Favorite Christmas Movies?

Dianne at Unfinished Work recently blogged about her favorite Christmas movies, and it got me thinking about my own favorites--movies that instantly put me in the Christmas spirit.

Last night, I watched the Patrick Stewart version of "A Christmas Carol" on TNT, and really enjoyed it. No matter how many times I see that story, in whatever version, I never fail to be delighted when Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning, a changed man!

Following is a re-run of something I posted last year about my favorite Christmas movies. And I certainly invite you to tell me yours!

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My radio co-host Darren Marlar got ahold of Blockbuster's top 10 holiday rentals (my faves on the list are in boldface):

1. The Santa Clause
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the 2000 live-action version with Jim Carrey)
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas
4. White Christmas
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the 1966 animated version)
6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
7. It's a Wonderful Life
8. A Christmas Story
9. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
10. The Santa Clause II



It's a Wonderful Life, is in my opinion one of the best movies of all time, let alone Christmas movie. It definitely makes my top 5 list of best movies ever.

A few of my absolute favorites that didn't make the list:

Holiday Inn--Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, the debut of "White Christmas"--what more could you ask?

Scrooged--Bill Murray at his best--a little over the top, but definitely fun and ultimately heartwarming.

Home Alone--a classic...never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit. I can't hear the theme song, "Somewhere in My Memory" without getting all emotional (click here for a sound clip.

The sequels fail to engender the same magic as the original. Home Alone 2 was all about how much pain could be inflicted on the two criminals played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci, and I didn't even bother with Home Alone 3.

What are YOUR favorites?