Christmas and movies are two of my favorite things in the world. So of course, when you combine them and get Christmas movies, it is a match made in heaven for me. I am not the only one to feel this way. Gathering together with loved ones to watch a Christmas movie with loved ones has become a time-honored tradition.
Christmas movies now make up too vast a subject to ever have a definitive book. However, Jeremy Arnold's Christmas in the Movies is the best book about the subject I have read.
One of the best parts of this book is the wide selection of Christmas movies contained within (the original 2018 edition has 30 and the updated 2023 version has 35). These films include black and white classics such as Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) to 21st century holiday traditions as Elf (2003) and Love Actually (2003) to more atypical Christmas films as Gremlins (1984) and Die Hard (1988). This selection gives a great overview of how large the world of Christmas movies is and how there is a Christmas movie for you regardless of what your taste is. The list of movies here are also full of many great films that are essential viewing for any movie fan.
Jermey Arnold's writing style also makes this book essential reading. His writing style is very warm, inviting and unpretentious. Yet at the same time, it is incredibly insightful, giving you an even greater appreciation for movies that you have already seen many times.
The 2023 revised addition not only includes more movies, but it also includes overviews of Christmas cartoons, the various film adaptions of A Christmas Carol and Little Women, Christmas film noirs and 21st century Christmas films. These overviews are just as well written and insightful as the essays about each of the main movies.
This is essential reading for anyone who loves both Christmas and movies.
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