HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2025

 In England we say HAPPY CHRISTMAS. 

For today, as you're celebrating around loved ones, spend a few minutes debating this important Christmas question: 

What is the best Christmas movie? 

1. It's a Wonderful Life. 

If you want to claim the title you gotta knock off the champ, which this movie is. 

A timeless reminder that an ordinary life can have extraordinary impact. Frank Capra’s classic turns Christmas into a meditation on purpose, community, and the quiet heroism of showing up. A movie that starts with despair (not unlike the feeling we frequently get seeing the REGB judge assigned to a new case), flirts with catastrophe, and ends by reminding you that showing up for other people is the whole ballgame—Christmas or otherwise. If this one doesn’t move you, the problem isn’t the film.

2. Miracle On 34th Street 

A warm, witty defense of belief in a skeptical world.  A federal trial for Santa Claus, complete with evidence, Jencks, witnesses, and a judge who understands that the law occasionally needs a nudge from common sense. (We need more Marcia Cookes on the bench is our Xmas wish for 2025).  Something that would never happen these days which is why liking the movie is an automatic disqualification from membership in the nattering nabobs of negativity known as the federalist society It’s a Christmas movie that believes institutions matter—but only when they abandon balls and strikes for faith, decency, and a little magic.

3. Love Actually

A messy, charming, thoroughly British mosaic of romance, loneliness, and connection, all unfolding in the weeks before Christmas. It insists—sometimes awkwardly, sometimes beautifully—that love really is all around. Nine stories, several questionable life choices, and at least one Xmas Eve visit that could have resulted in a restraining order if it took place in Hialeah.  And yet—it works. A chaotic reminder that love is inconvenient, imperfect, and often embarrassing, which makes it feel honest enough to pass the Christmas test. Mr. Bean in two small scenes quietly makes a play to steal the movie from a large, talented ensemble cast. 

4. Christmas With The Cranks. 

An exaggerated cautionary tale about what happens when you try to opt out of the holidays—and your neighbors take it personally. Loud, broad, occasionally silly, but it lands on a familiar truth: Christmas is less about what you want than what the community expects you to survive together.

5. Die Hard. 

Stop the nonsense. This is a Christmas movie. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho" on a sign on a body in a Santa Claus Cap ends the discussion. A high-octane action movie disguised as a Christmas classic. Set during a holiday office party, it proves that reconciliation, sacrifice, and even explosions can belong under the Christmas tree. Yes, it’s a Christmas movie. It takes place at a Christmas party, reconciliation is the emotional engine, and goodwill is literally defended with bare feet and bad intentions. If explosions disqualify it, then so should family dinners.

Trivia Q: name the one actor that appears in two of the movies on the list. Ho Ho Ho.