Friday, 23 December 2016

Here’s A Huge List Of Holiday Movies You Can Stream Instead Of Talking To Your Family

The gifts have been opened, the whiskey has been added to the eggnog, and all you want i to stop talking to everyone who’s been getting on your nerves all day. Here’s to hoping you’ve got access to a streaming subscription service, and your father-in-law finally figured out where he put the piece of paper with the WiFi password on it.

Whether you’ve got Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, you’ve got plenty of opportunities to avoid your Great-Aunt Glady’s incessant questioning and watch fictional people enjoy (or not enjoy) the holiday season. And by plenty, I mean, we’ve assembled a list that you could get lost in for weeks (hint: navigate sections by clicking on “Sections” at the top right of this page).

Note(s): We haven’t seen all of these movies so we obviously can’t vouch for their quality. Read the following summaries with a shaker of salt handy and watch at your own risk. And again, you’ll need a subscription for the various streaming services.

Movies For After The Kids Are In Bed


(Comedy, Drama, Romance, Rom-com, Dramedy, Documentary, Horror)

12 Dates of Christmas
Like Groundhog Day, except it’s Christmas and Zach Morris is romantically involved with someone other than Kelly Kapowski. I’m probably going to watch this right now.
Netflix

A Christmas Horror Story
A quartet of holiday-themed horror tales for those people who aren’t scared of Christmas already, from zombie elves to a demonic Krampus. Also, William Shatner!
Netflix

A Christmas Kiss
Nothing says rom-com more than Christmas and kissing. Oh, and “an incredibly handsome stranger.”
Netflix, Amazon Prime

A Christmas Kiss II
Guess one Christmas kiss wasn’t enough?
Netflix

A Christmas Threesome
Well, that progressed quickly, didn’t it? This film studies the important internal conflicts a man struggles when having to decide between a threesome and helping his friend out of a crisis. At Christmas.
Amazon Prime

A Christmas Wish
The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer (aka Kristy Swanson) is abandoned by her husband right before Christmas and goes on a cross-country trip with her kids to find work. IMDB tells me there are warm-hearted people involved which is good because there are no dogs around to save this Christmas.
Hulu

A Christmas Wish/The Great Rupert
Originally known as The Great Rupert upon its release in 1950, this Jimmy Durante flick about a family down on their luck at Christmas time was revived under a new name in 2003.
Hulu

A Holiday Engagement
A recently dumped woman employs the tried-and-true method of hiring a boyfriend to bring home for the holidays. What could go wrong? My guess? Everything.
Netflix, Hulu

All American Christmas Carol
In this iteration of the Charles Dickens classic, Scrooge is a self-absorbed mother who drinks too much and ends up hanging out with three Christmas ghosts.
Netflix, Hulu

A Merry Friggin’ Christmas
Starring Lauren Graham, Joel McHale and the late Robin Williams, this is the classic tale of guy-forced-to-spend-Christmas-with-his-eccentric-family-he’s-been-avoiding-for-years. Plus, father-son road trip.
Amazon Prime, Hulu

A Nanny For Christmas
Dean Cain makes shows up as a tough-guy company owner and a Beverly Hills advertising executive who probably fall in love at Christmas.
Hulu

A Snow Globe Christmas
A cynical workaholic doesn’t like Christmas. But instead of getting a visit from a ghost, she’s knocked out by a flying snow globe and wakes up inside it.
Hulu

A Russell Peters Christmas
Comedian takes a cue from 1970s variety shows in this “silly” and “sentimental” Christmas special.
Netflix

A Very Murray Christmas
Not really a movie, but it is Bill Murray and it is about Christmas so give it a chance.
Netflix

Back to Christmas
Woman wakes ups year after a broken engagement to find a Christmas do-over. She learns a lesson about getting what you think you want, naturally.
Netflix

Becoming Santa
A documentary about a guy who decides to be Santa Claus for a single season.
Hulu

Beyond Christmas
Three elderly men who have dinner together on Christmas Eve in New York City. Also involves blizzards and friendly ghosts.
Hulu

Bojack Horseman: Christmas Special
Animated? Yes. For kids? No. Talking horse doesn’t like Christmas, hilarity ensues.
Netflix

Christmas, Again
Who’s gonna rescue a heartbroken Christmas tree salesman living in a trailer and working the night shift? A mysterious woman and some colorful customers, natch.
Amazon Prime, Netflix

Christmas Belle
An auctioneer named Belle catalogs a hardened millionaire’s collection and SURPRISE their icy relationship starts to thaw. Christmas is involved, probably.
Netflix, Hulu

Christmas Cracker
In which we learn that there are some Christmas-obsessed folks who celebrate the Yuletide all year-long.
Netflix

Christmas Crush
Last-minute high school reunion? Check. Christmas? Check. One that got away? Check.
Netflix, Hulu

Christmas in the City
Woman takes a job at a department store to make ends meet, her Grinch boss fires the in-house Santa not realizing he’s the real guy. There are lots of abs in this trailer.
Netflix 

Christmas in the Clouds
Guy somehow becomes manager of a laid-back Native-American ski lodge that isn’t up to snuff, and he’s charged with making sure it’s up to snuff before The Big Inspection. There’s also romance.
Amazon Prime

Christmas in the Smokies
Plaid shirts, mistletoe, mountains, and a history family farm that must be saved. So of course an ex-boyfriend-slash-country-music-star returns to town.
Netflix 

Christmas Lodge
What’s a girl to do when the site of treasured family memories has fallen into disrepair? You better believe she’s going to save not only the lodge of her youth, but Christmas itself.
Amazon Prime 

