11.28.2008

christmas time is here (da na na na naaaaa)

the other night antonella and i got together and ended up watching cinematic family film masterpiece, home alone 2: lost in new york. at first, i immediately thought of tyson, who without a doubt is getting mistaken for kevin mcallister on the streets of manhattan as we speak. anyways, home alone 2 is a fantastic film (far superior to it's original and predecessor in my opinion), and is definitely one of my top 10 christmas movies of all time. with that, i figured i would briefly share with you the other 9 titles rounding out that list.





NATIONAL LAMPOONS CHRISTMAS VACATION.
this movie is hilarious, is all about christmas, and has chevy chase in it, what more do you need? the scene with the christmas lights reminds me of the house across the street from my old elementary school that used to light up brighter than the rest of the entire city for a month or so around christmas.






EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.
definitely the only* stand out film by tim burton (in my opinion), i can't stand that one that inspired millions in hot topic profits and fall out boy tattoos, and don't even get me started on the re-make of the classic, and a personal favourite of mine, charlie and the chocolate factory. this movie is okay for me though, actually, it's more than okay, it's pretty great. it's quirky, heart warming, sad, loveable and promotes treating people as equals, all things i love. it's pretty hard to not cry at the end of this one, so make sure you're nice and warm by the fire/heater or under a blanket when you watch this one...wouldn't want those tears freezing in the icy months. also, if you didn't know already, i love winona ryder; she is a total babe.
*okay, so maybe beatlejuice is pretty good too, i should probably break that one out soon.

DIE HARD.
alright, so i'll be the first to admit, i'm mostly a sucker for cheesy, heart warming love stories, especially around the holidays, but seriously, what guy doesn't want to see bruce willis throw the sheriff of nottingham out of a building on christmas eve?








MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET.
here we go, a classic, straight up, no denying this one. there's just something about christmas in new york city, and a young girl regaining her hopes and dreams and the belief in santa claus. a real heart warmer for the frosty season. heck, i'll even take the 1994 remake with that little girl from mrs. doubtfire and the dude from the practice.






ELF.
awww, such a good movie! it's no surprise that will ferrel is the funniest man in the universe, and this movie was a great stepping stone in obtaining that role. i saw this movie in theaters years ago and loved every second of it. it has the classic christmas spirit vibes of miracle on 34th, the (not quite as poor tasted) humour of vacation, and a megababe comparable to that of winona. seriously, if i had my way in life, zooey deschanel would be my celebrity girlfriend, and we would make lots of babies. that scene where she is singing "baby, it's cold outside" in the shower, and will ferrel hears her and joins in for that beautiful duet, ahh! it kills me every time! this movie is so good that it's goodness even outweighed all the times my mom said "santa? i know him!" the christmas after she saw it.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS.
for some reason i have always leveled with that poor little dude charlie. he always tried so hard at everything, and always seemed to come up short, and somehow get laughed at or blamed for everything. good grief! after several days of inner conflict, charlie finds himself what seems like aimlessly searching for the meaning of christmas, while his friends and the rest of his town gets caught up in the commercialism and hustle and bustle of the season. in the end, charlie not only comes together with his friends, but he makes a great little jesus speech too! besides, without this movie, the world wouldn't have that terrific "christmas time is here" song to hum along to while feeling utterly defeated by life.



LOVE ACTUALLY.
for me, british comedy can get pretty tiring, fast. on the contrary, love actually is amazing front to back. it has all the elements of a great christmas movie, and an allstar cast to boot, featuring a short cameo by one of my all time favourite superbabes, canadian heart throb elisha cuthbert, not to mention keira knightley and all the other supreme babes packed into the several intertwining storylines. all holidays aside is probably one of my all time top 5 favourite rom-com's, and has proven itself to be a winner on recent long european bus rides. and yes, i'll go ahead and say it, hugh grant is ACTUALLY FUNNY in this one.

A CHRISTMAS STORY.
here's the obvious one, a christmas movie list topper defaut, the best of the best, the ultimate classic. christmas time is nothing without this movie. my 5th grade teacher mr. ryan used to reference this movie every day for about a month leading up to the christmas break, and then on that shortened last day before school let out for a couple weeks, we would push our desks back and sit on the floor and watch it (incase no one got his jokes that whole time). we all know that TBS usually plays this movie back to back for an entire day, and most years i try to watch it as many times in a row without shooting myself in the head. speaking of which, this movie also introduced the top 5 things you don't want to do around christmas:
5. swear in front of your parents, resulting in getting your mouth washed out with soap. yuck!
4. realize that your epicly anticipated favourite radio show secret decoder ring is really just an ad for ovaltine .
3. get kicked down the slide by santa claus. (this part still haunts me to this day)
2. get your tongue stuck to a pole.
1. shoot your eye out.

other highlights include the pictured bunny pj's and the younger brother who hides under the sink after ralphy gets into a fight, and repeatedly screams "i wanna play santa!" on christmas morning. golden.

A MUPPET FAMILY CHRISTMAS.
here it is folks, number one with a bullet. my all time favourite christmas movie! it's christmas time, and the whole muppet gang is headed for a weekend in the country at fozzy's moms house. after spoiling her vacation to the beach, and crashing the old dude from fraggle rock's subleased quiet weekend away, they receive more visitors! who you ask? why it's the sesame street gang! more hilarity ensues when the swedish chef tries to cook big bird for dinner, and our hearts get warmed numerous times including when kermit and robin stumble upon fraggle rock and get a special gift from friends down under. seriously, this movie is a must see. it seems to have been replaced by the christmas carol in the muppet's catalog, and i can't believe it's no longer available to purchase, and doubt it still plays on tv like it used to. i recently downloaded a shitty quality digital copy that i will continue to watch and enjoy annually as the years pass! what a movie!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

christmas vacation is an amazing movie i oddly enough just finished watching it before i jumped online and stumbled upon this post.

robert said...
This comment has been removed by the author.