The Christmas Movie Scorecard

Ryan Duncan Crosswalk.com blogspot for ChristianMovieReviews.com and Ryan Duncan, Crosswalk.com Entertainment and Culture editor
Published Nov 30, 2016

Everyone has a favorite Christmas movie, but which ones are truly the best? What separates the holiday classic from the cheesy TV special? Well, I am pleased to announce that through rigorous testing and a little too much eggnog, this winter quandary has finally been solved. I give you, the Christmas Movie Scorecard! A defining tally of the best (and worst) features that make up any Christmas film.

The rules are simple: choose any Christmas movie and go down the list, adding and subtracting points as you go. What score will your favorite achieve?

The movie is animated (+10 points)
The movie is stop motion animated (+15 points)
The movie features Santa (+5 points, unless you told your children Santa doesn’t exist, in which case -5 points)
The movie is a musical (+10 points)
The movie is a remake of an older Christmas film (-5 points)
The movie has rhyming narration (+5 points)
The protagonists rescue Santa at some point in the story (+5 points)
The movie stars Tim Allen (-10 points)
There are elves (+10 points)
There are Muppets (+15 points)
There is some kind of winter monster (Choose whether to add or subtract 5 points, you know in your heart what’s right.)
There is a dog dressed as a reindeer (+15 points)
A classic Christmas song originated from this film (+10 points)
A classic Christmas song was the basis for this film (-15 points)
The 3 Wise Men make an appearance (+5 points)
Jesus makes an appearance (+15 points)
Some version of the Christmas story is told (+15 points)
The movie incorporates other holidays (-10 points)
The movie features a crazy relative (+10 points)
The movie is Love Actually (- All the points)