When the screen makes merry

Jasmine Singh

If the metrological department is predicting cloudy weather and a drop in temperature in the coming days, then you should take it seriously. And in this weather if you don’t have any plans of going out, then here is something that you can indulge in.

Order a gooey cake for yourself; a pizza would also do. Slide under the blanket, but before that pull out some of the best Christmas movie DVDs that you’ve bought, and there you are…play!

Even when we don’t have Bollywood movies celebrating Christmas, which is of course normal, the excellence of Hollywood is few in this genre. From the popular Jingle All The Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger fighting for a toy, Arthur, the animated version, the sweet boy’s dream expressed in Pollar Express, this Christmas you can treat yourself to any one of these movies. Some you might have already seen and some our celebrities are ready to share.

Actor Aarya Babbar, who has recently come out of the melodramatic Big Boss house, is happy that he would be with his family on Christmas. He isn’t sure about his plans for the day. One thing, however, he is pretty sure about is his favourite X-mas film. “Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol and Love Actually are some of my favourite films. And then there is Serendipity that has nothing to do with X-mas but the festival is the backdrop of the film, just the time when the two lead actors meet,” he shares fondly.

Now that we are getting a list of favourite X-mas films, and you are deciding which one to watch, wouldn’t you want to check out most of the Hollywood films based on Christmas that have some degree of action. Does this remind you of Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bernie Mac with Thornton playing the con man ripping off people at departmental stores on Christmas Eve.

“My pick would be the very sweet Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, the animated film,” shares actor Karan Kundra, who will be now be seen in the twelfth season of Roadies. “Christmas is all about fun and celebrations and this is the sweetest film. I have heard that it didn’t do well at the box office, but that doesn’t matter. Another film that I can watch umpteen times is Jingle All the Way, when a tough like Arnold warms up to his kid, it is beautiful.”

Well, even though Christmas movies are all about the spirit of warmth and joy, some films like Jack Frost can get your tears rolling. That’s when that gooey cake comes handy. Or, maybe you want to know what Gippy Grewal likes watching with his sons. “Santa Clause, Jingle All the Way, Home Alone, The Pollar Express and for me Four Christmases are what we prefer to watch if we are not going out on Christmas. Apart from surprising them with gifts, it is like a tradition to watch a nice and funny Christmas film. Each year the kids come up with a new film, which is surprisingly good,” he adds.

Haven’t you got enough choices now? So, if you are staying back home, just ensure that you have already bought your copy of the film.

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Best X mas films

Jingle All the Way

It is a comedy film where two fathers, workaholic Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and stressed out postal worker Myron Larabee desperately try to retrieve a Turbo-Man action figure for their respective sons on a last minute shopping spree on the Christmas Eve.

The Pollar Express

An animated Christmas fantasy film where on the night of Christmas Eve in the late-1950s, a boy witnesses a train called the Polar Express, that is about to embark to the North Pole.

Bad Santa

A Christmas black comedy crime film where Willie T. Stokes and Marcus are professional thieves. Every year, Willie disguises himself as Santa Claus in order to rob shopping malls.

Elf

Is a story about one of Santa's elves, who learns about his true identity and goes to New York City to meet his biological father, spreading Christmas cheer in a world of cynics as he goes.

The Christmas Carol

It is an adaptation of the Charles Dicken’s story by the same name and stars Jim Carrey in a multitude of roles, including Ebenezer Scroogeas a young, middle-aged, and old man, and the three ghosts who haunt Scrooge.