What's your holiday movie or TV tradition?
One movie we always try to find time for during the holiday season is Eloise at Christmastime, a made-for-TV Disney movie about a precocious kid who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York. Before that sets off your Suite Life of Zack and Cody alarm bells, Eloise at Christmastime is based on the book by Kay Thompson and has a great cast that includes Sofia Vassilieva in the title role, the ever-endearing Julie Andrews as Nanny, and Sara Topham and Gavin Creel as two of Eloise's friends that the 6-year-old tries to unite. This scenario could be annoying or cloying or both, but the movie strikes a nice balance and delivers a good message. There's a great musical number too.
Of course there are many other movies and TV specials without which the holidays would not be the holidays. Just a few of my favorites:
- A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: Two absolute classics that I associate together for whatever reason. How many decades have I been watching these?
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Little Drummer Boy: Three others that all seem like part of a whole, I guess because of their similar Rankin-Bass stop-motion style. Frosty the Snowman is a different style of animation, but it belongs with this group as well
- It's a Wonderful Life: This one still gets me every time!
- Raymond Briggs' The Snowman: Sort of a refined British version of Frosty, it's an utterly charming special that's wordless except for the song "Walking in the Air," which is becoming a Christmas standard.
- Holiday Inn: I know a lot of people prefer White Christmas, but I like this black-and-white musical vehicle for Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire (WC was Bing's semi-remake years later).
What do you have to watch every year? A Christmas Story? The Year Without a Santa Claus? Miracle on 34th Street? Christmas Vacation? The Santa Clause? The list goes on... --David
Jan on December 24, 2009 at 06:21 AM
I know it's weird, but I watch Aliens as I decorate the tree. Love Ripley! ("Get away from her, you b#$@&)
bcollie on December 24, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Our family favorites include Eloise at Christmastime (just watched this a few days ago), A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version, please!), Raymond Briggs' The Snowman (beautiful!), and A Christmas Story. We also like A Child's Christmas in Wales (Denholm Elliott). I like It's a Wonderful Life (my husband doesn't as much, and it's too "talky" for the kids so far), we both like Holiday Inn (much better than White Christmas), and also Miracle on 34th Street (just saw this one recently after many, many years). I have a soft spot for Rudolph, having grown up on it, but not so much Santa Claus is Coming to Town or The Little Drummer Boy. Another family favorite we enjoy during the holidays is Annie (Victor Garber, Audra McDonald). Lots of fun holiday films/shows out there!
shauna on December 24, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I am with Jan - My dad and I would watch Lethal Weapon after we decorated the tree. The movie starts with a Christmas song (Jingle Bell Rock) so technically, it qualifies. Right?
David on December 24, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Lethal Weapon would make a great double feature with Die Hard, which is totally a Christmas movie
Ellen on December 24, 2009 at 02:47 PM
charlie brown christmas (with the kids), love actually (without the kids)
David B. Mears on January 01, 2010 at 04:37 PM
Among many others already mentioned, I always like to watch An American Christmas Carol. I believe this was a made-for-TV version, set in depression era New England, with Henry Winkler (an extremely verstile actor, BTW; much more than just The Fonz) in the Scrooge role -- Benedict Slade. I guess I just really like taking the basic story and reworking it into a different time and place.
sensations on October 29, 2010 at 12:31 AM
One movie we always try to find time for during the holiday season is Eloise at Christmastime, a made-for-TV Disney movie about a precocious kid who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
xiao on November 15, 2010 at 05:27 PM
I guess I just really like taking the basic story and reworking it into a different time and place.