Exhausted but still smiling! Where's the remote? Photo: Getty
It’s impossible to know what Santa Claus is preparing to watch or stream on Christmas Day, after his big year making presents for millions of kids … and an ever bigger night on the clock with his nine reindeer.
He’s had so many cookies, milk and beer over the past 24 hours, all he wants to do is undo the belt of his thick red pants, sit and reflect, and zone out on some serious television.
His exhausted best friends – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph – are out the back munching away on carrots, and Mrs Claus is just relieved the year ended on a high.
So, all is quiet in Father Christmas’ cosy home just north of Norway somewhere.
He’s paid up all his subscriptions for Netflix, Apple TV+, Paramount+, Foxtel, BritBox, Peacock, Disney, Prime Video and knows about the free-to-air channels and YouTube options in Scandinavia.
It could be a tear-jerker for him, maybe some nostalgia. He does secretly like the Grinch movie genre, appreciates Hollywood scriptwriters who go with “naughty-to-nice” themes for their lead characters, and loves any Elf films.
There’s also a new list on Santa’s list this year … forgotten gems and cable network specials that will complete the spirit of Christmas.
Thank you to Dolly Parton and her god-daughter Miley Cyrus for reminding us that Christmas is about giving, not taking, to The Simpsons for counting down their best Christmas shows, and to the much-loved British series Call the Midwife special (bring tissues).
A quick Sydney vox pop also suggests Silver Linings Playbook, The Devil Wears Prada, Shawshank Redemption, Mr and Mrs. Smith, Tropic Thunder, Terms of Endearment and Zero Dark Thirty.
So will you be the master of your destiny on Christmas Day, or take some suggestions from this list?
Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Bruce Willis gave new meaning to Christmas Eve with blockbuster Die Hard in 1988. Playing New York hero cop John McClane, he took on a bunch of terrorists on top of Nakatomi Plaza and won. Plus we learnt new phrases like Yippee-ki-yay. Photo: AAPSet in the month leading up to Christmas, Love Actually (2003) is a well-known favourite of die-hard romantic politicians, families, couples and singles, oh and social media regularly copies the front-door scene with the message boards. Photo: AAP
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas gets a 95 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and comes in at No.6 on their 100 all-time best Christmas movies. Photo: AAPThis snowy Christmas treat based on CS Lewis’s novel is, indeed, a dreamworld of magic. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has a Father Christmas and a White Witch, the latter played by Tilda Swinton. Photo: AAPHow the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) starring Jim Carrey was among his classics at the time, which also included The Mask, Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber (if you want to binge). Photo: AAPElf was innovative in 2003, a delightful take on the role of Santa’s helpers. A reminder to Santa, if he wants to watch this biopic, it’s not on Netflix but on Prime Video. Netflix has 15 Christmas films running including Shrek and The Polar Express. Photo: AAPIt’s a Wonderful Life (1946) starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell, has endured with generations of viewers at Christmas time, and remains in the Top 10 all-time favourites on Christmas Day (or the eve). Photo: AAPDoes it have to have a Christmas theme to watch it on the big day? No. Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin and Scott Glenn, is all about defection, submarines and allegiance … themes we can still relate to. Photo: AAPBad Santa (2003) stars Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox, who rob department stores on Christmas Eve (this is one of those naughty-turning-better people stories when they befriend a little boy). Photo: AAPBill Murray does an excellent job in this 1988 fantasy comedy Scrooged playing a selfish TV executive haunted by ghosts from the past, present and future, who help him realise he must reform himself. Sound familiar Will Ferrell? Ryan Reynolds? Photo: AAP
