...what you should be watching around the holidays...

I've decided that we are going to start (and keep doing more than one or two weeks at a time) a MOVIE NIGHT...I'm talking the whole it and caboodle with popcorn and blankets laid out, THE WORKS!!! My kids are only going to want to do things with me for a couple of more years before they begin to think I'm not cool enough- I need to milk this time for all it is worth!

So, I have decided to start a rather 'hefty' list of all the movies I feel like people SHOULD watch during the holidays. Most of these movies are staples in my house anytime AFTER Thanksgiving. Some I've always wanted to watch, others that really represent what the holidays are all about.  The weather is getting colder, it's getting dark at dinner time, and you need something to do indoors...now you have ample time to Netflix these or find them at the library to get your holidays set up for you.

The first list of movies I'm sure everyone have seen, but they are what Christmas is all about to kids, magical!



Polar Express- My boys secret favorite, ours is nearly worn out: On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that's headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus's home.

Emit Otter's Jug-Band Christmas- A Jim Henson classic :A poor otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas- this one we don't own, but it might have to get added to our collection. I am a CLASSICS girl, I don't want any "modern remakes" Boris Karloff is why this movie should never been remade: A grumpy hermit hatches a plan to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer- The concept of this red nosed reindeer was a holiday booklet printed in 1939 and written by Robert L. May and published by Montgomery Ward as a holiday attraction...and the rest is history. This movie has it all and BURL IVES- who let's face it IS Christmas! The work that went into this is mind boggling- no computers, all talent...:A misfit reindeer and his friends look for a place that will accept them.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town- This answers all the questions any little one might have about who Santa is...sort of drawn out, but again, this was all done BEFORE computers- so you have to respect the work...

Charlie Brown Christmas- Where all the nuggets of wisdom are found (Tracee Farmer) and the true meaning of a holiday: Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas. A GEM for the whole family!

Now we come to the movies that are CLASSICS...the ones that maybe your parents watched, and while growing up they played (and over played) these movies because they WERE the holidays...

White Christmas(1954)-This movie is magic...singing, dancing, and sheer talent! Again, these were before computer-generated imagery- A.K.A: real people and costumes. This movie is known for it's difficult dance scenes that were done at times in one take :A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

Miracle on 34th Street(1947)- I have to be honest...I have never actually SEEN this movie. I've started it, or caught it in the middle, but never all the way through. This year is my year to watch it: When a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing.

It's a Wonderful Life(1946)- I saved the best for last, you are going to get an ear-full on this movie as it is my most favorite of all time! Two words that you have to know about classic movies; FRANK CAPRA...that's it. Anything he has done is worth watching. The movie itself BOMBED at the box office when it first came out. Only years later, when television stations started airing it around the holidays, did it pick up the acclaim that it has today. The original story was called The Greatest Gift, it was written by Philip Van Doren Stern who sent it out as a Christmas card. I could go on and on about this movie...if you have never seen it, you really owe it to yourself this Christmas...:An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

So, there you have it...you have 15 days to find any of these and make it part of your holiday watching tradition!...I'd Netflix them all right now, but I don't know how WITHOUT THE HUBS!...Happy November to you!!!