Top 12 Christmas Specials (6-4)

Number 6-Frosty the Snow Man

Yes, this is a classic. Yes, it has a great song that inspired it. Yes, I know you probably won't agree with me on this one, but it's my list. Frosty is a fun little story, but it isn't all that Christmasy to me. Sure Santa comes in and saves the day, but that doesn't really change the fact that it is really a winter-play-time story. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does hurt poor Frosty in my standings.

Number 5- Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

The myopic, Mr. Magoo, takes on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dicken's immortal Christmas Carol. It's a musical and Magoo does a great job of playing the character of Scrooge. It's pretty close to the original story with the subtraction of Scrooge's nephew. It moves quite quickly, and the musical numbers are cute for the most part. It's a good storyline even though Mr. Magoo isn't a very well known character these days.

Number 4- Disney Christmas Carol

Who better to play Ebenezer Scrooge than Disney's own Scrooge McDuck? The people at Disney did a great job of casting the various characters. It's almost like Scrooge was created to play this part at some point. He's got the nephew and the money grubbing ways. It gets everything from the story and does it in a way that is fresh because it is done with Disney characters in ways that make sense.

Christmas songs I'm already sick of hearing.

I'm not a scrooge, and I don't really hate  Christmas or Christmas music, but there are just some songs that either get overplayed or I just don't want to listen to at Christmas or any time. Here's a listing of some of the songs I'll be glad not to hear after Christmas.

Jingle Bells by Barking Dogs

I haven't even heard this song yet this year, and I've heard it too many times. I think it's an interesting concept, but it get's old after about five seconds. Why do people want to listen to this song? If your dog starts barking, you don't try to teach it to bark with the song. You tell them to shut up and go back to what you were doing. Why do we have a song that teaches dogs to bark whenever they want to?

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer by Elmo and Patsy Shropshire

I will admit that I loved this song the first couple of years that I knew what I was listening to around Christmas time. It's a funny take on Santa and paints him as the bad guy, but it gets old fast especially when it seems to be everywhere you go. Here's a bigger issue with the song-what's the real story here? Isn't it much more likely that Granddad just made up the story about Grandma getting run over by a reindeer? What really happened to Grandma? Maybe Granddad ran her over because he couldn't see where he was driving or something even worse. How's that for a reason not to like this song?

Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart by Wham!

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. So this year to save me some tears, I'll give it to someone special." That's the song. End it already. Actually there are verses, but after I hear the chorus 5000 times (yes this is hyperbole but not by much) I can't remember ever hearing any of them. This song just doesn't want to end, or stop complaining about how horrible it was that their heart was broken on Christmas. I'm sure people can relate to the song, but it doesn't make it any easier to listen to.

Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley

Don't take this the wrong way. Elvis is great. He is the King of Rock and Roll. I don't want to get into an argument about that, but I can't stand it when this song his the air. I think it has a lot to do with the death of my mother during 2009. It was hard to listen to Presley sing about having a blue Christmas just because some girl dumped him when I was facing that first Christmas without my mother. Elvis just didn't know enough about being blue when the song was done.

Wish you the merriest-Frank Sinatra

A while back I wrote a relatively short post stating that Bing Crosby was the voice of Christmas. (Check it out here: http://lockheed40.blogspot.com/2010/12/bing-crosby-is-voice-of-christmas.html) There's a reason, and this song is it. I've got nothing against Sinatra, but where "Last Christmas" at least has a reason to exist, this song is just a long-winded "Merry Christmas."

Instrumental versions of songs I want to hear someone sing

If you're going to play a Christmas song, then have the words in there. This complaint does not go for songs that don't have words. In that case, don't add words to songs that don't need them. It seems like a small problem, but I want the words to my favorite Christmas songs. If you want it to be instrumental, then play the "Carol of the Bells," or "Sleigh Ride." That will make everyone happy.

I could go on, but I think this will be enough for this year. Feel free to leave a comment on your opinion on the matter.

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.