Top Twelve Christmas Movies (Part III)

Number 12-While You Were Sleeping

Number 11-Babes in Toyland

Number 10-The Santa Clause

Number 9-Die Hard

Number 8-Santa Conquers the Martians

Number 7-Home Alone

Number 6

So with Bill Murray's "Scrooged" I think I'd better do the same thing I did with "Babes in Toyland" on part II of the list. This kind of includes every version of "A Christmas Carol" which is probably the most popular topic for Christmas movies and specials. "A Christmas Carol" has been done by just about everyone, and Ebenezer Scrooge is probably the most acted character in all of Christmas tradition. (with the exception of Mary and Joseph)

I don't need to tell you the plot of "Scrooged." A guy who doesn't get the meaning of Christmas gets visited by four ghosts and learns the error of his ways. What you do need to know is that Bill Murray is hilarious as the Scrooge-type character, and the ghosts are brilliant. The spin that is put on this movie makes it a must-see for the holidays.

Number 5

"It's a Wonderful Life" was once the standard classic Christmas movie. I remember my mom getting so excited that it was finally going to be on the air for its one big showing. These days we don't have that same kind of expectation. One of the TV stations is showing the same movie twice in a row just for the sake of doing it.

This movie does a great job of helping you to think about the positive things in your life. At the time the concept was less well known than it is now. What would the world be like if you'd never been born? We see the story redone all the time. Disney even did a version with Kermit the Frog finding out what the world of the Muppets would have been like if he'd never left the swamp.

Even though it's been done before, it's never been done as well as Jimmy Stewart does it, so check this one out this Christmas.

Number 4

If you read part I of this list, then you already know that the movie "White Christmas" was not the first time this song appeared in a movie. (That would be Holiday Inn.) The popularity of the song led movie studios to make a movie based on the song.

White Christmas is a war-time movie that opens on Christmas Eve on the war front. Bing Crosby plays a soldier who is a fairly popular performer in his civilian life and Danny Kaye plays his buddy. The two are putting on a show for the troops that is also a farewell to their Sergent. After the war Crosby and Kaye form a team and get pretty popular. Close to Christmas the two meet a pair of sisters that are sisters of an old army buddy. They are also performers and the four hit it off. By a strange twist of coincidence, the sisters are going to perform at an inn run by their old Sergent who is having financial troubles. The duo quickly decide to do something to help. I'll leave it at that in case you're a complete slacker and haven't seen this Christmas classic. (If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Go find this movie now!)

Number 3

Some Christmas movies like "White Christmas" take a fairly realistic approach to the story, some movies ask you to stretch your imagination a little. "Elf" asks you to take the plausible and throw it out the window. The only reason this movie works at all is Will Ferrell's ability to make the implausible feel like it could actually happen.

The basic outline of the story is that Buddy is a baby and was accidentally picked up while Santa was delivering packages to the orphanage. Santa and the elves decide to adopt Buddy and they don't bother to tell him that he isn't really an elf even though he grows up to be 6' tall and doesn't have the basic elf skills to be a good elf. His father finally tells Buddy the truth, and Buddy decides to travel to New York City to find his real father, who is on the naughty list.

The story is done very well, and Ferrell manages to give Buddy the right amount of ridiculous without going overboard. When I saw "Elf" in the theater, I couldn't stop laughing the entire movie right from the moment that Bob Newhart shows up on the screen as Buddy's elf father.
 

Number 2

Remember how I was just talking about movies that pushed the boundaries of believability? This is where "Miracle on 34th Street" makes the scene. What if Santa Claus was real? What if he was playing Santa at random stores at different points and times? What if people found out that he was Santa, or at least thought that he was Santa?

These are the questions that this movie tries to answer. The actor that plays Santa is very believable, and you get the best part of the movie when Santa Claus gets put on trial. If you haven't seen this movie, you must have been hiding under a rock for every Christmas of your life.

Get off your duff and find a copy of this movie or find it on TV. You won't regret it.

Number 1

This is the one, the biggest movie when Christmas comes around. The tale of Ralphie as he tries to fight off bullies and convince Santa to get him a Red Rider BB gun so he can get around his mother's declarations that "he'll shoot his eye out." This movie is filled with all sorts of memorable events and moments that make it a great movie in its own rights. "A Christmas Story" also has one major item that pushes it over the top. Remember how I talked about "It's a Wonderful Life" being an event rather than a movie? That's what has happened to "A Christmas Story."

