So Chelle just did a post on her other blog about her favorite movies to watch at Christmastime. While she and I have a lot of the same favorites and have made it a tradition to watch them together.....we also share a difference of opinion about a few of them. I have many favorites WAY more than ten. But here are my favorite favorites. First off, I need to say a word about It's a Wonderful Life. I could not possibly be a bigger fan of Jimmy Stewart! I adore him. However, what most find to be a fantastic holiday classic, I find depressing and unbearable to watch. I hate seeing my Jimmy as the rather d-baggish George Bailey hang with an angel who likes bars. So while Jimmy always tops the list...."It's a Wonderful Life" does not.
1) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer-Folks it doesn't get any better than this. This is Rankin and Bass at its best. I FREAKIN LOVE this movie. I watch it on TV every year, I watch it with Chelle every year. I watch it when it is not Christmas. Hermey forever. P.S. Build a Bear has the CUTEST Rudolph stuff ever right now, especially if you are a fan of the Misfit Toys!!!
2) White Christmas-I cannot say enough about this movie. It is on my IPOD, it is my go to movie when I am feeling upset or anxious. I watch it in my car, in the airplane, sometimes at work. I cannot get over the beautiful costumes and wonderful dance numbers. And few songs will ever be as awesome to me as SNOW...snow snow snow snow!!! And who cares if Bing Crosby was a deadbeat dad...he still rocked the crap out of White Christmas!!!!!
3) Santa Claus is Coming to Town-Here is another classic by Rankin and Bass. I like this one because it has some pretty trippy songs and its very similar to Rudolph in that they made the characters very likable. This is one I save for Christmas eve because it is the story of how Santa became Santa Claus. My favorite part is when his girlfriend Jessica whips her bun out and shakes around while an acid trip happens behind her. Highly entertaining. Plus Fred Astaire...come on!!!
4) The Nutcracker- So Rochelle and I have loved this for as long as we can remember. We have seen every version....scary Malculy Kulkin one, Barbie in the Nutcracker, cartoon nutcrackers, the Bristol Ballet nutcracker with our humanities class, but our favorite is Maurice Sendak's take on it. In this version Clara has a creepy seemingly incestuous relationship with her crazy meth lab making Uncle Drosslemeyer (the meth lab was a euphemism). The story is basically the same with the addition of a peacock and the human version of the Nutcracker is an old guy with 70s porn hair. The music is beautiful. I can't think of a piece of music more beautiful than those in the Nutcracker. To me it is Tchaikovsky at his finest.
5) I'll Be Home for Christmas-So for those of you who were living under a rock in the 90s, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was super smokin HOT. I wrote him a letter in 7th grade professing my love, but only got a picture back, no date offers or anything. Anywho, this is the story of Jake who is trying to get a car promised to him by his father if he makes it home by dinner time on Christmas Eve. Throughout his cross country trip Jake meets many strange characters and learns it is time for him to start thinking of others instead of himself .This movie is full of 90s stars we all grew up loving and amazing music to get you in the holiday mood.
6) Elf-This movie is hilarious. "I'm SINGING...I'm in a store and I'm SINGING" Cracks me up every time. This is the story of Buddy the Elf who finds out he is human and travels from the North Pole to NYC to meet his biological father. Buddy has a host of friends including some that are parodies of those in Rudolph. Buddy's childlike behavior in the adult business world makes you pee your pants laughing. And what is better than NYC at Christmastime?
7) Ernest Saves Christmas-So just when I thought you couldn't top "Ernest Scared Stupid" they came out with this one. This is a really funny story where Ernest ends up meeting the real Santa Claus in a taxi. Through a random twist of television fate a young runaway, Santa, and a children's hospital end up turning to the dim witted Ernest for help. This movie is very silly and reminds you just what a genius you are...Know what I mean Vern?
8) Frosty The Snowman-Haha, okay so Rochelle hates this one. But I LOVE it. To me this is a classic right along with Rudolph. They are tradition I always watch them. I like Frosty except I think they gave him creepy eyes, and I am not sure why they made him an idiot. The children make a snowman, just like in the song and the town's loser magician's hat ends up containing the magic that helps Frosty come to life. I like this because of the songs and because I have always wondered how Frosty at two minutes old knows how to talk fully and is already aware of what temperature he will melt at. He also knows who Santa Claus is...that's pretty impressive for a newborn. Maybe he is not an idiot after all.
9) A Charlie Brown ChristmasWalmart is stocked with Peanuts Christmas merchandise right now? It is Linus who reminds everyone that Christmas is really about...remember...Jesus? I do agree with Rochelle that without Snoopy, I would not watch the Peanuts. Why watch depressing cartoons, when I could just watch Jimmy in It's A Wonderful Life?
10) The Santa Clause 2-okay so this is my wild card. I love this movie because it shows how Santa and Mrs. Claus hooked up. The snow, all the homes with the Christmas lights, the North Pole. It is all really well shot. I love how Tim Allen gives a group of disgruntled teachers childlike toys. It made me feel less insecure that I still buy and play with puppets and Silly Bandz.
I also really enjoy those movies that highlight the birth of baby Jesus. Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey is sad, but also a beautiful perspective of how God often chooses the underdog. Another good one is The Little Drummer Boy..and don't worry. BaaBaa makes it, because when that part came on I got really mad and almost threw the dvd in the trash. :)
For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas there are many good alternatives that are just about holidays and family.
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