Trailer Wife

DAY FOUR: My favorite Christmas Movies

(I'm intentionally omitting A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and Miracle on 34th Street because there is just no competition)

5. Scrooged, 1988
Perhaps my favorite element of this movie is the character Ghost of Christmas Present, played by the wonderful Carol Kane, whose fluting, baby-girl voice is measured only by the severe ass-kickings she doles out. But it is pure Ghostbusters-era genius from Murray who has makes it an indisputable classic.








4. One Magic Christmas, 1985
This one is straight from my childhood. Aired as a movie of the week on CBS, this is a loose retelling of The Christmas Carol (which I guess was popular in the 80s, a la Murray), with Mary Steenburgen in the Scrooge roll. It's got it all: Christmas angels, the letter to Santa that brings the main man to their doorstep, tinkling special effects... how can you resist? Whenever I watch this movie I am instantly transported to the brown davenport of my youth, where Heidi and I sat stringing popcorn and fresh cranberries for hours.






3. Gremlins, 1984
How scary was this movie back when it first came out?? I still have Gremlin-in-the-microwave nightmares. Not to mention, the thought of anyone's dad actually, literally, coming down the chimney gives me the shakes (remember how that guy's dad got stuck and died? Shudder). But I am defenseless against Gizmo's cuteness.








4. Elf, 2003
Though I've seen this movie maybe once, I feel like I know it through Amy Simmons (Hi Dirty) for whom this movie provides daily entertainment. A couple of choice quotes:

"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup."

"First we'll make snow angels for a two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookiedough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."




1. The Family Stone, 2005
It's true... the script is not perfect, the plot a little far-fetched, the gimmicks all overdone... but seriously, this is some of the most delicious character-driven acting of any Christmas movie out there. The casting is superb, the artistic direction spot-on. It makes me want to have five kids, move to upstate New York and age gracefully. Heidi and I saw this separately... she was in South Korea and I was in Corvallis, but it remains our favorite movie to watch together.