If you’ve been to the mall anytime since… Halloween, you’ve probably grown tired of every incarnation of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” or have questioned why so many artists cover Wham’s “Last Christmas”. Christmas music usually seems to wear out its welcome early these days, but we can totally forgive their overuse in these scenes. Christmas movies wouldn’t feel as special without some carols or poppy Christmas ballads, so here’s what I think are the 5 Best Christmas Music Moments in Movies.
5. “Christmas in Hollis” – Die Hard
If you don’t think Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then you just aren’t paying attention. Go back and watch it and count the times Christmas is mentioned, trees are decorated, or a Christmas song is played. “Christmas in Hollis” is Argyle’s way of introducing John McClaine to the new Christmas. Gone are the days of Bing Crosby; now, meaning the 80s, is all about Run DMC.
Speaking of Bing Crosby…
4. “White Christmas” – White Christmas
Would Christmas be the same without Bing Crosby’s rendition of the classic “White Christmas”? Probably, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t one of the most important recordings for the season. I’m admittedly not a big fan of White Christmas. It’s less a movie about Christmas and more about some dude that’s retiring, but the end song just sums up what classic holiday movies are all about: Bing Crosby, Danny Fuckin’ Kaye, and a whole lot of Christmas songs.
3. “Jingle Bell Rock” – Mean Girls
I remember during a pep rally in my freshman year of high school, some senior girls put on a lip synch performance to some Britney Spears song… and it was awesome, if not completely inappropriate for a school setting. Much like that performance, the Plastics rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock” probably doesn’t have a place in the most prudish of establishments, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome. At this point, it’s probably rather quaint to see these girls only go this far; Miley was doing that at 15.
Moving past the obvious eye candy worthiness of this scene, it’s also quite funny, thanks in large part to Amy Poehler in the audience and an errant boom box.
2. “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” – Elf
The heart of Elf is the childlike innocence of Buddy, which is why the scene in which he sings “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with a showering Zooey Deschanel doesn’t end in a restraining order or at least a black eye. This is also the public’s first exposure to how talented Deschanel is as a singer and actress, long before she became the Manic Pixie Dream Girl sensitive males everywhere yearned to catch singing in their shower.
Besides the fact that the song carries so many date rapey connotations (which comes off even weirder when Lauren Bacall sings it with an adolescent Thora Birch in All I Want For Christmas), the moment is pure and it’s one of the highlight scenes of the couple’s chemistry.
1. “All I Want For Christmas” – Love Actually
I find Love, Actually to be an enjoyable movie, if not a little too long and one of the most satisfying parts is the culmination of Sam’s storyline. Sam, throughout the film, pines for a girl at school whom we never actually see until the end. We know she’s a singer and his plan to get on her radar is to play the drums. Unfortunately, he doesn’t play the drums.
The buildup to the performance is what makes this the strongest storyline in the entire film. We never see his progress. We never see the girl who has stolen his heart. It’s instead used as a way for stepfather and son to bond and to help them move on from the death of the woman they both loved dearly.
The Main Damie 