Joy of Christmas

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas Movies’

When Paul Giamatti plays Santa in the new comedy “Fred Claus,” he sports the familiar round belly that shakes when he laughs like a bowlful of jelly.

He may be chubby and plump – but he’s no jolly old man. In fact, Giamatti’s St. Nick has problems with anxiety, which leads him to eat out of nervousness. Hence, the big gut.

“I’m playing a stressed-out businessman who happens to also be Santa Claus,” Giamatti, 40, says. “Sure, he has the whole ‘ho, ho, ho’ thing. But underneath that, he’s a neurotic wreck.”

Hey, the holidays are stressful for all families – so why not Santa’s? That’s the setup for “Fred Claus,” opening Friday, in which Vince Vaughn plays Santa’s jealous older brother, a ne’er-do-well scam artist. When Fred needs cash for a new get-rich-quick scheme, he leans on his successful younger brother, Nick. But Fred’s trip to the North Pole coincides with a visit by an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey), who tells Santa to cut costs or face the shutdown of his workshop.

“In my mind, Santa’s a saint, but he’s also a guy who doesn’t understand his own feelings,” says Giamatti, an Oscar nominee for 2005′s “Cinderella Man.” “He’s very patient, but he’s processing a lot of anger. He’s taking a lot of weight on his own shoulders.”

The idea for “Fred Claus” came from a question that producer Jessie Nelson’s daughter asked one night at bedtime: Does Santa Claus have a family?

“It made me think about what it would be like to live in the shadow of such a generous sibling,” says Nelson, who wrote the film’s story. “Then one night I was watching ‘The Godfather’ – and I thought, ‘Okay, the character can be an homage to Fredo Corleone.’ And that’s where Fred came from.”

Still, it’s dangerous to mess around with the story of Santa Claus – not least because the magical being stirs such flights of imagination in young believers all over the world.

“I don’t think we messed with it,” says director David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”). “He’s still lovable and warm. It’s just that he’s got issues and problems. We’re making Santa more accessible, more lovable.”

Adds Giamatti, “They didn’t want a movie where kids walk out with their illusions shattered. We want people to see the archetype, that Santa’s a good guy.”

Still, if you’re casting someone to play the world’s best-loved holiday icon, Giamatti isn’t the first person who springs to mind. One of the most respected character actors working today, Giamatti has done his share of broad comedies (“Big Momma’s House”) but is better known for his nuanced portrayal of angst and disillusionment in such films as “American Splendor” and “Sideways.”

“I never thought of myself as a ‘jolly nice guy,’” Giamatti admits. “But I liked the idea of playing Santa.”

Dobkin, who envisioned Giamatti in the role, says: “I thought he had the vulnerability – and fun timing. I had no idea he’d look so good in the suit.”

Giamatti, who names Edmund Gwenn’s Kris Kringle in the 1947 “Miracle on 34th Street” as his favorite movie Santa, took about two hours each day to get into the white hair and beard to play the role. By contrast, the fat suit “took minutes” to get zipped into. But his limit in the suit was less than an hour before he’d become overheated.

He could simply remove the suit to cool off. But his sausage-fingered prosthetic rubber hands had to stay on- so Giamatti found himself drinking energy shakes on the set, because he couldn’t handle anything requiring manual dexterity. Between the fat suit and the forced diet, “I think I did lose a little weight,” Giamatti says.

In a year when he has played a vicious killer in the cartoonishly violent “Shoot ‘Em Up,” a chilly Wall St. dealmaker in “The Nanny Diaries” and an American Founding Father (in the upcoming HBO miniseries “John Adams”), Giamatti finally has a role in a movie that’s appropriate for his 6-year-old son, Sam.

“It’s the first thing I can take him to see,” Giamatti says.

Among your choices on Hollywood’s holiday menu – you can have talking chipmunks or savage aliens and predators. You can have jolly elves and pretty princesses or the mother of all mythic monsters. You can have music, or you can have blood. And in at least one case, you can have both.

“I remember I did try to pitch it as a musical with lots of blood,” director Tim Burton recalled of his early attempts many years ago to make a movie version of Stephen Sondheim’s stage hit “Sweeney Todd.”

With frequent collaborator Johnny Depp in the title role, Burton finally succeeds with an adaptation of the musical about the murderous 18th century Londoner who turns his barber business into a shop of horrors.

This time of year is Hollywood’s most diverse, offering a mix of dark drama vying for Academy Award attention, action, horror and fantasy sagas, and light comedy and animated films.

