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Christmas movie flops to avoid and what to watch instead
Dec 24, 2012, 11:36 AM | Updated: 1:36 pm
Vince Vaughn starred in the Christmas flop 'Fred Claus', playing Santa's brother in one of the worst holiday movies of all time. (Photo: Warner Brothers)
(Photo: Warner Brothers)
There are great holiday movies and there are terrible holiday movies. Thankfully, Lisa Foster and Pat Cashman, filling in for Dori, discuss an article by The Week, which came out with a list of the worst Christmas movies so you can avoid them during precious family time. Pat and Lisa even give you some recommendations for what to watch instead.
“These are movies you really don’t want to invest your time in for the holidays,” said Lisa.
7. Fred Claus
Starring Paul Giamatti as Santa and Vince Vaughn as his annoying younger brother, it’s the worst of the holidays: awkward family fighting combined with a bland plot line.
“Paul Giamatti is the guy who plays Santa and Vince Vaughn plays his stupid brother,” said Lisa. “And they just fight through the whole movie.”
Watch instead: Bad Santa
‘Deck the Halls’ stars Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito as neighbors butting heads in an effort to out-do each other’s holiday cheer.
“I think I actually dozed off during the trailer,” said Lisa.
Watch instead: Jingle All the Way
The film is a well-intentioned flop about kids stuck in an airport over Christmas that wreak total havoc. Lisa says the idea of the movie is good, but it borrows too much from other movies like Home Alone and gives people a stomach ache instead of leaving you with a heartwarming feeling.
“The worst of the worst,” said Lisa.
Watch instead: Home Alone
Ben Affleck plays a lonely billionaire that hires a family to adopt him for Christmas.
Pat’s a movie optimist, refusing to turn off a film midway through if it’s bad, but Surviving Christmas pushed him to the breaking point.
“It’s back when Ben Affleck was just making one horrible movie after another,” said Pat.
Watch instead: The Last Holiday
The trailer may look funny, but Christmas with the Kranks is no classic. Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen are Christmas lovers who are re-learning the real meaning of Christmas after they decide to go on a cruise instead of hosting their annual Christmas Eve party.
It’s just silly watching the entire community rebel against their decision to take a December vacation by themselves.
Watch instead: A Christmas Story
“Almost nobody saw this movie,” said Pat.
It’s a movie about bank robbers that crash their get-away car and are forced to spend Christmas with the people in the town they robbed.
Watch instead: Trading Places
1. Jack Frost
Pat made the mistake of seeing this movie in the theaters. Both Lisa and Pat agreed it was one of the most awful Christmas movies of all time.
“Michael Keaton plays a man who dies and comes back as a snowman to bond with his son,” said Lisa. “Can you imagine the pitch meeting for that?”
Realism takes a backseat to fantasy in Christmas classics, but Jack Frost takes it too far. The special effects are terrible, and it’s far too close to a movie about ‘Frosty the Snowman.’
Watch instead: The Santa Clause
