90s kids will always love the movies that came out in that decade. When it comes to a cross-comparison between movies made in the ’90s and the 2000s, you’ll find a true ’90s kid choosing the former over the latter. And why not? Hollywood at the time was smart, funny and groundbreaking (looking at you Home Alone). So, it’s only natural that one prefers these over everything else.
Movies made in the ’90s were simple, sweet and straightforth. Everything resonated with audiences. The music, well-written scripts, the actresses, the fashion and connection that cinema-goers and makers shared. If you are someone who wants to spend Christmas watching a classic 90’s movie, tie your hair in a scrunchie and go grab a hot chocolate because the nostalgia is about to hit you hard with this list.
10 WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
Are you a woman who wants a stamp in her passport and Florence for a honeymoon? While You Were Sleeping is what you should be watching today. For one, the movie is meant for all those hopeless romantics who want nothing more and nothing less than love. You got to give due credits to While You Were Sleeping for positively reaffirming faith in, “Life doesn’t always turn out to be the way you wanted”. Even if it means you act as a sick man’s pretend-fiance and almost marry him, only to fall in love with his brother in the end.
Also, Sandra Bullock.
9 THE PREACHER’S WIFE
A preacher (Courtney B. Vance), his wife (Whitney Houston) and all they need is a Christmas miracle to help save their family and their struggling church. Who better than Dudley (Denzel Washington) in the form of an angel to come to fix their lives for them?
Not only do you get to see Denzel’s flashy smile again and again, but you get to hear the melodious voice of Whitney Houston singing gospels. What more could you have asked for today?
8 HOME ALONE
We are talking specifically about Macaulay Culkin movies. Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost In New York are Christmas classics and meant for people of all ages and all kinds. Children, thugs, bandits, parents, grandparents, neighborhood loners and pigeon ladies of the park, would resonate with the movie. There’s no doubt to Home Alone’s universality and timelessness, in that it’s preferred by the current generation of kids over any other movies. Of course, it only helps that the 90’s kids build a strong case to watch it on Christmas, over and over again.
7 ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
“Wait ’til I’m in third grade, then I’ll pick a career.”
It doesn’t get any smarter than that! The lead in this (Thora Birch) is a smart little girl who will do absolutely anything in her might to reunite her bickering parents. What is it about movies where kids manipulate adults into acting as they wish? Such films make us feel like parents finally will pay off their giant karmic debt. More than anything, All I Want For Christmas is a strong reminder of how family should be valued over everything else.
6 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
If they ever gave awards for Christmas movies with good titles, Miracle on 34th Street would knock the others off! The 1947 and it’s 1994 remakes are considered to be amongst the greatest Christmas movies of all time. In the 1994 remake, however, Richard Attenborough’s performance as a Santa (Kris Kringle) set a precedent for all Santa wannabes to come. As did the sweet little Mara Wilson’s Susan, who wants a family for Christmas.
Do you know want to see a classic, feel-good Christmas movie? This is it.
5 JINGLE ALL THE WAY
Are you someone who indulges in last-minute Christmas shopping? Are you a parent who forgot to buy your child one toy that every kid raves about? In Jingle All The Way, it is the ‘Turbo Man’ action figure with arms and legs that move. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Howard Langston promises that there would be a ‘Turbo Man’ in the house indeed. Except it’s the 11th hour and he’s pretty much forgotten it.
Jingle All The Way makes you realize what a blessing your parents are and what lengths they would go to, just to see you happy.
4 MICKEY’S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS
Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas may look like a kid’s movie on the outside, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t watch it. Is there anything that’s just meant for a certain demographic these days?
An anthology, Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas stars Mickey and his friends in three heartwarming stories that teach you the true spirit behind the holiday. Entertainment can be educational, especially when it’s in the narration of Kelsey Grammer.
3 CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY
We wish.
Troubled teenager, Billy Jackson hates Christmas. He can’t get his ducks in a row. Right before the holiday, he chooses to tell his little sister Sarah that Santa isn’t real. So she makes a wish- that it should be Christmas every day. And Christmas it is! Billy now must relive Christmas over and over again, until he learns it’s the true meaning of it.
Little girls with annoying older brothers are going to love Christmas Every Day. There ain’t nothing better than to have your mean older brother relive his worst moments on a rewind, right?
2 THE SANTA CLAUSE
“If something should happen to me, put on my suit. The reindeer will know what to do.”
Hear ye children! Being Santa is no child’s play. The Santa Clause tells you what an arduous, life-threatening, chimney sliding, and ultimately, the weight-putting on job that being Santa entails. It so happens that Tim Allen knocks the Santa off his roof, accidentally! Duh. So, he finds himself reluctantly taking up the dead man’s job.
Backbreaking and chimney sliding aside, you don’t know contentment and job satisfaction until you have seen The Santa Clause.
1 HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Home for the Holidays features one heck of a cast ensemble; Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Dylan McDermott, Charles Durning, Anne Bancroft, Claire Danes, Austin Pendleton, and many more. If you are someone who loves interconnected ensemble casts centered around holidays and festivities (not just Christmas in particular), look no further than Jodie Foster’s Home for the Holidays.
Holly Hunter’s Claudia has lost her job, so she’s forced to fly home to Baltimore. Classic 90s-esque plot; substance abuse, and single motherhood. The ladies would love this one tonight.
