Happy Holidays, part 2

Now that you've seen the video of how to survive the holidays [in the previous post], I present to you my holiday movie picks!

[*note - these are in no particular order, and are not ranked from best to worst or anything like that. :p]

Here we go!


1. Jumanji
Okay I know its not entirely 'holiday movie' material, but it opens and closes with a Christmas party, and the movie originally had a Christmas Day theatrical release back in 1995. And the actual board game produced to go along with the movie was the hot christmas gift the following year. :)

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
This is excellent reassurance that your screwed up family is actually quite normal..... It also reminds you that it doesn't matter that your Christmas bonus isn't as big as the last one - there's someone out there that probably didn't get one even though he spent it already.

3. The Polar Express
I read this book a million times as a kid, and even read it to my class in 3rd grade. Never lose your childlike wonder, as Randy Pausch said. This movie is a good way to do that.

4. Serendipity
Because leaving the greatest night of your life to fate, and then having fate give you what you want in the end... is awesome. Especially on Christmas

5.While You Were Sleeping
All I have to say about this one is five little words. 'I was gonna marry him...'

6. The Family Stone
I'll admit it, when I saw the promo movie poster that had Sarah Jessica Parker's name on it, I didn't even want to bother with this. But it unexpectedly appeared in my DVD player one day, and it has been one of my favorites ever since. A picture is truly the best gift of all for Christmas.

7. Edward Scissorhands
Its creepy, its not nearly as holiday themed as the rest of the movies on this list, and it even has some blood in it... but its still a must see this holiday season. White Christmases take on new meaning once you've seen this one.

8. A Christmas Story
This also goes along the same lines of keeping the childlike wonder. Plus, TBS has a 24-hour marathon of this every year! What other movies can you name that get a 24 hour marathon ever? Oh I don't know... NONE! :)

9. Its a Wonderful Life
Every time a star lights up, an angel gets his wings.

10. A Charie Brown Christmas
Christmas is definitely not about the size of the tree, or how many gifts are under it.

11. The Wizard of Oz
Not Christmas oriented in the least.... but here's a 'Did You Know' tidbit -- ask your parents or grandparents, they'll tell you. Every year this movie used to air extremely close to Christmas, and all across America people would take this day off, gather the family around, and all pile onto the couch to watch The Wizard of Oz. It was a national holiday whenever this came on TV. So its a holiday movie pick in my book!

12. Mickey's Christmas Carol
I should probably list the original one instead of this Disney remake. Or maybe even the Muppets version. Or how about Scrooged, with Bill Murray, since that's the same thing. But I know you agree with me - Mickey Mouse does make the lesson - it's more important to give than to receive at Christmas - more fun.

13. Autumn in New York
Time is precious, and you should make every second of it count.

14. Home Alone 1 & 2
They're both kinda the same movie, and they're not up to today's standards by any means. But they had a comedic magic about them during their time, and they still teach you that no matter how big your family is, it's not complete without the little bastard that causes all the trouble, especially around the holidays.

15. Gremlins
Oh come on.... Gizmo is cute!

16. Miracle on 34th Street
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...

17.You've Got Mail
I wanted to put Sleepless in Seattle here instead, but this is more christmas themed [even though Sleepless in Seattle does open with holiday times.] And ta-dah, its Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks so its like the same movie anyway! :)

18. The Nightmare Before Christmas
I've only seen this once actually, and I'm not really a big fan of it.... but I only include it because I know someone who will get mad if I don't, and they'll whine at the fact that I put Edward Scissorhands on here but not this. So there you go. This movie seriously freaks me out and I personally wouldn't go running to see it again. Its scary

19. The Nutcracker
That's not a movie, that's a ballet! Yes I know that but there was a movie style adaptation of it once. And you might not realize why you have a nutcracker somewhere in your house that you take out specifically around christmas. Its because of this.

20. The Nativity Story
Because this is what the true meaning of Christmas is.

Anyhow, happy watching!

Fortune time!

TRAVEL WITH A LIGHT HEART AND HAPPY EXPECTATIONS