Christmas Wedding Baby
It’s Christmas, a great time for your wedding-photographer ex-boyfriend to show up to capture your nuptials to a workaholic fiancĂ©. Right? Right. Unclear if there is an actual baby involved.
Netflix 

Dear Santa
You know when you’re lonely and drifting through life and you find a letter from a little girl asking for a new wife for her dad for Christmas, and you decide to go find them just in case you fall in love? Yeah, that. AND it’s directed by Jason Priestly of 90210 fame.
NetflixHulu

Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
The mistress of the dark screens a “campy classic story of Santa thwarting a Martian plot to steal Christmas.”
Hulu 

Falling for Christmas
A champion figure skater is injured, meets a local ice fisherman after she’s sent to a rehabilitation facility. You can guess what happens neeeeeext…
Amazon Prime

Happy Christmas
A classic tale of a recently single 20-something who tries to start over for the holidays but (surprise!) finds that’s easier said than done. Ah, indie comedies.
Netflix 

Forest of Fantasies
Despite the title, this one is not a budget skin flick and is instead a documentary about animals living in the mountains of Austria.
Amazon Prime 

Getting to the Nutcracker
Documentary following young dancers from their Nutcracker auditions to the final performance.
Amazon Prime 

Gingerbread Journeys
Learn more about gingerbread than you ever thought you’d want to know with his documentary.
Amazon Prime 

Holiday Baggage
This film is not about suitcases, but the emotional crap we all drag around that inevitably bubbles during the surface during the holidays, especially at large family gatherings. At least that’s my guess.
Netflix 

Holiday Breakup
Couple breaks up but doesn’t want to spend the holidays in one long pity party so they decide to pretend like they’re still together. I can’t imagine how this one will end.
Netflix 

How Sarah Got Her Wings
A Good Samaritan dies in a pre-Christmas accident, gets sent back to earth as an angel-in-training.
Netflix 

Jingle Hell
Contrary to the name, this one is not about some kind of hell-on-earth horror version of Christmas. It’s an indie feature about a large Irish Catholic clan from New York, whose grown children and spouses and grandchildren have gathered for a holiday that turns out to be a far cry from what they imagined. Shocking!
Amazon Prime 

Legends of Santa
Documentary looking at the image of Santa around the world and throughout history.
Amazon Prime 

Krampus: The Reckoning
Christmas not scary enough for ya? Here’s a terrifying creature of myth intent on punishing naughty people.
Amazon Prime

Love Actually
Every British person ever plus an American or two figure out love and remake a Mariah Carey song while the Prime Minister makes out with his employee at a children’s Christmas pageant and everyone is basically fine with it.
Netflix 

Mariah Carey’s Merriest Christmas
Pop stars singing, actors acting, celebrity reading of “The Night Before Christmas.”
Netflix 

Marry Me for Christmas
Big city career woman is sick of her family pushing her to get married so she convinces a handsome employee to pose as her fiancé for the holidays. Sounds like a plan that will work.
Netflix

Merry Kissmas
More kissing! More Christmas! More people with romantic doubts who meet intriguing strangers and share magical moments.
Netflix 

Mr. St. Nick
Christmas is in danger because a lazy playboy prince named Nick St. Nicholas would rather lounge by the sea with his girlfriend than accept the torch from his dad.
Hulu 

My Santa
If it’s Christmas, someone is cynical. This time it’s a mom who doesn’t believe in Christmas, then falls in love with a handsome mall Santa who is actually the real Santa’s son. Wait, is this a prequel to Mr. St. Nick?
Netflix 

Naughty and Nice
Oh goodness gracious, this is another movie about a cynical big-city type — a DJ, this go-around, who meets an optimistic “love doctor.”
Netflix 

Noel
Five New Yorkers facing Christmas Eve alone. Sounds uplifting.
Netflix 

Paper Angels
Nothing says Christmas like leaving your awful, abusive husband and moving your kids to another town.
Amazon Prime 

The Ref
If you’re going to get burgled on Christmas Eve, it might as well be by Denis Leary, right?
Netflix

Ricardo O’Farrill: Abrazo Navideno
A stand-up special Netflix deems as “irreverent” that promises “tease Christmas traditions.” How dare you.
Netflix 

RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts Extravaganza
The stars of MST3K have a sackful of “delightful and demented” shorts to riff live onstage.
Hulu 

RiffTrax Magic Christmas Tree
The classic Christmas tale of a boy who hit his head helping a witch retrieve her cat, hallucinated a lot, and befriended a creepy, sarcastic tree, now with comedic commentary.
Hulu 

Scrooged
Of all the “Christmas Carol” inspired flicks out there, this one starring Bill Murray is my favorite, perhaps because it made adulthood seem deeply disturbing to me as a kid. Also, Bobcat Goldthwait!
Netflix 

Surviving Family
Yet another dysfunctional family is keeping our main character from living her best life. She visits home and faces some truths, naturally.
Amazon Prime

The Christmas Card
Soldier tracks down an inspirational Christmas card he was sent to a small town where romance awaits, naturally. Or at least I think it does because there are two people embracing in the title art.
Netflix, Hulu

The Christmas Clause
A stressed out lawyer (is there any other kind in these movies?) and mother of three wishes to see what things would’ve been like if she’d pursued her law career instead of becoming a working mom. At Christmas.
Hulu

The Christmas Switch
“A gambler is offered eternal redemption or a million dollars in return for swapping bodies with Santa. Will he discover the true meaning of Christmas?” Yeah, probably.
Amazon Prime 

The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story
Angela Lansbury appears in this classic TV movie about a woman dreaming of Christmas in Vermont with family, encounters obstacles, and goes on a quest to find what really matters. Because Christmas.
Amazon Prime 

