BobO'Link

My two granddaughters who live here (ages 6 & 11 [today! - I stuck a candle in her toast this morning - she liked that]) and I discussed Christmas movies this morning at school. I do IT for a large school district and start my day at the elementary building they attend so they come over for breakfast, eggs (whatever style they want) & toast which I cook, and ride with me to work. On days there's nothing to do, like today, we sit in my office in that building and goof off before school starts. So... Today I had a Christmas Activities booklet Grandma wanted me to copy for her and they looked it over. One of the items was matching quotes to Christmas movies. I took advantage to ask which they've seen on that list.

I discovered they've never seen:

A Christmas in Connecticut
Miracle on 34th Street
It's a Wonderful Life
Holiday Inn
White Christmas

All movies I consider to be iconic with three of my top five favorite Christmas movies on that short list. Why I've never sat down with them to watch those in the past I just can't answer and blame myself as I've owned copies of those since the VHS days! Oh well...

My department doesn't get the full Christmas break (they get two weeks, we get one), so I'm taking some vacation to stay home the full two weeks. We're going to cure that horrible omission of me never having shown them those movies!

davidh777

Happy birthday, little BobO'Link!

I confess Christmas in Connecticut is still on my list of shame. Maybe I should tackle that this year after finally checking off The Shop Around the Corner last year.

BobO'Link

Thanks! I'll pass it along! She'll get a kick out of that!

Yes, you should get that off your list! It's a very fun movie full of good character actors and bits. Like "The Shop Around the Corner," it doesn't get the attention it deserves.

coyoteblue

I usually include The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) and It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) (it's borderline, but I think it qualifies), in the 'classics' viewing, along with some viewing of A Christmas Carol (pick a version).

For newer stuff that hasn't passed the test of time classics wise,
The Hogfather (2006), and if I can find it The Night They Saved Christmas (1984).

BobO'Link

IMHO that's another in the overlooked classics category.

Indy24LA

Same here, but I plan to cross it off very soon.

Bluelitespecial

I'm watching the 12 men of Christmas with Kristen Chenowith on dvd. I think it originally aired on Lifetime. The title could probably be mistaken for a porno.

davidh777

I watched that a few challenges ago, and yes, there is a risqué element to it for a television movie. I like Chenoweth but don't need to see that one again.

LJG765

I asked today when we'll be making them, turns out this is the first year in about 15 she is skipping it! I will definitely have to remember to try these next year though. I can already hear the outcry when we go to Christmas Day festivities and we will be empty handed!

This is awesome that you get to spend that time with them! I bet they'll really look back at it and be so happy that you all spent so much time together!

I have to add myself to the list of never seeing A Christmas in Connecticut though! I'm not sure why, mainly never had the opportunity to. It wasn't too many years ago that I saw Holiday Inn and White Christmas for the first time. Which version of 34th Street are you going to show them? The original? Don't forget the Mara Wilson version which I think is almost as good as the original...

Indy24LA

So I watched A Christmas in Connecticut last night via Amazon Prime and I must say it was wonderful. Might have to add that to the yearly rotation.

Bluelitespecial

I even found the Baywatch Christmas episode on youtube, a 2 parter called 'Silent Night Baywatch Night". The plot centered around vacationing Elves on Mitch's beach, and reuniting a Mother Daughter duo after the Mom was arrested for stealing cash from a Beach vendor. The movie failed, but I still wish Baywatch could be rebooted on tv.

shadokitty

I browsed through my Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series box set last night, looking for 'Alpha's Magical Christmas', but only found 'I'm Dreaming Of A White Ranger'. I know Hulu has Xena, and there was a Christmas episode of that show too. 'A Solstice Carol'.

BobO'Link

I like it too! We have some good times and I introduce them to my favorite music in the car (mostly classic rock with smatterings of bluegrass, 60s & early 70s pop, "hair" metal, alternative, fusion, jazz, classical, just about anything but "modern" country, rap, punk, or disco, but this time of year it's classical Christmas music - the really old madrigal and other choral type stuff)
The 1947 original!

I've never seen the Mara Wilson version but have no desire to. I had to look it up to see which version that one is, it also stars Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle, but I still just can't generate interest in anything but the 1947 original.

shadokitty

^
I normally listen to NPR a lot, being a fan of classical music, but this time of year, I listen to the Christmas music station on my radio .

Dimension X

What? She's not baking anything at all this year?

