Nice: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” cries Charlie Brown. “Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about,” a calm Linus says before cueing the stagelights and recounting the story of the First Christmas. It’s an iconic emotional climax to an equally iconic Christmas movie, one that stands the test of time thanks to just how much poor old Charlie Brown buckles under the weight of expectations and hollow artificiality. Linus’ Bible lecture isn’t religious dogma, not really. Just a calm reminder that the real intentions of these end-of-year celebrations are, as he puts it, “peace [and] good will toward men.”
