The best of Christmas at the cinema, to see at home

 Parties, as we know, are part of the absolute reference points for the entertainment industry: from one year to the next we know that they arrive, that they bring the family together and are therefore greedy prey for producers, authors, film writers.

For example, whoever does not miss the Christmas movie is guaranteed at least a semester of quiet life.

So it will be this year too, despite the forced restrictions of the health emergency and therefore the forced diversion of cinema on streaming platforms of all kinds.

But here, despite the effort of the national industry (the "cinepanettone" by Boldi & De Sica "On vacation on Mars" or the Abatantuono with a standard beard in Christmas costume of "10 days with Santa Claus) many families will be induced to look for the "evergreen" titles that have already enlivened many similar occasions and that, to the guaranteed fun, add the scent of happy memories. Here then is a very personal playlist of "Christmas champions" that are quite easy to find in the next few days in the library of the major platforms or on TV channels.

    A premise is a must: the historical winner, the unbeatable for every generation, is called Charles Dickens, was a writer and his "Christmas Carol" is unrivaled in terms of adaptations, between cinema and TV, between parodies and quotes, between silent and sonorous.

The first version dates back to a short film from 1901 while the first feature film inspired by Scrooge's nightmares is from 1913 by the Englishman Leedham Bantock with Seymour Hicks.

    For many, the most familiar version is the comic version with Uncle Scrooge as the old miser, scripted in 1982 by Guido Martina with the designs of José Colomer Fonts, while if we talk about cinema we refer to the classic "The most beautiful story of Dickens "(1970) by Ronald Neame with Albert Finney or the more recent" A Christmas Carol "by Robert Zemeckis with Jim Carrey made in animatronics in 2001. In all, the versions of the" Christmas Carol "are 30 up to the recent" The man who invented Christmas "of 2017 and almost as many are the adaptations or apocryphals for TV.

    It is even more difficult to limit the must-have choices among Christmas-themed movies to 10, but everyone can add their favorites up to at least 50 collectible movies.

Here are some suggestions:

1.

by Carlo Vanzina (1983).

Perhaps it will not be the masterpiece of cinema history, but without the amorous and comic intertwining in the background of a snowy and joyful curtain with the pianist Jerry Calà in the center, the cinepanettoni fashion would never have existed.

A phenomenon that has lasted, with unchanged (or almost) luck, for almost 40 years and for many it is a plain memory of nostalgia.

    2.

by John Landis (1983). In this case, the applause is unanimous, so much so that Christmas does not pass without the exploits of Bill Murray and Eddie Murphy, the subject of the bet between two bored billionaires that involves the exchange of roles between a rich stockbroker and a small scammer homeless. A ferocious satire of American consumerism but with a cascade of gags that knows no age.

    3.

by Michael Curtiz (1954). Here is a delicious dish for cinephiles as it is the first film in sight vision (the modern panoramic) with a wild Bing Crosby backed by comedian Danny Kaye lost in an isolated Vermont hotel where they landed to organize the guests' party. It is a romantic comedy with great musical numbers.

    4.

by Chris Columbus (1990). Perhaps the most loved children's film by adults with the pestiferous Macaulay Culkin forgotten at home by the family who left for the holidays and struggling with two thieves who are no more bungling. The rhythm is the ancient one of the slapstick (the comedy in which you laugh at those who get hurt), but the style is modern and still current.

    5.

by Henry Selick (1993). The signature is that of an animation expert, but the idea, the production, the talent is that of Tim Burton at his best. The adventures of Jack Skeleton are told, a very tender skeleton king of Halloween who discovers Christmas and wants to import it into his world with a lot of problems. An absolute masterpiece.

    6.

by Richard Curtis (1993). American sentimental comedy at its best also thanks to the robust injection of British composure guaranteed by actors such as Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and Liam Neeson. 10 love stories that turn out more or less well thanks to the magic of the holidays. Do not miss that of the English premier (who looks a lot like Tony Blair) for a waitress who involves him in the Christmas play.

    7.

by Frank Capra (1946). A classic of sentiments that, in its own way, also paints the American reality (not all roses) of the hard days at the end of the world war. A benefactor on the brink of disaster (Jimmy Stewart) ponders suicide on Christmas Eve and is saved by a second-class angel (Henry Travers) as so many people's lives would have been a disaster without his commitment. The most classic of the classics in the genre.

    8.

by Sydney Pollack (1975). In a freezing New York despite the holiday lights, quiet analyst Robert Redford finds himself in trouble with his talent for reading spy stories. There's something rotten in the CIA but he won't be the one to pay the consequences. Memorable finale with Max Von Sydow on one of America's most famous Christmas carols.

    9.

by Edoardo De Angelis (2020). The most recent of the proposals from a timeless classic by Eduardo de Filippo with Sergio Castellitto in the role of the head of the family Luca who, like every year, prepares the nativity scene in the disinterest of his parents.

    10.

by Joe Dante (1984). It starts with the Christmas gift that inventor Rand Peltzer wants to give his son this wild horror comedy that Chris Columbus wrote for Steven Spielberg as a producer. The bizarre furry animal called Gimzo, found in a shop in Chinatown, reproduces too quickly and his heirs are transformed into ferocious gremlins, hungry for human flesh. Gimzo will save the boys on the hunt for hideous monsters, but sooner or later the danger will be destined to reappear. With inevitable sequel.