Holiday Movies, Part Deux

Okay, so Heather already gabbed about her favorite romantic holiday movies, but I get to have my say, too. (Don't worry, there won't be much overlap.) For the sake of clarity (and my general obsessive-compulsive organization) I'll separate my choices by category.

CLASSICS

My number one, all-time favorite holiday movie absolutely has to be WHITE CHRISTMAS. I love everything about this movie--the comedy is genius, the music addictive, and the story just wonderful. It is not Christmas in my world until I've watched

Other classics I love:

• THE BISHOP'S WIFE (A thousand times better than the Whitney Houston remake, even with Denzel Washington. I'd like to request Cary Grant as a guardian angel, please.)
• IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Who doesn't love this classic? Although I will admit that I can only watch every other year, or so. I can only take so much super-sweet.)
• Unlike apparently every other person on the planet, I don't love A CHRISTMAS STORY. In fact, I kind of hate it. (I watched it once as a kid and have never recovered from the tongue-to-a-frozen-flagpole trauma.)
  

ANIMATED

The two that I own are HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (Can't you just hear, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch? No? Well, then click here.) and A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (I can't resist that sad little tree.)

I also adore THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Tim Burton is, quite obviously, a genius and he manages to make this dark, spooky film be totally full of the Christmas spirit.

MODERN

Here's where the choices get a bit more personal. There have been a lot of great holiday movies in the last twenty-or-so years. Some are very securely Christmas movies (Think HOME ALONE, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION, and THE SANTA CLAUSE.) While others are holiday set, but don't necessarily feel like Christmas (For me, these include LOVE ACTUALLY, THE HOLIDAY, and YOU'VE GOT MAIL.)

But my absolute favorite new holiday movie from the last few years has to be (don't laugh) HOLIDAY IN HANDCUFFS, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez. Right there you have two of the major pros: MJ and Mario. I've always been a Melissa Joan Hart fan (everything from Sabrina the Teenage Witch to Drive Me Crazy) and I think she's a charming actress. And Mario Lopez is ... well, MARIO LOPEZ. He's hot, plus you get to see him shirtless! Also, the premise is delightful. Here's the blurb from imdb.com:

A struggling artist working as waitress kidnaps one of her customers to bring home and meet her parents at Christmas.

If you didn't catch this movie when it debuted last year, or when it played on ABC Family earlier this month, then I highly recommend you queue it up in Netflix. I'm so bummed that I missed it on the DVR that I'm going to order it from Amazon--it's only 9.99!

Okay, your turn to share. Do you have any favorite holiday movies that you're almost embarassed to admit you like? Do you have any contrasting opinions on my selections? I can just hear the defenders of A CHRISTMAS STORY warming up their typing fingers. Bring it on!

Hugs,
TLC

OH. MY. GODS. (available now!)
GODDESS BOOT CAMP (coming June 2009)
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