No, not THAT kind of "adult" movie! Geesh! ;)
Yesterday I shared my top five Christmas movies for kids, so here are the ones I watch that are definitely family-friendly, but less entertaining to the wee ones:
1. Scrooged. John owned this on VHS when we met. I'd never seen it before, but it is now one of our favorite Christmas movies. Bill Murray is completely hilarious, and Karen Allen is charming.
2. Christmas with the Kranks. I read the book by John Grisham, Skipping Christmas
3. Elf. Let's just say, I love Will Ferrell. This movie is awful, but I love him -- in tights, even better! And throw in James Caan and how can you resist?
4. While You Were Sleeping. Not technically a Christmas movie, but a great deal of the action takes place around the holidays. Sandra Bullock is adorable as a subway token taker looking for love, and Bill Pullman is tolerable (not my fave actor).
5. It's a Wonderful Life. I didn't sit through this whole movie until I was well into adulthood. Now I wish I could watch it every day. What a testament to life! (note: I NEVER want to see this in the colorized version. I think it would wreck it for me.)
I know I missed a ton. Tell me your favorite Christmas movies!
Great choices, Lain. I have a strange fascination with Nicolas Cage, my favourite holiday movie is Family Man, made in 2000. It also has Téa Leoni, so Louis is happy to watch with me ;)
Posted by: Lee | 12/01/2009 at 07:10 AM
One of my favorite movies of all time is "Love, Actually." (Definitely not family-friendly.) The whole thing centers around Christmas, but I can watch it any time. Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson... the only thing missing is Hugh Jackman!
Posted by: Aison | 12/01/2009 at 07:57 AM
Definitely not for kids, but hilarious, is Bad Santa.
I love While You Were Sleeping too.
Posted by: Lonely Scrapbooker | 12/01/2009 at 08:21 AM
WHITE CHRISTMAS!!! We have a family tradition of watching this on Thanksgiving night, to kick off the holidays!
The only one I disagree with is Elf. I love Will Farrell, but this movie gets on my nerves! I've never been able to sit through the whole thing.
Posted by: Etta | 12/01/2009 at 08:23 AM
My kids love Elf, the scenes with the soda burp and the Snowball fight - that is good quality stuff. They all saw Home Alone for the first time and loved the slap stick in that as well.
Oh and Aison, that scene in Love Actually with Emma, and the gift, heart breaking.
Posted by: Maureen | 12/01/2009 at 08:52 AM
Another huge fan of Love Actually here. While not a pure Christmas movie - the way the holidays and stories are tied together is just amazing!
For my family, their Christmas movie is Stalag 17. It's set in World War 2 in a POW camp. It doesn't do it for me, but for my parents and brothers, it wouldn't be Christmas without it!
Posted by: Margaret | 12/01/2009 at 09:37 AM
Stalag 17 is a new one to me! And I forgot Love,
Actually -- I am going to get that ASAP!
Lain Ehmann
CEO, Ella Publishing Co.
[email protected]
408.348-2156
Posted by: Lain | 12/01/2009 at 09:42 AM
Oh goodness I love While You Were Sleeping - absolutely a holiday movie!!
I also love love love White Christmas and Love Actually oh and The Holiday
Posted by: Danielle | 12/01/2009 at 09:52 AM
I LOVE It's a Wonderful Life! It's my Christmas tradition to put my tree up while watching it, which is usually the weekend before Christmas. I know, that's later than most people put their trees up but I put it up then and leave it up until 12th night (January 8th.) Since I go away for Christmas and spend so much time before the holiday madly prepping, I find I enjoy my tree much more when the holiday is over and I can relax. I love sipping eggnog with the lights off and just the tree turned on. It's a perfect way to recoup after the holidays.
I know, this was off the movie theme a bit but....
Posted by: Marilyn (Merry) Fenton | 12/01/2009 at 10:03 AM
When my girls were still living at home, it was a tradition to watch Gone With The Wind on Christmas Eve. It's my favorite movie and they hated it. It was torture for them. Now they talk about it with smiles and giggles and quotes from the movie.
Our other favorite is A Christmas Story with Ralphie. Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra-Ra Fa-Ra-Ra-Ra.
Posted by: MaryC | 12/01/2009 at 10:14 AM
I love A Christmas Story, the 1983 starring Peter Billingsly and Darrin McGavin. It's got so many quotable lines and I just love the "pink nightmare" bunny suit and the frag-eel-lay leg lamp. You'll shoot your eye out!
I also like The Holiday with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black. I especially like the story line with Eli Wallach playing the older Hollywood writer. Plus, Jack Black is hilarious and Jude Law is cute, and I just really like Kate Winslet.
I have to say, though, that I always need to watch Rudolph and the Grinch for it to really feel like Christmas. I like the kid stuff too!
P.S. Colorize black and white movies is just plain wrong!!
Posted by: Jennifer McGuire | 12/01/2009 at 10:47 AM
Well you got both of my faves- Elf and What a Wonderful Life. I have to say Holiday is another favorite, although not quite as classic.
Posted by: jen | 12/01/2009 at 12:29 PM
White Christmas is a big family favorite. Something about Bing Crosby's singing makes it Christmas for me. I love the "Sisters" song in that movie, too.
Posted by: Julie - On the Dot Creations | 12/01/2009 at 03:06 PM
please don't laugh at me... I watch The Bells of Saint Mary's every year while I decorate my tree. It's always on!
Haven't seen the Kranks, yet. It's a Wonderful Life is a close second for me- George Bailey din't go to war!
Posted by: Crafty P | 12/01/2009 at 04:59 PM
I love Scrooged! One of my favorites is Christmas Vacation! :-)
Posted by: gscrapbooks | 12/01/2009 at 05:16 PM
Great choices, Lain
Our favorites:
All of the Christmas cartoon classics, Frosty, Rudolph, etc.
A Christmas Story
A Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
The Bishop's Wife http://www.amazon.com/Bishops-Wife-Cary-Grant/dp/B000056HE9/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259726872&sr=8-1
Posted by: Rebecca | 12/01/2009 at 11:09 PM
5 I love are (I have even more I love):
Home Alone
Home Alone 2
Miracle on 34th (the newer one)
Elf
Tie - Surviving Christmas and Christmas with the Kranks
Posted by: Michelle | 12/02/2009 at 01:25 AM
A Christmas Story! I could watch it 100 times and still bust a gut.
Posted by: Deanna | 12/02/2009 at 10:36 AM
Lain- I really love ELF and It's a Wonderful Life! :) I usually am so caught up with kids' movies and the whole Christmas thing that I am lucky to sometimes catch a Hallmark Channel movie! :)
Posted by: Kathy Floen | 12/02/2009 at 11:35 AM
One of my new favorites is The Holiday. I love the setting, the music and the love story.
Posted by: Molly | 12/02/2009 at 12:11 PM
Love your picks ... my favorite Christmas movie ever is White Christmas.
Posted by: Laura T. | 12/02/2009 at 02:20 PM
White Christmas - my husband loved this movie and made me watch it on our first Christmas together. I wasn't crazy about it the first year, but now I love it and can't go a year without it. We actually went to a dinner theatre to see it as a musical last year.
Posted by: Deanna - Fun Mama | 12/04/2009 at 01:45 PM