Seasons Screenings

I'm jumping the queue a bit, but as we approach the Holidays I thought I'd share my new improved annual Christmas Movie Cycle.

1. The Ref (Warm up some nog and enjoy this foul-mouthed Christmas classic. I can't say enough about how happy this movie makes me. There's no Christmas like a New England Christmas. And it's great to see a drunk Santa get punched.)
2. Gremlins (A little unusual, but you can't have Christmas without mayhem.)
3. 1941 (More mayhem, more Christmas, and a good lesson about wartime paranoia that never gets old.)
4. Holiday Inn (Okay, the bits in blackface are highly inappropriate, but actually the song for Lincoln's birthday is a good one, mostly. Fred Astaire as a rake who can really do some hoofing.)
5. White Christmas (It may seem a bit redundant, but if you're going to watch one backstage Bing Crosby Christmas movie, you might as well watch both of them.)
6. It's a Wonderful Life (I know what you're all thinking and you can just back off and let me have this one for my own reasons that have less to do about Christmas and more to do with me and the old Bailey Building and Loan.)
7. Joyeux Noel (In case you need to be hit over the head with a message about peace on earth and good will to man.)
8. A Christmas Carol (Okay, I'm a sucker for Scrooge and Marley--any version, but if you have to pick one that will really clean out your tear ducts go with the George C. Scott version.)
9. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas (Woodland creatures...a jug band...It's a Christmas miracle.)
10. Hogfather (This is the latest addition to my holiday line-up. Really delightful fantasy fun.)
11. Happy Tree Friends Winter Break (Not for the faint of heart. Actually, my favorite part are the mumbled Christmas carols on the special features.)
12. The Homecoming (This is the 2nd movie based on the novel that was the basis for The Waltons. Stories of rural life in the depression always put me into that Christmas mood.)
13. Bad Santa (I generally don't go out of my way to see any of the newer movies that are obvious pleas for Christmas viewing, but I've made an exception for this one.)
14. Holiday (I like to throw in this one just to have another vaguely seasonal comedy.)
15. The Hudsucker Proxy (The best New Year's Eve movie ever.)