Winter Must Be Cold for Those with No Warm Memories

I just watched Christmas in Connecticut and since it's supposed to be a holiday classic, I expected to have a fuzzy good time full of emotional hot chocolate. It turns out to be a decent comedy of errors with Barbara Stanwyck in fine form, with about the only thing Christmas-related being that there's a sleigh! It was a slight disappointment, but there are plenty other movies to make up for it.

Do you have a favorite holiday movie? There are any number of Christmas movies around that people call their favorites: Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol, Home Alone, The Polar Express, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, even Die Hard.

Here are a few movies I like to watch every Christmas season:

• A Christmas Story - I didn't watch the entire thing until college, but catching bits and pieces of it on television was an integral part of my childhood holiday season.

• It's a Wonderful Life - I don't think anything needs to be said about this one. 

My mouth's bleeding, Burt! What do you know about that!

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas - another film integral to my childhood. Of course, I'm referring to the old animated short, which actually follows the original story.

• Joyeux Noel - I've actually only seen this film once, but the story of a Christmas Eve truce during the trenches in WWI is so beautiful that I'm going to make my family watch it this weekend.

• Mickey's Christmas Carol - there are undoubtedly better adaptations of Dicken's classic novella, but this is the first one I saw, and it is imprinted in my memory.

• The Snowman - another classic animated short, it's so magical that I can't believe I never heard of it until I was an adult. It's also the origin of the song "Walking in the Air".

We're surfing in the air!

On the other hand, there are a couple Christmas themed movies that are so wonderful that I'll watch them at any time of the year: The Shop Around the Corner and Love Actually. I've watched them both this month though, and I have to say that each packs an extra punch when viewed in the appropriate season.

Why are there so few movies revolving around other holidays? On "Remember, remember, the 5th of November", a lot of people I know watched V for Vendetta. I'm thinking about keeping traditions for all the other holidays I can think of movies for.

The next holiday is, of course, New Year's Day. I'm thinking of The Hudsucker Proxy or The Apartment. The Hudsucker Proxy is funny, but has more style than soul. Despite The Apartment's seedy subject matter, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are too adorable. It may be the winner.

I don't know that there are any good movies about Martin Luther King, but I'm sure I can find something awesome for Black History Month.

Next up is Groundhog Day, and the clear winner is...Groundhog Day! If I can even wait until February 2 that is, because it's another one I can watch at any moment.

"Ned...Ryerson?" "BING!"

As for my least favorite holiday, I might be able to bring myself to watch An Affair to Remember or Sleepless in Seattle, but don't count on it!

St. Patrick's Day: it's a toss up between Darby O'Gill & the Little People and Waking Ned Devine. Which one should I choose?

Easter: Ben-Hur, hand's down.

Memorial Day: An obvious choice here would be Saving Private Ryan, but I don't like violent war movies. Maybe Gettysburg, since I haven't seen it in years, and the holiday actually originated after the Civil War. Or perhaps The Last of the Mohicans just for fun!

Independence Day: Well, it's a choice. There's any number of superior politically or revolutionary themed movies out there, but I'll probably still go with Will Smith.

Labor Day: This may be my one and only excuse to re-watch Newsies!

Halloween: I joined some friends this year to watch a terrible old Vincent Price movie, but we also caught enough of The Corpse Bride for me to fall in love with it (I'd seen it before, but sometimes that's the way it goes). That one will be my tradition.

Thanksgiving: I could go the pilgrim route and watch The New World. More than likely though, I would go for something like The Blind Side (for the Thanksgiving scene) or Babette's Feast (because of the astounding meal and gratitude it depicts). That is, if there's any time for movie watching between football games!

Have I left great holiday appropriate films off? What are your favorite holiday movies, Christmas or otherwise?