{"id":1214,"date":"2012-12-10T09:18:48","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T15:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askmrsmom.com\/?p=1214"},"modified":"2012-12-17T23:45:41","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T05:45:41","slug":"christmas-movies-and-such","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askmrsmom.com\/?p=1214","title":{"rendered":"Christmas movies and such"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s that time of year to dust off, haul out, DVR, On Demand, Netflix, scour HBO–however you find them–bring on your favorite “get you in the spirit” Christmas movies. I have some\u00a0perennial\u00a0favorites. \u00a0Some I watch over the next few weeks, at least once if not twice, and a few are sacrosanct for \u00a0Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

One of my Christmas not-to-miss is The\u00a0Family Man. \u00a0<\/em>It’s Nicholas Cage at his best. \u00a0Not raging though a\u00a0burning\u00a0building with a handgun or jumping off a cliff to the top of a rail car but a kinder, gentler, more\u00a0likable\u00a0Cage. Maybe it’s playing off one of my top ten favorite actresses\u00a0Tea Leoni that softens his edges or his angel incarnate Don Cheadle \u00a0who I love in anything, but especially in this. The kids are adorable, Chicago born Jeremy Piven is spot on. \u00a0It’s great.<\/p>\n

Also, love The Holiday<\/em>. \u00a0Cameron Diaz who can get on your nerves in other movies does not in this one. \u00a0She’s worth a watch just to see her clothes. \u00a0Jude Law is Cary Grant gorgeous, complete with the thick, black glasses. \u00a0I learned after about a dozen viewings they told him to study Grant and emulate his mojo. \u00a0Even knowing that , it doesn’t bother me at all. He woos me as well as Grant did in An Affair to Remember.<\/em><\/p>\n

Which brings to to another holiday must flick. \u00a0An Affair to Remember<\/em> is 1950’s Hollywood subtle verbal sexual\u00a0innuendo\u00a0and on-set ocean backdrops at its best. \u00a0Deborah Kerr’s accent and\u00a0demeanour\u00a0is\u00a0mesmerizing. As is Cary Grant’s, but his always is.<\/p>\n

I don’t know why Dyan (born Dianne) Cannon had to go and talk trash about him posthumously. \u00a0He is probably my all time favorite male actor. \u00a0I don’t care what drugs he took or who he preferred beside him in bed, he thrills me. On a very base level\u00a0just\u00a0by walking into a room.\u00a0Which\u00a0he does at the end this movie\u00a0with\u00a0such aplomb that I am brought to tears each time. \u00a0His\u00a0desperation. \u00a0His\u00a0recognition at that moment is\u00a0palpable. Maybe Dyan\/Dianne was\u00a0just\u00a0jealous he didn’t have a bad facelift like she did and starve himself into adolescent jeans to stay attractive, as she did. \u00a0He just had it naturally\u00a0until\u00a0his 80 plus deathbed.<\/p>\n

His other Christmas favorite, The Bishop’s Wife<\/em>, is a classic. \u00a0Much more Christmassy and idealistic and very Hollywood of the time. \u00a0David Niven is at his perfect mustached height and Loretta Young says it all\u00a0with\u00a0her eyes. It’s sweet. Gets you in the spirit. And you’ll want to do good, at least\u00a0until\u00a0the next\u00a0morning\u00a0after watching it.<\/p>\n

Anything\u00a0with\u00a0Cary\u00a0Grant\u00a0just\u00a0makes me want to button my middle button and say things like, “Dahhling” and “We musn’t.” God, he slays me…<\/p>\n

Hugh Grant, no relation to Cary, could not be more Hugh Grant than in Love Actually<\/em>. \u00a0A bittersweet tangle of love tales set in\u00a0England. \u00a0Still a feel good movie.<\/p>\n

Oh, I could go on and on and we all have our favorites. Love Family Stone<\/em>. Love Dianne Keaton in anything. Who can resist Will Ferrell in Elf <\/em>? Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street<\/em>?<\/p>\n

But my last two, my Chrismas Eve essentials are (drum roll): White Christmas<\/em> and It’s a Wonderful\u00a0Life. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

White Christmas <\/em>was actually the first VHS movie I purchased when we bought our first VCR. It was probably mid-July and my son was about eight or ten. I loved the movie and he loved the war scenes and he can still do a pretty good harmony on “Snow, Snow, Snow,” complete with train clickety clack and white napkins. \u00a0And no one can beat my\u00a0sister\u00a0and me on “Sisters.” Blue fans waving, \u00a0I go\u00a0back\u00a0and forth between Rosemary Clooney’s red lips or Bing Crosby’s rendition with sock suspenders. \u00a0It’s all good. \u00a0It’s perfect . \u00a0It makes you laugh and you will for sure cry when the men rise and say, “Atten-hut!” for the General.<\/p>\n

And nothing really needs to be said for It’s a Wonderful Life<\/em> other than Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed prove over and over that it is. “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”<\/p>\n

So dig in, amp it up, stay up and watch them all. \u00a0I promise they will all inspire\u00a0and none of them will do a thousandth as much for your spirit on Dec. 26th or\u00a0July\u00a04th. It’s a once a year indulgence and be sure to indulge.<\/p>\n

There is always something new in each of them I have missed before. \u00a0It wasn’t\u00a0until\u00a0last year I realized Bert and Ernie got their names from the cab drivers in It’s a Wonderful Life<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ok, so I was changing diapers during Sesame Street and the early days of It’s a Wondeful Life.<\/em>\u00a0Or sleep deprived or both…<\/p>\n

But not now. \u00a0I hear Danny Kaye tapping his grey suede shoes and the\u00a0conductor\u00a0announcing\u00a0we’re comin’ into Pine Tree. Gotta run!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


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It’s that time of year to dust off, haul out, DVR, On Demand, Netflix, scour HBO–however you find them–bring on your favorite “get you in the spirit” Christmas movies. I have some\u00a0perennial\u00a0favorites. \u00a0Some I watch over the next few weeks, at least once if not twice, and a few are sacrosanct for \u00a0Christmas Eve. One …<\/p>\n

>>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas movies and such - askmsmom.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/askmrsmom.com\/?p=1214\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas movies and such - askmsmom.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s that time of year to dust off, haul out, DVR, On Demand, Netflix, scour HBO–however you find them–bring on your favorite “get you in the spirit” Christmas movies. 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