Saturday, December 15, 2012

The 12 Posts of Christmas (2012), volume IV

It is hard to turn one's energies to the holidays when unspeakable tragedy has taken place yesterday.  I used to be a teacher and am now a parent and I cannot think of what the parents and members of the community of Newtown Connecticut are going through today.  Please keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers today and in the coming weeks.

As the world prepares for Christmas and the birth of Jesus, let the words of scripture comfort us.  As President Obama spoke at the end of his remarks, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3).

Today I will be downtown at Ford's Theatre to usher for A Christmas Carol.  It is a good opportunity to list my favorite holiday shows. This list is in no particular order. What do you think?
  • The Rankin-Bass collection, which includes Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and so many others.  These are all staples in the Brave Astronaut home and we own them on DVD.
  • The Prep and Landing collection - this is a recent addition to the list of holiday favorites.  But it is SO TINSEL!
  • It's A Wonderful Life - because it is.
  • Miracle on 34th Street - the original, in black and white, only.
  • Growing up in New York, a standard for Christmas in our home was the Yule Log on WPIX (channel 11) - we didn't have a fireplace.
  • Elf - because Will Ferrell is a comedic genius and Zooey Deschanel is pretty good looking.
  • The Polar Express - though I haven't seen the movie all the way through, I really prefer the book.  Still makes me cry at the end.
  • Scrooged - this adaptation of A Christmas Carol is one of the better ones out there.
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas - the original, with Boris Karloff, not the Jim Carrey version, ever.
  • Holiday Inn and White Christmas - you really can't go wrong with Bing and Fred Astaire's 4th of July number in Holiday Inn is legendary.
  • Die Hard.  Hey, it's a Christmas movie isn't it?
  • The Christmas episodes of The West Wing, specifically, "Noel," and "In Excelsis Deo"
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Other than the West Wing and Elf, I agree with your list. Prep and Landing is awesome!

Unknown said...

My other favorite Christmas movie is "While You Were Sleeping."

Brave Astronaut said...

C - As noted, Prep and Landing is SO TINSEL!