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Today is December 12, so I thought I’d share twelve of my favorite Christmas stories or movies, the ones I could watch or read again and again. Here they are in no particular order.
- A Christmas Carol – The one by the Muppets is by far my favorite version.
- It’s a Wonderful Life – I used to hate this movie when I was a kid, but now I love it.
- White Christmas – Another one I used to hate but love now.
- Skipping Christmas by John Grisham – The book is so much better than Christmas with the Kranks.
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – so inappropriate, yet so funny
- Home Alone 1 and 2 - and yes, even 3, but definitely not 4
- Elf – I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve watched this.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas – the classic original book and show, not the Jim Carrey version
- The Santa Clause movies – “Ho, Ho, Ho” as only Tim the Toolman can say it
- The Birds’ Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin – This is such a bittersweet, beautiful Christmas story. I bought an old copy at a library book sale when I was probably 10 or 12 and have loved it ever since. You can read it online here.
- A Charlie Brown Christmas – I tear up at Linus’ adorable voice quoting scripture from Luke 2….
- …which of course is my very favorite Christmas story, the only piece of nonfiction on my list. “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
What are your favorite Christmas movies and stories?
14 comments:
Hi Joanne,
One of my favorite movies is While You Were Sleeping. It is set during the time between Christmas and New Years. It's a lovely romantic comedy, but it also has a theme of a woman looking for the love found in a family. My daughter and I watch it every year and then make jokes about the family dinner scene and tell each other, "These mashed potatoes are so creamy."
Another nice Christmas move is The Christmas Card. This is a Hallmark movie made for TV.
We have a Christmas book collection we get out each year. Some of my favorites are The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, and Christmas on Jane Street.
Blessing and Merry Christmas,
Carrie
Blessings,
Love White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Scrooge (the Alastair Sim version-we can't have Christmas until we watch that one) and Charlie Brown Christmas. Linus gets to me every time too.
And I love While You Were Sleeping.
I love all the movies and books everyone has mentioned. But some of my favorite Christmas stories are children's books. The first one is The Littlest Angel--the story of how God finds pleasure in the gift of what we treasure the most, even if it seems insignificant, has always touched me. And Max Lucado's story about the blemished and crippled lamb left behind in the manager makes me tear up.
This may sound vain but I look forward to my family's Christmas movies--just those few minutes sharing my girlhood with my daughters is special. And for a laugh, I watch Holiday in Handcuffs with Melissa Joan Hart. It's a riot!
Patty Smith Hall
We like the Christmas Carol version with George C. Scott as Scrooge. I've yet to see a better Scrooge, myself! :-)
Tim Allen's Santa Clause(s). White Christms, Holiday Inn. The Bishop's Wife.
Children's stories...we loved "The Polar Express." (Anything by Chris Van Allsburg. Amazing author and illustrator!) My daughter always wanted me to read "Alabaster's Song" to her. Kind of followed the Polar Express "believe it" theme--the angel on top of the tree comes to life and tells the little boy the real Christmas story. But he grows up and forgets about it til one Christmas his little boy says "Daddy! Do you hear the angel? He's singing!" Caitlin would love it because Alabaster has a lisp--he's missing his two front teeth, i think--and I would give him that voice.... She'd giggle every time. **sigh** :-)
And we, too, like to watch home videos.
Christmas movies are my favorite. I have two at the top of my list. The first and best one is called, "One Special Night" with James Garner and Julie Andrews (2002). There are a few curse words, but it's a great movie.
The second one which was already mentioned is called "The Christmas Card" (2006). Wish I had written this story. It's not only heartwarming, but very funny, too.
Three others are "I'll be Home for Christmas" (2002) with Jack Palance, Robert Hayes and Ann Jillian; "A Holiday for Love" (2002) with Melissa Gilbert, Tim Matheson, and Travis Tritt; "Mary Christmas" (2002)with Cynthia Gibb, John Schneider, and Tom Bosley.
Someone mentioned, "Holiday Inn". If you like "White Christmas", you'll love this one, too. It's the movie that first featured the song, "White Christmas". Bing and Fred really make this a good singing and dancing movie.
There are more, but that could take all day..........
Beth
Oh, I love While You Were Sleeping. It's one of my all-time favorites. I enjoy watching the various Christmas romances on Lifetime and the Hallmark channel.
My all-time favorite is the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." But, I gotta tell you...I LOVE Christmas, the true meaning and all the fun stuff...I make the fun stuff about Jesus as well. :) Right now, I'm reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to my 7th graders...I've never read it. It is SO good!
Oh, yes, I love While You Were Sleeping, too! I've rewound the part where the newspaper boy slips on the ice on his bike so many times it's a wonder my DVD doesn't skip at that point. And Doug and I especially crack up at Joe Jr.
"I got Ice Capades."
I love All I Want For Christmas.
"All I Want For Christmas" is a comedy about two New York City children who launch a scheme to get what they most want this holiday season...their parents to get back together.
Very sweet, very funny, completely romantic.
While you were Sleeping is my favorite but it was taken. :)
My husband's favorite Christmas movie? It's a toss-up between the first Lethal Weaspon and the first Die Hard...yes, both set at Christmas time.
I'm just not hearin' the sleigh bells.
I love the movie "Jingle All the Way." It has a storyline for the fathers, for the mothers, and for the children. Plus it's set in the Cities, my second home, so it's got special appeal to me.
"White Christmas" is a yummy movie and I love it.
The Santa Clause movies are great. I love the lush scenes of the North Pole workshops, etc.
I like that movie that was on Hallmark about a week or so ago, "Moonlight and Mistletoe." I hope they'll make it a regular holiday movie.
Favorite fiction? "Journey Into Christmas" by Bess Streeter Aldrich!
OH! I forgot "Christmas in Connecticut." I just watched it and loved it. I've tried over and over and over and over for the past, gee, couple of decades (!!!) to watch it and something always interrupted me. But I had some quiet time and saw it all the way through on DVD and *loved* it.
Did we forget "A Christmas Story"? Is it possible to forget "A Christmas Story"? LOL! One station used to play it 24 hours a day, I think it was on Christmas Day.
It came from a book by Jean Shepherd (he's the narrator in the movie, too) called "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash," which is a hoot!
This is my third post in a row on the subject--guess I like holiday movies!
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