Among the comic and cartoon offerings: “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” a blend of live-action and computer animation featuring Jason Lee and the cartoon rodents; “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in the tale of a magical toy shop; “Enchanted,” with Amy Adams as a cartoon fairy-tale princess exiled by a wicked queen (Susan Sar andon) into Manhattan; and “Fred Claus,” with Vince Vaughn as the black-sheep brother of old St. Nick (Paul Giamatti).

Reuniting Vaughn with “Wedding Crashers” director David Dobkin, “Fred Claus” casts Santa’s brother as a guy who’s lived for centuries in Santa’s shadow.

“There’s a sense of sibling rivalry,” said Giamatti, who wears a fat suit to play Santa. “I was always kind of the favorite, I become Santa Claus and everybody loves me. Everywhere he looks, Santa is everywhere, and he’s just a screw-up who can’t hold a job.”

The season offers a couple of real-world holiday stories with “This Christmas,” a family-reunion flick whose cast includes Delroy Lindo, Regina King and Mekhi Phifer, and “The Perfect Holiday,” featuring Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard in a romance between a single mom and a store Santa.

Disney’s “Enchanted” tweaks the studio’s legacy by forcing a classic animated princess to survive in an unfamiliar realm.

“It begins in the animated kingdom. My character is looking for her true love, and she immediately meets him, but the prince’s jealous stepmother casts her into Manhattan,” Adams said. “She confronts all sorts of realities. There’s an old man who steals her crown, she learns the truth about gravity. She learns what food tastes like. It just tastes different in the real world.”

Lands of make-believe

In the fantasy footsteps of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” comes “The Golden Compass,” with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig leading the cast in the adventure of a young girl trying to rescue a friend in an alternate reality.

Robert Zemeckis brings the legend of “Beowulf” to life with technology to what he used on “The Polar Express” to capture live actors whose performances are then digitally animated. The film features Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie as Beowulf’s vile foe, Grendel’s mother.

Emily Watson leads the cast of “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep,” about a Scottish boy whose magical egg hatches into a legendary creature that lives in a little body of water called Loch Ness.

Love and marriage

Nicole Kidman plays a writer sowing discontent as the marriage of her sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to an out-of-work artist (Jack Black) approaches in “Margot at the Wedding.”

Javier Bardem, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Benjamin Bratt star in “Love in the Time of Cholera,” an adaptation of the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that traces the half-century wait of a man to win his true love.

“Atonement” features Keira Knightley and James McAvoy in a chronicle of the repercussions that follow a teenage girl’s false accusations against her sister’s lover.

The House Without A Chrismtas tree is a holiday classic to say the least. It was released back in December 1972 and was shown on CBS. It was then enjoyed for years and years to come as the number one Christmas movie to watch during the holiday season. The film was directed by Paul Bogart who won multiple Emmy Awards and put forth a terrific story about drama, family, growing up, and of course, Christmas.

The film for those who have not seen it focuses on Addie Mills as a ten-year-old. Addie’s father whom she lives with refuses to allow a Christmas tree in their home. He gives no reason as to why he will not allow it, but it is his decision. Addie is not happy with her father. The entire time through all of this the father is very depressed and saddened still by the death of his wife, whom died right after Addie was born.

Addie ends up getting a tree by winning one from school. Addie gets help from her grandmother to set it up and decorate it. The reaction she gets when her father gets home though truly is astonishing. It is a fantastic holiday movie from start to finish. The performances from Lisa Lucas as Addie, the grandmother Mildred Natwick, and the father Jason Robarbs are all extremely memorable.

The DVD release of The House Without A Christmas tree is definitely going to be geared towards a crowd which grew up watching this holiday classic. Keeping that in mind and also the fact that it was filmed for TV, the actual audio and video quality are not what you would expect from a typical DVD as it is way below average.

The film was shot for CBS in a similar style to the way you would shoot a sitcom. It is presented in full-frame and has quite a bit of grain here and there. This makes for a lackluster video experience. Considering the age of the film though it has to get a bit of a free pass. It is doubtful anyone would buy this movie for the technical aspect of it.

Arnold’s venture into the realm of family film making takes him into the role of Howard Langston, a man on a mission of sorts.

It’s the holidays and his son wants the latest, greatest toy out there: Turbo Man.

Having forgot about the toy, its days before Christmas Eve and now Howard has to venture into the mall to find a Turbo Man toy.

In his way is Myron (Sinbad), a postal service worker who wants a toy for his son as well.

The two engage in a series of shenanigans ending in Howard and Myron donning the costumes of Turbo Man and his arch-villain respectively for possession of a special version of the doll.

