Thursday, December 10, 2009

A Christmas... The Christmas...

A Christmas Memory (1997)
96 minutes
(From Netflix) An autobiographical story by Truman Capote, Eric Lloyd plays Buddy, who at age 7 is dumped by his parents at the home of some elderly spinster relations. Luckily for Buddy, he becomes fast friends with one of them, embarking on a series of adventures in the Depression-era rural South.

A Christmas Too Many (2007)
95 minutes
(from Netflix) An aging Hollywood actress invites her eccentric family to Malibu for Christmas, and everything -- and everybody -- goes haywire. With a son-in-law eager to hunt the only local game for Christmas dinner -- the neighbor's guinea pigs -- this crazy clan decks the halls with outrageous yuletide merriment.

**This got low ratings on Netflix

A Christmas Wish (1998)
78 minutes
(from IMDB) Returning to his home town after the death of the grandfather who raised him, slick and cynical Wall Street trader Will Martin feels decidedly out of place, and not at all in tune with the Christmas preparations being made by the local citizenry. But Will isn't really taking a sentimental journey at all: He's merely in town to modernize and streamline his family's real-estate company. While going through his grandfather's effects, Will and his grandmother come across the old man's diary--which reveals a lengthy relationship with a woman named Lillian. Determined to locate this mystery mistress (if indeed that's who Lillian is), Will learns a few vital lessons about love, forgiveness, and recapturing the Yuletide spirit that has so long eluded him.

A Christmas Without Snow (1980)
129 minutes
(from Netflix) An ode to the perseverance of the human spirit. A recent divorcee strives to rebuild her life by moving to San Francisco. With jumbled day-to-day jobs, the newly single Zoe Jensen (finds consistency with a local church choir practicing Handel's "Messiah." But the harsh instruction of choirmaster Ephraim Adams pushes Zoe and each of the choir members to their limits during the holiday season.

A Christmas Visitor (2002)
87 min.
(From Amazon) The boyajians have not celebrated christmas in 11 years. They lost their faith when they lost their son to the persian gulf war. Now a stranger has joined them - around the same age the boy would have been. Is he a con artist?

The Christmas Card (2006)
84 minutes
(From Netflix) Holiday story about a soldier stationed in Afghanistan who gets a Christmas card addressed to "Any Soldier" and decides to track down the sender. When Sgt. Cody Cullen returns home, he traces the sender, Faith Spelman, to her small town, where he ends up saving her father and falling for the warm-hearted young woman. The only problem? She's engaged.

The Christmas Star (1986)
94 minutes
(from Netflix) A grizzled con learns the true meaning of Christmas in this heartwarming holiday tale. After escaping from prison disguised as Saint Nick, Horace hides in the suburbs and meets siblings Billy and Trudy. Convinced he's for real, Billy and Trudy help the false Santa retrieve his hidden loot from a department store.

The Christmas Wife (1988)
73 minutes
(from Netflix) Recently widowed John Tanner is facing his first Christmas alone. Things look bleak until he comes across a newspaper ad offering "social introductions." With nothing to lose, John contacts the agency hoping to find someone with whom to share the holiday -- and hits the jackpot when he meets Iris. But she has one condition: no questions asked.

The Christmas Blessing (2005)
120 minutes
(from IMDB) After loosing a teenage boy on an operating table he promised he would save, Dr. Nathan Andrews returns to his hometown for the holidays. His visit is a bitersweet one, overshadowed with memories of the mother he lost 18 years earlier on Christmas Eve. This is also compounded by the fact that his father seems to want to forget she even existed. Nathan accepts a coach's position at a local elementary school where he meets a young teacher named Megan and also becomes close with a young boy named Charlie. Throughout the movie, events unfold, both good and bad, that ultimately leave Nathan questioning weather or not he did the right thing by coming home. But in the end, everything comes together (aided by a chance meeting with a special someone from Nathan's past), making this a Christmas filled with love, happiness, acceptance, forgiveness. . . . . and shoes.

The Christmas Shoes (2002)
100 minutes
(from IMDB) A young boy tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for his dying mother, while a lawyer tries to deal with the break-up of his marriage.

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (Il Natale che quasi non fu) (1966)
94 minutes
(dubbed into English from Italian)
(From IMDB) Sam Whipple, an attorney in once-upon-a-time-land, is startled to receive a visit from Santa Claus shortly before Christmas. It seems that when he was a child, Sam wrote a letter thanking Santa for the presents he'd received, and offering to return the favor someday. That day is now - a mean old soul named Phineas Prune, who holds the deed to the North Pole, is demanding back rent. Otherwise, he's going to evict Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves and take all the Christmas toys. It's up to Sam and Santa to find a way to pay off Prune and prevent Christmas from being canceled.

Here is a great website that has a long synopsis and stills from the movie:
THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T.

1 comment:

Wall-to-wall books said...

Wow, some of these sound really good, heartwarming. What am I saying, they're Christmas movies! of course they are heartwarming! heehee
I will have to write down some of these titles.