Christmas at the Movies

I am not a Scrooge.

But I will admit that I am one of those people who do not like the holidays (except as days off from work!). I think it’s because they happen to have the misfortune to occur during my least favorite season of the year. When the holidays come around, I just want to leave town with a suitcase full of books (or e-books on my Nook!).

But I do enjoy the traditional carols and music–appropriately played only between Thanksgiving and Epiphany (or Twelfth Night if you’re British, thank you very much)–and I have some favorite holiday movies as well. But they’re not what you’d think of as the most popular.

Photo source: Tailgate365.com

A Christmas Carol (1984, with George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, this is the most poignant and faithful performance I’ve ever seen)

Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version only, please!; this is my Thanksgiving Eve tradition, while I also make homemade cranberry sauce…)

 The Nutcracker (the 1977 television special with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland; for more Nutcracker love, click here)

Little Women(1994) (Those Victorians started all this commercial Christmas nonsense)

 Scrooge (1970) (the British movie musical starring Albert Finney has some wonderfully catchy songs)

When Harry Met Sally (for its momentous holiday scenes)

 The Homecoming (I’m a child of the 1970s and this beautiful movie was the pilot for The Waltons)

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

~Maria