The Perfect Gift
Ruben Studdard plays a dad who learns what Christmas is all about when a family comes for an unannounced visit. Holiday chaos is promised.
Netflix

The Perfect Wedding
Recovering alcoholic Paul is visiting his parents at Christmas and falls for their handsome houseguest who’s pretending to be in love with Paul’s ex.
Netflix 

The Seasoned Traveler Christmas Markets
Can’t get enough of Christmas markets? Exhausted all those nearby? Go to Europe with this travel documentary.
Amazon Prime

The Spirit of Christmas
Oh look, an attorney travels to the countryside to oversee the sale of an inn at Christmas time WHERE SHE FALLS FOR A HANDSOME BUT CURSED GHOST. Yes, the dream of all single women.
Netflix

Trailer Park Boys Live At The North Pole
A look back at how the potty mouthed denizens of a Canadian trailer park spent Christmases past.
Netflix 

Uncle Nick
A lecherous, drunken slacker named Nick turns his brother’s traditional Christmas Eve party into a disaster.
Netflix 

Under the Mistletoe
Just your average feel-good, family movie involving a tragic car accident, Christmas, and, ostensibly, kissing under the mistletoe.
Amazon Prime

White Reindeer
“After an unexpected tragedy, Suzanne struggles to put her life back together during a sad, strange Christmastime in suburban Virginia.” Yeah, sounds about right, IMDB.
Hulu

Family Friendly Flicks, Cartoons


12 Dog Days Till Christmas
Troubled foster kids discovers local animal shelter is closing and he has 12 days to find homes for all the unwanted dogs. Aww.
Netflix

Abominable Christmas
Two young abominable snowkids flee their mountain to escape the clutches of a bad scientist and find themselves spending Christmas with some humans.
Netflix

A Christmas Carol
The classic tale of a miserly old man who gets to hang out with a few ghosts so he (spoiler alert) can fully understand what a gift love can be.
1979 version on Hulu, 2016 version on Amazon Prime 

A Christmas to Remember
Two families + years of mutual hatred + cramped quarters at Christmas = this movie.
Amazon Prime 

A Christmas Tree Miracle
Dysfunctional family is reminded of the true meaning of Christmas, if only you believe, of course.
Amazon Prime

A Country Christmas
Santa Claus — and thus, the fate of Christmas itself — needs saving, from a barn, this time.
Amazon Prime 

A Dog for Christmas
Nothing goes together quite like dogs and Christmas. But what if mom and dad aren’t ready? UH OH. Dean Cain makes his second appearance on this list.
Amazon Prime

A Fairly Odd Christmas
Santa gets hit in the head and thinks he’s the Easter Bunny. Someone’s gotta save Christmas, obviously.
Hulu 

All I Want for Christmas
Son Jesse just wants a new dad for Christmas, so mom Sarah “half-heartedly agrees to go out with several different men.” This is in the “Family” section so ostensibly Jesse’s wish comes true and Sarah is cool with everything.
Netflix, Hulu

A Little Christmas Business
Oh hey, look, it’s yet another tale of a greedy rich person who doesn’t realize the true value of family and love until a ghost shows up on Christmas.
Amazon Prime 

A Miser Brothers’ Christmas
Yuletide treachery! That is all you need to know.
Amazon Prime 

An American Christmas Carol
You can probably get the gist of this one without me telling you, but it’s got all that Scrooge and Tiny Timness we all know from the classic tale except, PLOT TWIST! It’s set in America.
Amazon Prime 

An Evergreen Christmas
A musician’s father dies and she has to help with the family Christmas tree farm, forcing her to choose between her career and her family legacy. Sounds like some feel-good moments could happen here.
Netflix 

A Norman Rockwell Christmas Story
A Norman Rockwell painting comes to life, is Scrooge-y, and likes ice skating once a year.
Amazon Prime

A Very Brady Christmas
Here’s the story of a lovely lady and a man named Brady who had a popular TV show in the ’70s that kept making specials and sequels into eternity. This one is about Christmas.
Hulu

Babes in Toyland
And adult Shirley Temple hosts this Christmas special with her real-life children.
Hulu 

Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure
If the holidays need saving from a bad guy (and they always do) you better believe a giant St. Bernard is going to show up.
Netflix

Beverly Hills Christmas
Guardian angel helps spoiled rich teenager discover the true value in helping others and eschewing material goods.
Amazon 

Bob the Builder: White Christmas
Bob and the gang have to help Farmer Pickles dig out from under piles of snow in time to open presents on Christmas.
Netflix

Caillou’s Holiday Movie
Winter comes to Caillou’s house, and he finds himself with new obligations like helping shovel snow, making holiday presents, and learning about Christmas around the world.
Hulu

Casper’s Haunted Christmas
Casper is instructed to frighten at least one person before Christmas or face the consequences from the king of ghosts. Typical.
Netflix 

Christmas Angel
A lady and her dog need to find a job, and a kind stranger named Nick offers just the solution — helping others. Cue the warm fuzzies.
Amazon Prime

Christmas Cartoons: 14 Christmas Cartoon Classics
You want Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jack Frost, and more, with remastered and restored audio? Here ya go — two hours of Christmas cartoons.
Amazon Prime

Christmas Classics Vol 1
This animated set is an 8-for-the-price-of-one-except-it’s-free-with-your-Amazon-Prime-membership set, including Somewhere In Dreamland, Santa’s Surprise, Hector’s Hectic Life, Snow Foolin, Jack Frost, Christmas Comes But Once A Year, The Night Before Christmas, and The Shanty Where Santy Lives
Amazon Prime

Christmas in Wonderland
Single dad and his kids move from the big city to the countryside, get involved in a caper, and make some sort of discovery about Santa Claus. http://ift.tt/2i9tda8
Amazon Prime 

