Christmas Cheer

Now that I'm holed up in a hotel on an overnight layover due to flight complications during this holiday travel season (a la Home Alone 2), I've come to appreciate Macaulay Culkin's request for three scoops of ice cream instead of two. Now after spending almost 12 hours between Syracuse and Los Angeles in Philadelphia, I've had the luxury of watching various Christmas movies on ABC, FX, CW, and many many more channels on my 36" flat screen in my hotel room. Here's my top ten so far:

Elf (2003)
After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity. Not only Will Farrell deliver in this instant Christmas classic, but he brought us Christmas cheer singing loud for all to hear. I'll admit, I pop in this DVD even outside of the Christmas season, and it's always the first one on my list to watch come the day after Thanksgiving.

White Christmas (1954)
My mother made my family watch this movie every Christmas Eve. It's not animated, with little kid-targeted humor, and the allusions and storyline went over my head back when I was ten. Then my mother insisted my sisters and I learned the "Sisters" duet. As soon as the successful song-and-dance team that becomes romantically involved with a sister act (and my mother) had me crooning along, how could I not love the movie. Growing up with this classic brings me back to my mother roasting chestnuts, and my father stoking the open fire (no joke).

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Inside a snowflake, like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe. Back before Taylor Momsen was Queen Bee on Gossip Girl, she was a funny-nosed Who from Whoville. And maybe now it's because I'm older and I understand the "grown-up" jokes going on in the film, but Jim Carrey divulged into the Grinch character and still has me rolling on the floor.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Though the number of "Home Alone"s have grown over the years (what are we at now? Number 5?), Number 2 takes the cake. A 10-year old runs around NYC with his dad's credit card while his family worries about his safe return. Sure, he doesn't have the home field advantage like he did in the first, but the witty kid still catches the bad guys in the end. And maybe I'm biased because I'm trying to make it home for the holidays like Macaulay Culkin, but I know I have my two turtledove ornament around here somewhere.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
A classic. I watched it every year growing up with my family, and it's still my go-to holiday movie. Heartwarming and simple, it always brings my family together. Because that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown!

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Though I would technically classify this as a Halloween movie, Jack the Skeleton lasts us from October 31st to December 25th. It's a original idea that Tim Burton animates and infatuates us with. While "Nightmare" wasn't originally on my list, my co-RA has this movie running on loop in our floor lounge, and it's definitely caught me up in discovering Christmas Town with Jack.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
It would be wrong to exclude the misfit reindeer and his friends who are looking for a place that will accept them. It's an elaboration of the Christmas tale of the red-nosed hero of Christmas that takes us on an adventure across the North Pole and back that never gets old.

Images from imdb.com