And for those of us who grew up with Arnold as the action hero, it’s hard to watch him be the wacky father figure who’s constantly the brunt of slapstick humor. It’s a credit to him as an actor that he pulls it off so well, as he elicits a good deal of chuckles with his ability to deliver a good one liner (and take a good hit), but it’s still off-putting to see him without a machine gun saving the world. Arnold’s good sport for the film, doing his best with what’s clichéd material and it makes for an interesting performance to say the least.

Brian Levant takes clichéd material and makes it a relatively worthwhile endeavor. This is a family film that wants to appeal to all ages and has found a second life on television during the Christmas season. It isn’t a film for the ages, but it’s a good one to watch for an injection of the Christmas spirit.

Ralphie Parker never slept here.

He did, however, take aim at imaginary nemesis Black Bart from his perch on the kitchen sink. And he was spotted through the front window once, caressing a tarted-up leg lamp.

This is A Christmas Story House, the real Cleveland home that housed the fictional Parker family in the movie “A Christmas Story.” Now, it’s Cleveland’s newest tourist attraction.

San Diego resident Brian Jones bought the house in February 2005 and has poured his heart – not to mention $240,000 – into renovating it to make it resemble the house in the movie. He’s opening it for tours and has created a gift shop and a small museum in another house across the street.

In reality, A Christmas Story House is only part of what viewers remember as the Parkers’ home, the place where Ralphie schemed to get a Red Ryder BB gun. It’s really the house’s exterior that stars in the film; with the exception of the aforementioned scenes, all the interior shots were filmed on a set.

The house is in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, in a working-class cluster of closely spaced homes dating to the turn of the 20th century. Drive through the streets, and you half expect to see Ralphie and his buddies darting down the sidewalk, fleeing bullies Scut Farkus and Grover Dill.

The house is instantly recognizable to fans of the movie, thanks to the meticulous restoration of the exterior and the iconic leg lamp glowing in the window. Gray vinyl siding was removed, rotted sections of wood siding replaced and the porch largely rebuilt. ICI Paints matched the exterior paint colors, so the yellow siding and green trim wear the precise shades they did in the 1983 movie.

In the backyard, the shed that was swarmed by Black Bart’s gang still stands, overlooking a gray vista dominated by a steel mill. A new board fence surrounds the yard, not so much for appearance as for security.

Inside, however, the match is less exact. Although Jones, 30, said the set was designed to roughly fit the house’s general footprint, the rooms were bigger and the set had features the real house lacked – a dining room, for example, and a staircase with two landings.

So Jones hired Mike Foster, a contractor recommended to him by the Cleveland Restoration Society, to renovate what had been a duplex and make it resemble more closely the interior of the Parker home. It’s more a suggestion of the movie set than a replica, but Jones and Foster have taken pains to re-create it as faithfully as possible.

The construction crew took out a first-floor bedroom and cut a hole in the ceiling to put in the stairs, and a fake fireplace was installed to mimic the one in the movie. A bathroom was gutted to allow for widening the kitchen, which is outfitted with a brown-painted wainscot, the same model of White Star stove that appears in the movie and a sink with doors below, just like the ones Ralphie’s brother, Randy, hid behind.

The crew even cut the 12-inch-square, brown-and-white linoleum floor tiles down to 9 inches to match what would have been available at the time the movie was set, around 1940.

“We’ve done all kinds of crazy stuff to the place,” Jones said.

The house is gradually being furnished, largely with donations from fans. Someone even ponied up a spherical silver shot-glass set, just like the one that sits atop the Parkers’ floor radio.

Part of the house is private, a tiny apartment that Jones occupies during his stays in Cleveland. The house’s curator and director, Steven Siedlecki, looks after the business day to day.

“Me and my wife have kind of tossed the idea (of moving to Cleveland) around,” Jones said, “but it’s cold here.”

It was Jones’ wife, Beverly, who alerted him to the house in the first place. A U.S. Navy officer, she was headed to the Middle East aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard when her captain told her he’d seen the house for sale on eBay. She thought that might amuse her husband, a fan of the movie who made a living making and selling leg lamps, so she casually dropped a mention into the e-mail she sent him four or five days later.

Jones was more than amused. He e-mailed the seller immediately and offered $150,000 – $35,000 more than the high bid at the time – if the seller would take the house off the auction block. The seller agreed and even honored that deal after someone else called and offered $200,000, Jones said.

He’s convinced his investment will pay off. Fans flock to the setting of “Field of Dreams,” “and that’s out in a cornfield in Iowa,” he said. A Christmas Story House is in a city with plenty of tourist draws, so he figures it’s another reason for people to come to Cleveland.

