When it comes to Christmas movies, I find myself without a clear favorite. I've watched "The Polar Express" on ABC Family and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with my dad. But for this article, I decided to focus on having fun and curating entertaining content. That led me to IMDb's list of the 25 worst-rated Christmas movies.

Discovering the Strangest Picks

Among the list, a few movies immediately caught my attention. "Home Alone 4" had a poster that resembled a Mr. Beast thumbnail. In "Look Who's Talking Now!", Danny DeVito stars as a talking dog in the third installment of a trilogy of talking baby movies, with voice-acted sperm in the opening credits. And the number one spot on the list was an anti-public health actor's movie about "saving" Christmas from other holidays.

The Random Selection

With so many options, I put my fate in the hands of a random number generator. That's how I ended up with "Surviving Christmas", IMDb's sixteenth worst Christmas movie. The IMDb description simply states that a lonely, obnoxious young millionaire pays a family to spend Christmas with him. This makes it one of the most pathetic choices on the list. Surprisingly, the movie received five award nominations and two wins.

The Movie's Disappointing IMDb Presence

Upon watching "Surviving Christmas", I was disappointed. The movie couldn't decide whether to be silly or serious, so it failed at both. Drew (Ben Affleck), the main character, is a millionaire who wears a graphic tee under his suit jacket. Within the first ten minutes, he causes chaos at the airport and almost starts a fire at his childhood home.

The Nonsensical Plot

The rest of the plot follows suit, with characters weaving in and out of love and loneliness. Drew wants to experience Christmas with a family since he's out of touch with his own. He offers $250,000 to the Valcos to stay in their house until Christmas. The comedy is both absurd and not funny enough, similar to "Dumb and Dumber" but with poor delivery from Affleck. The romance feels randomly inserted as there's no emotional attachment between Drew and the viewer.

The Hidden Story

Throughout the movie, it's implied that Drew doesn't keep in touch with his family. He has Tom act like his father and Christine and Brian read a script to sound like a happy family. Later, he hires a local Scrooge performer. But Drew reveals that his dad left when he was young and his mom has passed away. He basically played a strange game with these strangers using money. This could have been a great plot point for a thriller.

The Conclusion

"Surviving Christmas" might not have been a great movie, but it has inspired me to make watching IMDb's worst-rated Christmas movies a new tradition. It will take me 24 more years to finish the list, but I can only handle this kind of movie once a year.Daily Arts Writer Kristen Su can be reached at krsu@umich.edu.Please consider donating to The Michigan Daily.Related articles.