Christmas Movie #17 & #18

Christmas Movie #17

The Santa Clause 2
It seems like this year, I'm favoring the sequels.
Haven't watched this one in a few years, but I love it just as much as the first one.











Christmas Movie #18

Scrooge (1970)
The one with Albert Finney.  Not my favorite version, but it is a decent one. It is a musical so it is a little different.  There aren't too many songs so it isn't overdone, and I love the story regardless of the year or actors.

Christmas Movie #15 and #16 / 25 Days of Christmas #23

Christmas Movie #15

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The original movie is usually the best.  I've seen other versions (there are 2, the latest version and a TV version).  This is still the winner. 













Christmas Movie #16


Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
I am a fan of both 1 and 2.  I usually only watch 1 during the Christmas Season, but this year, I decided to watch 2 instead.  This trio is the best and I don't think any of the subsequent movies were nearly as good.

25 Days of Christmas

Christmas Angel 

#23

Christmas Movie #12 / 25 Days of Christmas #14

One Magic Christmas (1985) A young mother disillusioned with Christmas finds her holiday spirit rekindled through a miraculous yuletide experience.      

It didn't dawn on me until almost the end of this film, that I've seen it before; however, I didn't remember most of it, so I am glad I watched it again. Very sweet story.  A good Christmas staple.  4/5 stars.

25 Days of Christmas

Officer, do you have directions to the North Pole?

#14

Christmas Movie #11 / 25 Days of Christmas #13

Christmas Movie #11

Max Lucado's: Christmas Child (2003)- Nine months after the death of his adoptive father, Jack Davenport, a Chicago journalist, obtains some of his possessions which lead Jack to discover his past. Jack receives an assignment to do a story in Dallas, Texas. Jack leaves days before Christmas Eve and decides to stay in Clearwater, Texas, his birthplace. One of the possessions left by his adoptive father was a mysterious photograph of Clearwater's oldest churches, taken in 1963.    My Thoughts:  Pretty good Christmas film, typical acting, but nice story.  Max Lucado is a Christian, but this movie isn't an overly knock you on the head Christian film.  Sort of an interesting mystery aspect as well.  3.5 / 5 stars.

WREATH  #13

25 Days of Christmas

Christmas Movie #9 , #10 / 25 Days of Christmas #7

Christmas Movie #9

A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014) - Boyd and his family are forced to spend a dreaded Christmas at his parents' house. When he realizes that he left his son's gifts at home, Boyd and his father must hit the road in a blizzard to retrieve the gifts before sunrise to save Christmas.

This short 80 minute film was bitter sweet.  Robin Williams plays a curmudgeon who likes to drink and wasn't a very good father to his now grown son.  They are forced to spend Christmas together and re-bonding occurs.  This is a comedy, so no tears were shed on my end.  Thank goodness, I need a break from the crying.  3 / 5 stars.


Christmas Movie #10

Christmas in the City (2013)  - With the threat of having to close her father's candy store, Wendy Carroll and her six-year-old daughter Grace travel to the big city in hopes of making extra holiday cash to save the store. When she's offered a job in the toy department of Wolmans, the city's biggest department store, Wendy can't wait! Her excitement doesn't last long when the store's manager, Teanna, destroys the Christmas spirit throughout the store and replaces Santa with a hunky male underwear model surrounded by elfin "babes."

What Teanna is unaware of is that she has in fact sacked the real Santa. Unaware of his real "Santa" status, Wendy reaches out to the old man but it seems even he has given up hope. With her daughter losing faith in the holiday, Wendy realizes she must bring the true meaning of Christmas back to Wolmans before it is too late.

The thing about Christmas movies is that there are no new plots.  So you just have to look at the message and if you enjoyed it.  This is a family friendly movie.  4/5 stars.

 

Day 7

Photoshopped snowman!

Christmas Movie #7 & #8 / 25 Days of Christmas #6

Christmas Movie #7

Black Nativity (2013) - After his mother, Naima, is evicted from their Baltimore apartment, teenage Langston is sent to spend the holidays with his estranged relatives in New York City, where he embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with his new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.

