Famous directors/actors join together for a movie-themed advent calendar. Did your favorites make the list?

Last Updated on December 9, 2024

For movie fans, December means warding off the Wet Bandits, being seduced by a leg lamp and, to some, defending Nakatomi Plaza from terrorists. It’s just in our nature to clutter the month with our favorite holiday movies, creating a sort of advent calendar of Christmas joy and even misery (that scene in Gremlins is dark!).

Now, The Guardian is getting into the holiday spirit with their own advent calendar, recruiting a stable of notable filmmakers and stars to give their picks, all designated for certain days. While not all are Christmas movies per-se, the directors did support their opinions. Let’s run through some of the calendar, shall we?

By and large, it has to be pointed out that most of the movies on this advent calendar did center around the holiday season. After all, who wouldn’t include Love Actually (day 3), a Home Alone (Leila Farzad – director of the next Bridget Jones flick – chose Lost in New York for day 17) or Miracle on 34th Street (fittingly on day 24). It’s also cool to see new seasonal favorite The Holdovers (day 13 from noted screenwriter Jack Thorne) and the incredible The Silent Partner (day 16 – chosen by Berberian Sound Studio director Peter Strickland) – which we here at JoBlo.com love – get shoutouts. Expectedly, John Waters went extreme with slasher classic Christmas Evil (day 6).

A few of those who went the non-traditional route for the advent calendar include Secrets and Lies director Mike Leigh, who opted for Woody Allen’s Radio Days, arguing it works remarkably well in December. Meanwhile, James Ivory for some reason went with Gone with the Wind, which admittedly does have a Christmas scene but is nowhere near being the annual holiday viewing that The Wizard of Oz is. Himesh Patel, star of Yesterday, went with Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, noting, “when I think of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think of Christmas. The films were released during the festive period from 2001 to 2003 and became one of the most important cultural touchstones of my generation. Those Christmases held not just the usual festive joys, but the promise of the next chapter in this epic, game changing cinematic trilogy.”

As far as the essentials, you better believe I’ve got The Muppet Christmas Carol going towards the beginning of my advent calendar, with A Christmas Story on loop courtesy of TBS/TNT at the end and Ernest Saves Christmas for just about any day I need that nostalgic laugh. As for the more off-brand ones, I can’t help but watch Eyes Wide Shut every December, provided I remember the password…

We could argue which movies belong and which make no sense at all, but we’ll let you decide. So be sure to check out Guardian’s film advent calendar but also make sure you give us some of your own holiday essentials in the comments below, and check out our own X-Mas themed advent calender below: