Let's Argue About Christmas Movies (ft. Movies w/ Mikey)

[@Rob-yj1gg]

Everyone knows Die Hard started out as a Pagan Festival.

[@locksmith2441]

Don't you mean "Morere Ferreus." (Die Hard in Latin.)

[@jeiaz]

@@locksmith2441 Isn't "Die Hard" a substantive? Like John McClane is the die-hard, as in he just won't friggin die already. I'm not an English native but that's the only way I could make sense of that title. (yes I'm totally being nit-picky on a Latin joke, but I've been wondering for so long)

[@dominomasked]

@@jeiaz You could say he's ever-green.

[@locksmith2441]

@@jeiaz No, you see in that case it would have to be a modifier, as in "I am a die-hard fan of Christmas movies." In that case, in order for Die-Hard to work as such it needs a subject to modify, and if you use John McClane as said subject then you would be saying, He is a die-hard John McClaneian type person., The movie is based on a novel by Roderick Thorpe called, "Nothing Lasts Forever." which tells me the title Die Hard is a way of saying while some things are hard to kill, it is not imposible.to do so. So if anything it is really a descriptor for the Hans Gruber character in so much as he was hard to kill. but did in fact....die. (Change My Mind.)

[@jeiaz]

@@locksmith2441 Thanks for that answer!

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Tired: Die Hard is a Christmas Movie Wired: All movies can be Christmas Movies. Inspired: HOME ALONE IS A DIE HARD MOVIE

[@Duiker36]

...this is surprisingly legit and I'm here for it.

[@snoooore1297]

I couldn't believe that such a brave statement could be also so correct. Truly a die hard miracle

[@definitelynotofficial7350]

That's just Playing Dangerous.

[@jamesanthony5874]

Or is Die Hard a Home Alone movie (checks release dates, 88, 90) Nope, Home Alone's a Die Hard ... of course, now I want to hear a review of the "Die Hard Sequels" that includes the Home Alone films and compares how each one sits as a representative of the Die Hard genre.

[@andrewlivingston1590]

There was a Purple Stuff episode where they proved pretty convincingly that Home Alone is a Rambo movie.

[@MrPooleish]

I've heard it argued that Die Hard is a Hannukah Movie. That it's about managing limited resources to pull off a miraculous and impossible victory, and overcoming an overwhelming hostile force through determination and resilience.

[@phastinemoon]

This is my new hot take.

[@MrPooleish]

@@phastinemoon make sure to back it up with being unable to count on local governments to protect you, being targeted for your association with money, and being attacked by German Radicals.

[@ironicallynice]

@@MrPooleish Where's that in Machabees? :D

[@quinnnewman9538]

That take is....Dare I say It......Based

[@overlookers]

When all you got is one episode of Rugrats and 8 Crazy Nights, you gotta grab at straws.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

I’m sure that the moment when I STARTED saying that Die Hard is a Christmas Movie I was trolling, but I started watching it every year, so now I sincerely think of Die Hard whenever Christmas comes along. I’ve Pavlov’s Dog-ed myself.

[@Samael767]

This, x100.

[@KingBobXVI]

I blame Nostalgia Critic.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

@@KingBobXVI Good idea. What for this time?

[@ceceliawight7059]

Pavlov yourself

[@nanahuatli2144]

Tradition is that, on a societal scale. And memes.

[@inciaradible7144]

That's all well and good, but Lord of the Rings has elves in it and is therefore a Christmas movie.

[@spinakker14]

Weirdly, it really is a Christmas movie for me and I don't know why

[@o7k4vokb0ksp5n2]

"No no he has a point" lol

[@KingBobXVI]

@@spinakker14 - I mean, why not. It's a great movie :P For me it's solidly a Thanksgiving movie though - mostly because a few years back I was home sick for thanksgiving and on a whim started going through it trying to find a specific scene and "accidentally" ended up watching the entire extended trilogy in one sitting. That was a fun night, despite being sick, lol.

[@mineraljunction]

@@spinakker14 the movies came out in December (at least here in the uk) and my family went to see them in the cinema each year as they came out so I always think of the LOTR trilogy as Christmas movies

[@peterprime2140]

It's a story where a jolly fat man with a big beard befriends an elf, it's definitely a Christmas movie.

[@Chimera-man-man]

My ritual is making people watch Polar Express while I argue that it’s part of the Silent Hill canon

[@Carollnn]

I find myself intrigued.

[@Captaincrazy36]

I would love to hear an elaboration on this

[@DubiousDoom]

I am all ears.

[@leonardorestrepo5196]

I expect a full length essay, a treatise, and a bimonthly series explaining yourself.

[@quantum_nekomancer]

@@leonardorestrepo5196 (commenting to get notificated when they write it)

[@AlRoderick]

Empire Strikes Back, if you follow Leia. Tense road trip with a rough working class man from your snowed in office that takes an unexpected detour, you run into his ex and your estranged dad, there's a very tense sit down dinner, your brother shows up home from college and a family brawl kicks off.

[@Adam-ni6ne]

Star Trek Generations has a scene where Picard is trapped in an anomaly showing him anything he ever wanted, which in this case is sitting with the kids he never had on Christmas. Ergo, Generations is the best Christmas movie.

[@paulmartin591]

Empire just continues to kick ass. It’s so perfect.

[@luckyc4t110]

Leia shows up to family dinner with her future husband. Her brother's late coming from college. Her dad kidnaps the guy she brought. She cuts her losses and decides to leave. Her brother shoots her a text. He arrived, but got into a big fight with their dad. He doesn't have a ride and needs her to pick him up. She luckily gets the text just in time. She goes back to pick him up. Yup, sounds about right.

[@luckyc4t110]

There's also the easier answer. Hoth has snow, snow is christmas-y, Empire Strikes Back is a Christmas movie.

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

So what I'm hearing is that _The Empire Strikes Back_ is _Five Easy Pieces._

[@Slaker117]

Let's introduce a new axis to this debate: This 13 minute youtube video is my favorite Christmas movie.

[@oliviasimkinsbullock8421]

+

[@marcogonzales7070]

+

[@whitherwhence]

Movie purist: a movie must be a motion picture at least 70 minutes long and have characters Movie neutral: a movie may be any motion picture Movie radical: movies can be anything

[@lukehauser1182]

It would be way better at 90 minutes!

[@mikebliss1835]

​@@whitherwhenceMovie Radical here: My favorite Christmas movie is a nice new pair of socks.

[@DBraeges]

For what it's worth: The best Christmas movie is Tokyo Godfathers.

[@daviddenis4178]

YES! Thank you.

[@StrikeWarlock]

This

[@geckovonparsley8200]

This is what I came down here to say, sincere answer, I watch Tokyo Godfathers in between Xmas and New year

[@KathrynDMK]

Absolutely

[@trevorshaw-mumford2150]

Now I have Ode to Joy stick in my head and I want to cry lol. But a very good movie pick 👍

[@AppleIPie]

My answer is very generic. A Christmas Story. "You'll shoot you eye out!" The application, however, is essential. Turn the TV to a channel that is doing an all day marathon of aCS. Catch the middle of the movie. Leave. Have some lunch, catch some of the early scenes and part of the middle. Leave for presents. Catch the very end and the movie and the first scenes. Wander off. Dinner, more random segments The end result is that I have seen aCS a dozen times in segmented total but i have never seen it from beginning to end.

[@QuinnCurio]

Meet me on the roof at midnight tonight if you want to fist fight about The Nightmare Before Christmas being more of a Halloween movie than a Christmas movie. This is my holiday tradition.

[@andrewgreanias8811]

Due to it's mix of christmas and halloween themes, my friends and I have always said it should be watched directly between the two, making it a Thanksgiving movie.

[@soniaprado3605]

Hi, Quinn!! (Nightmare before Christmas is a Halloween movie, ok byeeee!!)

[@rheathecreative5612]

Quinn Curio technically the movie was released in December so...

[@imjustdandy9799]

Broke: The nightmare before christmas is a halloween/christmas movie Woke: since TNMBC involves the existence of multiple holiday based worlds, it should be watched on each of those holidays. Chiratmas, halloween, Easter day, all of the ones in the movie.

[@giraffintosh]

This is the correct opinion, thank you

[@caedilly]

the only Christmas movie is actually a mupet Christmas carol.

[@redactedredacted6656]

the only movie is a muppet christmas carol

[@KingBobXVI]

@@redactedredacted6656 - Wrong, counterpoint: _Muppet Treasure Island_ also exists, and is the best pirate movie ever.

[@BlindErephon]

I literally watch it every year. Michael Caine is acting the fuck out of his role like hes not talking to felt on a stick, there are some legitimately spooky parts, and I can be relatively sure no actors cried on set between takes because CGI makes actors sad.

[@laurenbastin8849]

@@BlindErephon fun fact: Michael Caine almost had a breakdown working on that film because he was talking to and acting at nothing but puppets

[@BlindErephon]

@@laurenbastin8849 Apparently he remembers it fondly, you can find interviews where he talks about how much he liked it, I think it really shows thru on his performance.

[@Virus16th]

The Snowman is a Christmas Movie. You had all the clues.

[@phastinemoon]

It took me several rereads to realize you were talking about the awful murder mystery movie, not the animated silent movie

[@K-Kil]

As someone who has spent many a Christmas estranged from their family due to their civil service, a movie like Die Hard actually resonates with the loneliness wrought from said service. It's lack of traditional Christmas themes are sometimes the closest someone can get to the theme during lonely dark times. Sometimes our own terms are not even accessible. Every year we were in port my single ass would sit on watch (i always volunteered xmas duty cause I'm single) and argue that die hard is the best christmas movie, it was the only one that explored relatable themes of estrangement without flying to close to the sun.

[@katatat2030]

military? When you said civil service I hoped it was like a soup kitchen

[@Lawrence330]

@@katatat2030 My guess is MSC or merchant marines. They state "in port" which implies a sea-going service, but didn't state "military" which rules out Navy. The Coasties enjoy an odd relationship, not being military "most of the time," and therefore OP could be a coastie. Of course, all of this assumes that they are American (based on my understanding of the terms).

[@Nekeku]

Broke: "Trolling" Woke: "Countering the social metagame"

[@Taomach]

That scene with you fully clothed in the shower really threw me for a loop! The thing is, Russia has its definitive Christmas move, and that movie is "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!" by Eldar Ryazanov. There is an iconic scene in that movie, where one of the characters comes into the flat from the street completely drunk, takes a shower fully clothed while delivering a heart-felt monologue about the moral failings of the main characters, and then leaves again, in his wet clothes, into the frosty winter, presumably to die from cold. I wouldn't expect you to be familiar with that movie, but this really looked like an intentional reference on your part!

[@transist0]

That scene description does sound profoundly Russian.

[@skep2923]

You joke that “a skeleton is Christmas as long as it has a hat,” but a house in my city does exactly this for Christmas. It’s their gimmick.

[@I1like1wood1ash]

Same! We have christmas skeletons at our house too!

[@skep2923]

@@I1like1wood1ash cool to know

[@TheInfiniteGlitch]

Frick! That was my gimmick! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW!

[@skep2923]

@@TheInfiniteGlitch continue unaffected.

[@yltraviole]

@@TheInfiniteGlitch one is a gimmick, two is an inside joke, convince one other person and now you have a tradition my man

[@jdatlas4668]

Ooh, a Folding Ideas Christmas episode! My Christmas just got this much better.

[@barkingdoggo3331]

happy holidays *finger guns*

[@MPostma72]

Hbomberguy's "War on Christmas" is also out! 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJO9oGeuZbOVmKs

[@Justin-ib2iz]

My favorite Folding Ideas christmas episode is his analysis of fifty shades: freed

[@maxhill7065]

Shit Justin, I was gunna say this episode of Folding Ideas is my favorite Christmas movie but I feel like I'm chomping your bit, welp it's out there now

[@onfrolicker9317]

When Dan brought up the draft format of magic: the gathering in the context of a rhetorical strategy I knew this was a video worth watching

[@vincentplag]

its vintage cube season!

[@onfrolicker9317]

@@vincentplag little known fact: folding ideas actually has secretly referred to the bend test they do on power 9 cards to check if they’re real the whole time

[@lilacrain3283]

This really is a fucking banger of a video, precisely because of stuff like that

[@thomasstone3480]

although ironically hate drafting is actually a terrible strategy for nearly all mtg draft formats

[@onfrolicker9317]

@@thomasstone3480 kinda arguable, if it’s something like mana drain in CMR and you aren’t playing blue I think hatedrafting that is more worthwhile than getting an uncommon in your colors that will likely be passed back. Like, it isn’t a great strategy to use by itself as the only way you draft but there’s a lot of situations where it’s the best choice

[@doyleharken3477]

tired: die hard is a christmas movie wired: "christmas movie" is a signifier clarifying our position in the social conversation inspired: movies don't exist and are a shared mass hallucination

[@PandaTheGFX]

hahaha

[@csblakeley]

After 2020, they certainly feel like a shared hallucination. Right along with going to "places".

[@kyr58]

Books too. You look at squiggles and enter a guided hallucination, then later you argue passionately with your friends about what the secret motivations and passions of the characters within them may have been.

[@HBCrigs]

I see you are taking the "there is no boat defense" to theseus here, good one

[@Eric-sy1xu]

Ah, but if the movie is a hallucination, then what's to say everyone around us isn't a hallucination, or that everything around us is a movie for that matter. It's fuckin Solipsism, innit. But if we're doing down That route, then Everything is a hallucination, so Movie loses any and all valuable meaning it has, and so From That we become Useless. Instead of that, we can Also just not care Like Me with trying to remember what point this was in reply to

[@paulinedunne3481]

The die hard Christmas movie debate is funny, because I’ve only watched die hard at Christmas, with people who watch it every year at Christmas, maybe ironically. But that kind of ritual transitioned it from a “Christmas movie” to a Christmas movie.

[@sjs9698]

best argument i've heard for die hard being a christmas movie (aside from that one) is that it features someone reuniting with family in hard times & despite them.

[@MoonSafariFilms]

Same thing happened with my family and Fargo.

[@spookdesu3420]

YES! I have been saying for years the "Christmas Miracle" in Die Hard is Al learning to kill again. God bless us every one.

[@MrCowabungaa]

When I clicked this I did not expect an exegesis about language philosophy, sociology and anthropology but... here we are. And I'm glad I got that.

[@OpqHMg]

Same!

[@flamshiz]

I want "social consensus is a nebulous thing" on a mug

[@csblakeley]

I'm sure already is one... in a kind of... nebulous way?

[@edstirling]

@@csblakeley only if we all agree on it.

[@smartestmoronx19]

I want "Mugs are a nebulous thing" on a social consensus

[@JCog]

Okay so what I'm hearing is that Dan watches Spring Breakers every Christmas.

[@RetepAdam]

Dan Alien 🤝 Spring Break forever

[@drpibisback7680]

Spring Breakers is a Harmony Korine film and I'll never get over that. The man behind Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, and Trash Humpers made a movie called Spring Breakers with Selena Gomez and Gucci Mane.

[@phastinemoon]

Honestly, I want to hear his arguments for WHY Spring Breakers is a Christmas movie. He says “what brings people together”, but I cannot think of a movie that is the antithesis of “bringing people together” as much as Spring Breakers is.

[@p003htb7]

@@phastinemoon I think that's the joke its the least christmas movie you could possibly think of, and it would be funny to watch it during christmas. But I already loved that movie and Harmony korine so I think I'll start making it my own christmas movie

[@bigblueboyscout4795]

Personally, I think Lethal Weapon is the movie that best captures the spirit of the season. Yes, Christmas is Murtaugh and his family enjoying the holiday together. But it’s also Riggs, lonely in his trailer, crying over a picture of his dead wife. Christmas makes happy people happier, and lonely people lonelier. Merry Christmas, y’all.

[@vasari9198]

And it came out one year before Die Hard. That seems important for some reason.

[@ghostnappa553]

I love Die Hard, but Lethal Weapon is more authentically a Christmas movie.

[@ironicallynice]

Groundhog Day is the most christmas movie but I can't argue why.

[@Sodiumman123]

It's literally even about a different Holiday. Your opinion is WILD and I fully respect you for it.

[@guro_girl]

I think that’s because it’s got basically the same plot as A Christmas Carrol the main character is flawed a supernatural event happens to them then once the main character becomes a better person it turns out for the outside world no time has passed at all

[@spencerlively3049]

snow

[@janeeyre1990]

Punxsutawney Claus

[@JoeCampbellfilmilliterate]

Groundhog Day is the most christmas movie but I can't argue why.

[@Crystal2938]

Unironically, and with minimal attempt at subversion of the question. Star Wars is a Christmas movie to me. Like, on Christmas we watch star wars. That's the tradition that we've had and it just doesn't quite feel like Christmas without that. It's like, star wars and really sweet popcorn and sugar cookies. Usually in the evening after the day has wound down and we have all a chance to do other things and have a full and wonderful day.

[@BasiliskKingOfSerpents]

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, even as someone who doesn't really watch anything non-standard for Chistmas. Traditions are what you make of them, and if watching Star Wars is a part of Christmas for you, then it's a holiday tradition and by extension a holiday movie in that context.

[@aurora5481]

For a lot of people, the _Harry Potter_ films are Christmas movies, especially the first three or four. Despite taking place throughout a full school year and the impact of Christmas being rarely more than a scene, they are Christmas movies for a lot of people for the sole reason that in many countries, those films were shown on TV as a marathon throughout Christmas time, usually advertised with the same snow-filled shots from _Prisoner of Azkaban_ and Harry and Ron opening presents on their first year of Hogwarts. For them, tween Daniel Radcliffe is a part of the holiday just as much as Home Alone is to someone else. Whoo, boy, am I glad I'm not one of those people now.

[@andybaxter4442]

We always watched the Star Wars Trilogy on VHS on Christmas growing up. I count it as a Xmas movie.

[@peterc.hayward8067]

Star Wars is more of a Life Day movie

[@Stephen-Fox]

I hear you, even with a very different answer - The Wallace and Gromit series of short films (and one feature length). With the exception of Curse of the Were-Rabbit, they all premiered Christmas day or close to it, they're always aired on television around the Christmas period, and as such I kind of... Grew up watching them over Christmas and while I like them and none of them are remotely festive in content it feels weird to watch them any other time of year to me now. Depends on my mood what I'd pick as my favourite.

[@darnbricks]

As a single guy with no family, living on his own, with all of my friends off to see their relatives, during COVID lockdown, on the exact tenth anniversary of the breakdown of my most important relationship... I think I'll go with 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'.

[@vasari9198]

PJ Harvey 4-track demo cover... 😏

[@dirtdart81]

Omg I love that movie! Thanks for reminding me of its existence 🤣

[@redcitadel9123]

Good luck dude, and good choice of movie!

[@RmsOceanic]

By the singular metric of "we watch it at my parents' house at Christmas", Airplane! is a Christmas movie.

[@maynardburger]

For me, Thanksgiving was never about turkey and stuffing, but shrimp, crabcakes and hush puppies. Family traditions are great.

[@LaurellaNeed]

Little Women, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Sound of Music, and Harry Potter are all Christmas movies to me. I understand that they aren't really Christmas movies, but my family watch them at Christmas, so they feel Christmas-y to me.

[@hurricaneofcats]

A lot of the Harry Potter movies have amazing Christmas scenes. I always envied Hogwarts Christmases as a kid. I still love watching the scene when Harry gets gifts from the Weasleys for the first time.

[@skizzit]

It's strange, but I associate the Harry Potter movies with Christmas and the books with Halloween. Not sure why, but I always get the urge to re-read the books around then.

[@RaccoonInACocoon]

LotR also reminds me a lot of christmas because it was in cinemas around that time of the year and every year someone got me tickets for christmas

[@mhawang8204]

@@RaccoonInACocoon Same. And we rewatch the trilogy on DVDs every year because the holidays are the only free time long enough for those 3 movies.

[@edisonlima4647]

@@skizzit It may have something to do with a lot of covers of the Harry Potter books having the Orange color proeminently, and the first one has Harry flying like those pumpkin carrying witches from horror stories, which is quite Halloween-ey, while the movies have many scenes in cold looking dark conipherous woods at night or old town streets, which are often the kind of scenarios seen in Christmas movies.

[@wesleyhunt7599]

O Brother Where Art Thou? Became a Christmas movie at my house. Dad just plays it whenever it comes around the holidays. And it kind of works.

[@timogul]

"Christmas Movies" are any movie airing on the Hallmark Channel, and *only* movies that air on the Hallmark Channel. Dan knows what's up, he's even subtly wearing a Hallmark crown.

[@CorporatePhagia]

subtlely??? I didn't take my eyes off that thing the whole time. he wore it in the shower scene. i feel like I'm going crazy here

[@Pendragondnd]

LotR has gotta be my favorite set of Christmas movies. They are about bringing people putting aside their differences, and working together for the common good, they also feature a lot of elves!

[@LoganMarcosSchmidt]

And they’re gay!

[@moryrie]

My go-to is usually The Hog Father. Kinda long. but worth a watch if you' haven't seen it ^^ have a nice Christmas everyone.

[@rgs8970]

Hog Father is so good!!!

[@lyndonwesthaven6623]

Pterry blesses us even now

[@AccoSpoot]

Hogfather actually makes perfect sense in the context of this conversation, that conclusion; THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN. ... "Really? Then what would have happened, pray?" A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD. Like, the idea that picking a Christmas movie is low stakes is to buy into that convention that imagination and ritual are superfluous rather than the ways we all cooperate as a society on the bigger scale.

[@phastinemoon]

I listen to the audiobook - it’s perfect for the season

[@TheCaptainstupendous]

My favorite is unironically The Nightmare Before Christmas. The Christmas movie for people who have few to no good memories/traditions about Christmas

[@BREADSWORD]

really creative collab! loved this fr

[@StrongButAwkward]

"On Christmas we watch the extended directors cut Lord of the Rings Trilogy" "Oh, when so do you watch the Hobbit trilogy on Thanksgiving?" "Get out"

[@loreleihayden454]

This is a fabulous joke, but somehow my friend group's annual group re-watch of The Hobbit movie trilogy DOES happen to coincide right before Thanksgiving kicks off, somehow, so now I'm questioning my own re-watch habits because I've never made it a point to watch LOTR around Christmas.

[@googiegress]

@@loreleihayden454 The joke is that The Hobbit is horrible and should have been one tight movie. Drop all LotR tie-ins, drop the dumb characters Jackson dragged in, bring back the dumb characters Jackson left out, and claw back all Bilbo's achievements back to him and away from the dwarves. The script was published in 1937, Jackson just needed to hire some people to do those things and say those words in New Zealand.

[@dominictemple]

Casablanca. First because I genuinely do watch it every Christmas, and second because it's about a cynical man rejecting the easy life of neutrality and anger and instead remembering love, duty and putting the greater good of the world above his selfish wants, he even manages to redeem the even worse corrupt police chief and they go off into the foggy distance to fight for decency, freedom and fighting nazis. If that isn't a thing of beauty deserving of Christmas movie-dom than you have no heart.

[@TalkingVidya]

Mean Girls is a christmas movie, and I will fight everyone over that

[@vivianetirone762]

no no, you're right

[@hopebringer2348]

Oye we qué haces aquí, vete a hablar de marxismo

[@DaviniaHill]

So is Clueless. Suck n blow happens at a Christmas party.

[@hernans901]

Mean Girls = Christmas Movie X 2, because Mean Girls is also a Die Hard movie.

[@samuelsolomon7330]

I thought Mean Girls was a Halloween movie.

[@cascadianpsycho]

Batman Returns is the best Christmas movie.

[@benvaun1330]

I disagree Gremlin's is the best Christmas movie.

[@ShirDeutch]

Wrong. The best Christmas movie is The Hebrew Hammer.

[@Dutchtica]

Scamp

[@paulmartin591]

I grew up really loving Batman Returns. I don’t love it as much now. But I think it remains a very underrated film. Danny Devito’s Penguin is perfectly cartoonish and horrifying at the same time.

[@bumfricker2487]

it's the perfect Christmas depression movie

[@fishking4000]

Today, I got absolutely baked out of my mind and watched Into the Spider-Verse and I'd like to submit it for consideration as a Christmas- Spirit-Purist-Candy-Cane-Radical Christmas movie.

[@kiwi8133]

Everyone watch Tokyo Godfathers, it’s a very good Christmas movie :)

[@deuscain]

PREACH! (I love that movie

[@geckovonparsley8200]

And it's both a Christmas and New Year's movie, so you have a week to find a good time to watch it, too.

[@KathrynDMK]

Adding in the hopes that somehow more people will watch Tokyo Godfathers

[@ceceliawight7059]

Is that like the John Wayne western 3 Godfathers? I checked it out and it may have the same premise but no not the same

[@edisonlima4647]

@@ceceliawight7059 Yep. "Tokyo Godfathers", "Three Men and a Baby" and "Three Godfathers" are branches of the same tree, the 1913 short story "The Three Godfathers", by Peter B. Kyne, with the 1980's comedy being the odd duck, tonaly wise, and the other two sharing a certain... mood. Japan has an interesting history of adapting classic western stories to their culture, usually with quite engaging results.

[@echowerelemming2918]

The stakes of "What is a Christmas movie?" are dire. At an obligatory family gathering if you can successfully argue to watch, say, "Krampus" instead of a saccharine bore or a poorly aged comedy, then you've made Christmas substantively better for yourself and likely others. It is not merely the realm of internet pedantry but a true and real reflection of how people maneuver their way through the holidays with minimal psychic damage.

[@merrybright5732]

Yeah I’m not gonna go so far as to say being forced to watch the TBS “A Christmas Story” marathon is the reason I major depressive disorder that spikes around the holidays... But I’m also not *not* saying that

[@brittanycatherine4947]

A nice compromise on the Krampus vs. Comedy argument might be Mixed Nuts. It's a comedy that takes place on Christmas Eve at a suicide hotline. There's a guy in a Santa costume, Christmas trees, a serial killer and presents.

[@randomlydeterministic]

"Die Hard is a Christmas movie" is just seasonal "Hot dogs are sandwiches".

[@PopeGoliath]

Calzone is ravioli?

[@Ultimus31]

A hot dog is a taco.

[@benl2140]

A hot dog is only a sandwich if you rip the bun in two so that you have two seperate pieces of bread.

[@petraelliott5930]

​@@benl2140 counterpoint, what about subway sandwiches? they're always connected on one side too

[@benl2140]

@@petraelliott5930 If the bun is connected, it's not a sandwich. Yes, I am going to die on this hill.

[@goylefriend]

Did Hard was one of my Dad's favorite movies of all time (he was a large part in picking what was shown at the Seattle film festival before he died, and had a life-long love of movies, but in this particular case I suspect he might have just been in love with Bruce Willis). His birthday is also on December 24th. I'd always been skeptical of Die Hard, as I usually am with violent 90s cult classics, but when I actually sat down to watch it, I enjoyed myself, copaganda aside. It made me feel closer to him. For these reasons your honor, Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie,

[@IsaacMayerCreativeWorks]

the best Christmas movie is eating Chinese food and watching a *non-Christmas* movie, then playing chess and grumbling about how everything is closed for no reason

[@literaterose6731]

This year my family’s Christmas movie is playing board games online (four of us, all in different geographic locations). My older daughter has dubbed the event Commie Jew Christmas Games. 😏

[@PopeGoliath]

Jewish Christmas is objectively amazing and I do it despite not being Jewish.

[@sharkofjoy]

Unfortunately this year everything is closed and has been closed and will remain closed ....

[@edgarallenhoe3518]

the best Christmas song is my mom bitching all December about how much she hates Christmas music

[@googiegress]

@@edgarallenhoe3518 Does she play Whamageddon?

[@MoonSafariFilms]

I watched Die Hard last night and it was pretty emotionally resonant with this year. Being separated from family while the leadership continually messes everything up through arrogance and incompetence. Weaving Ode to Joy throughout the films score was the icing on top.

[@christrousdale6634]

Man, ever since Mikey was in person for Desert Bus this year, Im seeing all these fantastic overlaps between the creators I love.

[@alessandrobuffa123]

I need to share the TRUE FACT that in Italy Trading Places, of all movies, is the one we're supposed to see each Christmas and it's been this way for decades. Trading Places is Italy's pick for most Christmas movie, no doubt.

[@RazorFringe2]

My favourite Christmas film is Tokyo Godfathers. Yours milquetoastedly, Commenter F.Marigold.

[@quantum_nekomancer]

It's the only one that makes christmas miracles feel real.

[@BusanMidnightMovie]

Anyone else pause at "the pandemic of 2020" and think, "oh no, he's specifying to distinguish it from the next one"?

[@ILikedGooglePlus]

Can't have more than one when the first one never ends 😚😚😚

[@esobelisk3110]

@@ILikedGooglePlus that’s not true. there could be multiple at the same time.

[@Melancholy_Scholar]

20 years ago, a random TV channel had Silverado on at 11 PM on Christmas Eve. My brothers and I have made sure to watch it every Christmas Eve since.

[@TheSienn]

Merry Chrysler 🌲

[@interior.imperial1]

It's crizmin

[@TheSienn]

@@interior.imperial1 no, it’s Cribmus eve 🎅🏿

[@pinkcupcake4717]

mer crimbus

[@galasidan]

I realized this year that I only did the urge to watch Anastasia right around Christmas time because in my head it feels like a Christmas movie. It's set in the winter particularly in the snow. There is a train which sometimes is used as a symbol of Christmas. It's a very sparkly spangly movie. The themes of love and caring about each other and family are very Christmas flavored to me. In a lot of ways it feels more in the Christmas spirit than a lot of movies that are directly about Christmas.

[@er88jo]

This is the first time I realize that the "Die Hard"-answer is consedered to be a trolling thing (also realizing that I have been living under a rock and that I might have made some people irritaded for other reasons than just having bad taste). As a kid (early 2000s) it was like a thing in our family to pop in the Die Hard 1 and 2 VHS at least one time during the week before christmas. And for at least a decade, or possible since the 90s, I think it is quite a standard movie to show in some Swedish TV chanels. This has definitely been a thing since before social media trolling became a thing (in my life), but I guess it might just as well might have been a wise as holliday tv planing thing that just happened over and over again. I just assumed that this was like some kind of offical position for people that likes action movies, like "call me crazy but I actually prefer Die Hard and it really puts me in the mood for presents and santa stuff". When I hear this I think that there is/was an honest crew (me included) who actually considered this to be a fairly decent christmas movie (not analyzing the B-plot...) an that this group of people triggered a response from....normal people... that made Die Hard the go-to-answer for others. This makes me pissed because now I understand that I just come of as a "wannabe provocative and experiment with people by saying stuff" when I was completely content with being a harmless weirdo on my own before realizing the magnitude of the "Die Hard as a Christmas movie"-stereotype. Man. First fedoras and now this.

[@amphioxusanniversary]

Oof. Yeah, some people have odd (non-traditional?) Christmas traditions, and it sucks having a genuine gesture of sentimentality co-opted by edgelords. 'Cause, I mean, if you take away the standard trolling tropes, that sounds like an answer with a neat story behind it! (On the note of being blithely unaware of giving the wrong impression, it seems like you might've typoed 'content'? _Contempt_ means hatred/loathing/disgust for/etc., which seems very much not the impression you're trying to convey!)

[@er88jo]

@@amphioxusanniversary Omg, thanks for the spell check. :P

[@corruleumblue3317]

It really is wild when something that's so natural to you turns out to be a major debate topic elsewhere in the world (in a much louder part of the world that defines a lot of online conversation). My example: where I am, pineapple on pizza was always one of the standard options, hawaiian being as default as meat lovers or supreme or pepperoni pizza. And yet, apparently that's controversial in America?

[@SPyoutube42069]

i'm surprised i had to scroll so far to find somebody else that organically found their family watching die hard as a christmas tradition. it very well may be possible that the first time we watched it on christmas eve it was suggested somewhat jokingly, but it basically immediately became our definitive christmas movie, the one nobody would object to and everybody was happy to watch. i've seen it tens of times and not once outside of december, it would feel wrong to me to watch it not around christmas.

[@pileybenton656]

Neat new video! Surely the first time it has ever been posted!!

[@DairunCates]

Thank you for always being there to overthink things to such an amazing degree. It always makes me feel not so alone. It always makes me feel like my existential dread has a purpose and that knowledge itself can eventually lead to a better world. Sounds self-important AND schmaltzy, but it's true. Your videos bring me peace and bring sense to a senseless world. You're my favorite Christmas movie. Happy Holidays, Folding Ideas.

[@albertgreene313]

Ya know, that last reflection on tradition as an anchor really resonated with me as this year, i had no fireplace, no long drunken talk with my brother as dogs lay about with way to much Chinese food in the kitchen, getting cold. I missed that, so thank you, make more content more frequently. please

[@vanilloia7479]

Me: Hmm, i'm not sure if i buy the explanation that without rituals we get unanchored. Me, not a minute later: I have to reblog this Out Of Touch Thrusday Meme today. It's the Christmas version! You win this round, Mr. Ideas

[@park2sp]

I'm so impressed by the sweater. It is absolutely perfect for this video. It is all one color, and yet it is ugly, ugly in a way I have difficulty explaining. Maybe it's the slightly different patterns separated by the horizontal bar? It's not horribly ugly, just... Ugly. It reminds me of when Sarah Vowell took goth lessons and chose as her goth name the most perverse name she could think of, "Becky," and the girl who was doing her makeup said that she was displaying real understanding of what goth was all about. This sweater isn't just ugly. It understands being an ugly sweater. Anyway, I really like the sweater.

[@fakename4683]

I will say that to me Die Hard is Christmas Movie. Since I could remember my dad alway put it on for Christmas morning. I continue to watch it every year since he passed. I never saw it in a theater, a remember first seeing it during Christmas.

[@nessesaryschoolthing]

"Ritual is an outward signifier of stability" This is also why we have a feast on/around the holidays. It doesn't make obvious sense to eat into your food stores when the crops have all long-since been harvested and there won't be more for the better part of a year, but it signifies that you have the stability to do it anyways. And that's comforting

[@berkleypearl2363]

My favorite Christmas movie is The Hogfather. Happy Hogswatch everybody. Together we choose to believe in things to make the world a better place

[@partylikeits1066]

Dan I completely agree with the point you made about tradition and ritual and have been thinking this exact thing and about how it relates to christmas! This is such a consistently great channel and I think you say such spot on stuff all the time - thanks for making this stuff!

[@nexus6100]

Well I now feel comfortable talking about the objectively best Christmas movie, Gremlins. Going to have to watch that tonight.

[@castironchaos]

The MST3K take on "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians" is a true holiday classic. And the original movie does have a couple of good points as well as numerous bad points. #CandyCaneRadical

[@melm4251]

gonna have to dig out that thing for this year, my dad has the original movie on a dvd collection haha

[@robertborland5083]

"Droppo, you are the laziest man on Mars!"

[@scifience8297]

the best christmas movie is Star Wars The Holiday Special

[@LostLargeCats]

As it should be

[@andrewxu3602]

That came out in November.

[@abdaniel487]

Dan, you have such a wonderful way with your words. I absolutely love your videos. Keep up the great work, and happy arbitrary-temporal-milestone!

[@MamaSlick123]

Me, an intellectual: Carol is my favorite Christmas movie.

[@sapphosscullerymaid4856]

Same here I watch it every year

[@thevikingbear2343]

The Lord of the Rings trilogy Is a Christmas movie trilogy because it came out three Decembers in a row, hence becoming a 3-year going to the theater on christmas day tradition and then subsequently a rewatching LOTR on Christmas day tradition.

[@LaurellaNeed]

Yes. And recently the same thing has happened with Star Wars.

[@CheezyTime]

I went to see all 3 movies with my mom while waiting for dad to come home from work those Christmas days so we could "do Christmas"

[@asmodiusjones9563]

YES. This was a huge deal in my family. Also, we had followed the development of the movie for YEARS before it came out, so it wasn’t just a three year thing for us. Also, this was the first movie series to do this staggered or serial release (the next closest thing was Harry Potter, but the first one of those came out just a few months before Fellowship). It was almost like more than just movies. True story: I remember seeing some other movie in the theater in mid 2002 and a trailer for Two Towers played beforehand. I was so stoked that I immediately lost all interest in whatever movie I was there to see, thinking, “what’s the point?” and I legitimately felt bad for that movie itself that it wasn’t Two Towers. Today I have no recollection of what movie that was, poor thing.

[@aeternalslime9670]

this year my family made a chart as we watched our favorites: a quadratic graph with x axis categorizing a movie from "christmas appears as a setting or plot point, no matter how minor" to "movie's central thesis or central concern is, in some way, christmas;" and on the y axis we tracked tone from mirthful to serious, or "dirth of mirth." we considered including a z axis labelled good/bad but decided that was ultimately unrelated to the point and therefore simply muddled readability. our system is perhaps limited in categorization but allows for a deep examination of the minutia. glad to see we're not the only ones taking this too seriously

[@Insatiable.Curiosity]

The Fifth Element is the ONLY Bruce Willis Christmas movie I'll recognize.

[@casualpequod6054]

Where I am from, they air the lotr trilogy around Christmas and New year so it has become a Christmas movie in my mind. It's now become a tradition for me and my brother to watch the movies once a year.

[@janeeyre1990]

Now during the pandemic of 2020, I mostly tell time by "day" or "night," which is dictated by the sun. I like it better than the old ways in the Before Times.

[@robertborland5083]

I feel that.

[@rufusevans7844]

I can't stop thinking about how much I like your crown!

[@Sedric-and-Charlie]

all through the video I assumed the disappearance of every other film but Star Wars had some intrinsic meaning I had missed, but no. No it did not

[@myettechase]

My Christmas movie is School of Rock because for a while it was the only DVD my grandma owned and we always spent Christmas at her place, so it was the only movie we could watch. It became a tradition for us

[@Monothefox]

In Sweden, Lethal Weapon and Ivanhoe are considered new years' movies, since they're regularly shown on new years.

[@Maynick2001]

I remember those evenings every Christmas when we would curl up around the TV with a blanket and mugs of cocoa and watch Eyes Wide Shut as a family.

[@Dartyus]

Plato: A Christmas movie is any movie with a plot that hinges on the fact that it's Christmas Diogenes, holding a copy of Die Hard:

[@davidhsonic]

Honestly, if every video on KZbin was like this, I would be overjoyed. In depth discussion of various fundamental topics arising from an attempt to answer a simple question is just beautiful.

[@MrJohndoakes]

"Das Boot" is partially a Christmas movie, at least when they hit Spain.

[@Xondar11223344]

You can start Das Boot at Halloween and watch it until New Years, so Das Boot is a Halloween movie, a (American) Thanksgiving movie, a Christmas movie, and a New Year movie!

[@Grillo-j9g]

@@Xondar11223344 that is about how long it takes me to get through one viewing: 10 five to ten minutes of watching 20 turning it off because it’s too depressing 30 remembering weeks later that I never finished watching it 40 GOTO 10

[@BrianKrock]

This blew my mind. You are so brilliant, man. Thanks for making these things!

[@jesse-got-dolphins-into-heaven]

but my pithy comment was on the broken version

[@KeithBallardA]

The Best Channels Cinematic Universe we deserve.

[@jackdoyle7453]

So perhaps due to age, I think he's missed an enitre group of people that die hard just is a christmas movie because christmas is a significant part of the plot and the film was shown at christmas ever year by one of the tv channels. I remember one year I went home for xmas not taking my own Dvds and it wasn't on broadcast that year, so I spent several hours finding it on streaming so that I would still watch it on xmas eve. I always find that Americans seem to set their Christmas canon exclusively in the 50s musically, in films etc. and films need to ape that aesthetic to be accepted.

[@jinxed7915]

100 perfect. I unironically believe, neigh, KNOW, that Die Hard is a Christmas movie because it takes place during Christmas (Eve, but it's during the holiday season so close enough). To me, that's all that can be demanded, because *Holiday spirit* or some shit is too subjective and nebulous a standard, and there's too many films that are considered Christmas movies despite the fact that their connection to the holiday on a spiritual level is tenuous at best once you put them under the microscope.

[@vandabo]

Always love it when multiple favorite creators come together to make something wholesome. Great vid.

[@Chapy63]

March 18th, 2021 Dear journal, I came back again today on the channel, hopping as always to find some new content. My mind is starving and I feel like Folding Ideas is the empty fridge into which I keep looking, hoping that this time I'm gonna find something. But I must admit that I'm a little worry now. You remember, dear Journal, when Dan made his video on Contagion, and then didn't published for months? I thought something bad had happen, even more so with the dark tone of the video. But I was wrong. Nothing bad had happen. He was gone on a journey, deep down into the Flat-Earth/Q-Anon rabbit hole and found there the colors for a new masterpiece. Those endeavors take time. I comfort myself by imagining Dan in some deep, mindboggling train of thought, looking for the colors of his next chef d'oeuvre. I'm sure everything will be fine. Also I watched WonderWoman 1984 today, but I would prefer not to talk about it. Happy St. Patrick! Your pen pal

[@jatonium]

Dan, I'm really glad you make content, you make the world a better place.

[@ruby7951]

If this yearly argument is a sign of stability then I embrace chaos.

[@Nono-hk3is]

Merry Christmas Dan and Mikey and crew!

[@Preserbius]

Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas is actually the best Christmas movie

[@jonathanlgill]

I had a very real sense of traditions-in-formation this Christmas. My gf and I decided to watch The Best Years Of Our Lives together on Christmas Eve turning into Christmas Day. And while it's not set in Christmas and never listed as a Christmas movie, it had that upbeat sentimental spirit that I very strongly identify as Christmas-y, and I don't think I can see the movie now except in that context.

[@JackIsMe1993]

"I'm gonna deck your halls bub" Anything quotable that makes you smile = christmas film "Sanka man whatcha smoking?"

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

"I ain't smokin, I'm breathin'!"

[@Digitally_Imagined]

I need to rewatch Cool Runnings...

[@EnnameMori]

Best Christmas sweater ever, the crown really makes it work. Oh and the discussion of ritual, performativity and temporality was great.

[@YTRingoster]

1:21 Dan has really upped his blender game with this one

[@bendonatier]

I am reminded of Over The Garden Wall, and the marriage song. A whole town of people singing about how excited they are for a wedding, because a wedding means that everyone in the town is able to work, with the implication being that no one has to go hungry. Celebration is good for it's own sake, but it is also important for all the waves it stirs, begging all involved to indulge just a little bit in excess, and support each other.

[@MyWayofEverything]

Took 13 minutes to say “people argue for the sake of arguing”

[@michelottens6083]

He said some stuff about the effects of that on the arguing, though, and why that might be a good thing for the argument. To me this was surprisingly concise given how many ideas and references they crammed in.

[@rodanandme]

the part about any movie you watch during the holdisays is a holiday movie hit me but not for Christmas, every year when my family got together for Thanksgiving, the ability to decide on something is so strained that every year we would just default to watching a marathon of Mythbusters, and Mythbusters has been the only constant for Thanksgiving throughout my life