As a person who loves Christmas and Christmas movies, it pains me to say there are some that probably should have been left on the cutting room floor. Here are just a few that didn’t sit quite well with me and are not on my holiday to watch list.
RELATED: The Best Christmas Movies Of All Time
The Perfect Holiday (2007) – While I like the majority of the cast, the premise and acting in the movie wasn’t too great. Gabrielle Union plays Nancy, a divorced mother of three who has to deal with the shenanigans of her ex (Charlie Murphy) who seems to only want to use his children for photo ops and publicity for his upcoming rap album. After hearing her mother wish for just a simple compliment from a man, Nancy’s daughter tells the mall Santa Claus (Morris Chestnut) who is also an aspiring musician. It seems to serve its purpose as a cheesy holiday film, but I could have done without Charlie Murphy rapping, Morris Chestnut’s terrible fake piano playing and singing, and Terrance Howard’s random pop-ups throughout the movie.
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006) – The first Santa Clause movie is one of my favorites but the last in the trilogy is one they could have done without. Tim Allen returns as Santa Claus, who after getting married in The Santa Clause 2, is now expecting a baby with Mrs. Claus. His in-laws, who do not know he is Santa and believe they are coming to visit them in Canada, as well as his son and ex-wife, come to spend Christmas with them. While trying to deal with family, Santa also has to deal with a jealous Jack Frost. He’s upset he doesn’t have his own holiday, so he decides to take advantage of the Escape Clause and trick Santa into saying he wished he had never become Santa. Total chaos ensues and as usual, Christmas has to be saved. While I give it an A for effort, the execution could have been better.
3. Black Nativity (2013) – I love a good musical, but this one can’t be added to that list. The best part of Black Nativity hands down is the cast. You’d think in assembling Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Nas, Jennifer Hudson and a few others you’d get a blockbuster hit. But alas, this one was a miss for me. Based on Langston Hughes’ play, Black Nativity is the story of a teenager who goes to spend Christmas with his grandparents who he really doesn’t know in New York after he and his mother are evicted. Tyrese comes out of the shadows throughout the movie, and the rest is just a mess to me.
Also from 32 Letter:
4. Last Holiday (2006) – I love Queen Latifah and I actually went to the theater to see this one. Boy, was I disappointed with this adventurous love story when I left. Latifah plays Georgia, a nice store clerk who has a crush on her coworker played by LL Cool J. His acting has never been great, so that should have been a warning for me. After hitting her head, Georgia finds out she has a rare brain condition and just a few weeks left to live. Dealing with the reality, like of a lot of people in the U.S., she learns that her insurance won’t cover the operation that she needs. Realizing her time will soon be up, Georgia decides to take all of her money and spend her presumed last holiday in Europe to live the life she’s only imagined in her journal. From then on the movie becomes extremely predictable and, of course, leaves us all with the lesson of fulfilling your dreams and living life to the fullest. Great premise, bad execution.
5. Gremlins (1984) – While I do like Gremlins as a whole, as a Christmas movie it’s a no for me. Realistically, had the cast looked a little different, none of the craziness in this movie would have actually happened. Randall Peltzer decides to go to an antique store to find a Christmas present for his son. While there, he sees a cute little animal but the shop owner refuses to sell it to him. The owners’ grandson then sets him up for failure selling him the animal which is called a Mogwai. Before he gives Mr. Peltzer he tells him the 3 rules he must follow with the Mogwai, don’t let them get wet, don’t expose them to bright lights and never feed them after midnight. With those rules, Gizmo would have been left right where he was. After he gives his son the gift all hell breaks loose. Of course, the rules are broken, more not so cute or friendly Mogwai come and terrorize the town. I’m not a fan of Gremlins as a Christmas movie because it makes a drastic turn away from the normal feel-good holiday theme and turns Christmas into a chaotic scene that would leave anyone hating the holiday.
I’m sure some of you are fans of these movies, they are just ones I can do without at this time of year. Which holiday movies go onto your trash bin list? Leave a comment below.
