My Love Language is Christmas
All your favorite holiday movies are the gift I'm giving myself!
My love language is Christmas. I don’t know how that makes sense logically, but spiritually, it made all the sense in the world when I typed it one second ago.
I love Christmas SO MUCH. But the day itself is often the equivalent of when you go to “Santa’s Winter Wonderland” in Tallahassee and it’s kind of rainy and warm out and there’s not much to do after you walk the 20 feet of cardboard storefronts and you start to wonder if this is all there is to life.
Christmas to me is kind of like the suggestion of magic puncturing our often drear — or downright painful — reality. Christmas movies, to me, are like a warm fuzzy blanket that says, “I know [fill in the blank of whatever feels like too much to carry right now], but we’re gonna be OK.”
And everyone is gonna roll their eyes at me for this, BUT I MEAN IT:
In so many ways, sharing this Substack with y’all is kind of like the same thing for me as a Christmas movie. You all have made this so much more than I ever imagined it could be when I first thought, “Let me just put some thoughts out there on the internet for my mom!” I love nothing more than exploring culture and exclaiming, gasping, clutching our hearts, or screaming “Girl, no!!” over it together.
So, I just want to say THANK YOU for being here, subscribing, commenting, supporting, contributing, lifting my spirits and entering into it all with me. I really could not be doing this without you all!
Your Christmas gift to me was all of the above, but also: Sharing your favorite holiday movies. Through comments, DMs, an Instagram poll, texts, and in-person conversations, y’all shared your favorites, and I’m publishing them here for the world to see! From waxing eloquent about the classics to dropping an absolutely wild “Christmas With the Kranks is the best holiday movie” bomb with zero exposition, you guys have surprised, touched, and delighted me!
So, without further ado, here are the best holiday movies, from the Hannah’s Weekly crew [you]. I hope they all help you feel comfort the way they do me.
And from me to you: Happy Holidays!
The Muppet Christmas Carol
I clearly have a type! Muppet Christmas Carol got far and away the most votes in both the write-ins and the Instagram poll. Guess y’all are all a group of queens with impeccable taste, much like Miss Piggy herself.
Here are a few of the comments about why it’s so beloved…
“Muppet Christmas Carol:
stupendous acting
heartfelt & a timeless message about how loving others is Christmas and vice versa
iconic music that’s catchy
they made a Dickens novel FUNNY without ruining the story.”
—Becky
“Muppet Christmas Carol! Heartwarming, wholesome, every song is somehow a banger.”
—Annie
“Muppet Christmas Carol, for all the reasons Becky listed but I would argue that it’s the best rendition of the novel next to the FX series.”
—Monica (of Being Human is Hard)
It’s a Wonderful Life
The only other person who voted for this one was my twin sister!??? But since it is my FAVORITE MOVIE, I am giving it a premium placement because this isn’t a democracy; it’s a blog.
“It’s a Wonderful Life — it makes the best case for kindness and love as the true measure of a man/life without downplaying the struggle and loss of a life sacrificed for others.”
—Sarah
White Christmas
Every word Molly writes below could’ve come from my own hand. This is an annual rewatch for me, and I know every word of every song and have performed the “Sisters” number MORE THAN ONCE.
“White Christmas. The classic of all classics!! Every song, every dance, every line an all-timer. I watch this every year on Christmas Day, and it never gets old.”
—Molly
While You Were Sleeping
This is one my family watched every year and is my favorite rom-com ever made. Sandra Bullock as Lucy is responsible for so much of my personality and also why I slouch because I thought I could look as cute while slouching as Sandra Bullock does. [False: No one can!]
This one got several mentions.
“While You Were Sleeping. The best 90s rom-com Christmas movie that is always forgotten in the Christmas movie conversation. Sandra Bullock in her prime!!”
—Karin
Home Alone
This is a movie I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for: Movies where everything in the house breaks were not my family’s vibe, nor were rebellious children. [We were loud, but we were peaceful!] After I got married, Ben asked if we could watch it on Christmas Eve because it was, and I quote, his “favorite movie, and it’s un-American that you haven’t seen it.” I have to hand it to him: It’s incredible. I cry every time.
Many of you picked this one! Here’s one comment:
“Home Alone. It’s really enjoyable for a lot of reasons. Obviously, the movie doesn’t ‘make sense,’ but they did an incredible job making Kevin so relatable. So many memes about how he’s a psychopathic child. IDk, maybe the insane robbers that literally will sacrifice their lives over and over again to rob a house are the diabolical ones 🤷🏻♂️”
—Aaron
The Shop Around the Corner
I saw this movie once as a teenager and was bored. [I was in my Alias phase.] I clearly need to revisit!
