It’s time to check out for a week or so to spend time with family and friends and indulge in the magic of the holiday season. There will be food, laughs and a variety of activities that will allow you to tap into holiday cheer, but if you’re a parent, you may get exhausted constantly planning things to do to keep everyone entertained.
However, keep in mind that you can never go wrong with a good Christmas movie, and with tons to choose from, it can be overwhelming to figure out what to play on the small screen. That’s where we come in. If you’re looking for some new classics to watch with the fam, then look no further than these five titles that will make everyone’s season bright.
Candy Cane Lane
Introduce the kids to Eddie Murphy with Candy Cane Lane. This Christmas adventure turns up after Chris (Murphy) unwittingly makes a deal with a mischievous elf to improve his chances of winning an annual Christmas decoration contest. The elf casts a spell that brings the actual 12 Days of Christmas—like from the song—to life, and it unleashes chaos on the town. That granted wish also comes with the threat of Chris becoming a Christmas figurine for the rest of his life if he doesn’t figure out how to defeat the elf and break her spell.
8-Bit Christmas
This one will be extra fun for millennials and older generations, who might feel nostalgic about the early days of Nintendo. In December 2021, grown-up Jake Doyle recounts the Christmas of 1988, when he was 10, to his children. It was the year he and his motley crew of friends went on a mission to figure out how at least one person in their crew could score a highly coveted Nintendo Entertainment System to compete with the richest kid in their grade, who had one but wasn’t keen on sharing game time. The kids navigate skeptical parents who don’t think video games are good for children, sold-out stores, schemes to raise money on their own quickly, and more on a nostalgic quest reminiscent of the classic, A Christmas Story.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
David E. Talbert’s musical Christmas fantasy takes place in industrial England, where a toy maker, Jeronicus, loses his zest for life, especially around Christmas time, after having his book of ideas stolen and then falling into hardship after the thief profits from his designs. Thirty years later, he ends up being a widower who is also isolated from his daughter, who moved away.
Faced with foreclosure, he realizes he has to create something again, but the man who profited from his ideas still lurks and tries to swoop in and steal whatever he has left, so it’s going to be a fight for his livelihood as he relearns to appreciate his skills, the love of family, and a spark for life again. This is a tale about courage, self-belief, and faith.
Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker
Debbie Allen’s classic, Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, is an annual tradition inspired by the original Nutcracker, but with a soulful twist. Allen’s dancers range in age from tot to young adult, and they all work really hard, training and auditioning to get various parts in the highly coveted musical.
This documentary provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to put the production together with the Debbie Allen Dance Academy engine in full force.
Dashing Through The Snow
Ludacris plays Eddie Garrick, a grumpy, cynical social worker who isn’t fond of Christmas, who pushed his ex-wife away, and is close to pushing his daughter away, too. He ends up spending holiday time with his daughter, who loves Christmas, so he’s forced to participate. He and his daughter come across a man named Nick, who is wedged in his chimney, claiming to be the real Santa.
The adventure starts when Nick begins revealing details about Eddie and his daughter that no one would know, and things turn up when three assailants actually begin chasing them, and they get roped into protecting the mysterious Nick, who also needs to deliver gifts while avoiding being kidnapped.