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With the Holidays, what are your favorite films for the season?.........

My, and my families, favorite is "Holiday Inn".   It is the film that introduced so many songs and has Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby.  The "made for money" remake of "White Christmas" was simply to capitalize on the popularity of the song to make more money....not a bad film, but "Holiday Inn" has the class that the remake does not.
  
What are some of your families favorite holiday movies?  My children loved the two original Home Alone films.  Fun, but not the musical history and "class" that Holiday Inn is. 

You may know of a motel chain that picked up on the name, "Holiday Inn".


whatjd
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Holiday Inn is indeed a fine film. As is Miracle on 34th Street. One with even more to teach today's audience is A Christmas Story, from whence comes the immortal, "You'll shoot somebody's eye out!" The uplifting moral of which is, no you won't you'll learn responsibility instead! 

But my favorite, which anyone who knows me is probably already thinking I'm gonna say Fat Man! But no. Serious question, serious answer. My favorite is none other than the best Christmas movie of the last 50 years, the instant classic, Elf.  
whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
A good review on the film "Elf"

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/elf-2003


whatjd OP
1,139 posts
 
...to kind of keep with the "audio" intent of this site, the original music is available on CD and is also a family favorite.  Of course being an old rocker from my early days, there is "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms and "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree", by Brenda Lee.  And there are many great classical and Jazz Christmas/Holiday records/CDs/SACDs...etc. ...I once had a Canadian Brass holiday LP that was good.   Seems  I am putting myself "in the mood", which is a song of a different "tune".  (being from Iowa, we are quite proud of Glenn Miller).

Actually, I do suffer from holiday music withdraw after the season. 


millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Dang it whatjd now you went and made me remember how much I miss Roger Ebert. Thought at first that review was gonna be one of the many lame ones written by one of these wanna-bees writing under his name. But no, that's a genuine Roger Ebert and it shows. Boy does it show. 

Elf really does have fine casting. Peter Dinklage was at the time virtually unknown, save for his role in the art film The Ticket Agent which I had seen, so in Elf he had the talent, but it was before he got the star power. Ebert is spot-on with the story and the review. They even manage to pull off a real tear-jerker ending that wins over even James Caan. I totally forgot about Faizon Love, but that's why Ebert is Ebert, he catches these beautiful little details. 

Will Farrell movies are uneven at best, but the best of them show moments of pure genius, and Elf is pure genius beginning to end. 


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