I got a little of the third panel of my brothers quilt done last week. Worked long hours and was exhausted most days. This weekend is all about finishing that quilt and anything else I can start. It's supposed to snow too.
Now that we have rearranged the living room I can see the TV from the dining room table where I will sew and that reminded me of my favorite Christmas movies. I tend to enjoy the ones where everything is not picture perfect, slightly dysfunctional families and lot's of drama.
First up is the classic A Christmas Story from 1983. "Ralphie, a young boy growing up in '40's Illinois, dreams of owning a Red Rider BB gun. He sets out to convince the world this is the perfect gift. But along the way, he runs into opposition from his parents, his teacher, and even good 'ol Santa Claus himself." The hubs and I actually have a leg lamp replica but have never had the place to put it. Maybe this year we will find it."
Quote: Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.
Next up is The Ref from 1994. "Denis Leary plays an unfortunate cat burglar, who is abandoned by his partner in the middle of a heist, and is forced to take an irritating Connecticut couple (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis) hostage. He soon finds that he took more than he bargained for when the couple's blackmailing son and despicable in-laws step into the picture. Before long they're driving him nuts with their petty bickering and family problems. The only way for him to survive is to be their referee and resolve their differences, before he can be nabbed by the police."
Quote: "Great, I hijacked my [insert favorite expletive] parents."
A more recent holiday movie but one of my favorites (LOVE Diane Keaton) is The Family Stone from 2005. "The Stone family unites in common cause when their favorite son brings his uptight girlfriend home for the Christmas holiday, with plans of proposing. Overwhelmed by the hostile reception, she begs her sister to join her for emotional support, triggering further complications."
Quote: "Christmas is not "clothing optional" this year - we have a guest. "
Another recent favorite is The Holiday from 2006. "In London, Iris Simpkins writes a wedding column in a newspaper and has an unrequited love for her colleague Jasper Bloom. Nearly Christmas, she is informed that Jasper is engaged and will marry another colleague, and her life turns head over heels. In Los Angeles, a movie-trailers maker Amanda Woods has just broken with her unfaithful boyfriend Ethan and wants to forget him. Amanda accesses a house exchange website, and impulsively swaps her mansion for Iris' cottage in Surrey for the holiday along the next two weeks. While in Surrey, Amanda meets Iris' brother and book editor Graham and they fall in love for each other. Meanwhile Iris meet her next door neighbor, the ninety year old screenplay writer Arthur, who helps her to retrieve her self-esteem, and the film composer Miles, and they fall in love for each other."
Quote: "I don't know, but I think what I've got is something slightly resembling... GUMPTION!" A classic for the entire family is Home Alone from 1990. "In this film, Kevin McAllister is an eight year old boy left at home by his parents, when they leave with the rest of the family for Christmas holidays to Paris. At first he seems to enjoy living alone, but after a while he understands that things aren't so easy. Especially when two robbers decide to break in a particular house. HIS house! Is he able to defend his home?"
Quote: "This is extremely important. Will you please tell Santa that instead of presents this year, I just want my family back. No toys, nothing but Peter, Kate, Buzz, Megan, Linnie and Jeff. And my aunt and my cousins. And if he has time, my Uncle Frank. Okay?"
Another personal favorite is The Santa Clause from 1994. "Divorcee Scott Calvin is disgusted to learn that his ex and her husband have tried - and failed - to break it easy to their 6-year-old son Charlie that Santa isn't real. On Christmas Eve, Scott reads The Night Before Christmas... then receives an unexpected visitor on his roof. When he's startled by Scott's calling out and falls, the Santa impersonator disappears, leaving only an 8-reindeer sleigh and a suit with instructions to put it on if he's involved in an accident. Scott does, and is transported around the town dropping gifts through chimneys until he's taken to the North Pole and informed by a group who claim they're elves that he is now Santa. Charlie is proud of his dad's new job, though Scott's convinced it's a dream. Until his hair turns white, his beard refuses to stay shaved, he gains weight inexplicably, even for his sudden love of junk food... Now he's accepted it, there's just one problem: how to keep it secret from his disbelieving family?"
Quote: "Hey, I know where this is going. The other guy fell, it was an accident. I've got homeowners insurance, and a good attorney, not as good as my wife's - but lets not open up that wound! "
The new version of the classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas from 2000. "Based on the book by the famous Dr. Seuss. Inside a snowflake exists the magical land of Whoville. In Whoville, live the Who's, an almost mutated sort of munchkinlike people. All the Who's love Christmas, yet just outside of their beloved Whoville lives the Grinch. The Grinch is a nasty creature that hates Christmas, and plots to steal it away from the Whos which he equally abhors. Yet a small child, Cindy Lou Who, decides to try befriend the Grinch."
Quote: "The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there - and on such short notice. Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn't allow it. Four o'clock, wallow in self pity; 4:30, stare into the abyss; 5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercize. 6:30, dinner with me. I can't cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing; I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9 I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear?"
There are a few movies in the theaters this season I want to see. Typically we have the hubs kids Christmas morning and then they go to their mom at noon. The hubs and I have been known to see three movies on a Christmas day.
Four Christmases "When a couple tries to fly away from their family for Christmas, as they do every year, their fun turns around when all flights have been canceled. Now they have to go to four houses to celebrate Christmas while going through memories they don't want to go into and surprises they can't handle while they have to use a safe word to get out of situations ."
Nothing Like the Holidays "A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together."
What are your favorite Christmas movies?
1 comment:
I really like the same movies you do. I could watch them all over and over again. There are a couple on your list I haven't seen so I put them on my to-watch list. :)
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