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Confession: I like to watch Christmas/Holiday inspired movies all year round. Then, there are movies – like Meet Me in Saint Louis and Little Women – that are not strictly Holiday movies, but that still carry Christmas and the Holidays nicely along because of the feeling of warmth and family they inspire.
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These are my top five favorite Holiday movies. Even though I chose to put the poster for White Christmas at the top of the article to honor its status as Christmas movie royalty, I love them all equally, with my preference of the moment dictated only by the mood I am in and what I feel like watching at the time.
They are all delightful mixes of comedy, drama, family life, romance and all that other weird stuff that is part of life, ribboned by Holiday whimsy, and beautifully carried off by talented actors.
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A couple of weeks ago I happened to read part of a recent, heavily negative critique of Love Actually, and I could not understand why all the negativity. Then I gave up reading because I remembered my extremely low opinions of critics. I must admit I am partial to British comedy, but the movie is hilarious, fast moving, with a great cast, and all loose ends are nicely tied up.
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How many of you have read Little Women as children? And how many times have you read it? I must have read it at least twenty times. It was my go-to comfort read whenever I ran out of new books, or simply when I felt the need. The same goes for the movie, both the 1949 version with June Allyson, and the more recent one (poster above). I am realizing I have not seen it in a while, so I am thinking tonight would be a good time for it.
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I am not sure if I like Meet Me in Saint Louis more at Halloween or Christmas, but it’s a tie.
This is also possibly my Mom’s favorite movie for a lot of reasons: the songs, the cast, the costumes, the various seasons and Holidays represented – though Christmas is at the top of that list. It also features one of my/her favorite Christmas songs: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
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I am updating this post on November 28, 2018, and I have to add a few more absolute favorites to my list:
- the touching and star-studded Christmas Eve story “Noel” (Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Paul Walker)
- the Charles Dickens story in the recent “The Man Who Invented Christmas” (Dan Stevens as Dickens, and Christopher Plummer as Scrooge)
- the cousin of White Christmas and another classic “Holiday Inn” (Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire);
- the true story of the spontaneous Christmas truce during WWI in “Joyeaux Noel” (Guillaume Canet, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl);
- the multi-story NY based and star-studded “New Year’s Eve” (Jon Bongiovi, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel etc.);
- the bittersweet yet adorable and also star-studded “The Family Stone” (Diane Keaton, Claire Danes, Dermot Mulroney etc.).
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Though they do not reach top status, here are a few more Christmas movies I have enjoyed:
- the delightful, though lesser known, “12 Dates of Christmas” (Amy Smart, Mark-Paul Gosselaar);
- the animated children’s fantasy “The Polar Express” (Tom Hanks);
- the classic American Christmas comedy “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid);
- the other now classics “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2” (Joe Pesci, Macaulay Culkin)
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I am sure you know all of these movies, possibly even own them as they are easily available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon (including Prime) and more, not to mention some of them are regularly featured on various TV channels, especially during the Holidays. But just in case, I have included all links to the movies on Amazon, and here are any links that might not be provided above.
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Meet Me in Saint Louis on Amazon
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Before I close, I need to include the non-strictly Christmas, but still Holiday infused or Holiday-perfect Harry Potter movies! I most definitely am a Harry Potter fan!
And of course, now the question follows: which are your favorite Holiday movies?
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