Christmas movies are a staple at this time of year, whether you have your classics, your canonical, or just your personal favorites. Within each movie, there are a number of the same tropes and themes: the importance of family, encroaching consumerism, the lost recognition of the holiday, and the diminishing Christmas spirit. In addition, there are often […]

 

 

Lists about the best Christmas movies are everywhere this time of year, and, most likely you’ll get a variation of It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. These are great movies, and I try to watch each of them, including a few others, every year around Christmas, reminding myself to ring bells, […]

 

 

As A Christmas Story begins its twenty-four hour loop to commemorate the holiday season, I think of the various other film staples that have become part of this season’s diet. Rounding out a brief list is, most often, It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the brief cartoon, not the […]