For some fans, it’s the only reason – like the carload of college-age kids who showed up not long ago after a nine-hour drive from Tennessee. Jones let them into the house, and one of the young women was so excited that she phoned her mother to report, “I’m in Ralphie and Randy’s bedroom!”

Jones also bought a house across the street to serve as a ticket-sales center, gift shop and museum. Here visitors can browse a collection of “A Christmas Story” memorabilia that includes Randy’s snowsuit and toy zeppelin (whoopee!), a reproduction Red Ryder BB gun with a compass and sundial in the stock, photos snapped during filming by neighbors and actors, and framed reviews of the movie, not all of them complimentary. A display of blooper scenes points out such goofs as the visible trampoline that boosted Black Bart over the backyard fence and the dual flagpoles that appear in the movie, one in the front of the school, one in the back.

Visitors can also take home mementos from the movie, from a $6 Little Orphan Annie decoder pin to a $595 painting of fictional Cleveland Street by artist Paul Landry. Among the other items for sale are bars of Life buoy soap, jars of Ovaltine, copies of the script, T-shirts, posters and Higbee elf hats crafted and signed by actress Patty Johnson, patterned on the one she wore in the movie. And, of course, there are leg lamps in every conceivable form – ornaments, night lights, light strings and the full-size replicas that Jones sells through his company, Red Rider Leg Lamps.

One thing the store doesn’t sell is BB guns. The restrictions for retailers are just too strict, Jones said.

You’ll have to hope Santa comes through. If he does, just don’t shoot your eye out.

he most famous Christmas story, not to mention the reason for the holiday, is live and in living color this holiday season for the entire world to witness.

“The Nativity Story,” based on accounts from the Bible, portrays the events leading up to the most famous birth in history and the burden of such a blessing.

Keisha Castle-Hughes stars as Mary, a young woman chosen by God to give birth to his son, Jesus. Although this is a tremendous honor, it is also a burden. Mary’s parents have made arrangements for her to marry a young man named Joseph, so she must remain pure for one year.

In a quest for answers, Mary leaves her hometown of Nazareth to see her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant although she is advanced in age. After convincing her parents to let her leave, Mary learns that Elizabeth’s baby is a miracle given by God. Their time together reinforces Mary’s faith and gives her the confidence to return home.

Upon her arrival, Mary is now well into her pregnancy. Obviously, her parents and Joseph have questions. Mary attempts to ensure them she hasn’t broken her vow to Joseph, but given the evidence, her parents are skeptical. Joseph, despite his doubts, decides to believe her and keep her as his wife.

Similar to today’s society, a young woman with a child out of wedlock is ostracized by her community and subject to ridicule, apathy and cold stares. All the negative attention begins to wear on Joseph, until one night while sleeping.

An angel of God comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him not be afraid. Joseph should keep Mary as his wife because the child in her womb is the child of God, says the angel. The next day, Joseph goes to Mary and reassures her that they will have this child together.

Meanwhile, King Herod, appointed by the Romans to oversee Israel, is searching for the Savior of whom the Israelites speak. Herod is afraid this Savior will appoint himself king of Israel and kill Herod.

While Herod is leading an exhaustive search of Israel, Caesar makes a decree that makes his search much easier. Every man must return to the town of his birth to be counted for a census.

The Jewish scriptures proclaim their Savior will hail from Bethlehem. Herod orders his men to set up at every road leading to Bethlehem to find this Savior, which he believes will be a man of royalty or great wealth.

In Nazareth, Joseph hears the news and tells Mary’s family that he is from Bethlehem and would like to take his wife and child with him, even though it is over 100 miles away. Their journey is very difficult and takes several days. They only have one donkey, little food and almost no money.

But they aren’t the only ones traveling a great distance. Three wise men, well studied in the Scriptures, have been watching the heavens and observing the movement of the planets. According to their calculations, three planets will form a bright star when they get close. Believing the star is an indication of something magnificent, they set out on a four-month journey in its direction.

What they find is far more valuable than they expected.

While “The Nativity Story” will draw comparisons to “The Passion of the Christ,” they are very different in subject and nature.

Much like “The Passion,” “The Nativity” depicts society some 2000 years ago. The actors were trained to build homes, make cheese and bread, and use the tools from the time the events took place. Theologians and scholars may debate the details, but they are missing the point.

The story nearly every Christian church puts on display for their congregation during the holiday season is now a major motion picture that the entire family can see together.

Brian Jones thinks he knows a thing or two about great movies and tourism.

