Christmas Eve – It’s A Wonderful Life
As the greatest Christmas movie of all time, and really one of the greatest films ever made, there is no better movie to watch on Christmas Eve than It’s A Wonderful Life. Approaching its 70th year of bringing the Christmas spirit to viewers worldwide, the film feels as fresh as ever, and is the only Christmas movie that should’ve won Best Picture.
There just simply isn’t a better Christmas story than the one about George Bailey, his family, and the sobering realization of just how impactful his seemingly-simple life has been. It goes to show that the little things you do around the holidays can have a must grander effect than you may ever have thought possible.
It doesn’t even necessarily have to be a Christmas movie either. Many years I’ll watch it again on New Year’s Day, but it definitely has enough Christmas elements in it to make it a must-watch for the Holiday season. Just about every value you could associate with this time of year can be found somewhere in the film, and Jimmy Stewart turns in one of the best performances of his very storied career.
In fact, with how much of a Christmas Eve staple this has become for me, I almost feel like Christmas wouldn’t be able to come if I somehow managed to miss watching It’s A Wonderful Life before bed on the 24th.