Best Christmas flicks

You know how it is. There's nothing on the TV, your DVD of It's A Wonderful Life is broke and you're in a Christmassy mood. So we've prepared a shortlist of some of the finest Christmas films, featuring Caine, Rickman and Jack Lemon. 

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Michael Caine as Scrooge and Gonzo as Dickens. This is the finest (and the funniest) adaptation of the Victorian classic of miserliness and redemption. If the relatives are getting you down and you burnt the turkey, just put this on and all will be well.
www.amazon.co.uk

2. Brazil (1985)
Terry Gilliam turns 1984 into a comedy with some Kafka thrown in for good measure. Set at Christmas time and featuring a manic Robert De Niro, a bewildered Jonathan Pryce and a diabolical Michael Palin, this is a raging blast against the straitjacket triumvirate of bureaucracy, authoritarian control and petty rules. Gilliam's finest hour and one of the best films ever made. www.amazon.co.uk

3. Die Hard (1989)
Alan Rickman as a suave terrorist, Bruce Willis in a vest, lots of running around and wonderfully silly dialogue. Ahhh, what bliss. The godfather of modern action films and a movie which proves how difficult it is to make it home on time for Christmas.
www.amazon.co.uk

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1994)
Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is sick of the old routine. When he discovers Christmas Town he decides to remake it in his own image. Brilliant, inventive, witty and delightful, this has the kind of magic that most simpering Christmas films trading on manufactured warmth and cliché could only dream of.
www.amazon.co.uk

5. Trading Places (1983)
Relive the days when it was possible to watch Eddie Murphy without throwing things at the screen. Murphy and Dan Ackroyd become the victims of unscrupulous brokers who decide to use them to try out an experiment in social engineering. A wonderful fish out of water tale, a madcap comedy and a great excuse to watch greedy brokers suffer.
www.amazon.co.uk

6. The Apartment (1960)
Jack Lemon is C.C. Baxter, an ambitious young man who lets his insurance company bosses use his apartment for their adulterous activities. Shirley McClaine is Fran Kubelik, the elevator operator at the company that Baxter takes a shine to. On Christmas Eve, Baxter is stunned to find Fran lying on his bed, apparently overdosing on sleeping pills. Brilliant dialogue, wonderful performances, sharp and fast moving storytelling. Everything you would expect from the peerless Billy Wilder.
www.amazon.co.uk

October 22nd 09