Welcome to Flashback Fridays where the old and new collide on everything from books to movies to first loves to favorite vacations. With a nip in the air and everyone decking the halls, it's the holiday time of year again. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, you can't help but feel a little festive this time of year. So, this week on Flashback Fridays, I wanted to take a look back at some of my favorite holiday movies.
My favorite Christmas movie of all time is It's a Wonderful Life. Sure, you can argue that it isn't really a Christmas movie since only half of the movie takes place on Christmas Eve. However, if you feel that way, you really need to look deeper into the theme of the movie as well as its correlation to "He kept Christmas in his heart all year long" aspect of A Christmas Carol. I think we've all had disgruntled George Bailey moments *cough, cough, the writing biz* where it seems like the whole universe is conspiring against us. And then when things look their bleakest and all hope seems gone, if we can look to our family and friends, we are truly blessed. The last ten minutes of the film from the time George "lives again" up to the Auld Lang Syne ALWAYS has me weeping happy tears. It's just a beautiful movie. I am such a huge fan of the movie that I also have the It's A Wonderful Life Christmas villages that I put out every Christmas!!
A Christmas Story is one of my all-time favorites. I love, love Ralphie and his plight to get a Red Ryder BB gun. I think most of us have had that one gift that we desperately hoped we would get. What a great ensemble cast with the mom and Old Man, Flick and Schwartz and brother Randy who "Can't Put My Arms Down!" Plus, there's the great bully in Scut Farkus...with his red eyes! My viewing pleasure has been enhanced by watching the 24hrs of A Christmas Story on TBS even though I have the DVD at home!
I love the story of a Christmas Carol, and there are seriously a ton of versions out there. My favorite is a Muppet Christmas Carol. Sure, I love and grew up on the Muppet Show, but there are other reasons why it is such a great version. First, it has a great musical soundtrack. Songs like Bless Us All, Scrooge, One More Sleep Til' Christmas, and It Feels Like Christmas are so awesome I even downloaded them on my iPod to sing along to on the run! Plus, Rizzo the Rat and Gonzo as Dickens are hilarious as they narrate the story.
White Christmas--the movie that gave us one of the best Christmas songs also titled White Christmas! I really didn't gain an appreciation for this film until I got a little older and my appreciation for musical theater blossomed. The film has such a great post WWII message of everyone pulling together to help a deserving General down on his luck. There's other great songs like Sisters and Snow. The costumes are to DIE for too!
I think you'd have to have had your sense of humor removed if you do not find Christmas Vacation funny. After it debuted in 1989, it has wiggled its way into my family's lexicon in calling overly decorated neighbor's houses "the Grizzwald's". I was a fan of Vacation, but I have to say that Christmas Vacation is the funniest. There are too many great liners that I wouldn't be able to do the movie justice by quoting it!
And some great scenes from the Holiday movies, including the original Grinch! :)
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