the future 2019 because of some quest where he meets Vanessa Hudgens and falls in love? Now, I got you there.
This movie is cringe-worthy, cliche as all hell, another movie where two straight people fall madly in love in the course of four days because, yeah, why not.
But I labeled this section Vanessa Hudgens because not only does she have The Knight Before Christmas, but she also appears in the greatest trilogy of all time: The Princess Switch.
Not in the fun Princess Protection Program, not in the fun The Princess Bride, but of course, the Princess Switch in which there are two Vanessa Hudgens (later three!) who switched places (shocker!) and end up falling in love with the other men (wait, what?)
My friend and I had a very fun experience watching all of those movies and slowly starting to wither away with every single second of it. I’m not sure how those movies could possibly be 2 hours long when they’re a simple rom com, but here they are.
At least you’ll have many inside jokes to come from seeing those movies.
2. Star wars Christmas special
If you’re a die hard Star Wars fan, you might know the Star Wars Christmas Special. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you do and you even hate it. You might not think that it belongs in the Star Wars universe at all.
But some people, such as myself, have never seen Star Wars and so therefore had no basis on the lore or the characters. Or what is good Star Wars and what is bad Star Wars. Even worse, my friend said that they were forced to watch it every year for Christmas and it is their only knowledge of the Star Wars universe.
The special takes place in between the events of the original film and Empire Strikes Back and is mainly about introducing Boba Fett and other characters in relation to Chewbacca. It was received poorly amongst most fans and is barely known to most people since it was never re-broadcasted or brought to home video.
It’s a bizarre trip and surely something you won’t want to miss out on, even if it you aren’t a Star Wars fan.
3. Spirited
This might not be so underrated as it’s super new. Not to mention, it has some big names attached to it, so it could become known, right?
As my friend put it, “This movie stars Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds where they do songs and stuff.”
Spirited is a retelling of The Christmas Carol, which is basically the story of a grumpy man who hates cheer and joy and then he has three ghosts that haunt him and basically force him to be happy.
It’s so new you can watch it in theaters as of right now! I didn’t think it was so bad and my friend who saw it, who is notoriously known for given four stars to things he loves, thought it wasn’t so bad.
Definitely something to check out in the sea of reboots and retellings since Hollywood can’t make their own ideas up anymore.
4. Cats the movie
Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, there are a lot of hate watches on this list. But in my defense, a lot of hate watches can also be fun.
And this is similar. Yes, this is not the greatest movie, but it is a movie and it does its best. And I think that it’s worth taking a look back on, even if it is just to laugh at it.
Last, but not least…
5. Knives out
An actual good movie! Knives Out and recently Knives Out 2: Glass Onion are both amazing murder mystery movies that give the similar feel to Agatha Christie, especially the newer film. The acting is as big as the names, the cinematography is gorgeous, and the storytelling and script keep you guessing as to who’s done it.
Some people might dislike Rian Johnson since he also directed a Star Wars movie that did the entire franchise dirty, but he seems to have a real gift for actual thrillers and murder mysteries because these movies have been excellent all around.
Anyways, that’s my awkward list of hate watches and modern classics. I hoped you liked some of these and are eager to watch something different than the usual Home Alone or Elf.
I can’t promise you’ll like all of them, but I can say it’s something new to at least try out and see what happens. You might make some more memories you didn’t think you’d ever make.