Christmas movies

It’s that time of year again.  If you haven’t gotten your fill of Christmas movies, you’re running out of time.  If you’re not sure what movies to watch, that’s okay.  I’ve provided a handy list for you, that way you can be just like me. (Oh joy!)

  • A Christmas Story — The king of all Christmas movies,  I watch this one several times a year, generally early in the morning as part of the 24-hour marathon on TBS.  It rivals “Airplane!” as the most quotable movie of all time.
  • It’s a Wonderful Life — Frank Capra’s classic that flopped initially.  A gentle reminder that it’s the little things in our lives that truly matter — especially Zuzu’s petals.
  • Holiday Inn— It’s hard to go wrong with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.  This isn’t technically a Christmas movie, but it did introduce the world to the song “White Christmas”.  There some racism in the movie, although it’s not intended to be insulting.
  • White Christmas — Fred Astaire turned this one down because he thought it would be a “Holiday Inn” retread.  The role of Bing Crosby’s comedic partner ended up going to Danny Kaye, who really makes the movie.
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol — There are approximately a billion versions of the classic Dickens tale, but none combine humor and a scary-as-all-hell Ghost of Christmas Future the way the Muppets and Michael Cane do.  Why they didn’t use the Ghost of Christmas Future as the inspiration for the dementors in the third Harry Potter movie is beyond me.
  • Miracle on 34th Street — The original, of course, not the 1994 remake.  And in black & white.  Colorization is stupid.  I take my “Miracle” seriously because it’s such a classic.
  • Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2 — I was about Kevin McCallister’s age when these movies came out, so my friends and I quoted them frequently.  I also found myself occasionally wishing robbers would target my house so I could fend them off in hilariously slapstick ways.
  • The kid pack: “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer“, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!“, and “Frosty the Snowman — Anyone who hasn’t seen these movies at least once did not have a childhood.  These are classic animated works that I still find entertaining.

There are plenty of other movies out there that people make traditions of, but this is my list.  As I look back on it, I realize I actually haven’t watched many of these this year.  The good news is that they’re all very family-friendly, so I’ll have no problem getting my kids started on them early.

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