My original plan for this week's T13 was to share thirteen of my favorite ornaments on our tree, but I tend to misplace things-- and my digital camera has gone on walkabout for the week. I figure it disappeared on vacation before the craziness of the holidays.
So instead, I'm using yesterday's Holidailies prompt about required seasonal movies... Here are thirteen that I think are requied viewing sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
1. A Christmas Story- Not to difficult to find the past few years, is it? But seriously, it was an instant classic, even if it did take the world several years to discover this sleeper hit. Fah-rah-rah-rah-rah...
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas- How many things about Christmas, both good and bad, are summed up here? And the music? It's not Christmas until I hear that soft jazz of the Charlie Brown special float from my TV speakers.
3. Home Alone- This was overplayed for a few years and I got sick of it. But I found myself watching it a couple weeks ago and enjoying it once again. But the mystery still remains- what boy would ever clean up that mess? And how would he really get it all cleaned up so quickly? (but forget to fix the shelves in his brother's room...)
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Remember how tragic it was if you missed the airing of Rudolph in any year? It was only shown ONCE per season, and as a child, it often wound up being on the night I had dance class. Thank goodness for the Betamax and later the VCR.
5. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas- I haven't seen this in years and I don't think it's well-known anymore, but it was one of my favorites as a child. It was a sweet story about a little otter who wanted to make Christmas special for his mother. He and friends want to compete in a talent contest as a jug band. But in order to enter, he'd have to ruin the washtub that his mother uses to make all of the money their family has. At the same time, Ma Otter has a similar idea to make Christmas special for her son by entering the same contest.
6. The Nutcracker- There are a dozen versions of the Nutcracker out there, but the one I always watched as a child- and still prefer today-is the 1977 version with Mikhail Baryshnikov, broadcast every year on PBS among their year-end fundraising drives... By the end, I was usually twirling along with the Flowers. :)
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The original Dr. Seuss version. Still blows Jim Carrey out of the water, in much less than half the time. :)
8. It's a Wonderful Life- It's funny, but I always prefer to watch this after Christmas, but before New Year's. It's so heartwarming at the end-- the perfect way to ring in a new year.
9. Moonstruck- Not usually thought of as a holiday movie... but the references are quietly in the background everywhere. The decorations, the first snowflakes of winter, the connection and celebration of family... it's a story of falling in love over the holidays, and love her or hate her, Cher is absolutely stunning when she meets with Nicolas Cage in front of the Met. Each time I watch it, I'm just a bit older... and I "get" more of the jokes.
10. Mickey's Christmas Carol- My favorite version of the classic... :)
11. A Mom for Christmas- It's actually a very corny movie. But it came out the year after my parents were divorced, and it was just the sappiness that my teenager heart needed. And I was (and still am) a big ONJ fan.
12. Miracle on 34th Street- Again-original version. It's never, ever Christmas without watching this. :)
13. Rudolph's Shiny New Year- This one's always been a bit more obscure, but it always signified the LAST holiday special of the season. I always got a kick out of Happy and his big ears... and loved how they visualized the progression of Time...
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