Well...I'm not a huge R&B fan, so only a few songs grabbed me.  The story was predictable, but it was OK.  3/5 stars.







Christmas Movie #8

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 
I'm not going to post the synopsis on this because this has to be the most famous Christmas Movie in the world.  I haven't watched it as of this posting, because it comes on at 8:00 and it is only 7:00.  BUT it is my favorite Christmas movie in the whole wide Wonderful world.  So I will watch it. 

I didn't first see this movie until I was 19 years old.  My boyfriend at the time said, 'You've never seen it...let's sit down and watch."  I was like "Yeah, OK".  Turned out, he knew what I liked.  I have watched it every year since that day, many years ago!  Thanks Charles.

500 / 5 stars.

Day 6

Santa's House!

Christmas Movie #5 & #6

Christmas Movie #5

Thomas Kinkade presents:  Christmas Miracle (2012):  Due to a road closure, eight strangers must take refuge in an abandoned church during a storm. They learn how to manage through various dilemmas by working together.

Typical Kinkade Christian Christmas movie. It was enjoyable, but nothing new here. Not to much of a tear jerker.   2.5 out of 5 stars.





Christmas Movie #6

Christmas Oranges (2012): Experience the journey of Rose, an orphan who teaches the meaning of hope to all those around her. Share a slice of Christmas sweetened with friendship in this poignant story based on a classic holiday tale.

Ahhh...I got my Christmas mojo back.  This is a lovely Christmas movie.  Not a new storyline...Orphans and all, but well done. Well acted.  Highly recommended film for the entire family.  Not an overtly Christian movie, just good, clean Christmas warmth.  4.5 out of 5.




Starting on December 1, 2014, I will start my photo project "25 Days of Christmas".  I did this last year and enjoyed it.  I will post 1 picture a day that is Christmas related from the 1st until the 25th.  It might sound easy, but it really isn't.  This challenge makes me look for Christmas beauty sometimes where there isn't any.

**May not be posted daily due to my hectic school schedule, but will be dated when they are posted.

Christmas Movies #4

Christmas Movie #4

The Christmas Blessing - When a medical resident loses a patient, he moves back home with his father to rethink his career. His visit is a bittersweet one, overshadowed by memories of the mother he lost 18 years earlier on Christmas Eve. Nathan accepts a coaching position at a local elementary school where he meets Megan, a teacher, and becomes close with a young boy named Charlie. His world is turned upside down when the lives of the woman he loves and an innocent young boy are in crisis.

This is part 2 of a (so far) 2 part series. It is an adaptation of the Christmas books written by Donna VanLiere.  The first part is called The Christmas Shoes. This movie is a tear jerker, as most Christmas movies are.  I think this is why I have a hard time watching too many Christmas movies in a row, I can't take it.  But I recommend this series.    4 out of 5 stars.

Christmas Movies #2 and #3

Christmas Movie #2

A Madea Christmas 2013 -  Madea dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on rural town when she's coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas.

This was a typical Tyler Perry Madea movie.  Funny in parts, touching in others.  There are better Madea movies though, but this was an OK Christmas one.

3 out of 5 stars

Original Theatrical Poster

Christmas Movie #3

Beyond Tomorrow (aka: Beyond Christmas.  aka: And So Goodbye) 1940 - The ghosts of three elderly industrialists killed in an airplane crash return to earth to help reunite a young couple whom they initially brought together.

I watched this one many years ago (on VHS).  Very touching then and very touching now.  I don't usually re-watch movies, but the Christmas ones I tend to.

I also love watching Christmas movies that are not directly about Christmas but are always played at Christmas time because they are important staples of the season.  It is a little remembered film, which I think is sad.

And this particular movie  has been digitally remastered and preserved by the National Film Museum, Incorporated. 

