Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Christmas Movies

RHYS BOWEN:  Christmas movies–love them or hate them? 

I don't mean the Hallmark Christmas movies where the high powered New York lawyer with failed romance/writer with writer's block/ moves back to a small town to help her grandmother/run a store/save the town from developers and meets a lumberjack (who is really a renowned doctor/writer or country vet or the developer who becomes good.  I mean real movies.

I always have certain movies I have to watch each year, to get me into the holiday spirit. This year I have watched:

It’s a Wonderful Life. I always walk away feeling annoyed that Mr. Potter didn’t get his just desserts. But it is warm and fuzzy and says a good message.

A Christmas Carol. Ye olde version in black and white. My favorite is Scrooge with Albert Finney but I couldn’t find it anywhere on Netflix or Prime. I just enjoy watching the Cratchetts being so happy and loving and Tiny Tim being saved.




White Christmas: Although this is not a white Christmas until the very end and although Bing Crosby is over fifty at the time of filming while Rosemary Clooney is only 24 I still enjoy the schmalz. And the dancing.

The Holiday: It’s quite improbable and if I wanted to trade houses I would never get a house in Beverly Hills or a cottage with a handsome brother nearby, but I love it anyway.

Love Actually: Why is this my favorite? There is so much that’s annoying–Hugh Grant dancing. The embarrassing porno movie. The British guy in America. AND a writer who doesn’t back up what he’s writing but lets it be blown into a lake? What sort of writer does that? But… that scene with Emma Thompson crying as she listens to the CD is one of the most moving I’ve ever seen. And the guy with the cue cards at the door. Brilliant. Worth watching over and over.


Movies I will not watch: Rudolph. What kind of kindly old Santa would discriminate against a reindeer who was “different’? And what message is that sending–shunned and mocked because he had a red nose? 

Home Alone. Can’t handle the thought of people not missing their child.

Movies I didn’t see but love: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Miracle of 34th Street.

So how about you? What are your favorite holiday movies? Any that you hate?

HALLIE EPHRON: I have never seen DIE HARD. Or HOME ALONE. I know lots of people rate those at the top of the Christmas movies list. I do like LOVE ACTUALLY so much that when it’s over I watch it again. There’s some nice Christms bits in YOU’VE GOT MAIL.

A Charlie Brown Christmas? Feh. 

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: I'm on the fence about Love, Actually, but I do love the "just in cases" part. (And he had a TYPEWRITER, okay, that's how he was.) And I thought Hugh Grant dancing was really funny, but he would NEVER have been PM. Oh, and his surprisingly-talented aide caroling, that was great.  (And, the cue cards are sweet, but REALLY? What's he trying to do, make her re-think her wedding? Nope.)  We could really talk about his whole movie, because it's either wonderful or cringey.

Christmas in Connecticut is fun--Barbara Stanwyck as a chic "homemaker" columnist who is a total fraud. Love that. Oh, and what's the one where they dance and topple the couch? Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn?  Holiday, right? Fabulous.

It's A Wonderful Life— well, it always seemed really too sad and almost disturbing to me. (Am I being awful about this?) White Christmas, sure (the dresses and the technicolor!), but I don't really need to watch it ever again. And A Christmas Carol--I recently re-read a lot of the book, and it is absolutely wonderful. Wonderful! 

Is Sleepless in Seattle Christmas? Or is that New Years? And When Harry met Sally, that's new year's, right? AND An Affair to Remember. (Is THAT New Years?)   I think I like new year's movies better. Hmm. Is this humbuggy?

JENN McKINLAY: It’s a Wonderful Life is my all time fave. I just think everyone has their George Bailey on the bridge moment but no one is ever honest about it. Seems way ahead of its time to me :) I love Love Actually - even with the ridiculous writer (it’s Colin Firth which  makes it forgivable) besides Emma Thompson steals the movie anyway. A Christmas Carol but with Alistair Simm is a tradition for us. We attend Christmas Eve service, go home and make pizza, and watch that version of the movie. I enjoy Charlie Brown but my all time fave is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Never should have been a movie, it was perfect as is, also, this new trend on social media of people having a Grinch break into their house and steal presents in front of the kids to what - terrify them? - really disturbs me.

LUCY BURDETTE : Oh, we have just tonight been watching love actually! We watched the first half and will finish it tomorrow. I think Hugh Grant dancing is hysterical, about half of the movie is wonderful. The stepfather talking with his bereaved stepson is priceless, Emma Thompson is amazing, and I do love the scene where Colin Firth goes to propose to the Portuguese woman. Not a fan of the Q cards! Lol all in all, love the movie and love saving it for the Christmas season. Ditto on you’ve got Mail. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Hank, I didn’t know there were any other Christmas In Connecticut fans! It’s one of my favorites, and often what I watch while wrapping gifts, because I could never get the rest of the family into it.

Also: Die Hard. Yes, this is our family’s traditional Christmas Eve must-watch movie. It’s a little odd going from Bruce Willis mowing down bad guys to Midnight Mass, but we make it work. It’s the perfect counterbalance to all the sweetness and schmaltz of the season.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I just now pulled all the Christmas DVDs out of a box–now if I can figure out how to play them with our new TV and the myriad remotes!! I have to confess that I have never seen Home Alone–how is that possible? Maybe this year. I think I was always horrified by the idea that a parent could forget their child. We do watch Die Hard. I think it was Alan Rickman's first big Hollywood part (as the bad guy, for anyone who's never seen it) and I fell utterly in love with him. I love A Christmas Story–I even went to visit the Christmas Story house in Cleveland. And It's a Wonderful Life. But my two must watch holiday movies are Love Actually and The Holiday. Hope to get them both in this year.

RHYS: have we missed any? Any other favorites or hates?

69 comments:

  1. I don't think you've missed any Christmas movies! "Miracle on 34th Street," Love Actually," and "Christmas in Connecticut" are among my favorites, along with the "The Polar Express" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." I've chuckled through "Home Alone"" but, really, how could you accidentally leave your child behind?

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  2. Coralee @ 12th Night Day 3December 27, 2022 at 5:02 AM

    Meet me in St. Louis - Garland singing Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, plus the destroy the snowman scene//How the Grinch Stole Xmas animated with Boris Karloff narration. We get the full flavor of Seusian illus. plus Karloff's voice. //Miracle on 34th - How old is Santa? "As old as my tongue and older than my teeth." Best answer ever. // Movie choice on Christmas Day on Nome St. was Princess - nothing Christmas about it/ reversed trope where the Princess in the Tower saves the castle. Action/R rated/ popcorn worthy.

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  3. I haven't watched most of those movies. My family did see Miracle on 34th Street when I was a kid, and found it quite moving. No DVDs, then; this was in a movie theater and a big deal to us.

    A few years ago, my husband and I watched Home Alone and disliked it. Partly because of the parents' ability to forget their kid that has been mentioned before. And partly because the family members in general (including the parents) were all so rude to each other before the parents went off without their son.

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  4. I don't watch Christmas movies, which makes me more humbuggy than Hank, I suppose. In fact, I almost never rewatch any movie.

    But the Call the Midwife Christmas special each year? I never miss it. I watched this year's last evening (it was on too late for me Christmas night). It's always a true treasure, and the new one was one of the best.

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    1. I’m with you, Edith. Call the Midwife Christmas specials are a tradition with us too. And they only get better each year.

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    2. Oh yes, I've the the Midwife special recorded, ready to settle down with tonight, now that I'm back home.

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    3. I loved Call the Midwife Christmas special this year. I did watch it on Christmas night. I also rewatched All Things Great and Small Christmas show.

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  5. Missing from the lists so far: The Bishop’s Wife—Loretta Young, Cary Grant, David Niven— fake snow, runaway baby carriage, the miracle of never ending sherry(?). Haven’t watched it in years, but the memories fill me with Christmas.

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    1. And, this is me Elisabeth.

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    2. Okay, we need to talk about that movie. Wasn't it too sad?

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    3. Hank, trying to talk, but blogger blocking. Elisabeth

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    4. One more try then. I have shed a “happy tear” or two during this movie. But I felt the theme was redemption and the power of love, not regret or lost love. Elisabeth

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    5. The Bishop's Wife is a must every Christmas. The Call the Midwives Christmas special too.

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  6. Oddly, I did not watch any of my regular Christmas movies this year. It's hard when you don't have cable TV or Netflix. But I used to watch It's A Wonderful Life & The Grinch Who Stole Christmas growing up.

    With my 3 free months of Apple+ TV, I did watch SPIRITED with Will Farrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer. It's a modern-take & musical based on A Christmas Carol.

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned ELF, another fave Christmas movie with Will Farrell?

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    1. Grace, ELF is another favorite too. Not many Christmas movies on Apple TV. Diana

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    2. A lot of people don’t like Elf! It isn’t the same vibe as the older Christmas movies! It is very sarcastic and really rather sad in that it wasn’t very well done.

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    3. Rotten Tomatoes give ELF a 85% rating by 193 REAL MOVIE CRITICS and 250000+ viewers so you're in the minority for not liking ELF.

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  7. I like Christmas movies. Maybe it is the result of growing up and my mom watching them every holiday season. But I love White Christmas, Love Actually, the George C. Scott and Albert Finney versions of A Christmas Carol. I do like the various Rankin-Bass stop motion specials that air on TV each year. Plus the Frosty the Snowman cartoon.

    There are some Hallmark movies that I like though I acknowledge they don't exactly cry out great quality. But one that came before the network went totally Xmas crazy is called The Christmas Card from 2006 I believe. And it was a pretty decent movie with a script that actually tried to be good. Oh, and there's a movie that was originally on Lifetime called Comfort and Joy that I like. I won't say it's GREAT but I adore Nancy McKeon and I liked her in this particular movie.

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  8. I watched the same ones as you did Rhys, and I also watched the 2022 version of A Christmas Story and the Call the Midwife Christmas special. I usually watch and wrap each year and it sparks joy and Christmas spirit. It was my first run with the black & white version of Dickens. White Christmas is a family watch, with my sister and two daughters. The general reminds us of dad/grampy and the “sisters” song is something we will sing a few bars of at odd times throughout the year. Great holiday movies are gifts of the season. Happy to enjoy our seasonal joys!

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  9. The original Rudolph always starts our Christmas. And Christmas Eve is for Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge. This year we opted to skip the Christmas movies in favor of dealing with the terrifying weather. And football! Go Bills

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    1. I love listening to the carols from Kings College Cambridge, Ann.

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    2. I too love Kings College choir.

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  10. The Thin Man - best movie set at Christmas but not about Christmas.

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    1. Also set at Christmas but not about Christmas-which we just saw--Bell, Book and Candle!

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  11. I am working my way towards the Christmas special in season 11 of Call the Midwife and I'm looking forward to it.

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    1. Amanda, thank you! Loved Call the Midwife Christmas special! I was able to watch it on streaming video on my computer. I pay a membership fee to the public TV station monthly.

      Diana

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  12. As a kid, I loved Charlie Brown and the Grinch. As an adult I haven't really watched too many Christmas movies-- A Miracle on 34th Street and White Christmas and Holiday Inn. One year I was really sick and was flipping channels and Hallmark had A Golden Christmas 1, A Golden Christmas 2 and A Golden Christmas 3 back to back. These were perfect for a feverish person who loves golden retrievers.

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  13. I watched THE NOEL DIARY on the way back from our California visit. It was cute, but the main draw is that they filmed a short scene in my hometown bookstore, RJ Julia. The bookseller takes the shopper to the mystery section, where I swear I saw DEATH ON THE MENU in the background!

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  14. From Celia:- Happy after Christmas everyone, lay down last night and felt so grateful for this Christmas, being ‘rescued’ by our SiL and all the boy hugs awaiting us. It’s been magical Christmas. But to the point in hand, growing up without TV; in fact no real telly watching till I was married and over here. Our first Christmas in the burbs and a very new baby we gave a party and a friend brought us their old telly as he said we would never get a sitter without one! I was new at this married, new country stuff. What did I know? So no trad Xmas watch list with my mum etc. A couple of Christmas’s later we were all sick, jammed in bed together watching the lineup of Xmas specials. So Charlie Brown and The Grinch animated not the other - finally watched last night. Loved LOVE ACTUALLY, it’s on my rewatch list before years end. But I do love series Xmas specials and Ted Lasso was a treat. What I do remember from in teen years in England was the BBC Christmas pantomime which was a Big Special with all the BBC TV on air personalities playing the roles. It was wonderful. Happy viewing all.

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  15. Wonderful topic today, Rhys!

    LOVE Hallmark Christmas movies, especially the Reindeer Lodge movie with some of my favorite actresses and actors, including the actress from Sabrina, the Teen Witch. Very sad that this Christmas is the first time I am NOT able to watch Hallmark Christmas movies because my TV is NOT working. The last two years - 2020 and 2021 - I was only able to catch Hallmark christmas movies at certain times. NO idea if it is the TV or the batteries in my remote control???

    Favorite Christmas movies? I loved THE HOLIDAY so much that I bought the DVD! That cozy cottage in the Cotswolds os my dream Christmas vacation. I love these little villages. I am so old fashioned. LOL.

    Loved IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE because when you think about it, you DO make a difference.

    Another family favorite is MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET - both versions. We loved the movie with Natalie Wood. The 1990s version had Santa Claus talking to a Deaf child in sign language.

    And I loved ELF because despite the cold hearted world, the Elf manages to find something to be happy about.

    LOVE, ACTUALLY was interesting. And how prophetic was that Billy Bob Thornton character! Yikes! Why did the Hugh Grant Prime Minister character remind me of Tony Blair? Ha ha.

    There are too many Christmas movies. I am sure I saw A CHRISTMAS CAROL in many versions. One year, I saw on TV - A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES with Sir Michael ? Redgrave and a Deaf actor, Bernard Bragg, signing beautiful stories. I saw it once and never saw it on TV again!

    Loved that little tree in CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS and how Linus had a wonderful heart.

    Lucy, I will look for THE NOEL DIARY.

    So many wonderful comments and loved reading all of JRW's favorites.

    Diana

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  16. I'm still hoping to watch Love Actually again while I have the spirit, but in the meantime I've watched the Family Stone, which I dearly love. Another of my favorites is While You were Sleeping. Am I remembering it wrong, but isn't Lethal Weapon sort of a Christmas movie? I haven't seen it in years so maybe I am wrong.

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    1. Thank you! Loved the family stone too! Diana

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    2. Yes, to While You Were Sleeping! Such a charming movie.

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  17. I watched The Noel Diary and Lindsay Lohan’s new movie, Falling For Christmas. I don’t have Apple TV so I couldn’t watch my favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I think we do have it on dvd somewhere in this house and possibly a working dvd player, but that was too much work. I also like but didn’t watch, the original Miracle on 34th Street, Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Polar Express.
    I’ve seen several people on social media mention The Holiday as their favorite and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it.
    I did watch part of Home Alone while I was wrapping presents. We once left my sister at church on Christmas Eve. In our defense, she was not a child and everyone thought she was in the other car. She only had to walk about 3 blocks to get to the house. Since then, “Don’t leave Bev at the church.” has been uttered on many occasions, including to her husband in their wedding day.

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    1. That's so funny, Brenda. My cousin was left behind at a rest stop on the highway. He is such an incessant talker, I don't know how they didn't miss him right away, but they did return and get him. OMG, now I will have to ask him about that episode in "the life of Joel" when I visit him in Boston for Thanksgiving on New Year's!
      I have seen Home Alone and since it is a farce, I think one can suspend belief about the negligent parents.

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    2. My cousin was left at a gas station, run by someone we knew, near our summer spot. Her older siblings didn't tell their parents because she got car sick on the twisty mountain roads. She was rescued by an aunt after being fed treats while waiting.

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    3. Back in the Land Before Time days before cell phones, Father-in-law left sleeping wife in back seat to use the facilities at a rest stop. Mother-in-law awoke and also went in to use facilities. Father-in-law returned to car and drove away assuming wife was still sleeping in the back seat. Surprise! State trooper pulled FIL over some miles down the road and then he went back to get her.

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  18. White Christmas is my all time favorite….I watch it every year and still cry! I like Love Actually and the original Grinch. This year I watched Sleepless in Seattle which starts with Christmas. I do consider Die Hard a Christmas move but usually don’t watch.
    Many years ago I was in the hospital at Christmas time and most of what was on TV were insipid Christmas movies…just can’t do that again!

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  19. Yes, Die Hard . I always think, oh, I never need to see that again. Then if it happens to be on and I catch a glimpse, I remember how really great it is! ANd I will confess I have never seen Home Alone.

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  20. I honestly have nothing creative to add here. We love LOVE ACTUALLY and while it certainly has numerous cringe-inducing moments, overall it just makes me feel good. ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE is my all time favorite. I ugly cry every single time I watch it, and feel cleansed afterward. My favorite version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL is the one with George C. Scott. And I rest firmly in the camp DIE HARD being a Christmas movie. (It was definitely my first encounter with Alan Rickman, and his performance passes the test of time. )

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    1. When the George C. Scott version of Christmas Carol first air ed it was exclusively sponsored by IBM. All the employees got a wonderful hardcover book with photos.

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    2. Brenda, I still have the IBM book! Helen

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  21. Thanks for asking
    Miracle on 34th Street (Santa: What do you want me to bring you for Christmas? Susan: Nothing, thank you. My mother will buy it for me as long as it's sensible and doesn't cost too much.)

    While You Were Sleeping. (That scene at the family's home where they welcome Lucy right in, and there's even a stocking with her name on it.)

    Holiday Inn (I know, I know. I have to fast forward a few times...)

    Scrooge - Alistair Sim, 1951. ("And therefore, you leave me no alternative but to...raise your salary." The LOOK on Cratchit's face....)

    It's a Wonderful Life. Of course.

    Love Actually. (If you have the DVD, watch the outtakes. Some brilliant bits, some heartbreaking bits; it was a crime to remove them and then leave in the parts with the guy in America)

    The Holly and the Ivy. English movie from 1952. Go ahead, watch it. Here. https://pastordawn.com/2013/12/25/the-holly-and-the-ivy/

    And yes, Holiday, for New Year's Day

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    1. Oh, I'd love to see the outtakes! ANd so agree, I am not fond of the guy in America. :-)

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    2. (Susan Shea here) I watched White Christmas this year. While there was a minstrel song, there was no blackface, thank heavens. Was that in the Holiday something movie Kaye and Crosby did? I was so startled when I watched that one year that I hit the quit button one the remote before I saw the rest of the movie!

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    3. Holiday Inn, with Bing and Fred. There's a Lincoln's Birthday segment.... Yikes!

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  22. Oh, man, I forgot to add Die Hard. I'm with Julia's family - totally a Xmas movie.

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  23. I love the Grinch with Boris Karloff narrating. What a voice! I enjoy watching Bette Davis and Monty Woolley and Jimmy Durante in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Darren MacGavin in A Christmas Story. My must see without fail Christmas movie is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. So many belly laughs in that one plus the love of family, no matter how awful they may be. I do not care for It's a Wonderful Life. I found Jimmy Stewart's desperation to be very disturbing. I read a couple of years ago that that was his first film after the war and he was suffering from PTSD. As for Love, Actually, I enjoyed it the first time around but don't watch it much. My favorite story line is the one with ancient rocker Bill Nighy. All that man has to do is laugh his laugh and I'm gone. And before I forget, Doctor Who. I didn't see a Christmas special this year but in the past they have ranged from wonderfully funny to downright tragic.

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    1. The Man Who Came To Dinner! SO agree! And thank you, I thought I was the only one about Wonderful LIfe. His eyes are so crazy.

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    2. Even as a young child I could not understand the appeal of Its A Wonderful Life! I found it creepy and just terribly sad. I wonder if Jimmy Stewart was suffering from PTSD?
      Susan Nelson-Holmdahl

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    3. The only part of It’s a Wonderful Life I like is when the bell rings and the angel gets his wings.

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  24. I like both the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol and The Muppets Christmas Carol!

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  25. No one's mentioned my favorite bit in Love Actually, the friendship of Bill Night and his manager. It reminds me of the ending of Some Like it Hot, one of my favorite non-Christmas movies.

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    1. That's one of my favorite parts, too.

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    2. I love anything Bill Nighy does, and he obviously relished this role - loved it!

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    3. I love anything Bill Nighy does, too, and his friendship with his manager in Love Actually will always be one of my favorites.

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  26. My “must see every year” Christmas movie is White Christmas. This year we’re in a VRBO so have limited access to movies. I did, however, find White Christmas streaming and started watching it while hubby on the couch kept saying he was going to bed. I fast forwarded through the parts I don’t like (the misunderstanding with Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby) so got through the whole movie in a much shorter time. Hubby woke up as they’re singing the title song and said, “How long have I been asleep?!” 😂 ~~Pat S.

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  27. I've watched all of these movies at various Christmases and enjoyed them all, although it comforts me to hear so many of you say that "It's a Wonderful Life" is pretty sad for a holiday movie. I'm always troubled by it. I wonder if any of you have ever heard of a children's opera I loved (we had it on vinyl records, of course) called "Amahl and the Night Visitors," about a crippled shepherd boy and his mother visited by the Three Kings when they are on their way to Bethlehem. It was made into a short (50 minute) movie in the 1970s and that became a must see (and hear) Christmas movie for me.

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  28. Wait - no one mentioned Cary Grant as a benevolent angel sent to remind the crabby David Niven what church is about, and winds up almost falling in love with the pastors wife - THE BISHOP'S WIFE? Grant at his most suave. About LOVE ACTUALLY, I'm with Rhys on Emma Thompson's great, poignant performance as the good mother and wife who gets a gut punch from her husband at Christmas. I also love Liam Neeson as the stepfather who goes totally for it when his deceased wife's son announces he is in love. The graphic artist whose metal ill brother sucks all the love she has...There are stupid parts (the PM's girlfriend leaps on him at the airport, really?) but the children's Christmas play with a plethora of animal parts that had to be filled is sweet.

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  29. DIE HARD, LOVE ACTUALLY, CHRISTMAS IN CONNETUCUT, WHITE CHRISTMAS. All are faves. Hate IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
    OPERATION PETTICOAT with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis and DONOVANS REEF with John Wayne are 2 old but great movies we really enjoy. FATHER GOOSE too.
    All three have Xmas elements so...

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  30. I always have such good intentions for watching lots of Christmas movies, but I never seem to have time for very many of them. This year, since I was home bound, I did see my favorite Love Actually and most of The Christmas Story and Home Alone (came in on those two after they'd started). I loved the new Call the Midwives Christmas special. Those are always favorites for me. I rewatched All Creatures Great and Small Christmas show. I haven't seen The Muppet's Christmas Carol, which I dearly love. I will find and watch it this week. I didn't watch Die Hard this year, which I usually do. I only caught the last half of The Holiday, which I adore, but I've seen it so many times, I felt like I'd watched the whole movie. I'm sure to watch that one again in the near future. I do like the Santa Clause movies, but I didn't catch any of those this year either.

    On Christmas Day, I watched Glass Onion, the new Knives Out mystery, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently, there's some mixed reviews. In watching it and about the making of it, I've gotten steered toward the 1973 The Last of Shelia, mystery aboard a yacht, starring Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Richard Benjamin, Raquel Welch, Joan Hackett, James Mason, and more. Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins wrote it. I think I can watch it on Amazon Prime. Of course, I fell down the rabbit hole of mystery movies to watch and have a post on my FB about it. Here's a link to some. I've watched a few of them and want to watch a few more. https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/great-whodunit-movies-to-watch-after-glass-onion-knives-out/

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  31. We start on Thanksgiving night with Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and then work our way through Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas with the Kranks, National Lampoon's Christmas, and end with It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas eve. But I do confess to solo watching some Hallmark every year!

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  32. Hank-The movie where the couch is turned over is not a Christmas movie. It’s Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. Does anyone watch any version of The
    Nutcracker. There are some very good ballet companies which have filmed it, but I don’t know if
    any network still shows it.

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    1. Hank's right. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn topple the couch in an acrobatic demo on New Year's Eve in Holiday. (I suspect there was a double for Kate, but not for that seasoned acrobat, Archie Leach.) See it here.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZSN5sw6tJI

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