Londoners!, we are in Tier 4 and Christmas is pretty much cancelled particularly for those who had plans to travel abroad to visit family. Here are a few of my favourite Christmas movies to watch throughout the festive season while in lockdown. Be cheerful, nothing lasts forever and Covid 19 will soon be a thing of the past.

Without further ado;

Miracle on the 34th Street (1947)

When I was a little girl, I used to watch this black and white film on Christmas Eve till it became my own Christmas Eve tradition. I loved it every time and still do. 

There is a new more modern version of this movie from 1994 but originals are always way better and this is a wonderful Christmas classic.

Miracle on the 34th Street is actually an  award winning film and rightly so, it won three Academy Awards including Best Actor in a supporting role for Edmund Gwen. Best Writing, original story and Best Writing, Screenplay.

In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as it is considered “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. 

A nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus and the real Kris Kringle , gets upset when he finds out that the man selected to play Santa in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated.

He raises the issue with the store director Doris Walker and she persuades Kris to play Santa instead of the man already hired. He is such a success with the kids that he is hired to play Santa at Macy’s flagship store on 34th street.

However, people don’t really believe he is the real Santa Claus so he is institutionalised. An up and coming lawyer decides to defend him in court claiming he is the real Kris Kringle . 

Beyond a reasonable doubt he exists! What were they thinking? 

ELF (2003)

I recently watched this movie for the first time and it is now one of my favourite Christmas movies ever. 

It’s just funny and you will find yourself laughing all the way because Will Ferrell, the actor playing a human Elf, is just wonderful in his role.

The film was directed by Jon Favreau and it is a great Christmas comedy film for all ages.

Buddy (Will Ferrell) is a human who was adopted as a baby by Santa’s Elves, he therefore grows up as an Elf in the North Pole until he realises he is too tall to be an Elf.

Buddy overhears that he is a human, and that’s when daddy Elf explains to Buddy that he was born to parents named Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells but he was given up for adoption as a newborn.

His mother has died, but his dad, who is unaware of Buddy’s existence, works in the Empire State Building in New York City.

To Buddy’s surprise, Santa reveals that his biological father is on the naughty list due to his egotistical personality. He suggests Buddy should help him so he can be on the nice list.

Buddy decides to meet his biological father and travels all the way from the North Pole to New York City. 

He brings his Christmas cheer, innocence, and magic to New York but the city and the people he encounters are all pretty cynical. They think he is just plain crazy as he claims he is a real Elf.  Amongst those who think he lost the plot, is his own father who believes he is a dysfunctional person. 

New Yorkers hey!, don’t they know it’s the most wonderful time of the year?

Home Alone (1990)

This is a classic comedy blockbuster directed by Chris Columbus and no Christmas movie selection is complete without Home Alone. 

This is also the film that made Macaulay Culkin a big star overnight and gave him some trouble  later in life with his newly found worldwide fame. 

In the film, eight-year-old Kevin is left home alone when his large family, the McCallisters, realise they are late for their flight to Paris after oversleeping. 

They wake up so late that they dash out of the door to make it on time to the airport.

In the morning rush, Kevin is left behind and when he wakes up his family is gone. 

He will now have to spend Christmas alone trying to protect his house from a pair of burglars.

Well tonight thank God it’s them instead of you!

The Holiday (2006)

Lovely romantic comedy directed by Nancy Meyers staring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. 

They play Iris and Amanda, two young women with guy problems who decide to swap homes for Christmas. 

Iris will travel to L.A to forget her ex, Jasper Bloom, who has cheated on her and is newly engaged but still texts her and wants her in his life to fulfil his emotional needs. 

Amanda, a movie trailer producer, will travel to the Cotswolds in England after breaking up with her film composer boyfriend who has also cheated on her. 

Men, eh?

For two weeks, they swap homes and they will both fall in love with a local guy (Jude Law and Jack Black who play Graham and Miles) while forgetting the initial misery and anxiety they felt when they found out someone else was warming up their lovers beds. 

Give a little help to the helpless 

Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?

Love Actually (2003)

Many people have a love/hate relationship with Love Actually. It is the classic film that audiences love to watch and critics love to hate. 

The reality is that to pass some time while drinking a nice eggnog or a glass of port wine , this sometimes cringe movie warms your heart.

The film was written and directed by Richard Curtis and it has an ensemble cast of mainly British actors. 

Love Actually tells the love stories of many people and all those stories are somehow linked. 

One of my favourite stories in the film, is the one between the wonderful Emma Thomson (Karen) and Alan Rickman (Harry)  -who sadly passed away in 2016- 

Emma Thomson plays the forever dutiful wife who stays at home to raise the children and is devastated when she finds out that Harry cheats on her with his twenty something secretary. 

Laugh, cry and cringe all the way 

The Family Stone (2005)

This is a comedy-drama family film directed by Thomas Bezucha and staring Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton. A bit of an uptight and self-righteous career woman who reluctantly, decides to spend Christmas with her boyfriend Everett (Dermot Mulroney) and his easygoing and relaxed New England family. 

If you love to see the typical upper class family loosing the plot during a weekend, then this is the Christmas movie to watch when the kids are already in bed . 

15 years old already but ageing just as good as a Californian Pinot noir 

It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid

At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade