Holiday Movies

[Patcat]

A CHRISTMAS STORY, the brilliant and hilarious film based on Jean Shepherd's memoirs, came up in another thread. This is one of my favorite holiday movies, and not just because, like Mr. Shepherd, I'm from Indiana. So much of that film, down to the giant bulbs on the tree to Bing Crosby singing "Mele Kelekeyama", is like my memories of Christmas when I was a kid.

So, what are some of everyone's holiday movies?

Patcat

[Sirenna]

White Christmas and all the Dean Martin flicks that come out at this time.

[sarahlee]

These are not movies, but I love the animated ones--A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.

[outsider]

It's a Wonderful Life was for years my favorite, but I think I overdosed on it several Christmases back.

My new favorites are not the traditional ones, but Love Actually and Home Alone. If you haven't seen Love Actually, it is a terrific film with the most amazing ensemble cast -- mostly British. Oh, forgot, I think I should add Sleepless in Seattle since the story begins with Christmas and ends with Valentine's Day. And I can't watch Sleepless without watching An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant first -- it too has a Christmas scene as I recall. The film is continually referred to throughout Sleepless.

Hmm, I think I see a Christmas movie marathon in my future. I better stock up on Kleenex.

[madger]

I have to see "The Grinch who stole Christmas" (the real animated one) and "It's a wonderful Life" at least once during the Holidays, but the Mr and I actually turn on the "A Christmas Story" marathon and watch it all day long, it just doesn't seem to get old.

[Techguy]

I thought I would have overdosed on "It's A Wonderful Life" by now, but somehow it still captures the essence of the season, and how a single life can have so much importance in the lives of others.

"A Christmas Story" has been a personal favorite for many years. There are so many humorous scenes which evoke the few good times and memories from my childhood. This movie is a treasure.

And what would Christmas be without "A Christmas Carol." And not just any version either--for me there is one and only one quintessential version, and it's the one with Alastair Sim. This version perfectly captures the essence of Scrooge's enlightenment and redemption. I have to see it every year, just to remind myself of what the measure of a man's life is or is supposed to be.

[Sirenna]

The Sound of Music. I know all the words. It makes me a little bit sad for Julie Andrews and the lost perfection of her voice. Her voice is still stellar but not as perfect

I'm really looking forward to tv this christmas!

sad but true.

Actually CityTV has The Log Burning - surprisingly very watchable!

[sarahlee]

How could I forget "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"? (What my kidlets called "The Bugs Bunny One")

Has anyone seen "Scrooge" with Albert Finney? I'm always on the lookout for that one.

[Patcat]

The animated Grinch is the best--Boris Karloff loved the fact that after he provided the narration and voice of the Grinch children would run up to him after they heard him speak.

I agree the Sim CAROL is very good, but I also like the George C. Scott version.

My IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE STORY--many years ago, when this film was off copyright and showed up on every station every night from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I got stuck by myself on Christmas Eve (snowstorm stopped the buses, friends out of town). I settled in for the evening, fairly confident I could handle my first Christmas Eve alone. Then I turned on the TV. And there, on every station, was Jimmy Stewart contemplating suicide. Sheesh!

Patcat

[janetcatbird]

Oho, Christmas movies. A dangerous topic for me and my family--you can't shut us up!

I guess I was too late to really be attached to A Christmas Story and White Christmas, but those do have some great moments. This may be blasphemy, but It's a Wonderful Life never really did anything for me. Maybe it's just overkill on TV, I don't know.

We always start out with a collection of cartoons from Walt Disney, including some old 1930s "Santa's Workshop" and "Night Before Christmas" as well as "Pluto's Christmas Tree" (Chip and Dale, who were in the tree when Mickey chopped it down, proceed to torment the poor dog). Other non-Disney's include "Peace on Earth" from 1939, the old squirrel telling his grandchildren about the last men on earth, leaving the animals to build a peaceful society after the devastation of war. (Sometimes TCM shows it in Cartoon Alley around December, keep an eye out.) It's absolutely wonderful.

A Charlie Brown Christmas--I think I have that memorized. Love the story. As I mentioned on the thankful thread, my roommate bought me a figurine of Charlie Brown (winter coat and cap) with his scrawny, one-ornament tree. He's on my desk as I type this.

Muppet Christmas Carol--Michael Caine is just terrific as Scrooge; he's really acting and responding to characters, he never gets that incredulous "Oh lord, I'm talking to a piece of cloth" look some people do. Surprisingly close to the book, I got scared by Christmas Future when I was little. Love the music, Gonzo as Charles Dickens accompanied by Rizzo the Rat are just hysterical.

The other versions of A Christmas Carol never quite took hold with me. It's been a while since I saw Alistair Sim, so I might need to give it a go. I must admit I liked Patrick Stewart's TV movie from several years ago, he was excellent. And that one stayed VERY true to Dickens.

