Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard has been my favorite Christmas movie for years. As grumpy as I may get about general Christmas festivities, I still feel the need to do something vaguely Christmas-y, and Die Hard satisfies that urge without ever descending into the things I dislike about holiday movies.

In some ways, Die Hard feels like a very violent live-action cartoon. It's so over the top and high energy, and at times devolves into full-on silliness. Rickman is exceedingly charming and wonderfully evil, and Willis' banter is a blast. It's easy to see why this movie led to him being a full-on superstar. It's a fun twist on the buddy film genre, and pretty much the perfect action movie. It's got bloody shoot outs and explosions, and makes me feel happier every time I watch it. And, when it comes down to it, that's what a Christmas movie should do.

5 machine guns out of 5. Ho-Ho-Ho.