Our Favorite Holiday MoviesGet to know the GD team!

Sure, we may chat with you on Zoom regularly, and your inbox is probably full of our emails. But how well do you really know the GD team? With this blog series, we’re stepping away from pixels and projects to share a little about our favorite things—design-related or not. Since it’s the holiday season, we’re sharing our favorite holiday movies. Whether it’s a nostalgic classic, a quirky hidden gem, or a movie that barely qualifies as “holiday-themed,” these picks reveal a bit of who we are and what’s on our screens during the holidays.

Brenda Riddell

Movie: The Holdovers (2023)

Why I Like It:
This is a recent movie and one of my favorites. It doesn’t hit like a holiday movie, but it is set at Christmastime so it still feels like it belongs on a holiday movie list. A grumpy prep-school teacher, played by Paul Giamatti, is tasked with supervising students that cannot return home during holiday break. The whole thing is set in New England in the 70s. It’s got a vintage vibe and nostalgic scenes of Boston and local schools in the wintertime. The acting is superb, and the story is touching. Definitely worth watching for Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s award-winning performances alone.

Movie: The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

Why I Like It:
This is my favorite stop-action Christmas special and a throwback to my childhood. Most people remember it for the Heat Miser and Snow Miser characters and their catchy songs. Once you hear them, you’ll probably be singing them for days. It also has historical and political references to WWI. Watching it simply to see if you can identify them is interesting. I particularly love this special because Mrs. Claus and Mother Nature are a couple of badass women who save Christmas the year that Santa is sick. 💪🎄

 

Nathaniel Parker Raymond

Movie: Santa Claus (1959, aka Santa Claus vs. the Devil)

Why I Like It:
My family had this on VHS when I was a kid, a gift from my Nana. We were never sure if she knew what she had sent us and, if she did, whether it was a joke or punishment. But it eventually became a holiday staple. It is a truly absurd film and has been featured in MST3K and RiffTrax for good reason. Santa Claus lives in space where he uses a mechanical eye and ear controlled by a child’s incantation to observe children on Earth. Lucifer sends Pitch–a man painted red with giant, pointy, barely-attached ears–to turn children against Santa (and if he fails he’ll have to eat chocolate ice cream instead of his favored red-hot coals). Among an impressive array of disturbing scenes are the surveillance machine with an enormous red human mouth, and an army of two-faced dolls wrapped in gauze that dance around a small child like something out of Silent Hill. Also, Merlin is involved for some reason. If you’re not sold on it at this point, this movie is not for you. (It’s worth finding the RiffTrax version for a little bit of comedy to buffer the off-the-charts weirdness.)

Movie: Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)

Why I Like It:
Yes, it’s an ABC “Family” movie labelled as a “crime comedy” starring Clarissa (who Explained it All) and A. C. Slater. Yes, an artist/waitress is driven to madness by the stress of the holidays and kidnaps a random wealthy man and forces him to be pretend to be her boyfriend. Yes, the premise is so unsettling that with different lighting it would be a horror movie. It’s a truly dreadful film barely held together by the likeability of a few of the actors (like most ABC/Hallmark holiday films), and I somehow end up watching it pretty much every year.

Megan Tracy

Movie: The Polar Express (2004)

Why I Like It:
I’m sure many people have seen this movie by now, but this is a must-watch every year for my mom, sister, and me. Aside from the fairly creepy animation style, the movie is very wonder-filled and uplifting. A boy, who is super skeptical of Santa Claus, gets awoken by a train one night. He takes the train to the North Pole, of course. Their journey is very magical and musical (my family and I know all of the songs, of course), PLUS, Tom Hanks voices 7 characters, and who doesn’t love Tom Hanks? In the end, the kid learns about the spirit of Christmas and makes a train full of friends. 

Movie: Jumanji

Why I Like It:
Hear me out—Jumanji counts as a holiday movie (and you should watch it). At the very end, it’s Christmas time, Robin Williams’ character is even dressed as Santa. I’m trying to write about this without giving too much away, but this is where everything in the movie comes together. The main characters, Alan and Sarah, have the chance to stop Judy and Peter’s parents from going skiing, which was the kickstart of everything that happened in the movie. Christmas isn’t my favorite and I’ve never been a huge fan of holiday movies, so Jumanji just makes sense!   

Kaitlyn Huwe

Movie: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

Why I Like It:
As someone who felt forced to endure the same old holiday movies year after year as a kid, I’m not on board to rewatch many as an adult. But during the lockdown a few years back, while trying to find some movies to introduce to my partner’s similarly disillusioned teenage sons, this was a hit! Like Die Hard, this skates by as a Christmas movie by taking place during the holidays, including a scene at a Christmas party, but has enough comedy, action, and murder-mystery intrigue to keep everyone entertained! 

Movie?: Great British Bake Off (any season/holiday special)

Why I Like It:
Okay, I know it’s not a movie, but this is what I consistently sit down to binge during my holiday break! It’s especially helpful to have different holiday treats on hand to help as you watch them bake some pretty tempting desserts.

 

Sydney Bilodeau

Movie: Gremlins (1984)

Why I Like It:
A horror Christmas movie filmed on the same set as Back to the Future? Sign me up. Weird. Wonderful. Unhinged. A Christmas miracle (Steven Spielberg and Director Joe Dante had to have writer Chris Columbus remove… a lot of the horror for this to get green lit). My favorite quirky Christmas-adjacent movie.

 

Movie: Christmas Vacation (1989)

Why I Like It:
I hadn’t seen Christmas Vacation until my husband and my in-laws introduced me to it, and it’s been a Christmas tradition ever since. It stands as one of the funniest holiday movies out there. It’s silly and sincere, and listening to my father-in-law giggle throughout the entire movie (his name is also Clark) is one of my favorite things ever. Also, amazing cast?! This one continues to deliver year after year.

 

Movie(ish): The Movies that Made Us: Home Alone

Why I Like It:
Ok, Home Alone is a classic. A must-watch. BUT, have you ever wondered why Home Alone is so perfectly Christmasy? The house is built IN A GYM. Everything in the house is green and red. Magic and wonder commence. If you like behind the scenes stuff, “The Movies that Made Us” is a fun series and the Home Alone episode doesn’t disappoint!