He’s spent a small fortune combining both in a way he hopes will attract your dollar the next time you head to the U.S.

What did he do?

He spent $500,000 to buy and fix up a house at 3159 West 11th St. in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Tremont.

But not just any house.

This is the place director Bob Clark used as the setting for the iconic holiday film “A Christmas Story”. [A Christmas Story: The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film]

The movie, about a little boy named Ralphie and his quest for a Red Ryder air rifle, is one of the most beloved of the season.

Although the interiors of the famous flick were all shot inside a Toronto studio and a school in St. Catharines was used for the legendary tongue-frozen-onto-pole scene, the house in the quiet Ohio neighbourhood was the one viewers saw from the outside.

And beginning Saturday, anyone who stops by can tour the fully renovated and restored property for just $5.

Jones’ quest to become a movie memorabilia mogul began when he first became obsessed with the film several years after its 1983 release.

When the house used in the show came up for auction on eBay last year, he offered the vendor a flat $150,000 if he’d stop the bidding and sell it to him – which he did.

But it cost Jones hundreds of thousands of dollars more to completely renovate the place, turning the interior it into a replica of the home seen on screen – including the original staircase.

He also bought the home next door as a kind of souvenir shop and museum that will sell you just about anything related to its movie roots.

His wife thought he was crazy. But the 30-year-old had a feeling about the home.

“I wanted to go see it,” Jones explains of his purchase. “And if I wanted to see it, then other fans would want to, too. Why not make the house a tourist attraction?”

He notes other movie tie-ins have become magnets for visitors, including the Iowa baseball diamond in the cornfield used in “Field of Dreams”.

Jones knew he was on the right track when people started coming by before he’d even finished the project.

“Once, when we were working, these college kids showed up in a car,” he recalls. “They had driven nine hours one way just to see the house. ‘Star Trek’ has Trekkies, I have Ralphies. I’m a Ralphie myself.”

Some of the actors from the film – including the kid who played Ralphie’s brother and the guy who portrayed the hated bully Farkus – will be there when the home officially opens to tourists this weekend.

Jones is expecting some 3,000-5,000 paying customers to show up the first day.

And like “A Christmas Story” itself, he hopes the legend of his new-old digs endures and that folks will get an eyeful. Although not the kind that will have grown-ups warning “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”.

“With the release of ‘The Nativity Story,’ Hollywood is finally putting Jesus Christ back into Christmas,” Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission, said. The film, which has been called a prequel to “The Passion of the Christ,” heads to more than 3,000 of the nation’s movie theaters on Dec. 1. [The Nativity Story - A Novel]

“Hollywood has recognized there’s a gigantic part of the population that goes to church each week,” Baehr said. “Go see ‘The Nativity Story’ and tell your family and friends to do the same.”

From New Line Cinema, “The Nativity Story” has been called the best movie about the birth of Jesus since nativity movies were first produced in the 1890s. The movie tells the story of the birth of Jesus “in a compelling, captivating, entertaining and inspiring matter that shatters expectations,” according to Baehr, who has reviewed the film. “ ‘The Nativity Story’ is refreshingly dramatic, so much so that the movie will elicit tears at points,” he wrote.

Baehr, a renowned critic, educator, lecturer and media pundit, is the founder and publisher of Movieguide (www.movieguide.org).

Baehr’s assessment of changes in Hollywood track with similar trends in America. After years of “holidays” being used to describe the Christmas season, some cracks in the politically correct dam have begun to open, as retailers like Wal-Mart, Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s are beginning to use the term “Merry Christmas.”

The movie responds to mounting criticism from religious groups that staged boycotts against Wal-Mart and other merchants after they eliminated or de-emphasized “Christmas” in their advertising.

The guest column/op-ed piece below was received via the newswire.

I believe our nation is on the threshold of a major revival, perhaps not equaled since the Great Awakening. The signs are there – some of them subtle, some not-so-subtle. One important sign is what appears to be the re-emergence of Jesus Christ in Christmas.

Christians have long known that it is more important to be “correct” than “politically correct.” Christmas is about Christ, and that is “correct,” accurate and true to history and tradition. Santa Claus, reindeer, wreaths, Christmas trees are fine, but what it is all about is the birth of the Messiah. Christmas heralds the turning point in history. [Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration]

There is now evidence that our prayers over the last few years are being answered. Hollywood, Big Business – they seem to be finally getting the message: There are believers out there! God is alive and well in the popular culture!

Yes, the Christ-child is creeping back into Christmas. No, let me rephrase that – Christ is marching triumphantly back into Christmas. Hollywood is recognizing it, as are Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Sears, Macy’s and others.

The tide is starting to turn.

The new movie, “The Nativity Story,” to open Dec. 1 in more than 3,000 theaters nationwide, will be a welcome reprieve from the usual holiday fare of action, violence, cornball comedy, and even those films that revolve around “the holiday season.”

Incidentally, “The Nativity Story” will make history when it premieres at the Vatican. That hasn’t happened before, as far as a feature film is concerned.

People, especially families, will want to go together to see this remarkable movie. Children will want to see it. Church members will go in groups. And yes, non-Christians will go out of curiosity. And how they will be rewarded – not just by a wonderful, dramatic, engaging movie, but one that tells the ultimate truth of what Christmas is all about.

I believe the movie is destined to become a Christmas classic. So move over “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “[Home Alone.” You’ve got some real, make that REAL, competition.

The movie is incredibly true to the authenticity of Scripture. Filmed in extraordinarily vivid color, it begins with a passage from Jeremiah. The rest of the movie references and quotes the Bible. The script was written by a Christian, Mike Rich, whose credits include “Finding Forrester.” Costuming and settings are authentic.

In short, it is a near perfect movie.

With all the fallout from fallen leaders and election turnabouts, Christians have an opportunity this year to put aside political agendas and really focus on what Christmas is all about. The distractions are behind us. Let us not miss this wonderful, crucial opportunity to proclaim the birth of our Lord in the highways and byways, yes, even in the marketplaces and the movies.

Dr. Ted Baehr is a noted critic, educator, lecturer and media pundit. He is founder and publisher of Movieguide (www.movieguide.org) and is chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission.

No sooner is Halloween over than we’re faced with the The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The holiday spirit has produced a handfull of classic films and a steaming pile of holiday turkeys. Here are the bottom 10.

10. Eight Crazy Nights (2002) In all fairness, this is not one of the ten worst Christmas movies. It’s not even about Christmas; it’s about Hanukah and that’s why it’s here – to give a nod to the substandard holiday movies of other faiths. I’m still waiting for Kwanzaa with the Kranks.

9. Santa Claus: The Movie (1986) If you’re eight years old you’ll probably be entertained by this movie. But remember that an adult with the mental capacity of an eight year old fits the medical definition of a moron.

8. All I Want For Christmas (1991) Two New York City children launch a scheme to get what they most for Christmas. Two New York City children? Stop. Stop, right there.

7. I’ll Be Home For Christmas (1998) Maybe after the success of The Santa Clause, Disney thought that could get another Christmas present out of the Home Improvement cast , this time with the thrice-named Jonathan Taylor Thomas. What we got is a lump of coal.

6. Surviving Christmas (2004) Ben Affleck plays a rich ad executive who pays a dysfunctional family to take him in and make Christmas just how it was when he was a child. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the grandaddy of any Christmas movie about teaching rich people lessons. This a popular theme for Hollywood which won’t touch a Christmas movie about the birth of Christ.

5. Christmas With the Kranks (2004) Another Tim Allen Christmas turd with a flimsy premise and few laughs. It sucks, yet he tops himself with the next movie on the list.

4. The Santa Clause (1994) When Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) inadvertently kills Santa on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place. Why couldn’t Santa Claus have killed Tim Allen?

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) What better way to celebrate the holidays than by destroying a classic animated feature? Even worse the Dr. Suess story has a clear anti-commercialism message and the movie version featured a cross promotion with Visa, the credit card.

2. Jingle All the Way (1996) Arnold Schwarzenegger is a father who promises to get his son a “Turbo Man”, the hot toy of the year. Getting one proves as difficult as coaxing a comedic performance out of the Terminator.

1. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1962) Placing this movie in the number one spot has become a Christmas tradition as durable as decorating the tree.

Victoria Jenson is in final negotiations to direct New Line’s holiday comedy Four Christmases, according to Variety.

Written by Matt Allen and Caleb Wilson, the script tells the story of a young couple who are forced to visit their respective parents, all of whom have divorced, giving them four Christmases to celebrate.

The film will mark Jenson’s live-action debut, having previously directed animated features such as Shark Tale and Shrek, the latter alongside The Lion,. The Witch and The Wardrobe’s Andrew Adamson. Gary Barber and Roger Bimbaum are producing.

Four Christmases is likely to reach screens during Christmas 2007.

Had it up to your teeth with the sickeningly sweet holiday movies all over the place? You know, the type of movies that try to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, and teach everyone a lesson about being nice to each other?

I couldn’t agree with you more. I do love “A Christmas Story,” probably the all-time best Christmas movie ever made, but I can only watch it so many million times before I start getting it mixed up with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a movie, for the record, that I hope I never have to see again.

So to try to get everyone in the holiday frame of mind, here are a handful of yuletide flicks that will warm the hearts of any Grinch.

Take “Die Hard,” for example. Most people will say it’s not a holiday movie, it’s a bloody action movie with lots of killing and carnage. Which is also true, but why can’t the movie be both?

After all, our hero is lone-wolf cop John McClane (Bruce Willis), heading from New York to L.A. to spend the holiday with his estranged wife and daughter. He is to meet her at a ritzy Christmas party at a high-tech high rise. But, as luck would have it, a group of ruthless terrorists crash the party and take everyone hostage.

MaClane is alone, unarmed and barefoot, but he’s got to take on the band of killers to get his wife back and save Christmas. If there is anything more wholesome and life-affirming than that, I’d like to hear it. Not only do we get colorful lights and a Christmas cheer, but we also get gun battles, fist fights and eye-popping explosions.

As if that wasn’t enough, “Die Hard” also gives us Alan Rickman, playing the kind of scenery-chewing villain that has made him a living legend.

“Die Hard” is one of the best action movies of them all, good any time of year, but especially around the holidays, to give you a break from TV Christmas specials and grandma getting run over by a reindeer.

“Bad Santa” may be the ultimate Grinch movie. Stalwart scumbag Billy Bob Thornton stars as a drunken, foul-mouthed criminal who dresses up like Santa to rob shopping malls on Christmas Eve.

Thornton was born for this role. The movie itself is a dark comedy-slash-crime movie, with just enough holiday cheese to make it a bona fide Christmas classic. But in the title role, Thornton creates as foul and despicable a human being as you could ever have the displeasure to meet.

That he can show such genuine pride at admitting to beating up a bunch of schoolchildren proves how unique this man is. I’d say he could give the Grinch himself a run for his money.

“Bad Santa” has as much drinking as “Leaving Las Vegas,” and as many cuss words as an Eddie Griffin stand-up routine (according to the Internet Movie Database, the f-word is used some 147 times, which has to be some sort of yuletide record). It wears these excesses like a badge of honor, and trudges boldly into greatness as the most profane and off-color holiday movie ever made.

Another classic holiday film that doesn’t get its due respect is “Gremlins.” Here’s a movie about a kid with a lovable pet trying to save the town from a holiday swarm of murderous, mischievous monsters that doesn’t waste too much time trying to warm our hearts and touch our spirits.

Hoyt Axton gives his son Billy a cute pet named Gizmo. Gizmo comes with very specific rules; 1) don’t get him wet, or he’ll spawn others 2) don’t feed him after midnight, or he’ll turn into a gremlin and 3) don’t wear white after Labor Day. Gremlins really hate that.

Rules are made to be broken, and this time it results in a horrific crime wave that sweeps the town. It’s up to Billy and a young Phoebe Cates to save Christmas. “Gremlins” has scares and a sly sense of humor that make it a personal yuletide favorite.

Sure, the old lady in the wheelchair gets thrown out the window, but she was a real Scrooge, so it’s all in good fun. You’ve got to take your Christmas cheer where you find it, be it with egg nog or a family dinner, or a gremlin getting tossed in the microwave.

Now, in addition to there being a bevy of holiday-themed horror flicks, there is a whole sub-genre about serial killers who dress like Santa and wreak havoc on nubile young people. I cannot recommend any of these movies, not even “Silent Night, Deadly Night” the original, which I thought was pretty cool 15 years ago.

But I can recommend an episode of the HBO series “Tales of the Crypt” which is available both on DVD and on VHS. This particular episode is called “And All Through the House” and was directed by Robert “Forrest Gump” Zemeckis.

This half-hour fright fest is about an adulterous woman who kills her husband with a fireplace poker for the insurance money on Christmas Eve. But as luck would have it, as she is trying to dispose of the body, her house is attacked by an escaped mental patient wielding an axe and dressed as Saint Nick. The two killers face off in a tense, scary, and funny battle of wits.

“And All Through the House” may be tough to find, but its well worth it for anyone who likes their good holiday cheer served up with an axe.

Top 10 Holiday Movies

During the holiday season, one of my favorite things to do is watch holiday movies with my family and friends. There is nothing better than sharing laughter, tears and excitement with the people closest to your heart. If you’re looking for perfect holiday movie to enjoy with family or friends this holiday season, look no further.

