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Garen's picks:
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Amy's picks:
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 BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) Laurel and Hardy star in a sparkling adaptation of Victor Herbert's operetta. Mother Goose, Mickey Mouse and other classic fairy tale characters help save Christmas. |
 BAD SANTA (2003, R) Yes, Billy Bob Thornton’s character does make new friends but by the end of the movie nobody really learns the true meaning of anything. |
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| BAD SANTA (2003) An black comedy for a white Christmas as Billy Bob Thornton plays a crooked Santa reformed by a young boy's belief. |
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 A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965) Linus offers up the definitive explanation of the true meaning of Christmas; Snoopy offers up the definitive Christmas party dance moves. |
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 THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947) Sterling cast of David Niven, Loretta Young and Cary Grant shine in this tale of an angel (Grant) sent to help Bishop Niven in his time of crisis, but the real angel here is Ms Young as Niven's wife. |
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 A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983, PG) The new Christmas-movie-on-played-over-and-over-on-TV classic, this tale of Ralphie, his BB gun and his dad’s plastic leg lamp is laugh-‘til-you-cry funny but still sweet. |
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 A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938) / SCROOGE (1951) Take your pick, Reginald Owen or Alistair Sim as Scrooge, either does justice to the quintessential holiday story from Dickens. |
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 DR. SEUSS'S HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! (1966) Boris Karloff is the best holiday story narrator ever. And that cartoon beats the pants off Jim Carrey. |
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| A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) A modern cult classic from the mind of Jean Shepherd and the directoring of Bob Clark. Quirky, loving and a joy to behold. |
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 EBBIE (1995) Technically, not yet on DVD, this Lifetime movie is one of the cheesier remakes of A Christmas Carol near and dear to my heart mostly because it stars Susan Lucci (best known as Erica Kane on All My Children) in the title role as a Scroogey business executive. (See the cheese in all its glory this this Sunday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m. on Lifetime.) |
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 ELF (2003) Human being Buddy thinks he's a elf until he's set straight. Now he has to travel from the North Pole to NYC to find the dad he never knew. To make things tough, his dad is on the naughty list. |
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 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) A much darker movie than most people think, this Frank Capra classic deals with issues such as life’s disappointments and economic inequities. |
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| IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) This was one of the biggest movie flops of all time. Now it's the biggest Christmas film of all time. Everyman George Bailey is the reason why. |
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 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) There have been updates but this version with a young Natalie Wood and a no-nonsense Maureen O’Hara is the best. |
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 JOYEUX NOEL (2005) In the war to end all wars, two sides lay down their arms and become brother in arms, if for only one day of the year. |
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 THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992, G) Michael Caine plays Scrooge with Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit — a surprisingly faithful version of the story. |
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 THE LION IN WINTER (1968) Peter O'Toole and Kate Hepburn spend Christmas together in 1183 England. He's the King, She's his imprisoned Queen. Talk about a dysfunctional family! |
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 THE NATIVITY STORY (2006, PG) Finally, Joseph gets some time in the spotlight — Jesus’ stepfather is a real mensch. |
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| MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, but it's young Natalie Wood discovering her inner child that makes this classic twinkle |
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 REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940) Barbara Stanwyck plays a shoplifting being prosecuted by Fred MacMurray. He puts off her trial until after Christmas but feels sorry for her and bails her out, taking her with him to his families home for the holidays. Romance ensues — pure schmaltz. |
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 THE SANTA CLAUSE (1996) A divorced dad kills Santa and has to replace him. A hugely funny film with Tim Allen on top of his game. |
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 SCROOGED (1988, PG-13) Bill Murray gives A Christmas Carol a whirl in his role as a Scroogey TV executive; Murray has fun as do costars Bobcat Goldthwait and Carol Kane. |
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 THE REF (1994) Thief Denis Leary gets in the middle of bickering couple Judy Davis & Kevin Spacey. Acridly funny take on Christmas and modern suburbia. |
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 THE SIMPSONS - CHRISTMAS (1989) Several seasons’ worth of Simpsons Christmas episodes is now available on one DVD including the episode where Bart accidently melts the family Christmas tree and the episode introducing of family dog Santa’s Little Helper. |
