Thursday, December 13, 2012

My Top 5 Favorite Christmas Films

  • 5. A Christmas Story - This 1983 film is based on the short stories by Jean Shepherd (who also does the film's narration) and is played for twenty-fours straight on TBS around Christmastime. I've seen the movie probably a half dozen times before I found out that my parents had never seen the movie before. I bought it on DVD  several years ago and made them watch it. My dad didn't care for it, but mom thought it was funny. I think every kid can related to what Ralphie went through just to get that perfect gift that he dreamed of.

  • 4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - I remember going with my parents and grandparents to see Christmas Vacation at the theater back in 1989 (Just writing this makes me feel old.). It is the third film out four of the National Lampoon Vacation series and it is the best out of the sequels. It later spawned a spin-off sequel with Cousin Eddie, but it was dreadful to watch. Christmas Vacation is played to death thanks to CMT and Comedy Central. I would rather watch the unedited version on DVD. 


  • 3. White Christmas - I never cared much for White Christmas when I was a kid, but as an adult, I have come to appreciate it, along with Holiday Inn. The cast has great chemistry, especially during the musical numbers towards the movie's ending.

  • Trivia: Vera-Ellen, who played Judy Haynes, did all her own dancing scenes, but she couldn't sing. All her singing numbers were dubbed by somebody else.



  • 2. Miracle on 34th Street - The original 1947 version of Miracle on 34th Street is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. It's played every December multiple times, but normally in the added color version, which ruins the film for me. It had been a few years since I seen the movie as my VHS version died years ago, but I ended up buying it on DVD, which includes the b&w and the colorized version, along with the 1955 TV-remake. Yes, the movie does gives the message that Santa is real, which may bother some people, but it is a harmless film that has great actors and dialogue.


  • 1. It's A Wonderful Life - This 1946 classic is aired annually on NBC, but I didn't watch it until the mid-90s when the country singer Garth Brooks was the host of it. I absolutely loved it and eventually bought the movie on VHS at a Best Buy the following summer. I later replaced it with the 60th Anniversary Edition DVD. To me, the movie is fast-paced despite its 130 minutes running time, and gives a great message.

1 comment:

  1. Your Weekly Ramblings sounds fun.

    I never saw it before so I will be looking forward to it. :)

    A question....will you be posting a question for the Blog Hop tomorrow?

    THANKS.

    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete

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