Christmas Grace
A toy store gets a new rival, but SPOILER ALERT, their competition results in warm, fuzzy feelings.
Amazon Prime

Christmas Is Here Again
A wide-eyed orphan embarks on a quest to recover St. Nick’s stolen magic sack of toys.
Netflix 

Christmas Miracle
“Painter of Light” Thomas Kinkade is somehow involved in this one, which is a tale of strangers forced to take refuge in an abandoned church during a snowstorm. Think they might learn some valuable lessons by working together? You betcha.
Amazon Prime 

Christmas on Salvation Street
A widowed paster moves his family to the inner city to help those in need.
Netflix 

Christmas Ranch
Rebellious teen is sent to grandma’s ranch for Christmas, bonds with a horse, and resolves to save the ranch from foreclosure.
Netflix 

Christmas Tail
Single parents fall in love while fighting over a dog they both want to give to their kids for Christmas.
Amazon Prime 

Christmas With the Kranks
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO SKIP CHRISTMAS JUST BECAUSE YOUR KID MOVED OUT OF THE HOUSE?” A cautionary tale for all grumpy parents.
Netflix 

Coming Home For Christmas
Fractured family reunites at Christmas in the old family home — but someone else lives there now. Awkward.
Hulu 

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas
Get it? It’s a “monkey” Christmas instead of a “merry” one! Ha. What will that adorable primate think of next?
Netflix 

Dreamworks Holiday Classics
Wacky creatures save Christmas, including Shrek and Donkey, Hiccup and Toothless, and the animals from Madagascar.
Netflix 

Elf-Man
Not to be confused with Elf, this one is about an elf left behind by Santa to help rescue a family from a lousy Christmas.
Amazon Prime 

Ernest Saves Christmas
It’s the ’80s, Christmas needs saving yet again, and this time Ernest is on the job.
Netflix 

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
This one has all the makings of a Christmas movie, combined with a classic rom-com, so I’m just going to go with the Amazon summary: “Frosty has lots of young friends, but he’s still lonely. The children build him a wife named Crystal, but jealous, cold-hearted Jack Frost plots to keep Frosty and Crystal apart.” I AM ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT.
Amazon Prime

Hercules Saves Christmas
Roman hero of myth takes a stab at saving the ever-endangered holiday.
Netflix 

In the Land of Magic
Santa and his trusty mule are tasked with saving Christmas when a wicked goblin escapes its cage and threatens to ruin everyone’s fun.
Netflix 

Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
Bionic investigator does his best to rescue widely beloved holiday.
Hulu 

Jack Frost
This’ll do: “The Groundhog tells the story of how, for once, Jack Frost became human and helped a knight win his lady love.”
Amazon Prime 

Journey to the Christmas Star
I’m willing to bet that in this one, it’s not the destination that counts, but the journey. Kids go on a mission to find a missing princess and a special heavenly body in an attempt to save a grief-stricken kingdom from a curse.
Netflix 

Kung Fu Panda: Holiday
Cartoon panda and friends prepare for the Winter Feast and figure out how best to pay homage to their traditions.
Netflix 

Lost Christmas
There’s a kid and puppy in the photo for this one, which is about a series of tragic events bedeviling a young boy who gets a change of fortune on Christmas Eve.
Amazon 

Magic Snowflake
Know-it-all seven-year-old agrees to do Santa’s job for a year, and soon realizes being an adult is super stressful.
Netflix 

Max Lucado’s The Christmas Candle
Whoever lights a special candle touched by an angel that visits a town every 25 years gets a miracle. Sounds about right.
Amazon Prime

Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mickey Mouse
This one sounds pretty self-explanatory, if you ask me.
Netflix 

Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas
Mickey rings in the holidays with three classic stories — “The Gift of the Magic,” “Duck Tales,” and “A Very Goofy Christmas.”
Netflix

Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas
Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and the rest just want to celebrate the spirit of the season while Scrooge McDuck lives up to his name.
Netflix

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Kris Kringle saves the day by filling in for a drunk Santa Claus during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, hilarity and heart warming ensue.
Amazon Prime, Netflix
1947 TV Adaptation: Amazon Prime 

My Dad Is Scrooge
Kids get some help from talking farm animals in performing “A Christmas Carol” to teach their workaholic dad a thing or two.
Netflix 

Operation Christmas List
A cheeky tween has a plan to buy the entire stock of the most popular Christmas gift. Kids sneak into the mall after hours, and the plan goes awry when they encounter a gang of thieves with the same idea.
Amazon Prime 

Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday
A chance encounter with a mysterious stranger (Joe Manganiello, hello) points Pee-Wee towards his destiny and his first-ever holiday.
Netflix 

Pee-wee’s Playhouse: Christmas Special
This 1988 special has Pee-wee strapping on his ice skates and singing Christmas carols with celebrities like Charo.
Netflix 

Pete’s Christmas
A kid named Pete has the worst Christmas Day ever and then gets stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque loop, forced to repeat the day until he gets it right.
Hulu 

Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July
What happens when Rudolph and Frosty combine forces to protect the North Pole? My guess is they save Christmas five months before it happens.
Amazon Prime 

Santa’s Apprentice
A young orphan learns how to do all the stuff Santa Claus does in advance of taking on the title himself.
Netflix

Santa Buddies
There are a lot of Christmas movies about dogs doing stuff. Where are all the Christmas cat movies? This one also features dogs saving Christmas.
Netflix 

Santa Claws
Here come those cats I asked for. A bag full of kittens gives Santa a bad allergic reaction so the cats are forced to take over and do his job for him.
Netflix, Hulu

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups
These dogs grant wishes to children in town until something goes terribly wrong and Christmas spirit suddenly disappears.
Netflix 

Saving Santa
I have literally never met someone as in need of saving as Santa apparently is. This time around, a low ranking elf is in charge of rescue efforts.
Netflix

Scrooge: In Color
The colorized version of a 1935 classic that some consider the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol, according to Hulu.
Hulu 

Small Town Santa
A bah-humbug sheriff played by Dean Cain (Dean Cain count: 3) sees his world turn upside down after he arrested a home intruder claiming to be Santa Claus.
Netflix 

Snowtime!
When you’re a kid and you don’t have to shovel your car out of three feet of snow, optimism is everything. Even when an epic snowball fight pits you against your buddies.
Netflix

So This Is Christmas
Wayward teen finds new sense of direction when a handyman convinces her to persuade a holiday pageant for underprivileged kids.
Netflix

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas
OR SO HE SAYS.
Netflix 

The Nightmare Before Christmas
Jack Skellington is sick of being pigeon-holed as only a Halloween guy, so he kidnaps Santa Claus in order to take his place. Hey, sometimes we all want something different in a career, right?
Hulu

The 12 Dogs Of Christmas
These dogs don’t appear to be intent on saving Christmas, but instead are just a bunch of dogs that show people the true meaning of Christmas during the Depression. The true meaning of Christmas HAS to have something to do with canines, based on the fact that there are so many Christmas dog movies.
Amazon Prime

The Christmas Box
I believe Hulu when it says this movie “is a poignant, heartwarming story that holds timeless truths about love, family, and the gift of sharing.” It’s Christmas, so of course I’m gonna believe that.
Hulu

The Christmas Bunny
A little girl finds some bunny to love on Christmas Eve and bonds with a Bunny Lady who runs an animal shelter.
Netflix 

The Christmas Dragon
A young orphan is the only one who can save Christmas and bring it back after an absence of several years. She has a magic crystal ball she got form a dying elf, see.
Hulu 

The Christmas Project
Four brothers are forced to deliver secret holiday gifts to the school bullies, end up learning a lesson about kindness.
Netflix 

The Heart of Christmas
A young man diagnosed with cancer has one last Christmas, but in October.
Netflix 

The Horses of McBride
A Cowboy-outfitter decides to sell the family ranch and find work in the city, but his daughter is not cool with that idea.
Hulu 

The Night Before Christmas
Cartoon about a young orphan and his cat learning — what else? — the true spirit of Christmas
Amazon Prime 

The Legend of Frosty the Snowman
This is a cartoon about a snowman and it’s narrated by Burt Reynolds. That’s all you need to know.
Netflix 

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Can’t make it to New York City? No problem, the Rockettes are kickin’ it on Netflix.
Netflix 

The Santa Clause
A workaholic advertising executive — stop me if this sounds familiar — accidentally kills Santa and finds himself forced to step into the job.
Netflix

The Search for Santa Paws
A prequel to Santa Buddies, wherein its up to a puppy named Paws to save the spirit of Christmas.
Netflix 

The Three Dogateers
Group of dogs with catchy name sets out to find the Christmas thieves who plundered their owner’s house.
Netflix 

The Wiggles: Go Santa, Go!
I am unclear on the appeal of these folks but from the sound of this title, they are very encouraging.
Hulu

The Year Without a Santa Claus
Another movie dealing with the existential question of what we would do if Santa decided he had better things to do than deliver presents to a bunch of kids who will just ask for more stuff next year.
Amazon 

White Christmas
Irving Berlin’s classic 1954 film about war buddies who fall for a pair of sisters at a resort owned by their former commanding officer. Singing! Dancing! Snow!
Netflix 

Setting The Mood

Fireplace for Your Home
Classic, self-explanatory.
Netflix

Fireplace and Melodies for the Holidays
Fire and music, ooooh!
Netflix

Fireplace for Your Home Presents: Christmas Music edition
Probably like the Netflix version, but on Amazon Prime instead.
Amazon

Fireplace 4K: Crackling Birchwood from Fireplace for Your Home
Turning things up a notch, tech-wise.
Netflix

Fireplace for Your Home: Holiday Edition
A crackling fireplace in HD.
Hulu 

Christmas in Vienna
Annual Christmas concert held in Vienna, featuring “a quartet of the best international vocalists,” accompanied by the ORF Radio-Symphonic Orchestra Vienna, the Vienna Singing Academy, and the Vienna Boys Choir.
Amazon Prime 

Christmas Traditions
A series of festive light displays accompanied by Christmas songs performed in a Celtic style
Hulu 

Christmas Village
Christmas in a quaint village setting, filmed in high-definition.
Hulu

Clint Denn’s Christmas Time Cruise in Europe
I’m not here to judge you. So if you want to watch some guys film a cruise on the Danube River through the heart of Europe at Christmastime, go for it.
Amazon Prime 

Holiday Lights
“Showcasing traditional holiday decor filmed in a stately Queen Anne-style mansion, accompanied your favorite Christmas songs performed on guitar and violin.”
Hulu

Home For Christmas
Images, music, holiday memories, instrumental versions of 17 Christmas classics. Still better than talking to Uncle Stu.
Amazon Prime

Magical Christmas
Holiday decor in a stately mansion, all in HD. Accompanied by The Nutcracker & Swan Lake.
Hulu

Winter Splendor
“Discover the splendor of winter set high in the mountains and filmed in high-definition.”
Hulu

Slow TV
Edge-of-your seat programming includes National Firewood Night, National Firewood Evening, National Knitting Night, National Knitting Evening, and of course, that classic, National Firewood Morning.
Netflix

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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

20 Photos Of Kids Who Absolutely Cannot Stand That Santa Claus Guy

It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that despite the fact that millions of kids worship Santa Claus and his present-bringing powers, many of those children are terrified of meeting the guy. And when they do, their parents are often treated to some truly fantastic meltdowns (which are then captured on camera for posterity).

It’s a gift that keeps on giving — kids get over their fear, and these screaming, caterwauling tiny humans grow up to be fully-functioning adults who can not only share their past encounters with the bearded one, but set the wheels in motion with their spawn as well.

We asked for your photos of these encounters, and you answered. So without further ado, we present this year’s crop of kiddos temporarily driven teary by their encounter with Kris Kringle.

1. Misa: Here’s young Misa getting her first picture with Santa at a Washington D.C., mall. Her dad Haskell thinks Misa has the classic, finger-in-the-mouth cry going on, “while Santa has the look of a seasoned veteran, who has seen it all before (and is probably ready for a drink).”

He adds that this Santa was sporting a real beard and mustache, as well. “This guy is legit!”
1misahaskell

2. Quinton: “We plan on using this photo as blackmail when he’s in high school like good little parents should,” dad Derek writes. He says it was his son’s first time meeting Santa, who was “pretty cool.”

His younger brother slept through his turn with Santa, but not Quinton. Quinton was fearing for his life. “As you can see from the picture our oldest thought Santa was going to eat him or that we were giving him to Santa or something,” Derek says.
2aquintonderek

3. Franklin: This was 20-month-old Franklin’s second time with the same Santa he met last year, and as you can see, the visit had “the same tearful results,” mom Amanda notes.
3franklinamanda

4. Amanda: In a gesture that shows parents are also willing to poke fun at themselves, Franklin’s mom Amanda shared a photo of her own scary encounter with St. Nick at age two. She writes: “My teenage sister Alison is also in this picture and is partially sitting on me to keep me on Santa’s lap.”
4amanda

5. Landon: Dad Bryan says his 14-month-old son has never clamped on to him tighter than when he was handing him over to “a strange and unfamiliar man with a large beard and funny outfit.”

Though Landon was perfectly calm while waiting in line, and even upon approaching Santa, once his father tried to hand him off, “he started climbing as high as he could up and away from Santa. Needless to say, my other two kids loved it!”
5landonbryan

6. Nathaniel: One-year-old Nathaniel was “not amused at all” by his visit to Santa, mom Crista writes. “He must have thought he was on the naughty list for playing in the cat’s water bowl, pulling daddy’s glasses off, and trying to lick handles on grocery carts.” He won’t make those mistakes again.
6nathanielcrista

7. Haiden: “I had a little hope in me that my son would pull through and I’ve never been more wrong,” Jaime writes of her son’s first time meeting the Man in Red.
7haidenjaime

8. Alexander: Young Alexander was only 10 months old when this photo chronicling his holiday dismay was taken, mom Shannon says. It’s unclear if this year, with another 12 months under his belt, he’s ready to face Santa again. 8alexandershannon

9. Sebastian: In this photo from 2008, Sebastian was just 8 months old when he visited the neighborhood firehouse’s Santa, and was “a bit excited and nervous from the sirens,” dad Robert writes, noting that Santa has a rolling living room.

“We lifted him up to get a picture and he lasted for about 10 seconds before he erupted,” Robert recalls.
9sebastianrobert

10. Cristi’s daughter: Mom Cristi didn’t mention her daughter’s name when she submitted this photo to Consumerist, but she did note that she was 11 months old, and “it was sheer terror for her.”

Cristi and Santa both tried their best to convince the baby girl to smile, but finally gave up “and decided to just go with it.” Hey, a treasured memory is a treasured memory, right?
10anoncristi

11. Colin: Dad Zach says his 17-month-old son was “far from impressed with Santa this year.” So much so, he had to peel his son’s hands off his jacket just to get the photo.

“The sheer terror was both hilarious and heartbreaking. Luckily, he survived his encounter.” Good work, Colin. Here’s to hoping next year is easier.
11colinzach

12. Willa: It’s one thing to know about Santa, and an entirely different matter to meet him face-to-face. Willa’s mom Lindsay says her daughter talks about Jolly Old St. Nick and even says “ho ho ho,” but “was scared out of her mind when she sat on his lap. Santa was a good sport.”
12willalindsay

13. Jack: Mom Kelly was pretty impressed with her son’s first visit to see Santa in Dec. 2013 — well, with the red-suited guy, at least, writing, “That dude was a PRO. Not only did he not drop my kid, he smiled the whole time.”

Jack, however, was not so pleased at the time. Not to worry, Kelly adds “He’s now 4 and goes bonkers at the sight of Santa. This mama didn’t raise no dummies — he knows Santa = presents and acts accordingly.”
13-jackkelly

14. Abigail and twins Alice & William: Are two-year-old twins Alice and William sharing a psychic connection? No, they just both know they don’t like this Santa guy, while sister Abigail is likely beaming at the thought of the presents the old man will bring on Dec. 25.
14abigailalicewilliammatt

15. Elliot and Parker: Jessica says it was her son Parker’s first time meeting Santa, and that it took her five minutes to calm him down after this photo was taken.

“My oldest had a great time, though!” she adds. Again, with age comes wisdom.
15elliotparkerjessica

16. Jackson: Here we have a repeat entrant — everyone, welcome back Jackson, who was included in last year’s roundup, and remains solidly opposed to meeting Santa

“Still not feeling the Christmas spirit,” says his father Rob. You’ll get him next year, Jackson. We believe in you.
16jacksonrob

17. Aubrey: Aubrey’s mom Marianne didn’t provide any anecdotal details about her daughter’s trip to visit Santa, but really, there’s no need when the look on Aubrey’s face does such a good job of telling her story.
17aubreymarianne

18. Miles and Ethan: This face is called the, “You left me!” face, according to dad Patrick.
18milesethanpatrick

19. Grace, Lander, and Caleb: Two-week-old Grace is fine with Santa, and 4-year-old Lander is handling things well, but 22-month-old Caleb, well… Caleb chose the floor over that lap.

