Adapted from Words Like That S1 Ep. 5: “Christmas Movie Special + End of Year Story Updates," originally released December 19, 2023.
The final film on this Christmas recommendation list went largely unnoticed when it was released in 2021. An HBO Max original, 8-Bit Christmas initially looked like one of those Christmas films that could serve as a passable, one-time Christmas watch — or turn out to be absolutely terrible. Shockingly, however, it surpassed the highest of my low expectations to become an immediate addition to our annual Christmas watchlist.
Based on the novel by Kevin Jakubowski, 8-Bit Christmas is essentially A Christmas Story for the ’80s generation. So, obviously, instead of a Red Ryder BB gun, the film’s MacGuffin is an original Nintendo Entertainment System. And that’s pretty much the gist of the movie.
While that might not sound like much, the script is exceptionally well written, hitting all the beats of A Christmas Story, while avoiding coming off as a cheap knock-off….
Cole Powell is an arts and media commentator and award-winning singer/songwriter from Jayess, MS, USA.