This is the only movie with at 24-hour marathon showing. That's right, you can watch this movie 12 times in a row starting on Christmas Eve and all the way through to Christmas night. No other movie can boast such a epic presentation. (Well, I should throw in a note that "Groundhog's Day" also has a 24-hour marathon in Puxatauny, PA on Groundhog's Day.) Once again, this is a must see movie. The only way you could miss this movie is if you were living on another planet for your entire life.

Anyway, that's the top twelve Christmas movies. Feel free to leave me a comment. If there's time before the big day, I'll try to put together another top twelve list.

Top Twelve Christmas movies (Part I)

When it comes to holidays, Christmas is definitely the one that gets the most attention. Movies, music, and television specials abound during this holiday. I'm going to tackle them all, but let's start with movies. What better way to look at the Christmas season than to look at my Top Twelve Christmas movies.

Honorable Mentions

Serendipity has almost nothing to do with Christmas, but it does start and end at Christmas time. Jonathan and Sara meet while shopping for a pair of gloves. They just happen to be looking for the exact same pair. He's looking to buy them for his girl friend for Christmas and she wants them for herself. They connect but they are both in relationships. When Jonathan pushes Sara for her number, she makes a deal with him. She writes her number in a copy of the book she's reading and he writes his on a five-dollar bill.

Several years later just before his wedding, Jonathan decides he needs to try to find Sara to convince himself that he didn't miss out on something important. Sara meanwhile has just gotten engaged to her musician boyfriend and looks for Jonathan for the same reason. I'll stop there. You should see this for yourself.



Holiday Inn starts with Jim (Crosby) deciding to get out of show business after his partners Ted (Astaire) and Lila are leaving the act to get married. Jim has the crazy idea of buying a farm and living the easy life. After trying the easy life he gets another crazy idea. He decides to that the farm house and turn it into a club that is only open for holidays. He figures he can make enough on the holidays to live the easy life.

While getting things around on Christmas Eve for the opening night on New Year's Eve, Jim meets Linda an aspiring dancer and singer who is hoping to work for at the Inn. There's an immediate connection and he teaches her "White Christmas" one of the songs for the following year.

Things get interesting when Lila leaves Ted for a millionaire and Ted decides Linda is the perfect choice for a new partner. This movie is great for every holiday of the year. 

In "Going My Way," Crosby plays Father O'Malley a young priest who has been sent to help out at a struggling parish. While helping Father Fitzgibbon, the older priest, figure out what the parish needs, he also manages to help out a struggling singer, turns the local ruffians into a choir, and make life in the parish a better place all the way around.

I won't say much more about this movie and its connections to Christmas since that will ruin the ending, but it is a fun movie. Also if you look closely you can spot the boy who played Alfalfa in the "Little Rascals as one of the boys in the choir.

Bing Crosby is the voice of Christmas!

I was listening to the radio today while I was driving home and the guy was talking about Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. He called himself a "Frankie fan" and that's all good and fine, but since it is almost the end of December, I'm more inclined to be thinking about the music of Bing Crosby.

Let's jump in the time machine for a minute and go back to the days when movies were in black and white because there wasn't another option rather than for artistic reasons. Hollywood saw the potential to take the Christmas holiday and turn it into a money-making opportunity. All it would take is a few good movies that would set the standard, and draw audiences into the holiday. Another big part of the old black-and-white movies, was music. The musical movie was an idea that got overused at times, but that was how the era worked. There were plenty of Christmas movies: "A Miracle on 34th Street," "It's a Wonderful Life," and a little movie called "White Christmas."

"White Christmas" wasn't the first Christmas movie, and it wasn't the first time Bing Crosby had sung the title song in a movie. (It was fist sung in "Holiday Inn," starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.)  Nevertheless, "White Christmas" became one of the main songs of the holiday even in parts of the country that seldom see any snow.  We can look to other popular songs of the holiday, but it is this song and others sung by Bing Crosby that really speak to the holiday.

There are plenty of Christmas songs, and just about everyone tries their voice at them at some point, but Bing Crosby is the man that makes it really happen.  You may disagree, but that's how I feel about it. Feel free to share your opinion below.