24 Days of Christmas Films: Day 12-A Charlie Brown Christmas

This is an oldie but a goodie. While my sister and I never really watched the Peanut cartoons when we were little (I preferred the comics), my mother used to love them and it was a love she used to try to pass on by encouraging us to watch this every year.

With imaginative, relatable characters and iconic music it’s not surprising that A Charlie Brown Christmas is something that still manages to compel children, long after they’ve transitioned into adulthood. It’s surprising re-watching it as an adult how profound the message is behind this short film, as when I was little all I noticed was the Charlie Brown was sad about Christmas. But as an adult I realised that it’s actually the widespread of commercialism that’s got Charlie down, and is the cause as to why he throws himself into directing the Christmas play, although alas to no avail. As Charlie’s friends come together and we see Charlie realise that there is still more to Christmas than shopping and presents, it’s not just Charlie’s spirits who are raised. Whilst Linus’ recitation of Luke 2:8-14 highlights the simple intentions of what Christmas should really be about, peace and goodwill to all men.  Whether you’re religious or not it’ll have a different impact for you, but as someone who is the latter I love this reference as it brings me back to my childhood performing the Nativity, and the genuine joy and promise that Christmas would bring every year.

At its core that is what a Charlie Brown Christmas is all about, characters coming together in a touching and sentimental way to remind us what should be most important at Christmastime, and that is something that I think we sometimes need to be reminded of.

 

24 Days of Christmas Film: Day 2-Die Hard

Well now we can officially kick off the Christmas preparations off with a bang (pun very much intended). Now I know this another slightly controversial choice as although Die Hard is set on Christmas Eve-a fact we are repeatedly reminded of, it’s not technically a Christmas film, but it’s my list and what says Christmas more than a dead terrorist with HO HO HO on his jumper?

But in all seriousness considering Die Hard was made 28 years ago I can honestly say it remarkably withstands the test of time as just a really great action movie. Alan Rickman arguably create the modern archetypal British villain in his role as the malevolent Hans Gruber, while Bruce Willis is nothing short of iconic and for good reason. I became obsessed watching it 28 years later, so I can only imagine the impact this film had when it originally came out and before the majority of its best bits became what we now recognise as well know cliches of the genre.

“Yippee Ki Yay, motherfucker” lives on as one of the most famous film quotes ever, and it is truly a testament to how smart and ingenious the script is. It features a lot of the most common Christmas film tropes such as a villain receiving his comeuppance, a love story with the bonus of a family’s reconciliation, not to mention what will probably go down in history as the worlds worst Christmas office party. Combined with a soundtrack of Christmas classics such as ‘Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’, it’s the perfect choice for Day 2 as it has the dual bonus of just being a really great film that is also inherently Christmassy, and that’s why I think it deserves its place on this list.

Christmas Baking

  As a devotee of The Great British Bake Off and an aspirational baker myself, Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year to whip out that mixing bowl and get baking. There’s nothing I find more homely than a house that is full of the smell of baking and seeing as our student house celebrates Christmas a little earlier than usual, I thought it was the perfect time to share some of my favourite Christmas recipes with you to practise just in time for Santa.

My first is a chocolate chip cookie recipe which is a firm favourite for me as it’s what Santa received from our house every year when I was younger. My personal favourite are those gooey, chewy versions so I borrowed this recipe from Tanya Burr’s website,adapting it slightly for a little less chocolate as I didn’t want too much added sweetness. Not to mention it’s incredibly adaptable so you can include any of your favourite chocolates that you like!

My second recipe had to of course be gingerbread, as what is Christmas without gingerbread?! Although I am a great favourite of the gingerbread house, I tend to cheat nowadays in favour of the ikea flatpack version but I am still a traditionalist when it comes to the original cookies themselves. Thanks to this cookie recipe from the good old BBC themselves and some cookie cutters from the oh so glamorous Poundland, I ended up with these beauties.

If you give either of these a go or have any of your own traditional Christmas bakes let me know as I’m always on the lookout for some new offerings to leave for Father Christmas under the tree!