31 Days of Christmas: The Itinerary for a December to Remember
Rick Retro’s Realm, Project #4: The 2025 Christmas Tour—Happening Now!
Project #4: The 2025 Christmas Tour—Happening Now!
Yesterday we kicked off a new project in The Realm Report, but every project needs an official directory/itinerary, so here it is today.
We are touring via Retro Reviews many of the films generally regarded as among the Best Christmas Movies of All-Time. I surveyed 10 different lists from varying sources, most including 100 or so entries, and counted the number of lists that included each prospective review subject.
A word to the reasonable skeptics: The dates on Project #3 Itinerary, which is as yet incomplete, took a beating, so it’s probably 50/50 whether or not I can keep to this schedule. But in our favor this time, is that all of the reviews were written last year. So it’s just a matter of updating the reviews for Substack, adding stills from the films, formatting and all that good stuff. I hope to also re-watch all or most of the reviewed films to add more information, bringing them up to my current review standards, but that takes longer and might be left out in some cases to meet the dates below.
For the reviews below, after the name and year of the reviewed work, I will include, where applicable, how many Best Christmas Movies lists that each film made out of ten 🎅, followed by the Retro Review Grade given (explained here). The next line includes the Family Suitability Rating I have given 👨👩👧👦 (explained here) and the Alignment with Judeo-Christian Values Rating I have given ✝️ (explained here). Last but not least comes the Dark Whimsy score and readings (explained here). These will be added after each day has passed, so check back to see where we have been at a glance.
Dec 1 | Post: Home for Christmas (The Realm Report #8), project kickoff post
Linked Review: A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (1843, novella by Charles Dickens) [n/a] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎😎10.1 | 🌚11 🌝10
Dec 2 | Post: 31 Days of Christmas: The Itinerary for a December to Remember [You are here.]
Dec 3 | Post: The Ultimate Guide to Early Film Adaptations of A Christmas Carol. (1901-1928)
Linked Reviews:
“Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost” (1901) [n/a] B ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎1️⃣ | 😎8.1 | 🌚9 🌝8
“A Christmas Carol” (1910) [n/a] A >
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎😎10.0 | 🌚10 🌝10
“Scrooge” (1913) (aka “Old Scrooge”) [n/a] C-v
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎9.1 | 🌚10 🌝9
“A Christmas Carol” (1914) [n/a] A ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎9.4 | 🌚9 🌝10
“Scrooge” (1922) <sound edit version> (1929) [n/a] B-^
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎2️⃣ | 😎9.2 | 🌚10 🌝9
“Scrooge” (1923) (aka “A Christmas Carol”) [n/a] A ?
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎9.1 | 🌚10 🌝9
“Scrooge” (1928) <audio recording> [n/a] B v
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎2️⃣ | 😎7.2 | 🌚9 🌝7
Dec 4 | Post: Do You Hear What I Hear? - Christmas Films of the 1930s
Linked Reviews:
Babes in Toyland (1934) (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers) 🎅 [3] B+>
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎1️⃣ | 😎9.8 | 🌚9 🌝12
Scrooge (1935) 🎅 [0] A ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎7.4 | 🌚10 🌝7
A Christmas Carol (1938) 🎅 [2] A+v
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎9.4 | 🌚9 🌝10
Dec 5 | Review: The Shop Around the Corner (1940) 🎅 [8] A ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎1️⃣ | 🚫5.2 | 🌚7 🌝5
Dec 6 | Post: Bride Shopping at Christmas
Linked Review: Christmas in Connecticut (1945) 🎅 [8] A >
👨👩👧👦 ✅1️⃣ | ✝️⚠️0️⃣ | 🚫6.3 | 🌚6 🌝7
Dec 7 | Post: Christmas in Bedford Falls
Linked Reviews:
“The Greatest Gift” (1943, short story) [n/a] A+>
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎7.1 | 🌚8 🌝7
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 🎅 [10] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎8.1 | 🌚9 🌝8
Dec 8 | Review: Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 🎅 [9] A ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅3️⃣ | ✝️❎1️⃣ | 🚫4.7 | 🌚4 🌝9
Dec 9 | Post: Christmas Is Trending!
Linked Review: White Christmas (1954) 🎅 [8] A ^
👨👩👧👦 ✅2️⃣ | ✝️❎2️⃣ | 🚫6.5 | 🌚6 🌝8
Dec 10 | Post: A Very Special Christmas, Part 1
Linked Reviews:
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1964) 🎅 [9] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎8.8 | 🌚8 🌝11
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965) 🎅 [10] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎7.8 | 🌚7 🌝11
“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1966) 🎅 [9] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎3️⃣ | 😎😎10.7 | 🌚10 🌝12
Dec 11 | Reviews:
“The Little Drummer Boy” (1968) 🎅 [3] A v
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎😎10.0 | 🌚10 🌝10
“Frosty the Snowman” (1969) 🎅 [4] A v
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎2️⃣ | 😎8.8 | 🌚8 🌝11
“Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (1970) 🎅 [3] A+>
👨👩👧👦 ✅4️⃣ | ✝️❎4️⃣ | 😎😎10.4 | 🌚10 🌝11
Dec 12 | Post: A Very Special Christmas, Part 2
Review: Trading Places (1983) 🎅 [8] B ^
👨👩👧👦 ❌3️⃣ | ✝️⛔3️⃣ | 🚫0.4 | 🌚8 🌝0
Dec 13 | Review: A Christmas Story (1983) 🎅 [9] A+^
👨👩👧👦 ✅1️⃣ | ✝️❎2️⃣ | 😎😎10.8 | 🌚10 🌝13
Dec 14 | Review: Gremlins (1984) 🎅 [9]
Post: TBD
Dec 15 | Review: Die Hard (1988) 🎅 [10]
Dec 16 | Review: Scrooged (1988) 🎅 [8]
Dec 17 | Review: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) 🎅 [9]
Dec 18 | Post: TBD
Review: Home Alone (1990) 🎅 [10]
Dec 19 | Review: Edward Scissorhands (1990) 🎅 [8]
Dec 20 | Review: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 🎅 [10]
Dec 21 | Review: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 🎅 [10]
Dec 22 | Review: The Santa Clause (1994) 🎅 [9]
Dec 23 | Post: TBD
Review: Love Actually (2003) 🎅 [10]
Dec 24 | Review: Elf (2003) 🎅 [9]
Dec 25 | Review: Eureka ep64/s4 e21 “Do You See What I See?” (2011) 🎅 [0]
Dec 26 | Post: Christmas Leftovers (The Realm Report #9)
Review: In the Good Old Summertime (1949, Remake of The Shop Around the Corner) 🎅 [0]
Dec 27 | Review: “The Miracle on 34th Street” (1955, Television remake broadcast on The 20th Century Fox Hour s1 e06) 🎅 [0]
Dec 28 | Review: “Miracle on 34th Street” (1959, Television remake broadcast on NBC Friday Night Special Presentation s1 e09) 🎅 [0]
Dec 29 | Review: Black Christmas (1974) 🎅 [8]
Dec 30 | Review: You’ve Got Mail (1998, Remake of The Shop Around the Corner) 🎅 [3]
Dec 31 | Review: Bad Santa (2003) 🎅 [9]
Then in January: Rick Retro’s Rankings #2: All-Time Best Christmas Movies
Don’t forget the popcorn!
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