Mom Michelle says,”Or maybe he just found out about the naughty list?”
19landergracemille

20. Cecelia, Sophia & Layla: “This photo captures our girls’ personalities perfectly, mom Laura writes. Her older daughter Cecilia is “sweet-talking” Santa, while Sophia is “losing her you-know-what.”

Meanwhile, Layla is “over the whole thing and just wants the cookie we promised.” All in all, this photo is “by far” Laura’s favorite photo of her kids.
20ceceliasophialaura

Bonus Photo — Knox: Let’s once again gaze upon the fury of this year’s poster child for scary Santa encounters, Knox.
knox

Thank you to all parents who submitted photos this year, and have a Merry Christmas!

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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds

Here are four of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

(Paula S)
(Brian Rome)
(Xavier J. Peg)

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.


by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

It’s time to bust the myth that a healthy diet has to be costly

When it comes to deciding if food is good for us, the misleading idea that pricy equals healthy has taken a vice-like grip, warns Anthony Warner

via New Scientist - Health Read More Here..

Thursday, 22 December 2016

Justice Department Calls For Rehearing On Constitutionality Of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

With only weeks to go before President-elect Trump could possibly replace the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with someone of his choosing, the U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal appeals court to rehear arguments in a case involving the constitutionality of the Bureau’s structure.

For newcomers to this story, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — created by the 2010 financial reforms — has a single Director — currently Richard Cordray — atop its organizational chart. Unlike many other federal agencies with a single director, the CFPB Director can not be removed at the whim of the President. Instead, removing a CFPB Director requires that the President shows cause for removal.

That sort of staying power is usually only reserved for agencies where there isn’t just one director, but a multi-commissioner panel (Federal Trade Commission, FCC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, among others).

It’s rare to have an independent federal agency with a single director whose job isn’t vulnerable to the whims of the White House, though such agencies do exist; the Social Security Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Office of Special Counsel each have a similar structure.

There is nothing in the Constitution about the leadership structure of federal agencies, but in October a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nonetheless ruled that the CFPB’s structure was unconstitutional because it created a Director who held too much authority, independent of the White House.

Rather than gut the CFPB, as the appellant in that case had hoped, the two-judge majority instead ruled that the Bureau could continue to operate as is so long as the “for cause” condition was stricken. In other words, so long as the President can fire the CFPB Director for any reason, the Bureau’s structure was okay with the court.

Supporters of the Bureau countered that the entire point of this structure was to shield the Bureau’s Director from political pressure.

In November, the CFPB petitioned the D.C. Circuit to have the matter reheard by the entire court, not just a three-judge panel. The Bureau’s argument is that the the Supreme Court has held that the President can “create independent agencies run by principal officers appointed by the President, whom the President may not remove at will but only for good cause,” and that the Constitution did not give the President “illimitable power of removal” over the officers of independent agencies.

The Bureau’s petition has received support from nearly two dozen U.S. lawmakers and numerous consumer advocates, who believe that the three-judge panel made a decision “without even once addressing why Congress took such care to structure the CFPB as it did or how the CFPB’s design is so critical to its proper functioning.”

They were joined today by lawyers for the Justice Department, who filed a brief [PDF] with the court, explaining why the DOJ believes this case merits a rehearing.

The DOJ contends that the D.C. Circuit panel’s approach to this matter departs from precedent set out by the Supreme Court.

“The panel here did not conclude that the single-Director structure of the CFPB impairs the exercise of Presidential power more significantly than would a multi-member directorate,” reads the brief. “The panel also did not conclude that the CFPB exercises greater power than multi-member independent agencies… The panel’s opinion was, instead, premised on its view that an agency with a single head poses a greater threat to individual liberty than an agency headed by a multi-member body that exercises the same powers. Our constitutional structure, and the separation of powers in particular, are ultimately designed to protect individual liberty.”

If the full D.C. Circuit does choose to rehear the CFPB case, it’s believed that this would bar the incoming Trump administration from removing Cordray until after the court has ruled again — though some legal experts believe that Trump may be able to remove Cordray — who has years to go before his five-year term runs out — regardless of the status of the rehearing.

Even if Cordray remains in office, it’s expected that the new administration and Congress will work together to strip the Bureau of its authority. In early December, a coalition of financial industry trade groups wrote to Capitol Hill leaders calling on them to gut the Bureau and roll back a number of recent pro-consumer regulations.

More recently, the House Freedom Caucus sent the President-elect a wish list of more than 200 rules and regulations it wants to see undone during the administration’s first 100 days. Included on that list was a request to amend the law to “require that no deference be given to the interpretation of consumer financial law by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.”


by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Ordering Takeout Doesn’t Mean The Driver Gets To Take Your Packages

Getting packages stolen from your front doorstep is unpleasant, no matter who you are or what time of year it is, and knowing that you or a neighbor actually let the thief inside must be even worse. We buzz delivery people who are strangers in and give them get a kind of implicit trust, and one delivery driver in Chicago is accused of violating that trust by grabbing packages on his way out the door.

Unfortunately, we know this because there’s surveillance video of the man scooping up his own takeout (warning: auto-play video at that link) on his way out the door after a resident of the condo building had buzzed him in.