Home Alone

Nothing makes you appreciate family more than this movie. McCauley Culkin stars as eight-year-old Kevin McCallister who wakes up to find that this family has left for Christmas vacation without him. He’s thrilled to be home alone, until two burglars attempt to break in. By the end of the movie you are reminded exactly what family is all about and the true meaning of the winter holidays.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Trouble ensures when Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, invites his entire extended family over for Christmas. One thing after another goes wrong for the Griswold’s, but they stick together as a family through it all. This movie will have you laughing out loud from start to finish and leave you feeling just a bit better about your own eccentric family.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The animated version of this movie is my favorite, because growing up I remember watching this classic on television every year with my entire family. The grinch is disgusted with the happiness that Christmas brings to the Whos in Whoville, so he plots a way to ruin Christmas. The tables eventually turn and he ends up becoming just as jubilant as the Whos. This movie reminds me that a little bit of kindness can be the world to someone.

Love Actually

I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it. The premise of the movie is that “love actually is everywhere.” The movie is set around Christmas time and filled with characters searching for, or in some casing, stumbling upon love. The stories represent different kinds of love, bolstered with various obstacles for each character. If you’re a victim of a broken heart, this movie will give you hope and make you believe in love again.

The Santa Clause

This movie is one of the best because you get a peak inside the lives of Santa and everyone else living at the North Pole. When Santa Clause fall off the roof of Scott Calvin’s (Tim Allen) house on Christmas Eve his son convinces him to put on the red suit. After doing so he begins delivering gifts to the children of the world and wakes up to find himself at the North Pole. Over the next year Scott transforms into Santa, creating questions among friends, coworkers and family. This movie gives me hope that anything is possible if you just believe.

Miracle on 34th Street

When the real Santa Clause begins working at Macy’s, miracles follow closely behind. However, when he begins telling people that he is actually Santa Clause rather than just a store Santa, he is thought to be crazy. However, thanks to believers around the world faith is restored in him as well as his the friends he makes along the way. There are two versions of this movie, both are alike and just about equal in quality… but history proves originals to be better.

A Christmas Carol

There are so many versions of this movie that I can’t pick one as being the best. However, the premise of the movie is magical. We join Ebenezer Scrooge on his journey to Christmas past, present, and future and learn that Christmas is all about the company you keep. I love this movie because it transforms Scrooge’s pessimism into hope and kindheartedness.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

This is one of Tim Burton’s most popular animated movies about how Christmastown is taken over by the pumpkin king from Halloweentown trouble ensures. This movie is lighthearted and hilarious – I recommend this one not only for the winter holidays, but anytime of the year.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

When Charlie Brown has the holiday blues he seeks out some professional help from none other than his friend Lucy. Lucy suggests he become the director of the Christmas play. In doing so Charlie Brown finds out that Christmas is more than just the commercial holiday that he thought it was, it is also a time to spend celebrating with friends.

It’s a Wonderful Life

When George Bailey (James Stewart) falls on hard times and believes the only way to solve his problems is suicide he decides to jump from a bridge into freezing water – however his guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers) saves him. Throughout the movie Clarence gives George a look at how his life affected so many others. This is my favorite Christmas movie of all time because it makes me appreciate what my life means in perspective to others.

Each of these movies brings to life the holiday spirit and reminds each and everyone one of us that the important things in life aren’t gifts, but rather sharing memories together with friends and family and believing the impossible. If you need more movie ideas to keep you busy, try watching A Christmas Story, Eight Crazy Nights or Elf.

After the worst summer of box-office flops in a generation, Hollywood is pulling out the stops over the next month as a trio of films vie to be the Christmas blockbuster.

With Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and a re-make of King Kong all to be released over the next month, hundreds of millions of pounds are riding on film-goers returning to cinemas this holiday season.

The most likely candidate for success remains the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter franchise. The £83 million film opens today and has been described as the most sophisticated in the series so far as it charts the young wizard’s shift into moody adolescence.

The New York Daily News has described the film, by the British director Mike Newell, as “blisteringly” splendid.

Newell, acclaimed for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco, said he pushed Harry to new creative heights in a tale of teen romance.

While the Narnia books are often seen as a religious allegory, with Aslan the lion representing Christ, its director Andrew Adamson said his work was “open to the audience to interpret”. [Books by CS Lewis | A Complete Guide to His Life & Works]

The British actress, Tilda Swinton, who plays the White Witch, said the book was more “spiritual” than religious.

The theme was more “classical” than overtly Christian. “It feels like an ancient myth,” she said.

Another old tale given new life is the film of King Kong, directed by Peter Jackson, of The Lord of the Rings fame.

With a £115 million budget, it could provide the spectacle to win the audiences.