4 out of 5 stars

Updated DVD Cover 

  

 

Christmas Movies #1

Christmas movie #1

• Christmas For a Dollar:  America is in the midst of the Depression, and the Kamp family is struggling to get by, especially after Mrs. Kamp's untimely death. Now little Ruthie, with her mother gone and her father overwhelmed by doctor bills resulting from her brother s polio, expects another Christmas without presents or festivities. But when her father brings home one dollar in change and lets the children use it to buy special gifts for each other, the Kamps come to find that money isn't what fills Christmas with joy, love, and miracles.
  - Written by Covenant Communications

Is it as corny as it sounds? Yes. Is the acting sub par? Yes. Did I cry anyway? Yes.

This was on the UP network, so it is meant to be uplifting and feel good.  It was.  

It was predictable.  But it is a Christmas movie, so I put all the flaws to the side and 

enjoyed it for what it is. Great Christmas Family Entertainment.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

5th Annual Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

 
It's back. Sign up, it's loads of fun!

I'm going for the following Level:
-Christmas Tree:  read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)

  Additional levels:

  --Fa La La La Films:  watch a bunch or a few Christmas movies...it's up to you!

It will all be documented here, books and films.  

Some of the books I might read for this are:

The Mistletoe Promise  by Richard Paul Evans
Christmas Poems edited by  J.D. McClatchy
THe Christmas Mail Order Bride  by Kit Morgan

Of course I have already started reading Christmas books, so I will only count books I read during the challenge dates.

 

Carol for Another Christmas

:Carol for Another Christmas" is a TV movie that was filmed in 1964.  It was scripted by Rod Serliing.  It is the retelling of "A Christmas Carol" but made very modern (for 1964).

Here is a blurb from Wikipedia:

Presented without commercial interruptions, this "United Nations Special" was sponsored by the Xerox Corporation, the first of a series of Xerox specials promoting the UN. Director Joseph Mankiewicz's first work for television, the 90-minute ABC drama was publicized as having an all-star cast (which meant that names of some supporting cast members were not officially released). In Rod Serling's update of Charles Dickens, industrial tycoon Daniel Grudge (Sterling Hayden) has never recovered from the loss of his 22-year-old son Marley (Peter Fonda), killed in action during Christmas Eve of 1944. The embittered Grudge has only scorn for any American involvement in international affairs. But then the Ghost of Christmas Past (Steve Lawrence) takes him back through time to a World War I troopship. Grudge also is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present (Pat Hingle), and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Robert Shaw) gives him a tour across a desolate landscape where he sees the ruins of a once-great civilization. In the final weeks of post-production, Peter Fonda's scenes were deleted, but his image remained in the film, recognizable in a portrait on the wall.

This was aired by Turner Classic Movies on December 16th, 2012 after 42 years.

My thoughts on this film are mixed.  I am a traditional "A Christmas Carol" girl.  I like my ghost of Christmas future not to talk, I like my Tiny Tim and my Bah Humbugs.  This movie had none of that.  If it were not for the 'ghosts', I would not have thought this was a retelling.  However, the fact that Rod Serling wrote this script gives it a definite "Twilight Zone" feel.  This is very dark, and yes I know "A Christmas Carol" is dark, but this is dark even for today's standards.

As a stand alone film, it was thought provoking, I just didn't like having to fit the story I know into this format.

Final Christmas Book of the Season & One Christmas Movie

Christmas Stories: Heartwarming Classics of Angels, a Manger, and the Birth of Hope by Max Lucado 

This is a collection of short stories including:  The Christmas Candle.  Most of these stories take place during the time of Jesus, some take place in an earlier era.  All have heavy religious overtones.  Inspiring but not light reading.  3/5 stars.

This is the 6th Christmas book I've read for the season. I will not be reading any more.  I was not in the Christmas mood this year at all, I am surprised I read as many as I did.

The only Christmas movie I watched this week was "Arthur Christmas".  Arthur is Santa's youngest son.  He goes out one night with his grandfather (the former Santa Claus) but he doesn't start out to be the hero, he just wanted to make sure a little girl got her gift so her faith in Santa will not be shaken.

I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but of course, I did.  4/5 Stars 

Holiday Movies - Week 2

Christmas on Chestnut Street:  A department store decides to have a 'Holiday Lights' contest.  The winner gets a shopping spree.  Neighbors try to outdo each other -- The Bigger The Better.  Sub plot of a romance developing.  In the end, people realize the true meaning of the holiday's (Hanukkah is not left out of this movie -- bravo).

A Tyler Perry's Madea's Christmas:  Tyler Perry started out producing plays.  This was one of them.  A bourgeois black family plans for their Christmas celebration.  They 'require' their maid to work on Christmas day, so she is unable to spend it with her family.  The daughter of the bourgeois family thought it would be nice to invite the maid's family over to their house for Christmas. Little did they know that this includes Madea.  Lots of laughs and lots of soulful singing.  And as always, this makes you think, as Tyler Perry is so masterful at doing.



Crazy For Christmas:  A wealthy man is chauffeured around by his daughter who he never met. She doesn't know who he is and finds his behavior eccentric, however, she is a single mother and really needs the money.  Eventually she finds out that this man is her father and the story takes an interesting twist.

Christmas Unwrapped:  This was a non-fiction film that highlights how Christmas has changed over the years.  Interviewing older and younger people about what is special about Christmas for them.  It also gave ideas on how to make the holiday more memorable for your family while keeping it simple and to remind us what the holiday is truly about.

New Year's Eve:  An  all star cast.  The lives of several New Yorker's on New Years Eve.  The stress, the loneliness, the absurdity.

Holiday Movies

I've started watching Holiday films.  Here is what I've watched so far:

Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade - Technically a 'Thanksgiving' movie, but it is the start of the Holiday season.  Romantic movie about a woman whose boyfriend is reluctant to propose so she breaks it off.  She is forced to work with a guy who she thinks is a jerk.  Do I really have to spell it out?

Miracle At Sage Creek - I finally watched this.  A pioneer family is about to lose there home because of a unhappy land owner who hates Native Americans.  Will this 'scrooge' have a change of heart?  Sometimes we get mercy even though we don't deserve it.

Holiday Spin - I have only two words RALPH MACCHIO.  Yes a 50+ year old Ralph (who still looks at least 10 years younger) is a dance instructor who gains custody of his estranged teenage son.  We get to see Ralph glide across the floor.  Another treat in this movie is Benji Schwimmer, who plays a real jerk (go figure).  Those of you who are "So You Think You Can Dance" fans know who that is.

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas - Not my favorite H&K movie.  It was silly but touching in parts.

Christmas Song - A Girl's High School merges with a Boy's High school. Jobs will be made redundant, and to determine which music director stays on one of them will have to win the Christmas Singing contest.  Will it be the boys or the girls music director?

The History of the Holiday's - A set of documentaries put out by the History Channel.  These four discs include One about the birth of Jesus, one about Christmas at Wartime, another about the origins of St. Nick and one on various Christmas origins. Very interesting and informative.

It's A Wonderful Life - This is my favorite Christmas movie in the whole wide world!!
No man is a failure who has friends

Christmas Books Christmas Movies FINAL

Thanks for the Christmas Wishes and I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!

I am finally getting around to posting about my Books and Movies.

The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson

This was the second book I have read by her. I thought it was just OK. I liked "Christmas at Harrington's" much more. However, this book was an interesting read.

The small town of Parrish Springs is not ready for Matilda Honeycutt. A strange older woman with scraggly gray hair and jewelry that jangles as she walks, Matilda is certainly not the most likely person to buy the old Barton Building on the town's quaint main street. When it becomes apparent that her new shop doesn't fit the expectations of Parrish Springs residents, a brouhaha erupts. After all, Christmas is approaching, and the last thing the town needs is a junky shop run by someone who looks and acts like a gypsy. But as townsfolk venture into the strange store, they discover that old memories can bring new life and healing.


A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Keypas

I am NOT a romance reader, I don't think I've ever read one that was a pure romance novel. I run the other way when I know a book is a romance. This book was a historical romance and I really liked it. Go figure.

It’s Christmastime in London and Rafe Bowman has arrived from America for his arranged meeting with Natalie Blandford, the very proper and beautiful daughter of Lady and Lord Blandford. His chiseled good looks and imposing physique are sure to impress the lady in waiting and, if it weren’t for his shocking American ways and wild reputation, her hand would already be guaranteed. Before the courtship can begin, Rafe realizes he must learn the rules of London society. But when four former Wallflowers try their hand at matchmaking, no one knows what will happen. And winning a bride turns out to be more complicated than Rafe Bowman anticipated, especially for a man accustomed to getting anything he wants. However, Christmas works in the most unexpected ways, changing a cynic to a romantic and inspiring passion in the most timid of hearts.


Total = 7 Christmas Books in All (6 in December)


MOVIES

Homeless for the Holiday's

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1951) Total = 33 Christmas Movies in All (13 in December) * I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas.  My co-worker bought it for me. :)

Christmas Books Christmas Movies

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits
by Les Standiford

If you can believe it, this is the 2nd non-fiction Christmas book I've read in my life. This one was about Mr. Dickens and how his writing of "A Christmas Carol" revitalized Christmas in England and throughout the world.

It talks about how he came to write and the circumstances surrounding it. Though it is not a Christmas book per se, it does basically describe how the holiday we know and love today became something we can cherish.


The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

A young boy is asked to play an elf for sick children in a hospital.  He may find out that Santa is real, but more importantly, he gets a bigger gift than he anticipated and he gives a gift that means the world to one patient.


Currently Reading:

The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson
A Wallflower Christmas (Wallflower Series #5) by Lisa Kleypas



MOVIES

Christmas in the Clouds - Takes place on a Rez, a Hotel owner is confused by one guests intentions and falls in love.

Battle of the Bulbs - Charming story about old friends who became enemies and then became neighbors. Who has the better decorated house? Can they live as neighbors without killing each other?

The Muppets Christmas Carol - Of course I've seen this before, but I always love a good Christmas Carol telling.

The Dead - Based on the short story by Thomas Hardy from his book The Dubliners. Starring Angelica Houston and Colm Meany. I thought it would be pretty good, but I was bored to tears. I was going to read the book, I think I will skip.

Christmas Reading Challenge

Christmas at Harrington’s

By Melody Carlson

Pages:  167

Lena Markham has just been released from prison for a crime unknowlingly committed.  She is friendless and penniless.  Restarting is not easy, but she finds friends in unsuspecting places and  opportunities where none existed before.  Book has a strong message of redemption and forgiveness and is very much filled with the holiday spirit.  This is a very visual book, full of Christmas images that are easy to see in the minds eye.

This was my first book by Melody Carlson, but it won’t be my last.  I have waiting in the wings “The Christmas Shoppe”. I hope I’ll get to read that one shortly.

I recommend “Christmas at Harrington’s”. It is an easy read. I like light Christmas reads that get the message across without it getting lost in pages and pages of prose.

Snow Angel

By Glenn Beck

Pages:  288

Glenn Beck? Yes that Glenn Beck.  Many people I know do not like him, however, his Christmas books are in a whole category by themselves and I have no problem reading them. It seems like when he writes these, he is a different person.

Alternating between Rachel (the daughter) and Mitch (the father) this story is told from both points of view and flashbacks to Rachel’s childhood and adulthood.  It weaves together events in Rachel’s life that lead her to her current situation.  Looking through her eyes you see one reality, however, by the end of this book, you see that things are not as they seem on the surface.

This book does not all take place during Christmas time.  Some of it takes place in October (her childhood) but her adult life takes place during the Christmas season.  And although this book isn’t filled with ‘Christmasy’ stuff, it still has that message of forgiveness we all seem to crave around this time.

Though the page count is 288, it is one of those short square books, so it reads quickly. 

I’ve read Glen Beck’s freshman Christmas book “The Christmas Sweater” which made me both smile and cry.  He is another author I will read every time he writes a Christmas book.

I recommend this book to anyone.  Great story and well written…Go Glenn!

Stuff waiting in the wings:

The Man Who Invented Christmas:  How Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol Rescued his Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Stanford.

This is my only non-fiction Christmas Book for the year. But how can I not read about Charles Dickens’s and A Christmas Carol? This will prove to be interesting.

The Paper Bag Christmas by Kevin Alan Milne

The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson

That will probably be it for the books.

MOVIES

I’ve watched my fair share of Christmas Movies.  Of course it makes no sense to rate them all.  They all are listed, But the ones I thought were pretty interesting will get my time and energy to write about.

These all were watched from December 1^st.

Rare Exports:  A Christmas Tale

Mostly in Finnish, this film is very dark. If you want a happy, jolly Santa in a red suit, you ain’t gonna get it.  This unique film tells of a very different type of Santa, one akin to Satan. This movie is in line with a very good horror film, I wonder if they can make a new genre called holiday horror? This would fit right in.

I will try to explain this movie to you without giving too much away.

A young boy is convinced that Santa is buried in the ice in a nearby mountain.  Some unsavory developers plan to dig up the mountain for the purpose of finding this ‘grave’.  They succeed.

Santa Claus is coming to town….run!!

This is not a gory and silly film.  I thought it was very interesting and well done.

Previously unseen movies that I've watched since my last post:

Eight Crazy Nights 

We're No Angels

Nativity! 

Trading Christmas 

Christmas Lodge 

Dear Santa Claus 

A Princess for Christmas

Gift of the Magi  

This Year and Christmas Movies

This year, I’m not going to do my usual Christmas list, as I’ve done them 2 years in a row and really have run out of movies to add.  I will do some Christmas movie posts, but they will be general.

I was looking on line to see if I can find any classic Christmas movies that I haven’t seen.  It doesn’t look like it.  I think they are all here.  I listed movies that ranged from 1934 – 1967.  Movies after 1970 are not Classics to me.

I’ve noticed most of the Christmas movies are post-war (1945-1950), I guess Hollywood was feeling good about Christmas and life in general.

Here is the list.  Check out the ones you haven’t seen.

Babes in Toyland (March of the Wooden Soldiers) (1934)

Beyond Christmas (1940)

The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941)

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

I’ll Be Seeing You (1945)

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) *

The Bishops Wife (1947)

It Happened on 5^th Avenue (1947)

Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)

Come to the Stable (1949)

Holiday Affair (1949)

A Christmas Wish (The Great Rupert) (1950)

Last Holiday (1950)

Room For One More (1952)

Susan Slept Here (1954)

We’re No Angels (1955)

All Mine to Give (1957) *

Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Fitzwilly (1967)

Below are Movies that are the same (storyline the same)

Shop Around the Corner (1940)

In The Good Old Summertime (1949)

Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) (1951)

A Christmas Carol (1938)

Below are Movies that are sequels

White Christmas (1954)

Holiday Inn (1942)

These aren’t truly Christmas Movies, however, they are watched during the season and are beloved by many, and they have a Christmas scene or two.  

The Bells of St. Mary (1945)

Going My Way (1944)

Boys Town (1938) *

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

* Tissues Needed.

Link to New Christmas TV Movies

NEW CHRISTMAS TV MOVIES FOR 2011 found at It's A Wonderful Movie Blog.


And just so you know, I'm typing this entry on July 29, 2011. Christmas in July! But I don't want to have to search for it in November, so here it is.


Also listed, are movies from years past. I know some of the channels, especially Hallmark, like to re-run them, so if you see anything on this list, look for it.


Edit:  This was edited yesterday.  This weekend, November 4th and 5th, the Hallmark Channel will be showing a lot of Thanksgiving & Christmas movies.  Basically for the whole 2 days.  Get your DVRs set.  None of this stuff is new, but some may not have seen it.


Enjoy.