As the embodiment of kindness, generosity, and Yuletide beneficence, Santa Claus presents some mighty big black boots, much less a red suit, for any actor to fill. But jolly old Saint Nicholas has appeared in the movies for as long as the movies have existed, and here are some of our favorite actors who’ve steered the sleigh (not counting Billy Bob Thornton and anyone else who has played a guy who is pretending to be Santa):
Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” (2020): There’s more than a little bit of Russell’s trucker character from “Big Trouble in Little China” in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, “a Santa who f–ks.”
Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011): In this delightful animated adventure from Aardman, Broadbent plays...
Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) and “The Christmas Chronicles 2” (2020): There’s more than a little bit of Russell’s trucker character from “Big Trouble in Little China” in his take on Father Christmas, but that blue-collar bravado and dad-bod energy make this character, in the words of critic Nathan Rabin, “a Santa who f–ks.”
Jim Broadbent, “Arthur Christmas” (2011): In this delightful animated adventure from Aardman, Broadbent plays...
- 12/23/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Jim Knipfel Dec 24, 2018
Rene Cardona's Santa Claus movie from 1959 is so utterly bizarre that it transcends Christmas.
When the conversation rolls around to bad Christmas movies, there’s of course a broad spectrum from which to choose, Santa Claus (1959) being one of them. Given that nearly every Christmas movie ever made is insufferable to some degree, it’s generally easier, I’ve found, to break things down into categories that stretch from the simply godawful (Jingle All the Way) to the agonizingly painful (A Very Brady Christmas or that Marlo Thomas remake of It’s a Wonderful Life) to the merely baffling (the continued string of Home Alone sequels and reboots).
Of course there are some people who think they can bring the conversation to an abrupt end by pulling out Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as the last word on holiday cinema. There’s simply nothing more to say.
Rene Cardona's Santa Claus movie from 1959 is so utterly bizarre that it transcends Christmas.
When the conversation rolls around to bad Christmas movies, there’s of course a broad spectrum from which to choose, Santa Claus (1959) being one of them. Given that nearly every Christmas movie ever made is insufferable to some degree, it’s generally easier, I’ve found, to break things down into categories that stretch from the simply godawful (Jingle All the Way) to the agonizingly painful (A Very Brady Christmas or that Marlo Thomas remake of It’s a Wonderful Life) to the merely baffling (the continued string of Home Alone sequels and reboots).
Of course there are some people who think they can bring the conversation to an abrupt end by pulling out Santa Claus Conquers the Martians as the last word on holiday cinema. There’s simply nothing more to say.
- 12/22/2012
- Den of Geek
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