Who dispatched this driver? That’s where things get confusing. The customer had placed an order through Grubhub with a restaurant, which in turn had hired a site called Zoomer to handle its deliveries.

“I felt violated,” the customer who noticed the thefts after his grocery bags disappeared told CBS Chicago, “and then this guy walks out and takes all of our stuff.”

In a statement, Zoomer apologized and said that the driver was no longer working g for the platform. “This conduct is completely unacceptable and Zoomer intends to take all necessary and appropriate corrective actions.”

Maybe that will include reminding delivery drivers that customers’ homes are not an all-you-can-steal buffet. The victim in this case, meanwhile, reminded viewers that they should meet food delivery drivers at the door rather than buzzing them in and letting them wander the halls.


by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

MacBook Pro Battery Life Wildly Inconsistent, Consumer Reports Finds

Expecting some holiday money? Thinking of rushing out to spend it on a shiny new MacBook Pro? After months of testing, our colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports say, maybe don’t do that just yet.

For the first time, Consumer Reports says, it is not recommending that consumers buy the most recent generation of MacBook, which was released this fall.

It’s not due to the dongles, although those are proving to be a pain in the butt for many Mac users. Nor is it even about the loss of the once-beloved startup chime (alas). Instead, it’s all down to the batteries.

Apple promises that the new line of MacBook Pro machines should get about 10 hours of use between charges… but many users, including CR testers, aren’t getting consistently solid — or in fact, consistent at all — results:

For instance, in a series of three consecutive tests, the 13-inch model with the Touch Bar ran for 16 hours in the first trial, 12.75 hours in the second, and just 3.75 hours in the third. The 13-inch model without the Touch Bar worked for 19.5 hours in one trial but only 4.5 hours in the next. And the numbers for the 15-inch laptop ranged from 18.5 down to 8 hours.

Usually in laptop testing, CR writes, battery life varies from trial to trial by maybe 5%, and you can average the numbers together reasonably. But with the MacBook Pro, the results are so completely all over the map that an average is meaningless.

CR asked Apple to explain, but the company has declined to comment on the results for the time being, saying simply, “Any customer who has a question about their Mac or its operation should contact AppleCare.”

For more about the methodology CR used, and why it’s such a strange departure for the MacBook line, check out their story.

New MacBook Pros Fail to Earn Consumer Reports Recommendation [Consumer Reports]


by Kate Cox via Consumerist

Fiat Chrysler Brands & Vehicles Make Poor Showing In Latest Owner Satisfaction Survey

There are dozens of car, truck, SUV, and minivan brands to choose from, but one carmaker is bringing up the rear in the latest owner satisfaction survey from our colleagues at Consumer Reports. 

CR released the findings of its annual survey of vehicle owners this morning, and the news was not good for Fiat Chrysler (FCA). Several of the car company’s brands — Fiat, Dodge, Jeep — fared poorly, and FCA models made up a majority of the list of cars that owners most regretted buying.

To determine which cars were the least satisfying, CR asked owners of model year 2014 to 2017 if they would buy the same car in the future. Although 70% of customers were happy with their vehicles, CR says seven models stood out as vehicles that won’t make consumers’ list of cars being looked at the next go-around.

Of the seven vehicles that CR found drivers regretted buying, four were from FCA: Jeep Compass, Dodge Dart, Chrysler 200, and Dodge Grand Caravan.

7 Vehicles Owners Regret Buying

Brand Model
Jeep Compass
Nissan Pathfinder
Dodge Dart
Chrysler 200
Dodge Grand Caravan
Nissan Frontier
Acura ILX

When it came to the Jeep Compass, CR reports that many drivers had issues with “feeble acceleration and too much road noise.”

Dodge Dart owners reported being annoyed with the vehicles’ “sluggish acceleration” and “apathetic air conditioning,” with one owner saying that the engine sounds like it is going to die when the A/C is turned on.

Others said their vehicle suffered from multiple mechanical problems, leading to extra trips to the dealer.

The mid-sized Chrysler 200 lost customers’ love thanks to what they say is a rougher than expected ride and excessive road noise. Additionally, the cramped rear seat area makes it difficult for passengers to maneuver in and out of the vehicle.

Owners of the Dodge Grand Caravan reported that the vehicle’s transmission shifts roughly, the second-row seats are uncomfortable, and the interior feels cheaply made.

According to CR’s overall survey ranking of entire brands, only one FCA brand cracks the Top 10 for satisfaction, with co-namesake Chrysler scoring the No. 8 spot, with 73% of owners willing to buy the brand in the future.

On the other end of the spectrum, the remaining named brand, Fiat, ranked last, at No. 29, with just 53% of owners saying they would buy from the brand again.

Other FCA brands also didn’t fare too well. For example, Ram fell from No. 5 last year to No. 17 this year. Dodge came in at the No. 23 spot, while Jeep appears at No. 25.

The brand rankings represent owner sentiment across each brand’s product line, CR notes, adding that ranking was compiled by the straight average of the satisfaction score — if they would buy from the brand again — for each brands’ models.

To be considered for the list, the brand had to have at least two models with data. By this mark, CR’s survey looked at more than 300,000 vehicles from model years 2014 to 2017.

Despite the not-so-stellar satisfaction ratings, Anita Lam, auto data manager at CR, tells Consumerist that aside from Ram, which has a small number of models, FCA brands have been pretty consistent with ups and downs throughout the years.

“Owner satisfaction changes from year to year often have to do with whether new or redesigned models are added. otherwise, it’s pretty consistent,” she says.

She also notes, some models such as the Chrysler 300, and Dodge 300 and Challenger, are well-loved by owners. In fact, the new Chrysler Pacifica minivan is in the top 10 models for satisfaction.


by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist