Favorite Holiday Videos???

[Retro Red]

HO-HO-HO! Christmas Eve is just 3 weeks away. It’s time to pull out the Holiday videos!

Throughout the rest of the year, I rarely go to any movies or watch much TV. I’m usually too busy being a participant in Life to be a spectator of Life. However, as Christmas nears, one of my Holiday traditions that helps get me in a Holiday mood is to allocate some time to watch some of my favorite Holiday videos. Just as I can never tire of watching the Wizard of Oz (remember when CBS would show it annually in December?), so I never get tired of my annual viewing of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol.

Anyone else enjoy watching Holiday videos? If so, what are your favorites?

My library of Holiday videos has grown fairly large, but these are my Top 5, in order.
Let me get my cuppa tea (or hot cider w/ a cinnamon stick) & shortbread biscuits.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas [That scene where Linus, alone & spotlighted on the empty stage, recites Luke 2:8-14, gets me everytime.]
4. A Christmas Story [Somehow I totally missed this when it first came out, but what a warm, funny film. You’ll shoot yer eye out!]
3. Miracle On 34th Street [A perfectly portrayed tale of the redemption of a cynic. Love the scene where they drag in all the sacks of letters & dump them on the judges desk. And of course the ending is a great little zinger.]
2. It’s A Wonderful Life [It’s a wonderful movie! Hard to believe it was a “flop” when first released. Jimmy Stewart does such an amazing job of acting in this movie, as does the whole cast. Atta boy, Clarence!]
1. A Christmas Carol [The 1951 version with Alastair Sims – and never, never, ever colorized! Noel Langley did a masterful job of translating this literary classic to a screenplay. And Alastair Sims is, to me, the quintessential Scrooge. He gives such a great, nuanced, believable & so very marvelously human performance. In a Holiday season where the destructive effects of greed are so evident, this story has particular relevance!]

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us, every one!”

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[Colin]

The ones above are great. I will also add White Christmas and while not really a Christmas movie but based at Christmas time..Love Actually. It's a pretty good reminder of what is important at Christmas time and year round.

[macwilkin]

1. A Christmas Carol [The 1951 version with Alastair Sims – and never, never, ever colorized! Noel Langley did a masterful job of translating this literary classic to a screenplay. And Alastair Sims is, to me, the quintessential Scrooge. He gives such a great, nuanced, believable & so very marvelously human performance. In a Holiday season where the destructive effects of greed are so evident, this story has particular relevance!]

As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us, every one!”

Amen and thank you, Craig -- I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this is the best (bar none) version of A Christmas Carol out there.

One of my favourite holiday movies takes place on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany/Twelfth Night in Dubin -- James Joyces' The Dead, directed by the late great John Houston. I first saw the movie in my English Lit class in undergraduate school (after reading the story of course) and that movie never fails to movie, especially the last scenes with the narration from the last paragraph of the story being read over it.

Regards,

Todd

[Nighthawk]

Hey there, Retro! I haven't talked to you in a while. You all ready for Christmas? So, to answer your question:

A Christmas Story- I used to skip over it because it looked like another Miracle On 34the Street. Excuse me while I vomit... (Sorry, Retro, I can't stand the sappy dramatic stuff.) And then I saw the scene where Santa steps on the kids face. I now own it.

The Polar Express

A Christmas Carrol with Patric Stewart. Sorry, Retro, but Stewart is (in my humble opinion) the best Scrooge ever.

The Santa Clause

And of course... Nightmare Before Christmas.

OH!! I almost forgot- Beavis And Butthead Do Christmas!

[Spartan]

Just as I can never tire of watching the Wizard of Oz (remember when CBS would show it annually in December?),

.

Craig,
Do you know that one of the original Munchkins lives in your neighborhood? I've met her in the podiatrist's office on 35th & Bethany Home!

[Macman]

I prefer the 1951 version of "A Christmas Carol" as well. I'd also like to add "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" to the list.

[macwilkin]

A Christmas Carol with Patric Stewart. Sorry, Retro, but Stewart is (in my humble opinion) the best Scrooge ever.

He wasn't even close to Alistair Sim!

T.

[beloitpiper]

What Would Jesus Buy?

It's a really great documentary that follows Rev. Billy and Church of Stop Shopping on a tour around the US to get people to stop shopping. It's funny and family friendly, and I've been showing to everybody, and they all love it!

In light of the tradgey that happened in New York last Friday, I think it is high time the United States thinks about the mindless consumerism that is destroying our country. What is Christmas about, anyway? It's about the birth of Jesus, not the XBox 360.

[Sionnach]

A Christmas Story all the way- at least on Christmas eve before bed- been a family tradition for years.

I'm the only one who likes the B&Ws, sadly- and I'll cast my vote in the direction of the 1951 Christmas Carol. Of course the Muppet version is also worth a mention.

[chasem]

I love A Christmas Story. I'm pretty much the only one in my family that does though. When I was younger, I'd always watch at least 8 of the 24 hr marathon.

Elf is a fun one too.

I'm not big on "the classics." I think for the same reason I have a hard time watching some new movies, in that they've been talked up, and I don't want to watch them for fear of being disappointed. One day...