Holiday Movies: You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

[Deleted]

It's not strictly a Christmas movie, but I've always loved the old Annette Funicello version of Babes in Toyland. The music and costumes are awesome, and Ed Wynn is great as the Toy Maker. I never realized until this very moment that Ray Bolger (the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) payed Barnaby, the evil miser who wants to marry poor Annette!

And maybe this belongs in the True Confessions thread, but I'm never seen A Christmas Story all the way through. I've already heard all the jokes, though, so I'm pretty sure I'd be underwhelmed.

[RabbitEars]

Thank goodness someone else thought Charlie Brown was depressing! I would watch it as a kid, but it just wasn't... as fun as the other shows. The song "Christmas Time Is Here" was so freakin' joyless. I think growing up with stuff like that is one of the reasons I can't handle sad music.

Last Christmas, we watched Just Friends a billion times, and I bet we'll do it again this year.

[kateln]

It's time for my annual announcement;

I hate It's a Wonderful Life. Screw you George Bailey! I'm on team Potter!

[chonies]

At 33, my ex-boyfriend had never seen It's a Wonderful Life because he'd known too many people who had been court-ordered to watch it. I also had to watch it in library school. I actually do like the movie, but mostly for the visuals of 1930s and 40s America, and I love Donna Reed.

[Deleted]

Wait. The court can order you to watch It's a Wonderful Life? What crime do you commit to warrant that? It's on t.v. right now. Always makes me cry.

[clementine74]

I've only seen Muppets Christmas Carol once, but still think it's one of the finest tellings ever (along with the Alastair Sim Scrooge and after today, A Diva's Christmas Carol ) and have not seen it on TV since. Do they ever replay it?? I love A Christmas Story as much as the next person, but do we really need 24 hours of it and no Muppet love?

[chonies]

Dec 13, 2008 23:13:41 GMT -4 @sandypants said:

Wait. The court can order you to watch It's a Wonderful Life? What crime do you commit to warrant that? It's on t.v. right now. Always makes me cry.

I wish I could tell you. In his late teens and early twenties, the ex "ran with" some members of a Chicago gang, and I was in a position of asking questions I didn't want the answers to, and anyway, he always claimed he never really did anything, but his "friends" did. It all seemed to be behind him, so I didn't press the topic. Now, in the spirit of ghosts of Christmases past, I wish I had. Based on what I know, I will suggest it was things like drugs, assault and property damage. I was kind of suspicious when he told me, but it was so random and actually kind of plausible that I just accepted it as true, while acknowledging that I will never really know the answer.

Topic? I love White Christmas, and shamelessly. I love everything about it: costumes, Mary Wicke, the Army thing, the songs. I think I need to watch it now.

Also, are there any non-Hollywood, non-US holiday movies I should track down? Do Love, Actually and Bridget Jones' Diary count as Christmas movies? BJD totally follows the narrative of "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses.

[tamaradixon]

I remember watching a cartoon version of "A Christmas Carol" back in the 70's and wish I could find it on dvd or video. Its my all time fav version for some reason...likely because it was my 1st version.

[clementine74]

OOH. I forgot Mr. Magoo. That obviously has to be in the top 5 as well. Classic.

[chiqui]

Thank goodness someone else thought Charlie Brown was depressing! I would watch it as a kid, but it just wasn't... as fun as the other shows. The song "Christmas Time Is Here" was so freakin' joyless.

Yup, that is one damn depressing Christmas story. Every kicks Charlie Brown's ass and then decides at the end to decorate his sad little tree just because it's Christmas. Bah.

(As a kid I could NEVER figure out what part of the US Charlie Brown and his friends were supposed to live in. It was not a large city with different ethnicities, churches, and museums, but it wasn't suburbia either ... it was in the north, by the snowy winters and ice skaters, and near farmland because the kids walked from houses to empty fields pretty quickly, and in a place one could go hunting because they wore LL Bean type outwear. Finally I decided as a 9-year-old the Peanuts gang lived in a small town in Illinois or Indiana, two places that seemed distant and backward to me -- apologies to any Indianans or Illinois out there)

Actually A Year Without a Santa Claus was pretty depressing too, but at least it has Cold Miser and Heat Miser, musical production numbers, suspense, two stupid elves, and action scenes.