From The Past: January 2, 2007

December was not only a month full of movies, it was also a month filled with Christmas specials. Since they are “special”, I added them to the list for the month.

12-3-06 A Charlie Brown Christmas – This is a 1965 cartoon starring Charlie Brown. While there is so much commercialism going on in the world at Christmastime, Charlie Brown sets out to set the record straight and tell the true meaning of Christmas.

12-4-06 Scrooged – Bill Murray plays an egotistical TV manager who is visited by three ghosts. This is another spin on A Christmas Carol.

12-4-06 Hitch – I loved this comedy, which stars Will Smith. Smith’s job is a professional “date doctor”. He helps men get dates, who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. He finds out, however that his own advice doesn’t always work on everyone. This movie was hilarious. I only wish they hadn’t given so many funny parts away when they did previews for it on TV.

12-5-06 Christmas with the Kranks – It’s about a couple (Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen) who want to skip Christmas since their only child is all grown up and will be away for holiday. Honestly, if both of my kids were going to be away for Christmas, a cruise wouldn’t sound too shabby.

12-9-06 James Bond: Casino Royale – Yes! We actually went to the theatre to watch a movie. It was a wonderful time complete with the biggest coke and bucket of buttery popcorn I had ever seen. It was fabulous. Oh, the movie was fabulous too.

12-15-06 How the Grinch Stole Christmas – I love this classic Christmas cartoon. I don’t think explanations are in order. Unless you’ve been in a cave, you know what this one is about 😉

12-15-06 ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – This is a cute cartoon and I don’t even know if you can find it anymore. It’s about a mouse who writes a letter to Santa Claus telling him that his town doesn’t believe in the jolly old man. Santa received the letter and was furious. He made up his mind not to go through that town. The townspeople find out what the mouse did and they ban together to fix things. It’s more involved than that, but you get the point.

12-15-06 Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol – This is exactly like the other Christmas Carol movies, only this is a cartoon and this one stars Mr. Magoo.

12-15-06 The Waltons: Best Christmas episode – This is my very favorite episode of The Walton’s. Mamma has it in her head that this might be the last Christmas the whole family is together, so she wants it to be The Best Christmas. As it happens, there is one catastrophe after another, but the whole family is together in the end. It is truly a wonderful Christmas episode.

12-21-06 White Christmas – This is a good Christmas movie with lots of singing and dancing and you can’t go wrong with Bing Crosby.

12-22-06 The Bells of St. Mary’s – This is my favorite serious (not a comedy) Christmas movie. It was made in 1945 and is in black and white. Bing Crosby plays Father O’Malley and Ingrid Bergman plays Sister Mary Benedict. Father O’Malley is new to the Catholic school, Saint Mary’s and he has a lot to learn – mainly that the nuns know what they are talking about.

12-23-06 Miracle on 34th Street – I watched the 1994 version of this movie. I like Mara Wilson, the little girl who also played in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda. Oh, and just a plug for Matilda – this is a TERRIFIC family movie. Really. You need to see it.

12-23-06 Pee Wee’s Christmas Special – Yes, I love Pee Wee. This show especially is a hoot and one you don’t want to miss. Since it was filmed in 1988, you are able to see many movie stars and TV personalities when they were younger and some, when they were still among the living.

12-23-06 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – This has to be the funniest Christmas movie that exists. Clark Griswold is a family man and does everything he can to make his family happy. When he gets his Christmas bonus, he has decided to put in a pool. However, the bonus never comes and chaos ensues. Actually, the entire movie is chaos, pure chaos.

12-25-06 A Christmas Story – This is another one of those “must watch” funny Christmas classics. It is a story set in the 1940s, about a little boy named Ralphie. All Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB Gun, but everyone seems set against it telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

12-25-06 A Garfield Christmas Special – Besides How The Grinch Stole Christmas, this is my second favorite Christmas cartoon. It’s about Garfield, Odie, and John going to the family farm for Christmas.

12-27-06 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – This was a good movie, but I don’t think it’s for everyone. It’s a very sci-fi/fantasy type of movie. Certain people have extraordinary abilities for example, one is the Invisible Man, another a vampire, one person is immortal, etc. and they all get together for a mission.

12-28-06 Superman Returns – I didn’t expect to like this movie. I love Christopher Reeve and I thought he made the one and only perfect Superman. I was wrong. This movie was wonderful and action-packed. If you have doubts as I did, I suggest putting them aside and watching this movie. You will enjoy it.

12-29-06 Ocean’s Twelve – I saw Ocean’s Eleven years ago and loved it, so I don’t know why it took me so long to sit down and watch the sequel. I do believe I enjoyed the first one more, but this one was very good and full of twists.

12-30-06 Intolerable Cruelty – George Clooney plays a lawyer and Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a gold-digger. This movie was different, full of twists, and very good. I think it’s worth seeing again.