“The Shop Around the Corner!
Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan have great chemistry
I have a soft spot for the Budapest setting since my husband's family is from Hungary
It inspired the script for You've Got Mail.”
—Ashley (of What She’s Having)
The Santa Clause
Another classic that wasn’t part of my rotation growing up! The one time I saw it was at age 6 when my mom went to an aerobics class with my Aunt Jill at a gym called “Foxy’s” in Baton Rouge, and my sister and I went to the Foxy’s childcare and watching The Santa Clause is what the teenager running the Foxy’s childcare decided we were doing that day. [Every detail of this memory might be factually incorrect.]
Several of you, including Ryenn (below), convinced me to revisit it!
“The Santa Clause:
Corporate Christmas Parties that happen on Christmas Eve
Tim Allen in his prime
Judge Reinhold’s sweaters
An adorable, but not overly precocious child
The North Pole, so magical
90s co-parenting
A belief in the magic of Christmas message”
—Ryenn
Christmas in Connecticut
My friend Nando emailed me, “I will give you three bangers!” It is against the rules in which I stated “PICK ONE,” but I’m damned if he didn’t pick absolute classics, all of which other people have said they loved, too. I’ve seen none of them and am eager to change that this year.
The first is: Christmas in Connecticut, which got a few other votes. Here’s what Nando said…
“Christmas in Connecticut is one of the most modern movies nobody has ever seen. I name my wine after Felix. You will never say the word ‘catastrophe’ the same way.”
—Nando
The Bishop’s Wife
Nando’s second nomination is…
"The Bishop's Wife is one of the best all-around holiday movies nobody has ever seen and you will also immediately understand why everyone many years ago made such a big deal out of Carey Grant. There are 4-5 should-be iconic scenes in this movie. It makes no sense how it's not more popular.”
—Nando
The Preacher’s Wife
We’ll get to Nando’s third next, but this is the remake of The Bishop’s Wife with Whitney Houston[!] and Denzel[!] got a few nominations.
My history with this is that my mom, a woman of taste, bought the soundtrack when it came out, and we listened to it all the time; every song is a banger. Mom was a little perturbed by the fact that Whitney has an emotional affair with, if I’m remembering correctly, one of the Lord’s actual angels[!?] who is supposed to be helping repair her marriage[!?] with her preacher[!?] husband[!?]. But those moral qualms were nothing to the power of that VOICE. “I believe in yooooou and meeee!!!”
Star in the Night
You had me at “you may cry.”🫡
"Star in the Night was the short they played before Christmas in Connecticut. It's 22 minutes long and you may cry. And then you'll make a "Nick" reference at some point in life and nobody will know who you are talking about.”
—Nando
Scrooged
Becca is gonna yell at me because she is one of those kinds of friends who hold you to a higher standard that you also wish for yourself, and even though you’re a little scared of disappointing her, you really want her to make you a better person with her special brand of light bullying — but anyways, I have to admit: I have never seen this movie.
“Scrooged with Bill Murray. So funny, so underrated, a timeless classic.”
—Becca
The Man Who Invented Christmas
I have never even HEARD of this!!!! WTF is wrong with me??
“The Man Who Invented Christmas. Theatrical, beautiful sets, heartwarming, great cast.”
—Emily
Christmas With the Kranks
My friend Viv sent me this one with zero notes, just two exclamation points.
Y’all. This movie is terrible. It has a 5! percent! on Rotten Tomatoes.
I have never had more respect for anyone than I did for Viv when she suggested this is her favorite holiday movie.
Viv, I salute this wild choice with all my heart. This is the definition of the Christmas spirit: a mixture of joy and delusion and unconditional love.
I truly hate this movie.
Die Hard? Trading Places? Elf? Love, ACUTALLY!?
Madam, your influence dictates your voice must be used with great care. The above mentioned films must garner your recognition, else I fear you’ve succumbed to the malady replicant that felled the Mad King. I bid you good day.
Oh, my, goodness, this was so much fun AND inspiring!! 🥹🎄 I needed to watch so many more movies than I did this season! There were a couple I'd never heard of and a couple that used to be "watch every year" which had dropped off my radar.
One that wasn't mentioned: The Bells of St. Mary's. Bing Crosby as a Catholic priest. Need I say more?