My mom still cooks these little pecan pie things (called "tea time tassies," or "pecan tassies" - you can Google it) that everyone loves, but I wish I could get her to make some plain old peanut butter cookies.
Don't feel bad, I'm pretty sure I first saw A Christmas in Connecticut (and maybe Holiday Inn and White Christmas) sometime within the last ten or fifteen years. There's lots of movies out there to watch.
The Fox TV version of Miracle on 34th Street from 1955 is pretty good too. It stars Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy from It's a Wonderful Life), the little girl from Them!, and the always terrific Hans Conried. Now I need to find my copy. Edit: No need, it's on YouTube.

Edit: Looking at IMDb, there's another version of it that I saw a couple years back from 1973, starring Sebastian Cabot, Jim Backus, Tom Bosley, Roddy McDowall, and David Doyle. I liked it, but more for the cast than the movie. It's available on YouTube. (Seriously, don't watch it unless you're a fan of '60s and '70s TV.)

Trevor

One year, when I'm feeling extra OCD, hope to compile and try to watch my 100 or so versions of A Christmas Carol. I've only seen a few spins on it so far this year, and never tire of it. Forget if I mentioned it in this thread, but The Man Who Invented Christmas is fantastic. Currently in theaters, it fictionalizes Dickens' creative process for the classic tale.

jholmes

I liked The Man Who Invented Christmas too. I've watched one other Christmas Carol this year since then, but don't think I could take more than twice in one year. :-)

My favorite version is Scrooged. I saw the animated version with Jim Carrey for the first time this year and liked it too.

LJG765

We're actually cutting back this year. We're doing a few batches of sugar cookies and some batches of corn flake wreaths. Our original plans were to do those two types of cookies, gingerbread cookies, homemade caramels and homemade peppermint patties. But we've both decided to cut back some due to time and energy! I'm sure next year we'll bump up the cooking again, though. I know some years we do about 6 dozen sugar cookies, 3 or 4 different candies (caramels, chocolate covered cherries, peppermint patties, fudge...), gingerbread cookies, the corn flake wreaths and 2 or 3 batches of fruitcake. We're a baking/sweet family and Christmas is the perfect time of year for it.

Related to Christmas baking, I was watching the Christmas Cookie Challenge and one of the judges who's Italian, asked the contestant, "Do you use cups or grams?" "Cups." "Why?" "I'm American." I really had to laugh because her expression was so bewildered, like why is he even asking me this? I had to agree! I am American and cook with both cups and grams, but honestly, if the recipe is a friend, family or magazine based one, it's going to be in cups!

Since I saw that Christmas in Connecticut is on Prime, it's totally been added to my watch list this year. Might not get to it till this weekend, but I'm now properly intrigued about it!

I think I have both those Miracle on 34th Streets. The Hans Conried one for sure-that one shows up on Public Domain discs a lot. I think I actually have 2 copies of it...But if you get a chance, give the newer one a chance. It's not that bad.

Wow, I have a few versions but I think you even beat out Travis with his collection of The Christmas Carol!

Dimension X

I've always had neighbors or cousins who made fudge for Christmas, and gave away plenty, so I never tried to make it. The only candy I think I've ever made was potato candy. I think we had a neighbor who made it when I was a kid, and I was thinking about it years later and decided to make some. It's tasty, but really sweet. I've been wanting to try it again for the past couple of Christmases.

Googling it, I see that it fits my current "less than four ingredients" cooking philosophy (potatoes, sugar, & peanut butter), and the pictures are making me hungry, so maybe I'll make a small batch later this month.
I've seen the more recent theatrical one at least once. I think I liked it alright.

I watched the TV version earlier tonight. Man, it moves right along (since it's about half as long as the original). I forgot Whit Bissell was in it. That thing's packed with character actors.

Doc Moonlight

Fans of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, might want to check out the Broadway musical version SHE LOVES ME. PBS just showed a terrific version of last year's revival. A 1978 version produced by the BBC is available on YouTube.

shadokitty

I might buy a Christmas movie on the PlayStation Store. I checked my email today and found a pleasant surprise. As a result of my resubscribing to PlayStation Vue, I had a $20 PlayStation Card in my email.

davidh777

Definitely. My order of introduction to that story was:

She Loves Me
In the Good Old Summertime
You've Got Mail
The Shop Around the Corner

I know that's embarrassing for a fan of classic films but that's how it happened. I took a trip to New York a year and a half ago in part to see that revival. If I'd known it would later be on TV....

Bluelitespecial

I think I'm going for the win here, I'm on entry 140, and will beat my personal best of 153 by this weekend. I haven't watched Lethal Weapon in a long time, its a nice break from normal seasonal viewing.

shadokitty

I was browsing the Dish Guide, and saw that the Annual Dish Yule Log had started, so I watched it for about half an hour. I was expecting music, but there wasn’t any. There were some cute Christmas vignettes, however. They repeated about every 10 minutes.

jholmes

Would you consider "Frozen" a holiday movie? I've never seen it.