christmas gems

I may have been down this road already, but if so, I find myself here again.

One of the Christmas programs I once enjoyed was a remake of It's a Wonderful Life with Marlo Thomas, It happened One Christmas; she's the Jimmy Stewart (Orson Welles, Wayne Rogers). It was a long time ago, but I still remember the enjoyment. Here's an interesting take on the 'Wonderful Life' movies. Another one I thought was special is 'The Gift of the Magi', a story by O'Henry, which if I remember correctly is about a poor newly married couple and what they choose to give each other for Christmas. Very touching. The Gift of Love is a version with Marie Osmond and Timothy Bottoms.

Always endearing is the story of appreciating a sorry little Christmas tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Christmas Time is Here from that movie is unique and one of my favorite songs of the season, just above Alvin and the Chipmunks'. And just because I read everything Louisa May Alcott growing up, I love Little Women with Winona Ryder. They represent everything family.

A good story about our Christmas shopping nature is "Jingle All the Way" (our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sinbad). Another film, that of life's ironies, set at Christmas time is Trading Places (Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott) - the wiki summary says "the basic plot is very similar to the Three Stooges 1935 short film Hoi Polloi. Like the Stooges' film, Trading Places was one of many adaptations of Mark Twain's 1882 story of The Prince and the Pauper, a tale of two 16th century boys who share a striking resemblance but inhabit very different stations in society".

A very nice oldie is "The Bishop's Wife" (Cary Grant, Loretta Young - my mom used to watch her television show every weekday at 4pm; hers and "The Mike Douglas Show" - and David Niven), the precursor to The Preacher's Wife (Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, Jenifer Lewis, Loretta Devine). Finally, while I am not a supporter of the fantasy, a memorable one in true Christmas tradition is "Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus" (Richard Thomas, Edward Asner, Charles Bronson.

Here's a wiki list of Christmas movies well worth reviewing; you might have some of these in your library. Here's a take on several Christmas movies.

May your holiday be full of memories and movie reminiscing. May the reason for the season shine bright in all you do. May God's peace and love be warmly around you. Be blessed. Merry Christmas!