Christmas Time is Here...Lot's of Time for Holiday Films!

After my family opened their presents together, and had breakfast together, we sat around the TV to find something good to watch.  Surprisingly, we ended up watching two movies that had nothing to do with Christmas, Bend it Like Beckham, and Despicable Me.  I know that TBS has A Christmas Story on on a 24 hour rotation, and ABC Family has Christmas shows on TV, but other than those two places there were no classic Christmas films on TV.  NBC and their other counterparts had Meet the Press and other news shows.  Where is the Christmas spirit on Christmas day?  I know man networks counted down and show films prior to today, but I want to watch them today.  I sound like a bratty young child who says to his mother "I want it now."  Here is a list of films I would like to see today:

Elf (2003) Finding a modern film with the elements of a classic Christmas tale and the sarcastic wit of the modern day is tough to find.  Will Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf who was born to humans but is raised as an Elf in the North Pole.  When Buddy finds out he is a human and not an elf he makes the trek on a patch of ice to New York to meet this father, played by the Christmas grump James Caan.  This movie is hilarious and has done what most holiday movies could not do this decade.

Love Actually (2003) Ironically there were two films this decade both from 2003 that captured the holiday spirit in a different way.  Love Actually knows and understands that this holiday time captures the elements of togetherness, and how love matters above all.  Not just romantic love, but friendship.  This film makes me happy inside, and shows that there love actually, all around.

Home Alone (1990) When your parents are go on vacation around Christmas to Florida, and they leave you behind at eight, what do you do? You order pizza, watch R rated movies, and of course stop Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci from breaking into your house. Macauley Culkin became an overnight childhood star, and this film gave family a new meaning.  When you are younger you always wish to be grown up before you are ready to be.  This film is filled with some great laughs and shows that being with family at this time of year is special.


National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) There is not much you can say about this Christmas film, but that is probably one of the funniest holiday films ever!  Chevy Chase knows how to make everything go wrong as Clark Griswold.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) What is the meaning of Christmas?  Charlie Brown is feeling angst around the holidays and feels as though things have become too commercial.  This was back in 1965!  Imagine if good ole Charlie saw Christmas today.  This special is timely and my favorite animated film around this time.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Is Santa real?  Does it matter?  A man who works as Santa at Macy's goes on trial and his sanity is questioned.  The film proves that whether you believe in Santa or not should not matter.  This time of the year is about the magical moments that bring people together.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) What more can I say about this film?  This old film is Christmas, and until NBC (foolishly) replaced the showing of this after the Thanksgiving Parade with the Westminster Dog Show, this was the film that kicked of the holiday season for years.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Kwanzaa to all!!