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street--from the 1970s, Mr. Hooper is still alive, Elmo is nowhere to be found, and Luis isn't even on the street, Maria's hanging out with David. Multiple storylines: Bert and Ernie do "Gift of the Magi" (with the definitive version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"), Cookie Monster trying to write letters to Santa, and Big Bird is terrified that Santa Claus is too fat to get down the skinny little chimneys. It's sweet and simple, with lots of humor and a few sniffly points. The music is wonderful: "True Blue Miracle" is especially poignant, while "I Hate Christmas" (Oscar the Grouch) is a great bit of humor.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas--Yay! Not my favorite, but I do have to watch it at some point during the season. And Curses on all involved with that nasty movie. I think it's somewhere in Leviticus: "Thou shalt not blaspheme against Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones." Again, a great message. I love Boris Karloff.

I don't have a special attachment to the Rankin-Bass specials, but it would feel off if they weren't somewhere on TV during the season. I did love CBS's claymation-style adds for their network last December. (And I'm going to Hell for this, but I got so tickled at Denis Leary's "Merry [bleeping] Christmas" special last year. Most of it was awful, but the opening claymation video, with a little Rankin-Bas type Denis Leary figure just cracked me up.)

Various TV specials: Garfield Christmas and "A Wish for Wings That Work" based on the Opus book. (We still have the VHS tapes and love them.) Very funny and some sweet moments that feel sincere as opposed to cloying cheesiness. Santa telling Opus "I see no birds here whose wings only sputter," or Grandma talking about Grandpa to Garfield...aww.

I absolutely adore The Nutcracker, but I've always been a sucker for fairy tale type things and journeys to magical places. (Oz, anybody?) PBS sometimes shows the British Royal Ballet production, which is quite nice. Keep an eye out for the Pacific Northwest production that Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) designed sets and costumes for, and if you can get the book he did you're in for a great treat. Barishnikov (sp?) also did a version many years ago that I loved when I was little, but I don't think it's shown as often now.

--Catbird

[spits]

"Pluto's Christmas Tree" - I haven't seen that in ages! I remember I'd get so excited when that was show on TV when I was little. However, the animated movie that I used to always watch around the holidays was Mickey's Christmas Carol. I may just have to dig that up when I'm at home over break...I haven't watched it in a long time.

It has been tradition to watch Holiday Inn (er, minus one scene...) around the holidays. I actually had never seen It's A Wonderful Life until last year and enjoyed that one as well. Although it's not a holiday movie, I have to say that March of the Penguins always puts me in a "winter-y" mood.

[Leonore]

We always have to watch Holiday Inn, A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life. A Charlie Brown Christmas is also a must.

The one I personally like to catch is The Bishop's Wife with David Niven, Cary Grant, and a luminous Loretta Young. It is a great movie with wonderful actors. A real treat to watch!

I will also confess a fondness (though I don't watch it every year like all of the above!) for the movie Scrooged with Bill Murray. I love Carol Kane in this movie and as an updated version of A Christmas Carol it's not bad.

[sarahlee]

janetcatbird said:

We always start out with a collection of cartoons from Walt Disney, including some old 1930s "Santa's Workshop" and "Night Before Christmas" as well as "Pluto's Christmas Tree" (Chip and Dale, who were in the tree when Mickey chopped it down, proceed to torment the poor dog). Other non-Disney's include "Peace on Earth" from 1939, the old squirrel telling his grandchildren about the last men on earth, leaving the animals to build a peaceful society after the devastation of war. (Sometimes TCM shows it in Cartoon Alley around December, keep an eye out.) It's absolutely wonderful.

--Catbird

Have you seen the cartoon with the little mouse waiting up for Santa? I think his name is, "Snuffy"? My kids and I were fascinated by the cartoon set--thimble sink, eye-dropper spigot, postage stamp paintings...

[janetcatbird]

Sarahlee, "Bedtime for Sniffles", how could I forget! Thanks for reminding me, that's another family favorite. The mouse home is adorable, and my Dad always gets tickled at "Haxwell Mouse Coffee".

Janethyland, no I haven't been anywhere in Britain. That might be the performance/venue I saw on PBS though, which I just loved. I love the ballet and need to get to more. How wonderful to take your girls! Really try to find the book--it's a full-length new translation of ETA Hoffman's story, which is long and complex and has some darker overtones than the ballet. It was after Sendak did the ballet scenes and such that Sendak decided to illustrate the real version; we found it several years ago and it's one of my favorites.

--Catbird

[NikkiGreen]

Besides It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas (and a couple of other Bing Crosby movies), The Bishop's Wife and the Alistair Sim version of Christmas Carol, I always tune into Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien.