My 13 favorite Christmas movies… Edition #5 1 Miracle on 34th Street The original, I enjoy watching Natalie Wood, with those beguiling, wide, innocent eyes, try to believe in Santa Claus after being told by her mother, that Santa really doesn’t exist...Her mother is head of the department that hires men to be Santa in the annual Macy‘s Thanksgiving parade and when her latest Santa gets drunk the real Santa just happens to be in the neighborhood and is hired...When he tells everyone his true identity things get a bit out of hand...Is he able to keep his promise to the little girl and can he make her believe in him? Will the world believe after the mail to Santa is delivered to the courthouse during his competency trial? 2. A Christmas Carol The one with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge: I know I just said I enjoyed the first version the most but coming in second is this one...Stewart does such a great job in this role and, with the advent of better special effects, the scenes with the ghosts are much scarier and fun at the same time to watch. The Cratchit household has a more realistic feel of what it must have been like for those with low incomes in those days, a drearier feel of helplessness so, when the happy ending unfolds, and Scrooge sees the error of his ways the difference stands out 3. A Christmas Story Filled with funny fantasies that 9 year old Ralphie has when he dreams of his ultimate Christmas gift, a “genuine red flyer carbine action air rifle". He will do whatever he can to get the message across to his parents and Santa Claus whether begging or dropping hints whenever he can...Along the way we are taken back to those good ole days of the 1940’s in a small town when things were a bit simpler. Its charm is the way his dreams are shown in clever vignettes, which take this film out of the ordinary Christmas children’s movie category. 4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Chevy Chase takes parenting to new heights in this truly silly but very funny movie. He wants nothing more than to give his family the perfect Christmas, with the perfect tree that he goes out into the forest to cut down himself, which of course, is way to big for the house. Hilarious results ensue when the entire family shows up to share the holiday including the cousin from hell with his family in the wreck of an old motor home. When Chase doesn’t get the Christmas bonus he expected the results would be disastrous if this wasn’t the Griswalds family we were watching. More important, once again was the lesson learned about the meaning of family and the spirit of Christmas. 5. It’s A Wonderful Life What would a Christmas movie list be without this classic film being included? Though I sometimes think I never want to watch it again I find myself being inexplicably drawn to it when I see it playing on TV. This vintage movie from the 40’s tells the tale of a small town hero who makes a wish and, when it’s granted, finds out how much his wish affected everybody in the town just by the very nature of how he has led his life and how he was so important to so many others and the town itself...James Stewart played this part with such complexity and warmth, that to this day I think it was his best role. Lionel Barrymore is the ultimate Scrooge and should have played that role in one of the Christmas Carol movies. 6. Elf Another new movie for me and one I really didn’t expect to like...I’m not too crazy about Will Ferrell since he left Saturday Night Live but this is a cute story about a baby who accidentally crawled into Santa’s bag on Christmas Eve and was whisked away to the North Pole...There he was raised by Elves and thought of himself as an Elf. But soon his size became a problem so his Elf “parents” decided it was time he returned to his world...That’s when the problems began and the lessons in the movie were learned. Ferrell did a good job without going completely over the top as he has done in a few of his other movies and, as I said, I actually did enjoy this movie to my big surprise. 7. Polar Express I haven’t seen this one yet. This is on my must see list for this year. I can’t make any comments yet, but my 11 year old daughter tells me this is one of the most wonderful Christmas movies she has ever seen. She will be getting this movie for Christmas. 8. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (original) I can't resist this classic Dr. Suess tale with songs sung by Burl Ives. It's been a favorite since I was a child. (not sure this counts as a movie, it's really more of a half hour tv show)I list this before the movie, well, because I like the original better. Its about the only childhood show I still enjoy. 9. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey) I wasn't sure whether they could pull off remaking a classic Dr. Suess tale, but Carrey and company managed to pull it off. I thought this movies recreation of Whovile was spot on. As far as Carrey goes, his version of the Grinch was unforgettable. 10. SCROOGED Assistant on the Christmas Carol special: "I can't get the antlers on the little mice". Bill Murray as Frank Cross: "Have you tried stapling them?" I always loved this comedy take on the classic Scrooge. Keep the original and the countless remakes, I'll take this comic update every time. Bill Murray's dead pan humor makes this holiday movie a riot, but throw in Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, and even Robert Mitchum, and you have a film that I can watch every year and still laugh. 11. Home Alone Always a favorite for good laughs, Macaulay Calkin plays Kevin McCallister an 8-year old who's forgotten at home by his parents when they travel to Europe. Thieves are looting all the houses in the neighborhood, but when they come to the McCallister house they're in for a surprise! The two thieves in this movie are played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. This is a good movie for the kids and adults. 12. The Santa Clause One of my favorite Tim Allen movies! A divorced dad (Scott Calvin) has his son for the holidays and finds more adventure than he bargained for. After Santa has a mishap, Scott trie on Santa's suit and hence becomes Santa! His appearance changes over the next year to actually match the jolly old guy! 13. Jingle All the Way This is a broad comedy about a father's desperate attempt (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to find an action figure on Christmas Eve. This is pretty outlandish, and full of coincidences, but it's really funny. Although the fact that no one seems to recognize Arnold Schwarzenegger's character despite his distinctive accent, he is still pretty good, as is the supporting cast: Rita Wilson as his wife, Sinbad as a mailman also desperately searching for a Turbo Man action figure, and Phil Hartman (R.I.P.) as the ultimate smarmy neighbor. Even if a movie about a frantic search for a sold-out toy sounds like it would run out of steam fast, this is still a great movie, though one in which adults will more appreciate a few of the parts.