Moker and I did a rare thing last night...we went to dinner and to the movies. Yup, a Real Date!
We saw Four Christmases, which lends a silly and somewhat bittersweet spin to the Holiday Spirit. Yes, Reese Witherspoon's Epiphany is pretty much cliché. But this Christmas Confection is just that...quite a lot of sweet, innocent, festive fun. Plus, Vince Vaughn shows his comedic chops once And again. Witherspoon made me laugh out loud several times.
This 21st-Century Christmas flick put me in mind of Holiday Fare from Christmases Past. My Top 10, in no particular order, are:
10. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)-The little girl is a tad annoying, but Santa is One Fine Gentleman!
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)-The Original...of anything...is usually better.
8. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)-Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed...What's not to love?
7. Holiday Inn (1942)-Irving Berlin wrote the songs, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire sang and danced their way through the film. I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. Need I say more?
6. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)-I have a particular soft spot for all made-for-TV Charlie Brown flicks. And for Charles Schulz and his Misunderstood Anti-Hero.
5. Annie (1982)-OK, this was released in June, but I always consider Annie a Christmas Production. Aileen Quinn, who played several of The Orphans on Broadway, is a great Annie, and Carol Burnett is The Best Miss Hannigan. And then there's Bernadette Peters as Lily St. Regis and Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks...I could go on, but I won't.
4. Annie (1999)-If I can't have Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, I'd want Kathy Bates. A fun bit of trivia: Andrea McArdle, the Original Annie on Broadway, has a cameo in this film. Kristen Chenoweth of Wicked fame plays the role of Lily St. Regis. This particular Annie was released in time for Christmas.
3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)-An Original and a Classic. A Classic Original. Boris Karloff is the narrator. Priceless!
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)-Ron Howard, Director; Jim Carrey, the Grinch. Need I say more? Oh, one more thing...I have no clue why this re-make does not have an exclamation point in the title!
1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)-Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid are So Awesome Together! "Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead? "
So, what did I miss? What are your favorite Christmas Classics? Do Tell!
17 comments:
i like the bill murray version of a christmas carol - i think it's called scrooged? :) - and it's a wonderful life. my hubby loves christmas movies and will watch them all... blubbering his eyes out ever over charlie brown. :)
I totally love your list!!!
But...you forgot:
A Christmas Story
Elf
A White Christmas
Christmas Vacation is my #1 Christmas film and we use quotes from that movie alllll the time! It got lost in our recent move and I can't find it ANYWHERE! It's sold out in all the store. *big sniff!!*
I think you hit them all:-)
We watch Christmas Vacation every Thanksgiving, as a way to REALLY kick off the holidays! Caught 4 Christmases, too...both of us enjoyed it, although my daughter told me it is "A TOTAL chick flick."
Glad to hear the movie was good. Now I'm in the mood to watch a Christmas movie this evening. You've give a good list of them!
The old "Scrooge" with Albert Finney and of course "A Christmas Story"--"You'll shoot your eye out!"
Oh, and we watched "Fred Clause" last night and it was pretty cute! Well....Vince Vaughn is VERY cute himself....in fact I think I will go see "Four Christmases".
Queenie Jeanie beat me to it! White Christmas, Elf and A Christmas Story are DEFINITELY on my list! :)
Great list! I'm not a fan of oldies, so prefer the remakes. And I love Charlie Brown Christmas!!! I'm going to have a tree just like it one year!
Fun list.... I had Miracle on 34th Street sent to me from a friend. Perhaps, that will be the movie for tonight. :D
Hope you are having a great Saturday!
The original versions of Miracle on 34th St. and the Grinch are my favs. I also kinda like the claymation Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman movies.
A real date! That's something I need ha! Crazy life is with a kid :)
Christmas Vacation... Best movie ever made! We watch it Thanksgiving nite, too. Love the scene where Clark is in the attic watching old movies...chokes me up!
I did my version of that today. Went through the old negatives and made 12 8X10's of some favorite old
photos. This year, I looked for pics of Trouble Elizabeth, our great old Springer who died in Oct.
Skipping Christmas was just on the other night, with Jamie Lee Curtis.
Quick question...should I take a
tree to the beach with us for Christmas? Would you?
I didn't know there was an updated movie of Annie. I haven't seen Holiday Inn, but it is on my Netflix queue. I'll have to check those out. All the rest are good movies, too. The hubby and I really want to see Four Christmases. We love Vince Vaughn.
I wandered over to your blog from SITS.
great list. I'd add:
ELF
Fred Claus
Christmas with the Kranks
Polar Express
and the one with Danny Devito and Matthew Broderick....can't remember the name of it.
I loved four Christmas! It was cute.
Yep, Scrooged really needs to be added in. Sadly, I didn't realize some of those movies had been remade. Shame on me, right?
Yes, I'm back. It's been a really long week plus, and I'm just now starting to catch up on my reading!
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